. good morning, everyone. welcome to cnn this morning. it s december 31st. yes, it s the last day of the year. happy new year s eve to you, martin. happy new year s eve to you as well, amara. thank you. we are, of course, following breaking news this morning. pope benedict emeritus has died. pope francis had been asking for prayers. for the firstet time in modern history he resigned in 2013, citing advanced age, which paved the way for pope francis to head the church. cnn s delia gallagher with more. reporter: in many respects, benedict xvi was the pope who got a bad rap. nearly 24 years as pope john paul ii eternal enforcer and the german chancellor lived in the shadows of hitler s regime, referred as god s rottweiler. years of anything tev publicity caused many of his accomplishments to go unnoticed. he was the first pope to go green, making the vatican the first country in the world with a zero carbon footprint, putting solar panels on its rooftops, and bringing
get your perspective in terms of what pope benedict s legacy is to you. reporter: well, personally i have known and followed pope benedict and ratzinger i was taught theology as a former student. so i have been deeply involved with rat zing re s theology and when i came to the vatican, i met him personally. one of the things that sticks out about pope benedict and when people ask me about him, his dichotomy between his public reputation and personally meeting him. it s very kind of alarming to sort of meet him in person when you realize he s such a kind and humble and person of great intellectual and cultural brelt so that he had the capacity to focus in on you and say
constitution. what we have seen since inauguration day, actually since the campaign, is a person who is now president of the united states who does not revere the constitution, has no respect for it, has no respect for the office, has no respect for his duties. it is not only leader of the united states, leader of the free world, but also protector of democracy. so the fact that you have people what was brelt breath taking to me in that graphic is the number of people and the positions that they hold. if you cannot trust the attorney general of the united states to hold the president accountable and to stand a up for the rule of law and to ensure the oath of office is adhered to, then we re in deep trouble. and the fact that you have not only the attorney general of the united states but the secretary of state, white house lawyers
see this consistent sweep to the right globally. we re part of that global pattern. and i would say this though, mika, following up what gene said, we may actually be ahead of the curve of what we re seeing now in india, what we re seeing things that brelt brillia bret brilliantly brings up. voters have been put on notice. i think one of the most remarkable things as far as voting trends go is that black women in central alabama, not in an off year election, right, in a special election, came out and voted against the republican candidate in numbers that even exceeded those for barack obama in 2008 and 2012. you look at what women did across america in northern virginia, southern california,
ways now to do that. and orrin hatch, i hope, when he tells the white house this is met with a response of, okay, find ways to work with the democrats so that we can strengthen the affordable care act. that would be a positive result for r one in the country. would you take that message to the white house if you were given the opportunity? i would and i think this can be a win for the president and for the administration, a win for the new chief of staff, general kelly. i think it can be a win for all of us in washington. but most important of all, a win for the american people. chld gentlemen, it was lovely having you both on at the same time to talk about ways to find a solution rather than ways for the other side to find a solution. it was a true brelt of fresh air. meanwhile, we will be right back. but when family members forget,