The new job. Well, good morning, chuck. Appreciate you having me on. Let me start with the meeting with mitt romney. Is it fair to conclude ive talked to a few people close to your campaign but were talking to you and that is simply its Rudy Giuliani or mitt romney for secretary of state. Is that fair to conclude . Look, i think if you see the entire picture here what americans should take from this is the fact that we have a president elect trump that wants to bring allri gave on wednesday morning very graciously say nothing matter who you are, no matter what your background, ill be here for you, make you proud of our country and what you saw with mitt romney people like ted cruz coming in is a continuation of this bridge building in this scene that all americans should take in that he wants to bring us all together. The meeting with mitt romney itself, though, i will tell you was a very good meeting. Was productive. So we dont know where it will lead right now, but i can tell you that it was a great first step and people should be proud of the way things are going here in president elect trumps operation. Would it surprise you if president elect trump selected mitt romney for secretary of state . You know, look, im not sure who hes going to select but i do know but would that surprise you. Rudy giuliani, general keene, general kelly, hes tal well see, chuck, where it goes but its a good sign for all americans. I want to talk about, obviously, donald trump ran especially at the end on the phrase, he used it a lot, drain the swamp. But theres a number of moves that have happened that call that into question, perhaps conflicts of interest, his daughter ivanka trump was seen pictured at the meeting with the japanese Prime Minister there are some businessmen from india president elects organization, Trump Organization, they had a meeting with the president elect, took pictures of it, creating this idea that maybe theyll end up profiting off of the trump name now that hes president in india. How are you organizing a divestment or a blind trust right now of donald trump and his businesses . Were not going to get into the details of that but that is being handled and there is nothing being discussed of any import. How do we know that. You didnt bng the meeting was cursory. And, look, all of these things all these rules are going to be followed, chuck. There is going to be no violation of any of these rules, i can assure you of that and as we move forward those matters will be more clearly spelled out and youll be aware of it but the one person i can tell you that makes these decisions is donald trump. Families historically have been seeing donald trump do right now is bring the best and brightest together to make the best decisions for america, for all americans no matter who you are. At the end of the day, how does he prove hes not used the presidency to profit. There have been reports that the trump hotel in washington, d. C. , that ambassadors were encouraged to bring their visiting delegates and have them stay at the trump hotel in washington, d. C. Is that true . No, its not true at chuck, and i think what we have here is its truly a unique situation where you have an International Business person that has done incredibly well in life that is now going to work toward focusing 24 7 on being president of the United States and setting up a system, a legal system to shield himself from any and all conflict. Thats what were doing. Thats what people are going to see and in the coming days and weeks the American People will recommending if following, wall street journal, no member of the liberal media, at least their editorial page. The political damage to a new administration could be extensive, they write, if mr. Trump doesnt liquidate he will be accused of a pecuniary motive any time he takes a policy position. They essentially believe its untenable for trump or his kids to have any control over the Trump Organization while hes president. Does the president elect share that view . Ok right now, chuck, as well, and like i said before, were going to make sure no matter what decisions are made that theyll be run through counsel and theres a White House Counsels Office that will be there, that will be issuing opinions and these matters will be dealt with accordingly and donald trump, our new president , is going to spend every hour, every minute of the day making america proud of where were going and making America Great again but also making the decisions that this country so were getting ahead of ourselves a little bit but i can assure you the work will continue and the best and brightest will be brought together no matter their background, their political affiliation and all the rest. Let me ask you about the appointment of general mike flynn to National Security advisor, essentially there are two corner offices in the white house, youll be in one, hes going to be in the other. In february, flynn posted a video listing bombings comment fear of muslims is rational. Can you equivocally rule out a registry for muslims . Um, look, im not going to rule out anything. But i wouldnt were not going to have a registry based on a religion. But what i think what were trying to do is say that there are some people, certainly not all people, chuck, there are some people that are radicalized and there are some people that have to be prevented from coming trumps position, President Trumps position is consistent with bills in the house and senate that say the following. If you want to come from a place or an area around the world that harbors and trains terrorists we have to temporarily suspend that operation until a better vetting system is put in place. And when that happens, when a better vetting system is put in place, then those radical folks excuse me, theyll not be allowed will be allowed in but only until that is done. Thats what general Michael Flynn believes and thats what President Trump believes. Does president elect trump agree with general flynn that fear of muslims is rational . He believes that no faith in and of itself should be judged as a whole but there are some people in countries abroad that need to be prevented from there are some people that need to be prevented from coming into this country so i think thats Reince Priebus, the next white house chief of staff, appreciate the time and thanks for sharing your views. Thank you, chuck. You got it. On friday i traveled to michigan for a story on middleclass voters who picked donald trump over Hillary Clinton, well have that story for you later in the hour. But while i was there i took a break to interview the new Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer. He began by telling me that Senate Democrats would give a very thorough vetting to president elect trumps choice for attorney general, senator jeff sessions. And that h for mike flynn, though he doesnt need Senate Confirmation who, of course, is mr. Trumps voice for National Security advisor. But then here were going to begin with a question i asked of whether he thinks Senate Democrats should oppose President Trump because its good for the party or work with him when they can. Well, my test is the specifics. Were not going to work with him for the sake of working with him. Were not going to oppose him that trump sponsors but let me give you an example on both sides. Surprisingly on certain issues candidate trump voiced very progressive and populist opinions. For instance, getting rid of the carried interest loophole. Changing our trade laws dramatically. A large infrastructure bill. Cleaning up the swamp in washington. These are things that democrats have always stood for and, frankly, republicans have always been against. So were going to challenge President Trump to work with us if he doesnt, hell be breaking his promise to particularly the bluecollar workers, many of whom voted for him on those particular issues. But on issues where our values are at stake, where the president goes in a divisive direction, where his campaign did before, well go against him with everything weve got. Were not going to repeal or help him repeal obamacare. We are not going to roll back forget about that, we have 60 votes to block them. Were not going to help him build his wall. We have a comprehensive Immigration Reform bill that builds a much tougher Border Security and had bipartisan support than hes ever called for. So were not going to oppose him just because its trump, but were certainly going to stick to our values and oppose him wherever he opposes those. But i hope, chuck one final thing, i hope on the promises hes made to bluecollar america on trade, on carried on infrastructure that hell stick with them and work with us even if it means breaking with the republicans who opposed those things. You may have the longest relationship of any u. S. Senator with donald trump. I know you frequently speak with him. Im curious, how frequently have you spoken with him postelection . Well, look, number one i didnt know that well. Wed see each other occasionally at events in new york but i didnt know him very well. Apprentice so you must have been somewhat palish. Well, they asked me to do it and i was surprised but i dont know him that well, i learned for more about him in the campaign. I was troubled by a whole lot of things in the campaign. The only thing i can say to my colleagues is president obama met with him and said the presidency is a sobering experience so i hope that President Trump will rise to the occasion and when he does well try to be supportive but doesnt well use everything weve got to oppose him. Im interviewing you right now from the suburbs of detroit. Were doing a bring focus on what happened in macomb county, a place where there were obama trump voters. Why do you believe you lost the Democratic Party and Hillary Clinton lost these voters that voted obama in 08 and 12 and voted trump in 16, particularly in a place like michigan. When you lose an election you have to look it directly in the eye and analyze what you did wrong. And the analysis will continue but my preliminary reading is very simple we did not have the kind of strong, bold, and pointed economic message that appeal to these people and a message that talked about how rigged the system was in washington. What i hope to do as our democratic leader is craft policies and platform and message that are bold on economic issues, that are on economic issues, that dont just i believe in around the edges. And what that will do, i believe, is unite not only democrats in the senate, youve seen in our leadership this team this kind of message has gotten. Bernie sanders and Elizabeth Warren on our team as well as joe manchin and mark warner but much more importantly, unite america. I dont think there should be a choice. You know, people say well, should we go after the obama a bold, strong strong economic message will unite both of them, both groups. It will appear to the worker in oakland county, the factory worker, the College Student in los angeles, the single mom trying to get above minimum wage in harlem. Let me finally ask you about the Supreme Court obviously you were not pleased with how Senate Republicans handled the Merrick Garland nomination. I assumed barring some miracle for your side it is not going to b duck. Pray for that miracle. How are you comfortable filibustering any pick that a President Trump makes and if that happened, do you fear the Nuclear Response by the republicans . Well, first i hope that President Trump picks a mainstream candidate. A mainstream candidate is somebody you may not agree with basically believes in following the law. What does that mean . Can he nominate somebody, in your mind, that is, say, ted cruz . Is he too conservative for you. Im not going to get into specific candidates but wed hope it would be mainstream. If it is mainstream, you have to remember the last four nominees two from president bush, two from president obama, got bipartisan support on the bench. If he doesnt nominate a mainstream going to go at him with everything we have, or her. Go at the candidate with everything weve got because this is so, so important. Now, you know, senator mcconnell has said lets not use the filibuster. But they dont come with clean hands having delayed Merrick Garland for a whole year and further more i was the person when the rules were changed back changed the rules i said lets not do the Supreme Court, we should have 60 vote, which we still do, because we should get bipartisan support so i hope both President Trump and leader mcconnell will recognize those facts. Senator Chuck Schumer, i have to leave it there. Thank you. Democrat from new york, new Senate Democratic leader, thanks for joining us. Thank you. Appreciate it. I did that interview on friday. As the interview was airing donald trump tweeted the following about Chuck Schumer this morning. Relationship with Chuck Schumer, hes far smarter than harry r. And has the ability to get things done. Good news. So there you go, a trump schumer relationship begins anew. When he come back, my trip to macomb county, michigan, home of the reagan democrats who voted first for president obama voted first for president obama and then for d welcome to the world 2116, you can fly across town in minutes or across the globe in under an hour. N power. In less than a century, boeing took the world from seaplanes to space planes, across the universe and beyond. And if you thought that was amazing, you just wait. . Hey there, hi. Why do people have eyebrows . Why do people put milk on cereal . Oh, are you reading why people put milk on cereal . Why does your tummy go grumbily, grumbily, grumbily . Why is it all mimics a stomach grumble no more questions for you ooph, that milk in your cereal was messing with you, wasnt it . Yeah, happens to more people than you think. Try lactaid, its real milk, without that annoying lactose. Good, right . Mmm, yeah. I got your back. Lactaid. Its the milk that doesnt mess with you. Safety doesnt come in a box. Its not a banner that goes on a wall. Its not something you do now and then. Its using stateoftheart simulators to better prepare for any situation. Its giving offshore teams onshore support. And its empowering anyone to stop a job if something doesnt seem right. At bp, safety is never being satisfied. And always working to be better. Lets dig in with the panel. Kathleen parker and tom friedman. Welcome to you all. Robert, i want to start with you. Romney, giuliani, how real is romneys secretary of state . You are quick with the trump scoops. What you got . Romney is very much in the running for secretary of state. Trump likes his look, he likes his background. He wants to make an overture to the republican establishment. For trump, he knows his reputation not only at home but around the world. He wants to maybe have a different kind of face. Theres no question that romney brings a different face because he is the epitome of goodness and would be, i think, a very smart move for trump to put him up front as the face to the rest of the world. As somebody joked, if you t into a human being, it would look like mitt romney. You have to have a Good Relationship though with the National Security advisor. I bring this up, thomas, as somebody who covered plenty of white house and international affairs. Mike flynn has been described this is by former colleagues, people that worked with him, they did it anonymously. You have covered general flynn afghanistan surge. What do you know of him . I have seen general flynn in iraq, afghanistan, washington at the dia. I dont know the general flynn who has been tweeting. I had many encounters with him or several in his job as one of the most intelligent intelligent officers we have had. He and Stan Mccrystal together created the killing machine that took down al qaeda in iraq. They did it in an amazing way, leveraging big data. Theyul leader, take his computer and cell phone and pour it into a computer, find links and do one raid and another and another. I dont know mike flynn but that mike flynn is a serious, intelligent guy. Qualified . The old mike flynn, definitely. I dont know the new mike flynn. Yeah. I would say the new mike flynn is deeply worrying. Thats who we have seen for the last year. Someone who has attacked muslims as awe group, someone who has racist on their face. And also, in a more disturbing level, we found out that he is actually as a lobbyist been getting security briefings. He is a lobbyist for foreign entities, Foreign Companies that are linked to foreign governments and has been receiving briefings while he is doing that. I think in it the drain the swamp concern, theres something still there. One thing on flynn, were talking about list world view and combative personality. But his Association Wi how close he is, its revealing about this whole transition. He is there because he is loyal. He was one of the early people who would go up to the top of trump tower, brief trump on foreign aaffairs. Flynn was in the running for vp because he was there early. What we should learn here . Im tal