The president elect had a chance to make decisions. Our job is to be ready on day one. The American People can be confident that we will be. So let me say to all of you we look forward to seeing you tomorrow. Its going to be a very humbling and moving day for the president elect, his family and for mine. But let me tell you, we are all we are all ready to go to work. In fact, we cant wait to get to work for the American People to make America Great again. So thank you very much and well provide that information for you at the end of the briefing. Can i ask you how many you expect to have confirmed by the youre up. Thank you. Thank you, mr. Vice president elect. I think he speaks for all of us when we say we are truly excited for tomorrow. Theres an historic change coming and it is infectious. The entire teams looking forward to this now that we are 24 hours out of this. So the president elect continues to make edits and additions to his inaugural address. We will have further updates for you on that. I know it was asked yesterday in the speech, its going to be a personal and sincere statement about his vision for the country. Hell discuss what it means to be an american, challenges that we face as a member of the middle class, about infrastructure, education, manufacturing base. Less of of an agenda and more of a philosophical document, the proper role of government, the role of citizens. Look forward to that. With respect to the action on capitol hill, i think the nominees continue to go up to capitol hill and impress the American People and United States senators with the caliber and quality of people that the president elect has chosen. Said of scott pruitt, hes the best choice for the epa and hell restore it to its original mission. Of wilbur ross, hell turn the country around. Senator marco rubio of florida said governor nikki haley will stand up for American Values at the u. N. And dr. Tom price is someone that americans can finally work toward a patientcentered health care. Today energy Skt Rick Perry and treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin will be there testifying. Theres a great deal of reform come. Steven mnuchin is a dedicated team building. He will work to hammer out a tax package that will allow businesses to compete on a global basis. Well have further staff announcements today on the commission staff, special assistants, deputy assistants and assistants to the president. Well release some of the noncommissioned support staff as well. This morning as the Vice President elect noted we have officially filled the cabinet with announcement of sonny purdue as secretary of agriculture. The president elect understands how its important to ensure the continuity of government. So in addition to the appointments that weve announced and will announce, the president elect has asked over 50 individuals to stay in critical posts throughout the government. Included in this group are the deputy secretary of defense, chuck rosenburg, rick rasmussen, the office to monitor and combat trafficking of persons, Brett Mcguirk to counter isis, cody kinsley, adam suban, acting undersecretary for terrorism and Financial Intelligence to the department of treasury are just some of the individuals who will be staying aboard through the time being until a replacement can be named. Here is the rundown for events that are occurring today and tomorrow. Please keep in mind all timing is approximate and continue to check the official schedule. Today at 12 30 the president elect, chief of staff reince priebus, sarah armstrong, mitch mcconnell, Kevin Mccarthy and white house senior staff will attend a leadership luncheon at the Trump International hotel. Thats a pool event. At 3 p. M. There will be the Vice President elect, the president elect and their families will attend a wreath laying ceremony at Arlington National cemetery. At 4 30, the Vice President elect and their family will attend the make America Great again rally and concert. Tomorrow, big day, its inauguration day. It will begin with the president elect, his familiar, the Vice President elect and his family attending an 8 30 Church Service located right across from the white house. At 9 30 the president elect, the Vice President elect and his family will attend a white house tea. At 10 30 they will travel to the capitol for the swearing in. At 11 00, the president elect and he is family, the Vice President elect and his family will attend the swearing in. At 11 30, the first lady and secondady will attend an inaugural ncheon. At 2 30 p. Theyll attend the military review located at the capitol on the east front and at 3 00 theyll attend the inaugural parade outside the white house. They will attend the liberty and freedom ball and following that will attend the military ball. On saturday at approximately 10 a. M. , the president , Vice President and their families will attend the National Prayer service at the Washington National cathedral. Over the weekend the incoming staff will be located here at the ptt to help support the transition. On the eve of the inauguration one point thats important, we have over 536 beach head teach members. These are the individual being placed into agencies and departments throughout the government. They have been identified to support those things. This is an unprecedented number of individual that are going to be ready on day one as far back as we can see. I think that is important as well as the individuals to ensure continuity of government and ensure were ready on day one to get things happening. We intend to have the first briefing at the white house on monday in the james brady briefing room. Times will be announced. As a logistical note, during this weekend weve worked with the White House Correspondents Association to ensure there is a pool camera located here. Should there be a need for a briefing, this is where it would take place. Some of you are interested in getting your passes. Were working with the current white house. Theyve been very helpful. Make sure you email our team. Well help facilitate reporters who doesnt have hard passes to get in and out of the complex. On monday the greatest leeway of time we have is appreciated. Theres no question the high quality and caliber of individuals the president elect has selected to lead his government. Even the Senate Leadership on the democratic side admitted so much, talked about going after a few of them. I think consensus candidates like elaine chao, ben carson, not be part of senator schumers list to work with us to get this done on day one. This is disappointing. Er that consensus candidates prior to a few weeks ago and it speaks volumes that the democratic leadership is not working with us to ensure a continuity of government. This was not the precedent set by the republicans to work with the Obama Administration. I expect the same standard for our individuals, and i think senator schumer should do the same, recognize that this is more about continuity of government and ensuring these qualified individuals get voted on as soon as possible so we can lead this country forward. With that ill be glad to take some of your question. John roberts. Reporter yesterday you promised youd be able to shed more light to the first orders the incoming president will sign on saturday and give us an idea whats coming up on monday. Im going to have to continue to update you on that. The president elect is continuing to get briefed on some of the orlders we wants to do and sequencing of those. Obamacare, the fight against isis, immigration, key issues that have been important to him throughout the campaign and will continue to be important to him throughout the administration. He is committed to not just day one, but day two, day through of enacting an agenda of real change. Youll see activity tomorrow, over the weekend and monday, tuesday, witness. Its going to be a robust mott just day one but first week, first month and probably first term. Reporter do you know how many of tomorrows orders are processed . I dont want to go there yet. I think the president elect is still working through which ones wants to deal with tomorrow versus monday or tuesday. Well tried to get a readout of those Going Forward but it is a work in progress. A lot to be done. Reporter i would like to know if we are going to the White House Press corps are going to still work at the west wing. I think thats been asked and answered. As you can tell by today, there is a tremendous interest, frankly an unprecedented interest in covering this president. The demand and enthusiasm to understand the agenda he has is frankly unprecedented. Weve tried to be accommodating and look at additional room space. Well host the first meeting in the james brady briefing room. It going to be a little cramped, i imagine. Thats where well hold the first couple briefings for now. Can you confirm the president elect has plans to go to the cia in the near future to, for lack of a better term, make nice after whats happened . Cecilia asked whether or not he had plans to go to the cia. Im sure at some point shortly he will visit not just the cia but a lot of the departments. The president continues to be humbled by the people who served this nation and the work that they do so many times without the proper recognition for the sacrifices that they make in terms of time. So many of them could be making more in the private sector but they continue to serve this government. I think the enthusiasm to serve in government and be part of this administration has gotten greater by the day. There are so many people who have submitted a resume or said i want to go back into Public Service or rejoin the military. Hes going to make sure he tells them how much he appreciates their service to our country, their commitment to acting for an agenda of change. Youre going to see a lot of activity of making that a priority to thank so many of the people who serve our government. And again, not just federal servants but so many people who volunteer their time in various ways to serve this nation, both paid and unpaid. Reporter but does the president elect feel there need to be some fence mending, if you will, with the Intelligence Community . He has been very clear the statement he put out the friday he got the briefing. He respects the work and diligence of the Intelligence Community. The men and women who so often service in the Intelligence Community without recognition for the work they do, he has made it clear. The work of the individual, the men and women who tirelessly support the Intelligence Committee is something he will continue to support. Reporter what do you say to hispanic groups who are concerned and what do you say more broadly about the criticism that this undercut president elect trumps argument that he is here to serve all americans . Thank you for the question. I think when you look at the totality of his administration, the people that hes talked to, the people that hes met with, the people hes appointing, youy a president who is committed to uniting this country, bringing the best and brightest together. Look at the cabinet. The number within thing i think americans should focus on is is is he hiring the best and brightest, hiring people committed to making real chang, respecting taxpayers, bringing about an jand that will bring jobs and lift wages. I think youre going to see a diversity in gender, a diversity in thinking and ideology. Its not just about, you know, skin color or ethnic heritage but you look at the totality of this cabinet, indian american, africanamerican, asianamerican, its about a lot of things. You can start to pick out one group and say where is the percentage of that but if you look at the totality of the people hes meeting with and bringing in for seniortaff potions, were going to have 5,000 positions. I think you can pick out one subset but if you look at the totality of the diversity that he is bringing in, i would say its probably something to hold up second to none. But given some of his comments about immigration, about latinos was such a hot button issue, why not make that a priority . I think it is a priority but it a narrow way to look at it and say if you dont appoint people to this particular position, thats a problem. I just mentioned the level of diversity throughout not just his cabinet but the staff and other appointments hell make. As we continue to announce, that problem will be something that people look at and respect the level of diversity throughout his entire administration. Reporter italy is moving [ inaudible ]. Do you think italy should reconsider inviting russia to the meeting. Thats up for them to decide. Im not going to get ahead of the italian government. How many nominees do you expect in the next few days . The Vice President has been in contact with Senate Leadership. Senator mcconnell has been working tirelessly to get the situation going. There is really no excuse for the delay tactics and frankly the partisanship being exhibited by the democrats. If you hold them to the standard they were held in 08, you recognize the fact they are continuing to employ delay tactics after delay tactic, which isnt good for the public. Over 50 of the American People believe the National Economic and security teams should be confirmed immediately. The idea that theyre delaying that further calls into question their desire to have a government of continuity. It sends not just a signal to folks in the United States but frankly around the world that were not that theyre questioning the ability of continuity of government. Weve taken the proper steps to ensure critical positions were filled, we have a plan to ensure in every department theres a key individual ready to go. But i think its disappointing they have chosen to do this. I noted this before but if you look at the questions that are being asked in these confirmation hearings, its not about substance, its not about policy, it not about issues in front of that department. It about partisan attacks and ethical questions. Thats not these people have had their paperwork in, their quality and caliber and integrity is unquestionable. To see some of these attacks and the focus not beyond issues and schools and teachers and homeland security. There are so many issues facing this country that we need to get moving on add the idea the government would use these stall tactics is not in the best interest. Do you think anybody willin confirmed by monday . I hope so. Senator mcconnell has been working tirelessly to get as many nominees confirmed as possible so what were ready to go. And as soon as senator schumer and other democrats are willing to work with him but again, you look at the comments they made. They came out with their socalled hit list. There are individuals, secretary chao, dr. Ben carson, governor nikki haley, theyre consensus candida candidates, they werent on the hit list and while every one of them is qualified, the idea theyre expanding this list and slowing down the continuity of government, they owe an explanation on those three individuals at least. Why are they delaying elaine chao, why are they not moving on ben carson and governor haley. Why are they holding up those three individuals in particular . Reporter the question on global trade, the chinese president lauded the role of trade. What is the role america will play in global trade and what is the commonality . I think the president s message on trade has been fairly clear. Hes going to fight for American Workers and american manufacturing. Thats going to be the number one thing Going Forward. Hes talked about bilateral deal. Hes going to make sure every deal he cuts, just like he did inusiness puts American Workers, american manufacturing, americas servicemen first. With respect to china alone, its a huge marketplace. You look at the commitment alibaba made the other day when they met with him, talking about increasing Small Businesses and services. Its important people have the opportunity to access those marketplaces that at one point might be too far for them to reach. So hes going to ten to fight, whether its the Chinese Market or other places around the globe for marketing a access but again the guiding principle is always going to be the American Worker and american manufacturing. Reporter getting back to the idea that the president wants to work with and for people who werent with him in the election, how long will he continue trying when the other side is boycotting the inaugural and in your own words not helping with nominations until he says im just going to work with the people who got me there . I dont think thats going to happen. You look at the people hes meeting with. Hes got a commitment of uniting this country, bringing people together, republicans, democrats, people that were for him, against him, agnostic during the cam pan. He has continued to meet with people who have ideas of how to move the country forward, create jobs, reinvigorate our manufacturing base. Hes not concerned with what theyve said or done in the past if their commitment is to the future. Reporter is there anyone hes already brought into the fold . He had an entire meeting with the tech industry, sat down with 25 tech titans. Some of the individual, im not going to get into the statements they may have in the past made. And again i think its shown through his actions in terms of who hes appointed, who hes met with, this is about moving the country forward. I think he has shown a deep concern for getting america back on track and he is really not concerned withhe past. Magarrett. Reporter can you reconcile youre ready ton day one with your statement of you cant have it both ways. Sure can you. Weve appointed more than 50 people in critical positions to maintain their office until we can find a successor for this administration. Weve looked through the entire government and found areas where theres a critical need to maintain someone, theres a continuity to make sure the highest level person those are place holder people and they cant carry out the mandate of the president sure they can. Theres a difference between enacting an agenda and making sure theres an issue or concern. Continuity of government, if theres an attack or weather incident that occurs where each of our departments have to be called into action to support the American People. Make no his take were ready to go on day one. Theres a big difference to be ready to go and start enacting these things. There are limitations in terms of enacting the jand but in terms of being ready to go and respond to an incident, were ready to go at 12 01 tomorrow. Right now our focus was on continuity of government. On a casebycase basis well work with those individuals and the department. Reporter on trade is the president elect going to wait until his cabinet is all in place before beginning negotiations with mexico and canada on nafta . Or if the ustr and secretary of state of commerce are not in place will the president go and contact those countries president s and begin talks correctly sp. Im not going to get ahead of him but part of what he announced in the, tiff order list around the thanksgiving time included the actions on tpp and nafta that would be done by executive order. I think you will see those happen very shortly. When and where in terms of where that cabinet piece falls in, some of it has to do with Senate Democrats but i dont think hes going to wait. Hes made it very clear that some of those things are huge priorities for him. Reporter you said yesterday there there be a couple of visits next week. Britain has been told i was talking specifically about agencies and departments. Reporter but there are no foreign leaders expected next week . Nothing is expected next week in terms of foreign leader visits. Well have an update at some point. Reporter you talked about some of the agencies and contingency plan. Can you address the National Security council in the white house. On a couple of people have been appointed so far. Are there going to be more appointments tomorrow or over the weekend . Im not sure that thats true. We have a great group of folks thats been in Constant Contact with the National Security council and homeland council. There are several individuals within the homeland Security Council and National Security council that are being held over in their positions. A lot of individuals are detailed and staying on board. The contact and level of support back and forth with the National Security alone has been tremendous. Weve had realms of briefings ad support. That is one area they have been very, very aggressive and robust to ensure the team is ready to go forward day one. Kate. Reporter ethics experts and former white house lawyers have expressed deep concern over Donald Trumps plan to separate himself from his business. The o. G. Director said it is not sufficient. Given that he has not released his taxes, will he at least give a list of people hes in debt to and why or why not . I think thats been asked and answered a hundred times. The president elect made it clear, he has no conflicts by law. Hes gone above and beyond in terms of making sure he separates himself from his business, hands it ove to his kids and put in place a very, very rigorous plan to make sure no conflicts of interest occurred. He has no conflicts by law. So what he has done is extraordinary to ensure his focus is entirely on helping this country move forward. Thank you. Francesca. Reporter could you give us a little bit more color information on how the then president plans to spend his first weekend on the white house and more information on what he plans to do during his first week and clarify those departmental meetings coming up like the cia will also be takingnetaking next week . Im not going to get in his schedule next week. There will be time carved out for executive order signings as he chooses. There as a lot of work thats going to occur over the weekend in terms of meeting with staff, getting prepared. As we get closer to monday, well have an update on the schedule in terms of where he might be going and other signings hell be conducting. Reporter theres a lot of rumors going around about the First Executive orders. Can you clarify whether or not hell issue an immigration executive order on monday or sometime next week . You promised you would give us more details. I know youve already gone over the logistics, but theres a lot of concern what hell come up with in terms of immigration. Well have an update on the schedule. The president elect is still working with the team to decide how he wants to sequence these things. Ill refer you back to the video. He laid out clearly what his Top Priorities will be, immigration, job creation, tax reform are all at the top of the list. Its frankly a question of sequencing. Were working on the timing. Zek miller. Reporter in terms of the campaign against isil or isis, the ongoing strikes, the u. S. Troops that are on the ground in training or other capacities, will all of those continue . Will the president elect provide any new order on that front to change the current isis strategy . With respect to isis, i think hes talked about very clearly that he wants a plan from the joint chiefs very quickly to combat isis, how we look at a whole government approach to that. He continues to meet with the National Security team about whats in place but im not going to get in front of what decisions hell make tomorrow. Well announce all of that. For the time being weve got a team in place that will continue to advise him and make sure the country remains safe and our priorities are carried out. Shane. Reporter last week trumps lawyers talked a lot about separating from his business interest. Both last night and today hes scheduled to visit his own home tell and promote the dining room and food there to support those that hes going to his own hotel . Thats pretty smart. That hes going to his own hotel shouldnt be a shocker. Its symbolic of the kind of government hes going to run, on time, underbudget excuse me, ahead of time, underbudget. Hes very proud. Its an absolutely stunning hotel. I encourage you to go there if you havent been by. I dont think the idea that president elect trump is having a reception at the trump hotel should be a shocker for anybody. Now that the cabinet nominations are filled, what messages do you have for the cabinet on capitol hill when it comes to the speed of the confirmations . Look, ive talked about it before but its important that we get these individuals up in front. Theres nobody thats really questioning their qualifications or their caliber or ability to lead the department. These are amazing individuals that have a commitment to enacting an agenda of change. And so my message is simply lets get it done. This is not time for partisan politics, this is time to ensure the American People have a government in place that can get that done. Coming from israel, regards the middle east there are plenty of reports that the president might move the American Embassy from tel aviv to jerusalem. Can you confirm that he decided to do it . What i can tell you is stay tuned. There lab further announcement on that. The president s made very clear that israel is not gotten the attention it deserves or respect in the last eight years. He intends to really show his respect for israel, the importance of it in the middle east and i think he has continued to talk with his team both ambassador designate jared freeman, jared kushner, Rex Tillerson about how were going to work with israel, i think first and foremost who to make sure we continue to support our ally, israel. That is something that is going to be the priority of this administration. Yes, maam. Reporter you said the president was focused in finding the best and prettiest people for his government. I wonder can you understand that with 56 million of hispanic people in the u. S. , its like adding offense to the injury to say that there was nobody bright enough for the president thats not what i said. He has tremendous respect. Again, you have to look at the totality of diversity that exists within in cabinet. There are so many ways to express this in terms of gender, background, race, ideology. He continues to put together an amazingly diverse cabinet. If youre looking specifically at hispanic, as we move forward, we have 5,000 jobs to fill. Theres going to be a tremendous number of hispanic americans who fill those posts. I caution people to stay tuned. Lots of great things are coming. Reporter are you guys going to send anybody to the syria talks on monday . Ill have an update soon. Reporter on e numbers we were talking about earlier, you talked about the 536 people on the beach head teams. What does that mean in terms of the 4,000 political thats a great question. Thank you for clirifying that. Theres 536 individual that are on these beach head teams. They are temporary employees that serve as assistants to the secretary designee as office. Those individuals are able to work in the various departments as temporary officials for i think its unp to 120 days. In some cases they stay on. It will be up to the secretary or administrator of the department or agency whether to maintain them on. Maybe they choose to not stay on board. That will be a decision that gets made. If they stay, they are counted as part of that overall thing. Thats a mutual decision that incoming secretary or administrator or director would make in consultation with the individual, whether or not they wanted to stay on board and whether or not the individual wanted to stay on board. What does that mean in terms of where you guys are on the 4,000 number . Those people are temporary. In some cases, until the secretary or administrator or director is confirmed, they arin able to make a permanent pointment. We are worki appointment. We are working to have individuals ready to go. Now that the cabinet is filled, i think that you will see a lot more activity at that level, but the president elect wanted to make sure that his entire cabinet was locked and loaded before he started getting to the deputy under an assistant level. Now that that is complete this morning with appointment of sonny purdue as secretary of agriculture, youll see more activity at the lower level. Once confirmed, theyll make a decision whether or not those 536 individuals are part of overall package. Thank you all. I look forward to seeing you on monday. Have a great weekend and tomorrow is going to be a very special day. Was incoming Secretary Sean Spicer holding his first oncamera briefing. You heard spicer talk about how the president elects speech tomorrow will be more of a philosophical document, he says, more vision based than policy based. He named some Obama Administration officials who will be staying on in incoming administration, including the point person on the fight against isis, Brett Mcguirk. He was asked about diversity inside the cabinet, spicer naming elaine chao, ben carson, nikki haley. We do know as weve reporting, it will be health care, isis and immigration will his priorities. This is donald trump and his family getting ready to leave trump tower to come down here to washington. The president elect will be on a military play, not on his plane, Trump Force One that we always see. Once the president elect gets to washington, he will be moving in to washington. We know his son don jr. And eric trump are in this motorcade, as well as tiffany trump. There is a lot of activity happening today in washington and in new york. I want to get to Peter Alexander who is outside trump tower. Are there a lot of folks watching this very significant occasion . Reporter thats exactly right. Its a significant open case in the word of mike pence, its a momentous day before an historic day. We can see the new york citys finest, getting in position. This motorcade is now getting ready to move as theyre revving the engines and clearing the road as they head off to what should be a short drive to laguardia airport. He will spend this night and evening in washington, d. C. Hes been shuttling back and forth but this time when he goes, he will stay. Tomorrow night for the first time, he will spend it in the residence at the white house, hallie. Hang tight for us there on fifth avenue. Were likely going tock checking back in with you once the president elect gets on the move. I want to go to katy tur. Talking about taxes and debt, spicer saying it has been asked and answered a hundred times. Some would argue while perhaps it has been asked, it has not been answered to the president elects critics. Reporter thats what i tried to get answered. Let me play for you what was said and well talk about it on the other side. And we dont have that sound for you, katy we can summarize. I asked specifically. Theres a number of White House Former lawyers and ethicists who say its just not appropriate the way that donald trump is separating himself from his business. His plant doesnt go far enough. Sort of a complete divestiture, donald trump will be facing potential conflicts of interest no matter what. Obviously trump is not doing that. My question to sean spicer was given that 74 of americans want to see Donald Trumps taxes and the fact hes refusedo rease his taxes, will he not at the very least release who he is indebted to. Who does he owe money to, bank of china, deutsche bank, it would allow the American Public find out more about where his motivations may lie when it comes to foreign policy. Some say sean spicer did not answer that question, leaving many to still wonder where Donald Trumps motivations will come from and what will a Trump White House being faced with in terms of conflicts and whether he will end up being prosecuted for violating the emoluments clause. Thats a big, open question. I want to make sure were telling our folks at home what theyre watching. This is at trump tower, hes headed to the airport where hell take a military plane down to joint base andrews. Hes got a series of vanevents tonight. A lot resolved around being ready on day one. You heard spicer pressed about whether or not the pl president elect planned to the cia. Spicer said, sure, there will be visits planned but not that it was about fence mending. How do you see the president elect beginning to take steps to try to get past that . Reporter were going to find out if he does go visit the cia and what he says at the cia. Obviously its a very public fight, in which john brennan is not doing much to heal the wound that might have been caused in this intelligence rift. He is appointing a new cia director. If mike pompeo does got confirmed, it does change some of the leadership. Its the rankandfile officers and agents in the cia who might not feel the president elect is on their side it still rains tbeeen how donald trump is going to handle thatwhether or not he is going to take cia intelligence seriously when he comes into office, whether he takes the fbi seriously. Thats another open question. And the motorcade now just taking off in new york. I want to go to Peter Alexander there in midtown manhattan. I assume all the streets are shut down as they again to make the trip for one of the last times in transition. Reporter one of the questions is how long hell explain how long hell be at trump tower or maralago, which hes described as his winter white house. The Law Enforcement allow him and his family before heading off on that military plane today. Whats striking is beginning in roughly 24 hours from now, he will have access to air force one where he will be the president and all the opportunity that comes with that and the unique provisions provided to the president will ultimately be at his disposal. Reporter our shot is breaking up a little bit in new york. Do we know which members of his family will be staying with the president elect at blair house tonight . This is a longtime tradition for president elects to stay at this location. Reporter a lot of that is kept close to the vest. We do note president elect trump and melania are scheduled to stay there. Ill be at blair house tomorrow and at the church where they will go for the Prayer Service tomorrow, which each president has done dating back decades just across the street from the white house, across from Lafayette Park there as well. Whats notable tomorrow and something to keep an eye on, so many folks eyes will be focused on the inaugural address and focused on all the pomp and remony that surrounds the day the fact that after president obama leaves, there will be a four and a half to fivehour window where all of the obamas property is quickly moved out of the residence and all of the trump familys property is moved in. The mansion has about 132 rooms. A move doesnt get that much more stressful than trying to do the family move in less than five hours. Donald trump said he doesnt expect the parade to be very long, expect it to be a quick one so that time window to shrink. This is donald trump and his family coming to washington now for the final time as president elect. Once he is here, he is basically staying here. Sure he will visit new york. Theres an open question of how often that will happen but this really is the start of the official inauguration celebration. A lot of americans watching this scene with excitement and high spirits. There are other americans watching this, frankly, with concern about what this means for the nations future. You heard sean spicer talk about preparedness starting on day one and we expect that first week at the white house will be quite busy, signing executive orders and cabinet confirmations. The action is not just in new york. It is also here on capitol hill. Two key confirmation hearings are going on right now, one for Steven Mnuchin, and the other for rick perry to lead the Energy Department. We want to listen in to Steve Mnuchin giving his statement. Extended offer 100,000 Loan Modifications to delinquent born owers to try to help them out of a bad situation. I am proud of the fact that Loan Modifications started at indy mac under the leadership of the fdic. However, the fdicoan Modification Program did not work for everyone. When the fdic took over indy mac, they estimated more than half of foreclosures would not meet their test for modification and they demanded policy conditions, extend assistance, increase the net present value of cash flows to the owner of loan, and stabilize housing markets. My group had to adhere to Servicing Agreements that limited our ability to make own modifications that could have helped more borrowers. In the press it has been said that i ran a foreclosure machine. This is not an accurate description of my role at one west bank. On the contrary, i was committed to loan modification intended to stop foreclosures. I ran a loan modification machine. When we could do Loan Modifications, we did them, but many times the fdic, fannpha fa, freddie mac had strict rules in processing these loans. Our bank was able to do over 100,000 Loan Modifications that allowed people to stay in their homes. Unfortunately, not all the loans were able to be saved and des spite my best effort, some were lost to foreclosure. So concerned, in 2010 i instructed my lawyers to sue hsbc as trustee of the securitized loans to allow us to do Loan Modifications on loans and mortgage trusts that they oversaw. We won on Summary Judgment and were consequently allowed to do more Loan Modifications and keep more americans in their homes. Similarly in 2015 when hud issued mortgagee later 201511, i wrote hud and asked them to change the policy so we didnt have to foreclose on Senior Citizens who owed small amounts of taxes. Unfortunately hud did not agree and we were forced to foreclose on Senior Citizens, even if they only owed 1. Not complying with these hud policies would have subjected the bank to penalties and losses from hud. Despite our inability to save every home from foreclosure, we were able to complete the independent foreclosure review conducted about the o. C. C. Every one of the 175,000 borrowers that were in the foreclosure process during 2009 and 2010 were able to have an independent review of their loan. We had a very low error rate, and independent government reviews routinely shows we had the most effective Loan Modifications of any bank. If we had not bought indy mac bank, it likely would have been broken up and sold in pieces to private investors where the outcome for consumers could have been much more bleak. Overall i helped many homeowners stay in their homes and escape financial ruin through my management of one west bank. My experience confirmed that we must identify and eliminate unwise and burdensome policies which contributed to the disastrous outcomes that came in the wake of the financial collapse. Many americans are still suffering from the disastrous ripple effects the 2008 crisis had on our nation. Faithfully ensuring this does not happen again means careful oversight of a Financial System which prioritizes the needs of every day americans over the wishes of Financial Institutions or the federal government. I felt great empathy for the millions of hard working American Families who lost their homes because the system faile them. If confirmed, i will work diligently and compassionately for the American People so we never see anything like the meltdown of 2008 ever again. I was deeply honored when donald trump asked me to join his campaign as finance chairman. I had the opportunity to travel with him and hear firsthand from hard working americans about their concerns for the American People. Over the last year i visited over 50 cities and 26 states. I remember attending my first rally with him in indianapolis. It was an unforgettable experience. As we arrived into the stadium packed with 20,000 people, i saw the excitement that people had for a trump presidency. O on our trip to flint, michigan, i went with the president elect and saw firsthand the crumbling pipes and devastation caused by the leadtainted water. On our travels, we heard the pained and heart breaking stories of American Workers who lost their jobs to foreign countries. You have been listening to the Opening Statement of stevens mnuchin. That smaller box is the plane that president elect donald trump will take down here to washington any minute. You saw his motorcade this hour leaving trump tower, heading to the airport. Hell be landing in washington to figureofficially kick off th inauguration events. Steven mnuchin given a preemptive effect, what it meant for peopl who lost their homes in the crisis of 2008. You heard him say he has empathy for those folks. At the same time, rick perry is on capitol hill making interesting remarks. He said as a president ial candidate he wanted to abolish the Energy Department and now he says he regrets that. Tell us what we may have missed, kasie. Catch us up on the latest. Reporter hallie, this hearing already contentious at the start. We knew this was going to be f potentially one of the most difficult hearing for donald trump here on capitol hill. Up heard Steve Mnuchin already in that Opening Statement going right to the heart of what he knows the issue will be. You outlined that, the concern about the bank that he ran and the level of foreclosures against people with mortgages and also with reverse mortgages. One thing youll heard a lot about during the course of this hearing are elderly people who bought what is known as a reverse mortgage, where the bank says well pay you money for in exchange for once you have died or have to live under other circumstances in a nursing home, et cetera, then well take your house. This allows some people to stay in their home if theyre facing other financial difficulties. But one west was particularly aggressive in forecloshing on some of these people. Some of them are here today. Ive spoken to them. They say they were thrown out of their houses or that that threat came down. Youre already hearing Steve Mnuchin explain that was not how that was prosapproached. Were going to keep watching. There was it back and forth and bickering over a valium thats getting a lot of pick up online. What happened . Reporter so, hallie, i have to be honest with you, i was just trying to track that down as we were going in here. There was a spat between senator pat roberts of kansas and ron wyden who went back and forth angrily, one called the other outrageo. We will find that, change and bring it to you in its entirety atome point down the line. Tensions clearly high at that hearing. I want to go live to rick perry, hes giving his statement. Kelly, interesting comments already from governor perry about the Energy Department, which one as a president ial candidate he said it was a department he wanted to get rid of. Reporter thats right. The former Texas Governor has explained to those who, especially on the democratic side, who have a very clear memory of what he said as a president ial candidate. Hes also saying there are natural effects that are a part of that. Hes speaking about the fact that he knows that this department hes asking to lead also includes the cyber piece that deals with the electorate grid, a far more vast portfolio than perhaps governor perry initially expected. He of course coming from texas has a lot of knowledge about the oil and gas industry and has wanted to be an ambassador for that sector of the economy. But youre referring to a very memorable moment for people who enjoy politics when rick perry said there were three departments of the federal government he would like to see closed if he were successful in that race to become president. And one of those was energy. Heres how he responded changing his mind today. My past statements made over five years ago about abolishing the department of energy do not reflect my current thinking. In fact, after being briefed on so many of the vital functions of the department of energy, i regret recommending its elimination. Of course governor perry talked about his belief in federalism, that states should have much more control, thats part of the root of that view that he held five years ago, but as a part of this transition process, hes been learning about how vast the domain of the department of energy is. While there are many conservatives who think there is too much federal role in some of these areas and want to return more power to the states, especially when youre talking about the Nuclear Arsenal thats clearly a federal responsibility and now in this new age of Cyber Threats where the electric grid for the count is potentially vulnerable, that would be under his watch awell. It goes beyond texasbased familiarity of gas and natural gas. So perrys got to answer for that today. As we talked about, republicans support him and he has even contract joe manchestan on his side. Donald trump is set to leave any minute to come down to washington. The next time each heads back to new york to visit trump many tower, he will be president. We have much more to come all day long. I want to toss it over to my colleague in new york, tamron hall. Thank you, hallie. Great job. A lot going on. You saw the image from laguardia as donald trump leaves new york headed for washington, d. C. We are following confirmation hearings of two of president elect trumps cabinet nominees, rick perry and Steven Mnuchin as the New York Times reports today it was not until after he accepted the job that the governor, quote, discovered he would become the steward of a vast
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