President Obama's top counterterrorism adviser said that she believes the United States and its allies are winning the war against ISIS and that the incoming Trump team needs to guard against the possibility of terrorism during the early part of the administration.

Lisa Monaco oversees a team of some 50 senior directors and other officialsat the White House who are focused on counterterrorism, cybersecurity and homeland security. Monaco and her team guide a wide range of American policies -- from the fight against ISIS, to how to guard against hackers on key infrastructure in the States, to how to mitigate the effect of emerging diseases.

Monaco previously ran the National Security Division at the US Department of Justice, which is in charge of prosecuting terrorism and espionage cases, and before then she was chief of staff at the FBI.

We sat down Thursday at the Defense One Summit in Washington to talk about the Trump transition and the fact that its "landing teams" have not been in touch as yet with her or her team; the possibility that Guantanamo Bay will go back into service for suspected terrorists, including, perhaps, for American citizens; and the possibility that coercive interrogations of terrorism suspects could be reinstituted.

Monaco gave her assessment of the war against ISIS -- the group is losing and badly in her view --- as well as how other jihadist groups are faring, including the continuing long-term threat posed by al Qaeda's affiliate in Syria,and what she believes the next administration needs to worry about most, including the possibility of a terrorist attack early in the Trump presidency. We also discussed what the US intelligence community has determined to be Russian cyberattacks on elements of the American electoral system during the presidential campaign.

Peter Bergen: The Trump transition: Have they been in touch with you?

Lisa Monaco: Not me personally. We are ready to carry out the President's directions. The President's been very clear with his team that we are going to conduct a professional, smooth, comprehensive transition.

Bergen: Given the fact that President-elect Trump's campaign was very bound up with the issue of terrorism, is it surprising they haven't been in touch with you yet? After all you are the top counterterrorism official in the country.

Monaco: What's important to understand is there is a process put in place. It's now preserved in statute -- the transition statute. There's a White House Transition Coordinating Council, of which I am a member, and we have had a number of meetings to facilitate the transition. Now that we have the President-elect and his team there are a number of steps they have to take to be ready to receive classified information, not only from the National Security Council but also across the government. No (Trump) "landing teams" have gone into any of these agencies while those final steps are being taken.

Bergen: The landing teams -- they would need to have top secret clearances to be briefed?

Monaco: It will vary, depending on what type of information they're receiving, but certainly individuals who come into the National Security Council, the Defense Department, CIA, will have to have appropriate clearances in order to receive information.

Bergen: And you have no idea who your successor may be?

Monaco: I do not.

Bergen: When you meet with him or her for the first time, what are the most important pieces of advice, or warning, that you would give that person?

Monaco: What's going to be critical for my successor is to make sure you're focused on the very complex and wide-ranging array of threats that we face today. It's everything from terrorist threats, cyber threats, emerging infectious diseases. It's an extremely complex environment in which we're operating, and so I will be walking my successor through that landscape.

But, broadly speaking, I'll also try to impart, the types of things I think they should be focused on: building a good team, making sure you're asking questions, trusting your instincts, and then, personally, I would instruct him or her to live close by because you're going to spend a lot of time in your office. And I would also advise that person to stock up on Vitamin D because, as you know, I occupy a windowless office in the West Wing of the White House, and when I'm not there, I spend the rest of my time in a windowless Situation Room, so he or she will need to get comfortable with that.