The mantle of the office. Romney and the president have a complicated relationship to say the least. Back in 2012 it, romney was tried to fended off gingrich and santorum and got help from an endorsement by reality tv star donald trump. He took it despite trump was spreading the racist birther conspiracy thoroughly about president obama. Mitt is tough. Hes smart. Hes sharp. Hes not going to allow bad things to continue to happen to this country that we all love. So governor romney, go out and get them. You can do it. Thank you, thank you. There are some things that you just cant imagine happening in your life. This is one of them. Being in Donald TrumpsMagnificent Hotel and having his endorsement is a delight. That was then. Four years later with trump winning primary after primary, mitt romney delivered a stunning rebuke of the frontrunner. Now, im far from the first to conclude that donald trump lacks the temperament to be president. Theres plenty of evidence that mr. Trump is a con man, a fake. Donald trump is a phony, a fraud. His promises are as worthless as a degree from trump university. He urged republicans to vote strategically to deny trump the delegates did he needed to secure the nomination. Didnt work though. Trump got the nomination, went on to win the presidency. Things then got better in the trump romney relationship. The two broke bread as romney ended up on the short list to become secretary of state. Look at that picture. That picture says so much, more than i could even just can we put that picture back up . Look at that picture. Wow. Caption that. But romney came up short, right . And trump went on to choose Rex Tillerson for that post. 2017 with rumors tut senator orrin hatch would retire, the president urged him to stay on for another term with some in romneys circle believing the whole thing was an attempt to block him from the senate. Hatch retired. It looked like the feud was over with trump endorsing romneys bid and romney accepting his support. Hours before he is sworn in as senator, mitt romney is speaking out about the president. I would work with the president as i would with any president which is on those areas im in agreement well work together. Where i disagree, ill point that out. In matters that relate to the divisiveness part of our political environment, ill speak out if i need to and i think its important as i begin this new job to make it very clear where i stand. Mark mckinnon is here to discuss. Hey, mark mckinnon, how you doing, sir . Happy new year. Looks like you were kicking it hard new years eve in new orleans. I had a great time. Now im back to business. Whats your reaction to had . Are you surprised to see romney take a public stand and criticize the president . Im fascinated by romney because like a lot of people over time, i keep wondering which mitt romney is going to show up. Right. Part of the answer to that i think is there are two mitt romneys. Theres the mitt romney who acts one way when hes run acanother that acts one way when hes serving or hes not running for office. At the core of mitt romney i thistle is somebody very mccainlike income that he has a sense of honor and the dignity of the office and that will character counts, country first. Soles i think people were really wondering to see which mitt romney was going to show up as the senator. I think its the Public Servant mitt romney. He made it very clear right out of the gate hes not coming here to genuflect, that hes going to be a voice. He said i agree with the president on a lot of policies. The important point i think he makesing is that a lot of republicans are just saying all that matters is the end. We dont care about the means. Mitt romney is saying the means matter. I just want to play, this is mitt romney with jake tapper earlier. Watch this. When you say that you have issues with his character and you talk about his integrity and honesty, the suggestion being that he lacks integrity and honesty, what specifically has he done that has bothers you . What is the rhetoric that has come from his mouth and actions that trouble you the most . Well, over the course of the last two years, i have put out a number of statements that relate to things that were of great concern to me. The charlottesville response by the president was something that gave me great concern, the support for roy moore in the senate race was something i was very, very concerned about, his attack on media. I wrote an entire piece about that. So ive laid out time and again places where i disagree with the president and i think its very important for a president to demonstrate it the qualities of integrity and honesty forthrightness, empathy and respect for the institutions of our democratic republic. I think those are all parts of the job, and while i agree with him on a lot of policy fronts and salute the work thats been done by the Republican Leadership in washington, there are places that relate to the, if you will, forming of National Character that i think we can do a better job. Okay, a lot town pack there. He will still took the guys endorsement, right . But he seems to be suggesting, mark, that the president doesnt stand up for our values. What gives here . Well, like i said, there are two mitt romneys. Theres the guy who is very ambitious, politically ambitious. Will sort of do anything to get where he wants to go, but once hes there, he returns to form of that humble mormon who thought a lot about service and Public Service and humility. You know, we have a show called the circus on showtime thats a documentary designed to kind of show the different dimensions of the candidates and the inspiration for that show in part was the documentary mitt where it was after the campaign unfortunately, it was a decision that they regret now because it showed a side of mitt romney that none of us had seen before. When i saw that, i said i like that guy. I never saw that guy in the campaign. Theres a side i think the public hasnt seen a lot of. Maybe well see more of now that hes in the senate. Its getting a good counter balancing voice. So many republicans havent been speaking out and mitt romney said from day one im going to speak out on these matters of moral conscious and integrity and honesty. I think most people want that. The critics of mitt romney, the supporters of this president dont want it. I think most of the country want a check and they want republicans to speak out and not just go lock step with whatever the president says even if its not true or a lie. Having said that, this is the president s reaction to the oped today. Watch this, mark. I wish mitt could be more of a team player, you know, im surprised he did it this quickly. I was expecting something. Im surprised he did it this quickly. If he fought really hard against president obama like he does against me, he would have won the election. So hes saying romney could be more of a team player. First, were you surprised at how measured he was, you know, and second, is the president effectively saying hey, mitt, fall in line . Well, i think strategically, it was the right tone as opposed to just outright attacking him like he often does, you know, more sort of in anger and sorrow, more in sorrow than anger. But you know, then to say that he didnt work hard against obama, thats pretty hard to get a guy come to be a team player. Listen, i think its going to be kind of a fractured relationship over the next couple of years. Theres going to be times when donald trump needs mitt romney and times when romney will support him. He said theres the video of it. He says hes not running for president but hes undecided on whether he will endorse. Given his critique of the president , his history with this president , can you imagine him endorsing trump in the end . Hard to imagine and you know, he was quite critical. I wrote an article when romney accepted the trump endorsement back in 12. And i was surprised by that. But i think again, i think romney, i think he has great character as the core of his conviction but hes also incredibly politically ambitious. I think hes in part positioning himself for whatever circumstances may happen and if things go south quickly which they could given all the investigations that are coming, hes in a very significant position to see where the future oust Republican Party could go. Yeah. I think the criticism of mitt romney is people want to see the mitt romney from today be the mitt romney that is always out front and center rather than the one sitting at. I think its a fair criticism. But im glad to see it. Or accepting the endorsements of someone who was bredding a birther lie, as well. Thank you. Always a pleasure. Yep. Good to see you. The incoming 116th congress will be the most divers in american history. 126 women will take office, including 43 women of color. One member of this hick incoming historic Incoming Freshman class joins me now. Madeleine dean of pennsylvania. So glad to have you on. Thanks for joining. Happy new year. Thank you for having me. Your first day is set to be in the middle of a Government Shutdown. What is your top priority . My top priority is to get started and get to work. Im thrilled and excited. My family is coming into town. My friends and supporters. We have a couple of buses coming from pennsylvania. So im eager to number one, go through the important ceremonial swearing in, the important moment of being sworn in but really eager to get to work. None of us thought we would be sworn in during a shutdown but that will certainly emphasizes the urgency that this is 116th Congress Must meet at this moment. Is it fair to say that this is the year of the women on capitol hill . You bet it is. Take a look at the freshmen class of the 67 folks in the freshman Democratic Caucus newly elected, more than half are women. Another two women in the republican incoming caucus. So its very exciting. Im going to talk to you more about that. What is behind this big change do you think . Well, i think maybe youve seen it and been covering it. Over the course of the last year, certainly very energized folks have come out from all across this country to support candidates, to run for office, people hole have never run for office before in their life. Theres a real energy in the air. I think a lot of it was driven by the election of our current president that is people thought my vote really matters and i better be engage and bring people to office that want to do the right work. Lets talk more, dig in deeper about what you said earlier and i said id follow up on it. While overall there will be more women than ever in this congress, only one congresswoman elect, one of the 36 freshman female are republicans. Why is the gop behind on increasing diversity . Yorn i dont know for sure. I can tell you what i felt on the campaign trail. That was that democratic voters spoke to issues that women care deep little about and that the Republican Administration certainly did nothing to uplift women and their families. You just felt such an energy as i went around talking to voters, talking to young women in particular, and i think they identified very clearly with what Democratic Women candidates were saying, that we need to make sure we have health care, we need do something about gun violence, about the Opioid Epidemic and make sure the economy is growing for all of our kids and families and we need to educate all our kids. Those values i think lifted a lot of Democratic Women into office. A democratic woman will be in charge of this congress. Nancy pelosi. Once again speaker of the house. Tomorrow she could singlehandedly change trumps presidency. What do you think its going to be like working for her . I look forward to it. I did not know nancy pelosi before i ran for office. She generously came to my office and worked for me and tried to lift up the message i had for voters. She came multiple times. I had the chance to visit with her in other places. Im just one of the many people running for office who helped out. She is a team builder. She is tireless. Youll see her at meeting after meeting in her high heels. She does it with a purpose and her purpose is Good Government and lifting people up and doing good things for people. You previously said you want to work on government reform, restoring decency to Public Service. What does that look liking . As i was out on the trail, it is the one theme that came over and over again. Ive told the story of one rainy day being caught in the rain and i talked to a voter, and i said to the gentleman, what do you care about . He was silent and he said, decency. That was literally all he said, one word. But that same sentiment was echoed over and over. What that means to me is decency in how we speak, how we conduct ourselves. I think thats a direct reaction to the Trump Administration in terms of conduct and rhetoric and voice. And how we treat one another. Do we try to lift people up or do we trial to divide them . Do we treat people humanely or separate children at the border putting their lives at risk . Thats what decency is about, the things American People care about, taking care of our Border Security while honoring our strength of immigration. Congresswoman elect, you mentioned immigration. Where do you stand going in . You know the governments shut down because of the border wall and immigration and border safety. Where do you stand on that . How are you going to get started on the first day . We arent shut down on that issue. This is a government that has cared about in a bipartisan way Border Security. The president chose to shut us down. Over that issue over his wall. His vision of a wall. A wall that his vision is constantly shifting but now it is a 5 billion solid wall. Democrats and republicans care about Border Security and we currently fund Border Security. Congresswoman elect, thank you and good luck. Thank you, happy new year. Is all the diversity in the Incoming Congress a direct result of President Trump . Were going to discuss next. We are now just hours away from democrats taking control of the house, changing everything in washington. Lets talk about it now. Sally kohn is the author of the opposite of hate, a field guide to repairing our humanity. Did i scare you when i said your name . Im just excited to be here. Its late but were here. Keith boykin, sally kohn, and Alice Stewart and rick wilson. Theyre excited to be here, too. Theyre here late every night. I know im not. Its okay. Welcome to the party, sally. Thank you. Dont worry i had caffeine. Happy new year everyone. Keith. Happy new year, don. You brought in the most freshman class in history, the largest class of women ever. Should President Trumps policies and rhetoric get some of the credit for these historic changes . Not at all. Ill give him a little bit of credit. The reality is barack obama, hillary clinton, other candidates along the way have encouraged people of it color, women, did i verse candidates to run for office. And then people in the grassroots have been interested in running for office. The white men are 29. 9 of the population. If you look at 9 statistics, 98 of the speakers of the house of representatives probably 90 of the Supreme Court justices and people are looking at our country and saying this is something dras have been saying for a long time. We want america and congress that looks like america, we want a government that looks like america. Women are the majority of the population. Its time we have more lead women in leadership roles. Its timt v time to have a woman in the speaker of the house. Let me ask you im speaking more about maybe the rhetoric and maybe it was a bit of sarcasm here, sally, because of the president s policies. Sarcastic, you . More women and more diverse candidates said im sick of this. Im going to run and therefore, now we have a Historic Congress with all these women, no . Sure if were desperate 0 give trump credit for something, we can give him credit. Look, i do think keiths right. The time has come, this has been a Long Time Coming historically. And by the way, this is a drop in the bucket. We are nowhere nearly parity. So as much as we should celebrate the moment happening now, were nowhere near parity and we are not to the point where we have a congress, more importantly that not only looks like the American Public but is actually taking on and addressing the concerns that the American Public says over and over and over again they want them to docks address climate change, raise wages, raise taxes on the rich, make the country work for working people, address gender and equality and racial injustice, actually fix things. We may be now are getting closer and closer to a congress that will actually work for all of americans. Alice, the democrats celebrated numerous historic firsts. Americas youngest congresswoman, the first worst Muslim Congress women, as well as two native american congresswoman, the first openly gay man elected to governor in colorado. Alexandria ocasiocortez posted the picture on her social media today that she and her incoming female representatives i just wonder, is this female takeover of congress tomorrow, nancy pelosi and the rest of the women . Its a very important first step. And i think thats a good thing because this help in my view help the dialogue move along. Weve got a long way to go though. Right now women in congress here represent about 23 makeup of congress, yet we have 51 of the population. Ill say hats off to the democrats did a really good job of recruiting women candidates. They have in the House Democrats have 35 new freshmen members and republicans one. Over in the senate, its 113 in the democrats favor. Thats a strong positive step. This help for a lot of reasons. I think it will help the dialogue and getting things done. Its a goo