Awaiting Trump Rally In Florida; Obama: Oval Office Will Have "Sobering" Effect On Trump
BURNETT: All right, live pictures out of Florida. As you can see there with the Merry Christmas USA, that is Donald Trump's theme right now. The president-elect will be at that podium in the moments. That's in Orlando, Florida. Vice President-elect Pence will be joining him. This comes just hours after President Obama's final press conference of the year in which he said it is the sobering process when you're walking to the Oval Office. He hopes that Trump will change his behavior. Now, as we await Donald Trump because, obviously, he could respond here, Trump with a lot of very harsh words here related to Trump and the Russian president. Jim Acosta is with us at that rally. So, Jim, do you think the president-elect will respond to President Obama tonight?</s>JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That is the question, Erin. I did talk to an aide to the president-elect who said he is expected to stick to the script that we've been hearing over and over again at these so called thank you rallies and he has one coming up here in Orlando in just a few moments. There are Christmas trees behind me. It's decidedly warmer down here that it is New York, but you're right, there has been some frostiness between the incoming and outgoing administrations over the last 24 hours and it was last night that one of this rallies in Pennsylvania where Donald Trump went after the White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest called him foolish after Earnest earlier in the day went after Donald Trump and said that he shouldn't be attacking the intelligence community. Flash forward to today, though, Erin, and you have President Obama turning down the temperature really just urging the president-elect to get on board with this probe of Russian hacking into the American political process. And it's interesting to note, Kellyanne Conway, top adviser to Donald Trump earlier this morning was saying, "Well, President Obama loves his country he'll shut all of this squabbling down. Later on in the afternoon she talked to full reporters in Trump Tower and said that President Obama and his team have been incredibly helpful during this transition process. So you do get the sense that they are all trying to turn down the temperature after things got very testy in the last 24 hours. And speaking of Kellyanne Conway, one final, very interesting though to past along, Erin.</s>BURNETT: Yeah.</s>ACOSTA: She called me within the last hour sitting next to the president-elect to confirm to us that South Carolina Congressman Mick Mulvaney has been chosen as President-elect Trump's Budget Director, the director of the OMB. So that is something that the president- elect is confirming to CNN through Kellyanne Conway. And it's a real gesture to the House Freedom Caucus, you know, the group of very conservative Republicans up on Capitol Hill that Mulvaney is getting the spot, so sending a signal to Republicans, conservative Republicans in that Donald Trump likes having one of them inside his administration, Erin.</s>BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much, Jim Acosta. That's something, of course, that could help him considering up the city, independent estimates are for some significant borrowing to fulfill his economic promises. "OutFront" now, former Reagan White House Political Director Jeffrey Lord and former Clinton White House Aide Keith Boykin. So, Keith, let me start with you. President Obama said today that the White House changes people, which I guess it sort of definitional, but it's impossible for any of us to truly understand the magnitude of those moments. But here is how President Obama put it.</s>OBAMA: When Donald Trump takes the oath of office and is sworn in as the 45th President of the United States then he's got a different set of responsibilities and considerations. And I've said this before. I think there is a sobering process when you walk into the Oval Office.</s>BURNETT: So, are we going to see a different Donald Trump?</s>KIETH BOYKIN, FORMER CLINTON WHITE HOUSE AIDE: I don't think so. You know, I work in the White House for President Clinton and I've known Barack Obama for years and I just don't think that Donald Trump is the type of person who will be changed by the Oval Office. I think he's shown who he is throughout his term as a candidate when he ran for office and during the transition. He's on Twitter every day. He's attacking "Vanity Fair" and "Saturday Night Live." He's attacking reporters. He's attacking union bosses and anyone who disagrees with him. He's a thin-skinned very troubled person. And I don't think he's going to be any different as president of the United States.</s>JEFFREY LORD, FORMER REAGAN WHITE HOUSE POLITICAL DIRECTOR: I think he's the president-elect of the United States with reason. Last night I had the opportunity to be in Hershey at that rally that Jim Acosta was just talking about</s>LORD: And I can tell you, he was himself and the people in that room, it was about 12,000 people, that's exactly what they want to see of their next president that is why he is president in the first place. Now -- I mean, do I think that he's got a sober understanding of what goes on in the Oval Office? Sure, sure. Every president goes through a situation where everything is new to them and they get adjusted to it. He will go through that, too. But this is a serious man. This is a serious executive. This is a man who built this global company. This is a man who's now been elected president. You don't get there without being a serious man.</s>BOYKIN: You know, I agree with what you're saying Jeffrey that he spoke to his crowd last night and that's what they wanted to hear. But that's not what the president-elect needs to do.</s>BURNETT: Is he a serious man?</s>BOYKIN: No, he's not a serious person. No one seriously believes, except for maybe Jeffrey and a few of Trump's supporters. No one seriously believes the Donald Trump is a serious man.</s>LORD: And that's why he's president is because you underestimated him, totally.</s>BOYKIN: It's very troubling hearing, though, because the reality is he's still on Twitter. He's still attacking people. He still not taking intelligence briefings. He still -- he hasn't had a press conference in 142 days. He hasn't released his tax returns. He is violating every norm, traditional norm of politicians who've been elected president in modern political history.</s>LORD: The world is changing. The world is changing, though.</s>BOYKIN: Yes, the world is changing, but there are some norms, basic acts of decorum that this president-elect hasn't even begun to attempt to try to do to bridge that gap. There is a chasm in our country, a chasm, a deep dividing chasm because of this election that just took place and Donald Trump is not doing anything to correct that.</s>LORD: Well, of course, he is. Of course, he is. But he was elected to lead the country in a specific direction and he's going to do that. And as to some of the things you're talking about, you know, the whole release the taxes thing, only people like us cared about that. I mean, the American people, those people that were in that room last night they could not have possibly cared.</s>BURNETT: Wow. I mean it looks frankly voters overwhelmingly in this country. That was an issue that people in Washington cared about, people in the media cared about, people in this country did not seem to care about with taxes particularly. But, Keith, you know, obviously there is no love lost between President Obama and President-elect Trump and that's very clear. But today, Kellyanne Conway, Trump's campaign manager as with him on that plane, your (ph) Jim Acosta say side by side tonight. She said President Obama could end dispute between the two of them, that it is on him, particularly over whether Russia have the election shift. President Obama needs to step up. Here's how she put it.</s>KELLYANNE CONWAY, SENIOR ADVISER TO PRESIDENT-ELECT TRUMP: If you want too shut this down and you actually love the country enough to have this peaceful transition in our great democracy between the Obama administration and the Trump administration, there are a couple of people in prominent positions, one is named Obama, one is named Hillary Clinton since this people are trying to fight over her election still. They could shut this down.</s>BURNETT: Is she right?</s>BOYKIN: Of course, she's not right. You know, I could give a lot of words to describe that, but I won't use any of them on televisions. Let me just say this, President Obama had to sit through five years in the Oval Office while Donald Trump question his legitimacy as president of the United States and never apologize for it, by the way and still has not apologize for. If there's anybody who has anything to do to try to bridge that gap, it is Donald Trump. He is now supposedly the president-elect, there will be after Monday if the electorates vote for him and I think that he has the responsibilities to try to do something, he is not doing that.</s>BURNETT: Shouldn't he take the high road and say, "Yes, I trust the intelligence communities," instead of saying, "No, that's people trying to say that I illegitimately won (inaudible)."</s>LORD: Well, I think there are people that trying to do that. And look, let's be very candid. When you listen to President Obama today, when you listen to Hillary Clinton in the speech where she said, "Well, Putin doesn't like her." The fact that matter is those people in that hall last night didn't vote for Donald Trump because of some Russian hack. The state of Michigan and Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Florida did not vote for Donald Trump because of some dumb hack. What was there a hacking? Sure. Should it be investigated? Yes, but if we're going to have ...</s>BURNETT: But he hasn't said that.</s>LORD: What I'm saying to you is this is not why he was elected. He wasn't elected because of the Russians ...</s>LORD: Height of absurdity and that is exactly why he got elected because these elites believe this kind of stuff.</s>BOYKIN: Well, two things, first of all he lost the popular vote by almost 3 million votes.</s>LORD: Not in my state.</s>BOYKIN: Well, he lost the popular vote by almost 3 million. Secondly, this is exactly the problem right now. Jeffrey, the campaign is over.</s>LORD: Yes.</s>BOYKIN: And Donald Trump if he wants to be president, he can't just talk to those people in that hall. He has to talk to all the American people. He can't just be the president of his supporters.</s>BURNETT: Final word, Jeffrey.</s>LORD: Yeah, of course, he's talking to all the American people. You know, what he has to do is bring this country together. He is doing it. He is out there thanking people.</s>BOYKIN: Give me one example, one example.</s>BURNETT: All right.</s>LORD: The speech that he's been giving.</s>BOYKIN: Oh, yeah, yeah.</s>BURNETT: Thank you both. And next, Electoral College voters getting death threats, hundreds of harassing letters in one day, the message, "Don't vote Trump." Is it working? They do vote this weekend. And Michelle Obama coming out swinging in a new interview today with Oprah Winfrey.</s>MICHELLE OBAMA, U. S. FIRST LADY: Now we're feeling what not having hope feels like.