Security Tightens At Trump's Mar-a-Lago
BERMAN: As we have said, President-Elect Donald Trump spending thanksgiving at his Mar-a-Lago Resort in Florida. This is his first trip to Palm Beach as president-elect. And the preparations for security, they've been intense. Here's Ed Lavendera.</s>ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Protecting President-Elect Donald Trump is a challenge unlike any other, from Trump Tower in New York to his private club in Florida. So, we're approaching Mar-a-Lago right here. It's a 20 acre water front estate in Palm Beach, secluded from the public but he also shares it with as many as 500 members who are willing to pay a hundred thousand dollars to join.</s>RENNIE RODRIGUEZ, FORMER SECRET SERVICE AGENT: Basically, it's a compound. And we have to treat it as such.</s>LAVANDERA: Former Secret Service in ATF special agent, Rennie Rodriquez says, in many ways, it's ready made for presidential security. Behind this natural barrier here, which I assume there's a fence.</s>RODRIGUEZ: It appears as there's a wall back there.</s>LAVANDERA: There's a wall, a tall wall.</s>RODRIGUEZ: Yeah. It's more than 13 feet, I believe, which is great for deterring anyone trying to come on the premises.</s>LAVANDERA: Behind the wall, Trump keeps a residence that could become the winter White House.</s>TRUMP: And I love here (ph). This is my second home.</s>LAVANDERA: Where presidents spend their vacations is a window into their personalities. George W. Bush like to spend the hottest month of the year on his ranch in Crawford, Texas.</s>GEORGE W. BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT OF U.S.: There's a wonderful spot to come up in here and just kind of think about the budget. I mean ...</s>LAVANDERA: George Bush Senior famously enjoyed the peaceful serenity of Kennebunkport, Maine. Mar-a-Lago stretches across a barrier Island cut down the middle by a two lane road nestled between a stunning stream of multimillion dollar homes. The best view comes from across the bay. Rodriguez says secret service teams are assessing threats that could come by land, sea and air. And standing outside of the club, it doesn't take long to see the skies above will be a major concern.</s>RODRIGUEZ: I mean, that plane's whether maybe a couple thousand feet over us.</s>LAVANDERA: The Palm Beach International Airport is just a few miles west of Mar-a-Lago.</s>RODRIGUEZ: You can see the path for commercial aircraft.</s>LAVANDERA: For years, Trump has waved illegal battle to keep commercial and private planes from flying over this estate. And now that he's president-elect, he might have just gotten his way. When he is on the property, Rodriguez says, the air space over Mar-a- Lago will be closed.</s>RODRIGUEZ: This will be a type of an aircraft that individual would use to drive this plane into -- on the properties.</s>LAVANDERA: And in the waters around Mar-a-Lago, the U.S. coast guard is already setting up security zones. Some parts completely off limits, other areas that require permission before entering. Rodriguez says secret service agents will also conduct renewed background checks on every club member. And inside the club, they can also expect to see new levels of visible and invisible layers of security. Are they in for a bit of a rude awakening?</s>RODRIGUEZ: I think it depends, you know. Some of the neighbors may like it, others, you know, may complain because they don't like the intrusion.</s>LAVANDERA: But life's going change around here for the next four years.</s>RODRIGUEZ: Yes it will. Most, definitely.</s>LAVANDERA: Ed Lavandera, CNN Palm Beach, Florida.</s>BERMAN: That was Ed Lavandera reporting. Now, as he mentioned it's not just Mar-a-Lago that's getting a security makeover. President-elect Trump is using Trump Tower as his transition base. His wife Melania and their 10 year old son, Barron plan to stay in New York for up to six months after President-elect Trump takes office. Let's just call it a challenge for the people-in-charge of presidential security. Mark Ambinder wrote about this in "The Washington Post". He's a fellow of the Annenberg School of Communications and Journalism at the University of Southern California. And previously covered national security in the White House for the "National Journal", I'd had chance to speak to him about this.</s>BERMAN: So, Marc, we often hear about the presidential bubble. The secret service detail that surrounds the president at all times. You know, it's one thing within his house, when it's in the White House, when it's in the Washington, D.C. when you take that bubble and you move it to Midtown, Manhattan right on 5th avenue on a busy Manhattan Street. It's a staggering undertaking.</s>MARC AMBINDER, AMERICAN JOURNALIST: Well, it really is. And in fact, it gives lie to the metaphor that we use. It's not a bubble, because a bubble you can puncture. But this is an iron cast. I mean, the footprint that President-Elect Trump and then President Trump will take in New York is going to be significant and it's going to be larger than I think many New Yorkers realize even now.</s>BERMAN: In terms of dollars and cents, just so we understand what this cost. Now cost, maybe not the issue here, but it is going to be extensive.</s>AMBINDER: Never had you have a president live among other people on a weekend. And that essentially means you have to duplicate the entire White House apparatus, not just the secret service, not just all the security features, but the entire White House apparatus. And import it into a busy city that is working in a building that other people live with rights that they simply can't be evicted, because Donald Trump wants them to be. It is a completely unprecedented situation.</s>BERMAN: And you write extensively about this. And what's really interesting is a big chunk of this is the military office is ensuring that the president can do his responsibilities as commander-in-chief.</s>AMBINDER: Right.</s>BERMAN: What does that mean?</s>AMBINDER: Well, I mean, the president has a number of significant responsibilities. They even go beyond being the commander-in-chief. Commander-in-chief is the one we all know. The president has to be able to consult with military leaders within moments for example of an ICDM watch. So, there has to be a secure infrastructure for him to do that. But the president also has to be able to communicate with the American people. He has to be able to communicate with foreign leaders. He has to be able to communicate with members of Congress and the Supreme Court. All of that is the responsibility of the White House military office. So, they're going to have to create in essence, an intranet within the internet of Trump Tower. They're going to have to create a secure compartment and information facility. They're going to have to create iron chambers if the president can go into when he needs to make these discussions. And they're going to have to replicate that at various points throughout the city when he travels. Just like the White House military office is able to do with Washington, D.C. which has a number of locations the president can go to, especially during emergencies.</s>BERMAN: And this is something that we have to build. Physically build. Not just the technology, but also the human resources.</s>AMBINDER: Yeah.</s>BERMAN: And that's a big deal. Marc, you also write as an example of how big this is about that one date night that the president and first lady had in New York City back in 2009 when they went to dinner on a broadway show. And just that alone was a huge deal. And now, you want to do it on a permanent basis, right?</s>AMBINDER: Right. I mean, if you are the secret service, you can do things, one of two ways, to ensure the safety of the person that you're protecting. You can do it stuffily if the world doesn't know that a protectee is going to show up at a certain place. It's easy to do with a small footprint because the threat is minimal. But if word gets out, you have to essentially send in the big guns. That's what happened with President Obama's date night back in 2009. They had to replicate the entire structure of the White House. They had to send everyone through magnetometers and turns out magnetometers malfunction because they replaced on top of a metal barriers so they had to send everyone through the magnetometers again. That's going to happen over and over and over again. And of course, even President Trump being someone who is not a first to publicity. And again, somebody likes to go out on the town in New York, I have a feeling that you're going to see it this happen a lot. And there will be times when entire parts of mid town of Manhattan are shut down because President Trump, within his rights, wants to have dinner at a steak restaurant.</s>BERMAN: So, more, you are deeply source within the security apparatus of this country. Do you have any sense that the secret service is trying to talk Donald Trump out of spending so much time at Trump Tower? And if they wanted to, could they?</s>AMBINDER: I think they have impressed upon President-elect Trump the difficulty and some of the compromises he might have to make. But I don't get the sense at all if they're trying to talk the amount of it. I really don't. And that's not their job. Their job is to do what they've always done which is OK. Tell us what you want us to do and we'll figure out a way to do it.</s>BERMAN: Make it happen. Marc Ambinder, fascinating discussion. Great writing on your part again. You are the expert on the subject, so thanks so much for being with us.</s>AMBINDER: Thanks John.</s>BERMAN: Coming up. AAA says 43 and a half million Americans are hitting the road for Thanksgiving, more than 5 million others heading to the airports. We're going to have an update on your holiday travel. That's next.