according to the jerusalem post, might be the next ambassador to israel, we'll see on that, had his own syndicate showed on fox news filmed in front of a live studio audience. even laura ingraham who seems likely to be the next press secretary has her own show. it's on xm radio, but we'll still count it. television, it just doesn't rot your brain, it might be a fast track to the white house. maybe it's both. that's all for tonight. "with all due respect" starts right now. >> i'm donny deutsch. >> and i'm mark halperin. with all due respect to the fox transition, it seems fox news has moved on. >> it's big news in san francisco bay area. mystery foam undulating and on the move. see, we're worth something. we brought you mystery foam. >> we're going to ask all our

guests tonight about the mystery foam. friday is, once again, news day, my friends. on a deign when donald trump has changed course and reportedly agreed to settle that trump university lawsuit, the president-elect's transition team announced three major administration job picks. one of them is the kansas congressman, mike pompeo, to be the cia director. that pick is being relatively well received by people in both parties and the intelligence community. but trump tapped alabama senators jeff session for the job of u.s. attorney general and retired lieutenant general, michael flynn, for white house national security adviser, the first to require senate confirmation, the second does not. both men have records of accomplishment, and both were among trump's most early and devoted supporters. this is in some ways a reward for that loyalty. but they are also both under fire for past statements considered racially and religiously charged. a problem that has plagued now three out of the first five

people trump has wanted to hire for his administration. so let's start with sessions. who has denied senate confirmation for a federal judgeship back in 1986, because of allegations that he had made racial inflammatory statements and disparaged some civil rights organizations such as the naacp and the nclu. today in a statement, elizabeth warren displayed outrage. saying, i urge president-elect trump to reverse his apparent decision to nominate senator sessions to be attorney general of the united states. if he refuses, then it will fall to the senate to kpaerzal. james clyburn tb democratic congressman from south carolina, followed after warren with his own scathing statement, regarding sessions, saying his civil rights record is

disqualifying and should disqualify him for senate confirmation. cable news has been peppered with reports, suggesting there could be a fight over sessions. >> he's expected to be a major player in enforcing and enacting trump's immigration policy in the fight against sanctuary cities. >> he's a fierce combatant. very partisan. >> a little troubling giving his background. >> he's had some controversies in the past. >> some complaints about these racial remarks. >> accused of using the n-word and joking about saying the kkk was okay. >> i think he believes in the rule of law and i think will probably get confirmed. >> all right, so donny, sessions got support today from his republican colleagues in the senate, including jeff flake and lindsey graham, who some people thought might oppose him. given the senate rules, a majority would confirm sessions. so is this a good pick on the merits and how controversial is it going to be? >> we will get confirmed. and i'll go back to the math you did. three out of five of our first

picks from trump have a genuine history of racism or anti-semitism. i'm going to always when i talk about appointees put my hand back on steve bannon. we're not going to let the news go ten days later. this is a man who's propagated hate and anti-feminism and misogyny. now we have jeff sessions. very simple, a history of it. he did not get appointed as a federal judge because of it -- confirmed. >> confirmed, i'm sorry. and i don't know when we got to the point where somebody who could not ever be the ceo of a company or the principal of an elementary school based on things they've said and done, we are now kind of going, well, but. >> i think when we got there, the president-elect would fit that category, too. >> i think that's a fair thing to say. politics aside, as a dad, i'm disturbed and concerned. >> i think you say he's going to be confirmed, and i suspect he will be, but he's going to be pressed at these hearings to explain the statements he made in the past, the very statements that for the most part, although he's made more recent ones, that kept him from being confirmed.

and i think, as i've said about bannon, he's going to have to explain himself. i don't think the answers he gave in his senate confirmation, which were deemed inadequate, are going to be good enough for this. i think he's going to have to give significantly better answers, on some of these controversial statements, we can run through what they are, people can go and google and read about them. he said, i don't remember saying that or i didn't say that. he's going to have to show people his heart. he should not be the attorney general of the united states, unless he shows people that in his heart, he's -- whatever he said in the past, that he will be in equal protection under the law, he will not treat religious and racial statements casually and will not make them himself. and i think it's possible if he performed poorly in the hearing, he won't be confirmed. >> it is a fact, hate crimes are already up, particularly in schools. and there's usually the word "trump" attached to it. trump is a racist. we'll talk more about flynn and some of the things flynn has said and done is frightening,

has given air cover to this. and if we as a society cannot behave with each other properly, we are screwed. there is an alarming pattern happening here. >> it's stunning, it's stunning that they sequence the announcements this way. to end up with three of the five. it's stunning. >> all right, and the hits keep getting better. moving on to michael flynn, donald trump's new national security adviser, that position does not territory senate confirmation, but like steve bannon, flynn is taking fire today for anti-muslim rhetoric. the retired lieutenant general tweeted earlier, this year, quote, fear of muslims is rationale. his consulting business has reported ties middle eastern countries and last year he took a paid speaking engagement and appeared with president putin. >> the president-elect is entitled to someone who he trusts. if you took these controversial

things away, and again, i'm not stipulating that we should, look at his record of military service, that he's challenged authority, the fact that trump trusts him, i think he would be in some ways a good pick. there are some questions about his temperament, but if trump trusts him, and i'll say again as i said before, trump's temperament is pretty similar to flynn's, in my experience. these statements must be explained. and even though he's not subject to senate confirmation, he should not be evasive. he should explain forthrightly. he should have the confidence of the nation and not hide behind the fact that he doesn't require to be confirmed by them. >> call for a complete shutdown of muslims entering the u.s. on twitter, he has retweeted from people like jared wide lynn, these crazy, crazy alt-right. his son, his son, michael flynn, tweeting, saw african-americans on b.e.t., but whites can't have

their own dating site. so we have the racist son, also. and on top of that, you mentioned the temperament. you know, i'm terrified that a week into trump's presidency, we get attacked, because they want an overreaction. i think the jihadists are salivatiing at these guys, because they want to get the party started. and we need restraint, particularly guys with trump. tell your wife the chinese food will be home. i will not let you forget. but that he is doubling down, and i'm terrified. i'm not an expert, i'm just a guy that watches people. >> he's got to explain himself or he shouldn't have the job. all right, there was one less controversial pick, donald trump made today, as we mentioned, the choice of the kansas congressman, mike pompeo, to be cia director. he is not as prominent a figure as the three announced today, but his resume is impressive. it includes west point and harvard law. and he's got a seat on the house intelligence committee. he also was on the house committee that investigated the 2012 benghazi, libya, attacks,

where he accused the obama administration of a cover-up, and was one of the harshest critics of the star witness, the former secretary of state, hillary clinton. >> any question is, why was heaven and earth not moved at the initial sound of the guns, maybe even putting tankers in the air from mcconnell air force base in kansas? you simply didn't know how long the series of events was going to continue, nor did you know how long the risk to the people that work for you was going to remain. >> congressman, you will have to ask the defense department these questions. >> so, pompeo did get some love from democrats today, despite his bgz hearing performance, that some have criticized. the former bill clinton deputy national security adviser, nancy soertberg, both had reservations about pompeo's hard-nosed path, but also called him a respectable choice to head the cia. >> pompeo could be a perfectly fine national head of our cia

director. he knows the agency and i think that's a good thing. he's clearly competent. >> i think mike is a very bright guy and he's hard-working. i think he understands the agency very well. so he's a solid pick. now, mike can be very partisan, as you saw on the benghazi hearings, and he'll have to set that aside. but i'm confident that he can do that. and i think he's a very capable choice, so of the three that came out today, i think he was the most solid pick. >> donny, same question we asked a t about the first two. good pick on the merits and how controversial will he be? >> i like these. harvard law school, west point, obviously a very, very smart guy. and i like that he's relatively fresh faced. it's not the same names. a bit of a hard-nosed guy, but seems to have a great reputation. seems to have the right demeanor about him. he was very tough about benghazi, he thinks that whole thing was politicized and if it's up to him, it would still be going on. but i think it's a good pick. >> if being someone aggressive

on benghazi was disqualifying, donald trump would have to put only democrats in his cabinet. i don't know much about him. i knew who he was and knew he was on intelligence, but i did not know about his background. it's really impressive. and i think it's helpful to have members of congress in the administration. one of the things that's hurt our foreign policy is the failure to have bipartisan relations between the executive and legislative branch. so this seems like a very good pick. it is curious to me, though, that he's made this pick without knowing who, or at least announcing who, secretary of defense, secretary of state is going to be. to me, you want to get a team that can work together -- >> that's not his management style. you see it already. he likes to pit people against each other and see where that math leads. i am in control. i am deciding who goes. >> i guess i don't get the logic of clustering these lee today. >> late this afternoon, the new york attorney general, eric schneiderman, put out a statement saying that donald trump has agreed to drop $25

million -- not drop, to pay fraud allegation lawsuits related to his trump university real estate seminars. trump touted himself as someone who would rather fight litigation that he feels unjust than sweep it under the rug. mark, what does it say that he settled this case? >> well, it's a big surprise to me. and of course, he said, he would never settle, and he does not have a history of settling. to me, a very good sign. donald trump is not someone who in the past looked a to the kind of distractions that a normal presidential candidate would see and say, we've got to get rid of this, attacking mccain, attacking megyn kelly, attacking the khan family. this to me is potentially a good sign, where he gets it. he needs to be less-encumbered by distraction. "the wall street journal" had a article about how he could deal with conflict of interest. this is a sign that he gets to clear the decks. >> first of all, he has said,

whatever you settle a case, it means you lost. no, it means you made a business decision. and this was right on two merits. let's say there was some really nasty stuff in there. certainly not going to be good for his presidency. even if he felt he was going to be exonerated, it was still the right thing to do. even if it cost him $25 million, we cannot have this going on. you have the ability to get this out of the way. whether you come out on the positive or negative side, you have an obligation to get out of the way. >> and i don't want to judge the merits because i wasn't a jury and didn't see all the evidence. but based on the news reporting that was done on this, he owed those people some money. that university was a scam in many ways. and while it may not have been as worthless as the critics said it was, he owed those people some money. >> he sold some snake oil. let's hope he didn't sell 60 million other people some snake oil. what it means for your weekend, traffic, and weather together right after this.

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your life. this is one of them. being in donald trump's magnificent hotel and having his endorsement is a delight. i'm so honored and pleased to have his endorsement and of course, i'm looking for the endorsement of the people of nevada. >> that was mitt romney in 2012, accepting the las vegas endorsement of one donald j. trump. 24 hours ago, we talked on this program about donald trump's playing t inin ining tete-a-tet trump this weekend. several sources say this is not just for show and it's going to be a serious discussion about a possible cabinet position, secretary of state is most often messagesed,, for the former republican presidential nominee. so far, the reaction to the prospect to romney as secretary of state has been met with very favorable views, including from capitol hill. the one source told me today that this meeting is, in fact, just for show. i'm not sure at this point where it really stands, but as i said, the reaction to the prospect has been positive. so, donny, what's your gut on

whether this is real, whether romney might end up with the job? >> somebody very, very high up in the inner circle yesterday told me it was very, very real. they were very excited about it. they were one of the people behind it. look, we talked about this yesterday. that this would be such a tremendous gesture. it would be so many people at easy, particularly the godzilla, as you guys call it, factor keeps going up, as far as what i'll call very truckulent, very pugilistic, very scary in certain ways figures. when you have a guy like romney, whose biggest deficit was his calm, and the opposite demeanor, i think, would give a lot of people a reason for pause, for comfort. and if it is just for show and it is a head fake, that's frightening in and of itself. we're not going to know, though. >> the fact is, if he ends up not picking romney and picks someone who people don't react well to, who's not a stabilizing, comforting influence, i think it will be a problem, you know? it won't be ideal. i just can't tell you how well people have reacted that i've

talked to today. democrats, republicans, foreign policy types. and the reality is, romney is not like some softy on foreign policy. romney was very aggressive on foreign policy. and his views in some cases deviate from trump's, but not in a lot of fundamental ones. >> the fundamental one, he was the first one to say correctly that russia is our geopolitical enemy. the reason it feels so good to people, we are dealing with such an unknown now. everywhere we go, what is that? wow, that smells kind of funky. and to put somebody in there where we say, okay, he's a grown-up, he's smart, he's been around, it's comfortable. >> it's going to be interesting to see what kind of reporting comes out of the meeting. if trump does want to pick him, i can't imagine he'll want to let it sit around for a while. my gut is, if he wants him, he'll pick him soon. >> if he was going to pick him, i think he would have done it as a surprise. >> still can. up next, we'll show you how donald trump's meeting with the japanese prime minister was covered in japan, right after this.

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hashtag stuffy nose. hashtag no sleep. hashtag mouthbreather. just put on a breathe right strip. it instantly opens your nose up to 38% more than cold medicine alone. shut your mouth and say goodnight mouthbreathers. breathe right. it has been a mad house over at trump tower. reporters seem to be spending every waking hour watching the parade seekers going up and down those gilded elevators. today we went over to the skyscraper to get a sense of what it's like at a trump stakeout. and here is how the media is coping. >> i'm here at trump tower to learn all the new rules on how the press can cover donald trump now that he's the president-elect.

rule number one, live shots must be across the street. hey, i'm press. can i come through here? >> no, you can go to 57th street. >> okay, can't go this way. >> we came through the nike store. as we were walking down fifth avenue, we saw all of the press vans. it kind of hit us like, oh, yeah, this is why they're here. >> it is a weird setup. it's a public space. you have this mix of tourists and foreign dignitaries, a lot of reporters, a lot of cops, a lot of secret service, a lot of big guns. it's trump america, right? >> we have to go through some security. >> so a bunch of us press are camped outside on the ground floor of trump tower. >> waiting to see who's who, and if anyone important is coming. >> a presidential cabinet member, could be a celebrity. >> could be a tourist from oklahoma. >> are there any rules? like, you have to stay behind the ropes? >> not a lot of space. one reporter was trying to sit down on the floor and apparently they're not allowed to. it's inadequate seating, but i don't think they were planning for this. >> using the starbucks' wi-fi?

yeah, blazing fast wi-fi because of the starbucks. >> you got to be in the rope if you're going to do it. if you're going to interview people, you've got to go outside. >> oh, no problem, i'll step inside. >> now, new yorkers think we're the center of the universe, and in some ways, we are. look, this is the most important city in the most important country, and the press is grappling with the logistics there, but this entire city has been affected by the huge security presence there. it's untenable. >> yeah, it is. i live, you know, less than a mile, about 20 blocks away. here's the reality. i heard rumors trump is thinking about spending three out of four weekends here. that's not okay. because the millions of millions it will cost this city. he's got mar-a-lago. he has an obligation to new york city and his voters. once again, this cannot be his home away from home. >> he's got to move his base of

operations to somewhere, not a skyscraper in the heart of midtown, manhattan. it is not just disrupt ive and security problem, but it's not a rational thing. there's nothing sensible about it, except he wants to be home. >> well, there you go. the president-elect has fielded congratulatory calls from all over the planet, but yesterday he held his first face-to-face meeting with a foreign leader. that was with the very lucky or skillful japanese prime minister, shinzo abe. we could show you how the u.s. tv networks covered that sit-down, but we were more interested in how the american president-elect is being perceived abroad, so let's take a look at trump, japan style. >> in order to meet with mr. president-elect trump, prime minister abe arrived in new york on the 17th. we have hashimoto reporting live from inside of the trump tower where they will be meeting. prime minister abe has just appeared. he is heading towards the trump tower for the first face-to-face

meeting with mr. trump. on-site cameras captured a horizontal long box, wrapped with a ribbon. could it be a present to mr. trump? what could be in the mysterious long box. media coverage was not permitted, and only a select few were allowed in. furthermore, the time and place of the meeting were officially announced by mr. trump only after the prime minister had departed japan, adding to the list of unusual arrangements requested by mr. trump for this meeting. on the scene where prime minister abe took president-elect trump's hand took place at the very top floor of the trump tower, with chandelier and gold pillars, this is trump's residence. i have been convinced that the president-elect, mr. trump, is definitely a leader that can be trusted. that i can trust. >> very big thank you to our colleague for helping us translate that news conference. so i think, we talked about this

earlier. i think trump's personality gives him a chance to have instant rapport with foreign leaders. >> absolutely. it's interesting. most presidents become politicians, presidents, and then worldwide celebrities. this is a worldwide celebrity that became a president. and even world leaders get taken with celebrities. and trump has this way, after he won the iowa primary, he called me to thank me for predicting it. and he was like, you were the one who told me to do this all along. and by the end of the conversation, i'm like, how can i help you? he has that ability. >> the barack obama walks in a room, there's 2 people and 98 who don't, he talks to the two who like him. bill clinton and donald trump walk into a room with 98 people who like him and one who doesn't, they go right to the one who doesn't. and world leaders, he's got a big personality. why did hillary clinton say she went to donald trump's wedding, he's fun to be around. and i think it's going to help him get off to a very quick

start establishing relationships with world leaders. >> yeah, most guys, barack obama, coming in for the first time, it's like you're the kid in the room, prove it to me. he fills up a room, we've been watching him around the world forever. i think his status in that way helps him only across the board. >> and a lot of these world leaders are unsettled now. and i think when they get in the room with him and see that he's a pretty calm presence -- >> you can't not like him when you meet him personally. >> ahead of mitt romney's meeting with donald trump this weekend, we'll check in with some reporters who covered his 2012 presidential race right after this. [kid] i won't, dad... [captain rod] happy tuesday morning! captain rod here. it's pretty hairy out on the interstate.traffic is literally crawling, but there is some movement on the eastside overpass. getting word of another collision. [burke] it happened. december 14th, 2015. and we covered it. talk to farmers. we know a thing or two because we've seen a thing or two. ♪ we are farmers. bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪

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welcome back. we are joined now by national political reporter, phil rucker, it's like a little thing on tracks. >> we have globe on ed columnist, scott lehigh. let me start with you, phil. just from your reporting, romney, scale of one to ten, ten, it's happening, one it's a pipe dream, where are we on romney? >> i don't know, maybe a four or five. it doesn't seem pretty firm, yet, but there certainly is a

possibility that something could happen. my understanding of this meeting tomorrow is that it's a more general conversation. trump reached out, wanted to hear from romney, wanted his advice on the transition to power. certainly, they're going to discuss the position of secretary of state, but this should not be seen as a job interview kind of meeting. it's a broader discussion, sort of a peace accord, if you will, and we'll see if trump actually decides to even offer him the job or if so, if romney would even be willing to do it. >> you covered romney. i'm sure you did not cover our new national security adviser. how do you imagine a temperament like romney, ostensibly, i'm not saying, reporting into, but the nsa is kind of the quarterback of the whole team, how do you see those two personas work together? >> not particularly well. i think they have very different approaches into how to be a diplomat, they have different attitudes, they have clearly different patterns of behavior and views on issues like muslims, for example. you know, i think if romney were to be the secretary of state, he would try to be cerebral and

diplomatic around the world, but that would be a real clash with the national security adviser, and i don't know how they would work that out, exactly. and one point in particular is russia policy. i mean, romney in 2012 cited russia as our number one geopolitical fauge geopolitical foe. he was mocked for it at the time, and now it seems prescient, but now there's a disagreement between romney and scott. >> besides the fact that people have said he's a patriot, if asked, he should do it. what about his background and interests would make him want to give up the grandkids and go travel the globe as secretary of state. >> very hard for me to believe that he would do it. it seems what they're doing is offering an olive branch to the establishment wing of the party by bringing people in for meetings, but it's hard to see how temperamentally, dlonlgically, and geopolitically, what trump said about mitt and what he thinks

about russia and what flynn and president-elect trump thinks about russia. also, trump thinks that global warming is a hoax. mitt, in his latist iteration, in the last speech he gave on it, it was a very serious problem and something we had to address the western world hasn't the done enough about it. i can't see it happening. >> scott, i hear your point of view, but i ask this question. you're telling me that if trump offers it to him, he'll turn it down? >> i mean, i can't see, honestly, trump saying to him, given mitt's view of russia and mitt's view of global warming, i don't see why trump would offer it to him, unless they -- >> this cabinet is going to have people who support free trade in it. it's going to have people who, you know, support nato at it stands. i think if -- there's no way to staff a cabinet with republicans, people who agree with trump on everything. you're saying these are fundamental? too fundamental? >> i think that the view on

russia is so diametrically opposed, that unless you work out some agreement, you can haven't a foreign policy team that has really completely opposite views on what our nation's relationship or posture toward russia should be. trump seems to see russia as a strategic partner, has does flynn. romney sees russia as the biggest threat to the united states. i don't see how you reconcile that. it's not one of those differences that you fuzz up and meet in the middle. >> phil, i want to go back to you on flynn. he was fired after two years at the dia, supposedly for a very contention management style. any kind of inside baseball on what he was like inside and what was the straw that broke the camel's back there? >> well, there was a real change in his behavior, based on what his former colleagues say, and what my colleagues here at "the post" have been reporting, which is is that he was a very

decorated intelligence officer and regarded as highly credible and efficient and good at his job. and his behavior really changed in the last few years, and especially since he left the government, he's gravitated more to these fringe elements. and if you look at his twitter feed, it's like trump's twitter feed, but on troisteroids. it's a lot of breitbart articles and info wars and sort of conspiracy theories out there, that is really not what you would expect from a retired three-star general and intelligence officer, with the kind of background and gravitas that he had. >> phil, let me stay with you for another question here about the trump/romney thing, which you can tell, i'm quite interested in. any sense of, are there people in trump's camp who are viewing this as a more positive and real prospect than others? in other words, is there somebody who's the mastermind of this? >> well, it's unclear to get real information about exactly where president-elect trump's head is on this. certainly, people around him have been saying, this is not

really that real, but it could be real. and there's potential here and clearly they're going to be meeting tomorrow and discussing something. and back to the point of whether romney would want this, mark, i think you were there about a year and a half ago, at that park city retreat that mitt romney had. he did a slide show presentation all about foreign policy, all about how he would reorganize foggy bottom and what he would do around the world and all these hot spots. clearly, this is something he's given a lot of thought to. i think he's -- his friends tell me he's sort of interested in getting back into government service, and if he did, secretary of state is the one job he would prize. >> scott, last question, last minute. just, if romney doesn't get offered it, do you think he'll stay supportive of the administration? or do you think if he's not inside, he's going to be a critic? >> i think he will try to be a responsible, bring trump into a little more -- kind of more, channel him into what mitt thinks of as kind of responsible republicanism, rather than a little more towards the

intemperate fringe elements where he now seems to sometimes lean. so i think mitt would be one of those guys saying, look, let me try to mold this guy a little bit. let me try to be supportive and nudge him toward the kind of policy he thinks prudent. >> guys, you've been great. we've got to rap it here. phil rucker and scot lehigh, thank you so much. we'll bring in some really cool strategists next. and if you listen to us in washington, d.c., you can listen to us on the room, bloomberg radio 99.1 p.m. we will be right back. when you find something worth waiting for, we'll help you invest to protect it for the future. financial guidance while you're mastering life. from chase, so you can.

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we are joined now by a triptich of smart strategists, adam hodges, the communications director for the democratic national convention, and up at harvard, very ivy league dave cotchell. i continue with my obsession, whether mitt romney will be secretary of state. dave, i'll start with you. you know him well, does the prospect of the romney secretary of state for donald trump make sense to you? >> well, it makes a lot of sense. i think it would send an amazing message to the world, a comforting message to the world, which is, i think, been shook up a little bit by this election. and in the past year, so i think it would make a lot of sense. he's got a deep and abiding sense of history. he believes very strongly in the

goodness of america and the goodness america represents to the world, when it is strong. and i mean, he would be a great secretary of state. i have no idea if it will happen. i'm certain that his love of country would motivate him to listen to the conversation, to provide feed back and see whether or not it would be a good fit. i think it would be a genius stroke for mr. trump to bring in someone like governor romney, because i think it would send a very strong and powerful message to the world. >> adam hodge, my guess is when we get to discussing some of the announced picks today, you're not going to be a big fan. how would you feel as a mitt romney as secretary of state? >> first, i would love to be a fly on the wall in that first meeting in the oval office between the two of them, or a fly on the wall in the conversation this weekend when mitt romney and donald trump go back and forth about all of the terrible things they said about each other just a few short months ago. i think that's going to be a tough -- >> but as an american and somebody concerned about america's future and security, would you welcome mitt romney as

secretary of state or not? >> well, i mean, i think mr. trump would be best-served by having as many adults in the room as he can possibly get. but mitt romney certainly has his own challenges from his past that, and his own record, that i think would deeply concern a lot of our -- the folks on our side. we'll have to see what happens with it, with his nomination and his confirmation. a lot of people are going to ask some really tough questions about him. there's no question about that. >> sarah, if donald trump called you and said, should i pick mitt romney, what would you tell him? >> i would say, yes. when you look at his picks so far, jeff sessions is probably going to be the most powerful attorney general we've had since rfk. and that's a great sign for conservatives who are interested in the judiciary and care about the rule of law. because it means we'll have an attorney general that understands our issues and has the ear of the president. for someone like mitt romney to be named as secretary of state is another great sign for conservatives, who are looking to these next few weeks and the

decision that president-elect trump makes, as to whether conservatives will have a real voice in this administration. i also just think it sends a powerful message within the republican party, we, you know, criticized our nominee during the general election. hillary clinton had all of these scandals and democrats really were like lockstep and wouldn't ever criticize her. to come together now with someone who criticized him quite strongly, would be a magnanimous and powerful message that the republican party is going to lead this country and actually will help americans fix some of these problems that have been plaguing us. >> adam, i want to shift gears to your party. there's probably only a one in four chance that ryan goes up against pelosi. he gets it. i'll give you a theory that i would give it to him, based on the fact that democrats need fresh faces at this point. sometimes, you've got to move the coach out. nancy pelosi, i love her, i think she's done a great job. she's in her mid-70s, and one could argue, just on freshness alone, they need some fresh faces there. >> look, she has been the most

tenacious fighter for our party, and i think i would just listen to what the president said, i'm sorry. that she -- we wouldn't have gotten health care done without nancy pelosi. and i think we need a lot of really strong leaders to continue the fight in the next congress, the house democratic caucus is going to make their choice in the next few weeks, and the members will make their own choice. but, there can be no question about what kind of a fighter she has been for our party, over the last few years. >> this is actually a great -- this is a great example, though. hillary clinton had scandal after scandal. she was an extraordinarily weak nominee, even in the primary. and yet democrats pushed everyone else out, including nancy pelosi, who helped with that, to make sure that hillary clinton had to be the nominee. and then, when scandal after scandal hit her in the general election, nancy pelosi was right there, saying, no, no, we have to stand by hillary clinton. no one can possibly criticize her or help right that campaign. and that's why they're in the position that they're in, both

at the white house and down-ballot, where republicans now have the congress, 31 states, and democrats are left with five? >> adam, before i get to david, i want adam to respond to that. because there is that argument. look, guys, we can't keep going back to the well. >> no, but i think we need as many champions and fighters as we can have with us in the u.s. congress. look, i think that nancy pelosi, no question, has been that leader throughout her career. and i think that's the kind of people that we're going to need standing up to mr. trump in the next administration. >> david, let's switch back to secretary of state. let's assume that romney doesn't get it. let's hope that giuliani doesn't get. mr. trump is an avid viewer of this show, he's watching, give him three good picks for secretary of state. >> well, i -- gosh, maybe, maybe general petraeus, i don't know,

lindsey graham, nikki haley, let's be bold. i think we've got to have an adult -- look, he's only got so many people in the inner circle. they're -- he looks like he's put some people in jobs now, already. you've got bannon, you've got paribas, you've got, you know, you've got sessions, already kind of lined up. he's going to have to expand outside of his inner circle. and i think we should get, you know, get some fresh faces in around mr. trump, and, you know, the team of rivals concept has worked throughout history. clearly, he is capable of bringing in a lot of diverse opinions, and listening. he's showing himself at this point, to be at least open to talking to a lot of people he hasn't talked to throughout the process. and it was a tough campaign, but it's time to turn the page. i think if he can move in a new direction, find a few people who haven't been in the inner circle, and bring in some ideas and some debate, you know, with maybe a little bit different world view, i think we could have a very successful foreign policy going forward. certainly more successful than we've had over the past eight

years, which has had haa lot of failures. >> sarah, why should someone like jeff sessions who couldn't be confirmed for a federal judgeship be made united states attorney general? >> first of all, that talking point has gotten so silly. this is back when the democrats were testing their bjork strategy. they then right afterwards blocked bjork. we turned it into a verb, to bjork. so this is what democrats had been doing back then, was blocking people and calling them racist. not much has changed, by the way. it wasn't a good electoral strategy then, it's not one now. jeff sessions is a very well-liked senator. and i think it's going to be extraordinarily hard for these senators who have worked with him for years to stand up and suddenly say, no, we're not confirming him. we didn't say anything this whole time, but that -- >> sarah, i think you look at the record of mr. sessions, that was not a bjorking. there are some really serious concerns and issues raised about his past, his temperament, the things, quite frankly that -- >> he prosecuted the leader of the kkk and y'all are calling

him racist. it's crazy. >> but he also said that the kkk was -- he was okay with them until he found out that they smoked marijuana. >> oh, my god, he was sarcastic. he made a joke and said, yeah, i was fine with them until i found out they smoked pot. sarcasm is lost. >> adam, is the dnc going to spend money and mobilize on a grassroots basis to try to stop sessions from being confirmed request. >> i think you'll see us stand up and fight as aggressively as we possibly can. look, we can't -- after the progress we've made under the last president, under mr. barack obama, we can't afford to turn back the clock to someone like mr. sessions, who would go back, really 50 years. you look at his record, look at the things he's fought against, you know, it's no surprise that mr. trump would pick him to be his attorney general, but it's not someone that the american people can trust to defend the rule of law and defend them. i think you're going to hear from a lot of prominent voices, who are going to express some extreme, extreme concerns.

>> okay, adam hodge, thank you. sarahi sarah flores, thank you. we'll be right back. ♪ ♪ ♪ i want a hippopotamus for christmas ♪ ♪ only a hippopotamus will do ♪ no crocodiles ♪ no rhinoceroses ♪ i only like hippopotamuses ♪ and hippopotamuses like me too ♪ at the united states postal service, we deliver more online purchases to homes than anyone else in the country. and more hippopotamuses, too. ♪ i only like hippopotamuses

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one of the most influential people in donald trump's campaign is married to his daughter, ivanka. and that is, of course, john kushner. we're joined now by a staff writer from "vanity fair," who has been digging into this unique relationship. emily jane fox, thank you for being here. thank you from your time from "vanity fair." you've been following jared and ivanka for a while. you've written a couple of pieces, one about jared, one about the wall breaking down. you know a lot of people who know jared. just describe him as a guy. what we hear is temperament, we don't know anything about this guy. >> i think -- i still am struggling to understand who jared really is. he's, by all accounts, very

mild-mannered, very nice, well-bred. i think the assumption about him is he's not the sharpest tool in the box. >> that's not the assumption, frankly, that's what you're finding out? >> that's what i'm finding out. i think there are reports that his father gave a large donation to get him into harvard, his grades were not stellar before then, he took over his father's business when his father was behind bars, he married ivanka, and now he somehow wound up as one -- >> what do we know about -- there's a 10, 11, 12-year period before the observer where he was running a real estate business? >> it was only a couple of years, he took over his bad dad's business in '05 and the observer a few years after that. there wasn't that much time. i think al of people i've talked to is "the observer" was really a play to get him back in new york society and to kind of take over the press that had taken down his family. >> my guess is, just knowing their circle a little bit, that must have o their friends, i

dare say, most of their friends, did not vote for donald trump, right? >> well, look, jared kushner was a democrat. and trump was a democrat. >> so how -- >> ivanka -- >> so how are they dealing with their social circle, probably pretty disappointed about the outcome? >> i think their social circle is very small. they're a very insular couple. they're not your typical 34-year-old, 35-year-old couple. they're not out socializing with other 34 or 35-year-olds. they're out with their family. they spend a lot of time together as a couple. they have three young children, they spend a lot of time with donald and their two brothers. and this is not really a social scene couple. this is very much a family, goal-oriented couple. >> and with young kids. >> oh, yeah, three young kids. they just had a baby in the spring. >> i used to live in the same building, they always seemed delightful. you've written a little bit about that there was a lot -- a little bit about a greek tragedy here, that a lot of this is about him kind of retribution, beyond the christie stuff, to kind of reclaim that name.

he was obviously very close to his dad, very affected by his dad going to prison. i know you're not a shrink, but how much of this is behind everything -- >> i'll tell you what some people have told me. one person i spoke to earlier this week said to me, the ultimate goal here is to get a pardon for his father. he's very close to his father. he used to visit him every single weekend when he was a young guy and his dad was away. the fact that he ousted christie and all of the christie allies within the first week of the transition, i think, tells you a little bit about how serious he is about reclaiming that -- >> although, people in the transition have taken pains to say that that wasn't jared's doing. your reporting suggest otherwise? >> my reporting does suggest otherwise. >> so how did christie get so close to the campaign, to begin with? >> i think donald trump is his own man at the end of the day. i think he also has a lot of people in his ear. i think jared kushner has a loud voice in that ear, but there are so many other people who have their hands in this. >> so does he want to go to washington because he's ambitious, because he wants to help his father-in-law, because

he thinks it's interesting? >> that's the question of the day. some people say it's -- he wants the proximity to power, which is a very intoxicating thing. other people say, he's just a really loyal family guy, and his father-in-law, who he gets along with -- >> you've not reached a conclusion on that? >> i think it's so early. i think we'll see. i don't think anyone is clear on what the motivations are here yet. >> the great emily j. fox, also known as ejf, thank. we'll be right back. when you have type 2 diabetes, there's a moment of truth. and now with victoza® a better moment of proof.

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keep it fresh on bloombergpolitics.com. that's where you'll find the latest updates on donald trump's meetings this weekend and on all of his white house hires. before we get to what's next, mark, mark was bragging to our last guest. he said, have you've ever been on "entertainment tonight"? i don't know if anybody knows that mark has been on -- >> more than once. it's kind of my dmemo. >> so you were pushing back a little bit on the christie thing. i've got to believe he was the guy that got christie -- >> i'm just saying, they've

denied it. but it's still a mystery to me why christie was so close to the transition. amazing fact, it appears we're headed towards christie and gingrich definitely not getting jobs in the administration and maybe not newt. >> okay. sayona sayonara. "hardball" with chris matthews starts now. walk the line. let's play "hardball". >> good evening. i'm chris matthews in washington. well, it begins like this. the new leader lays down the gauntlet. he dares anyone to stand in his way, ignoring the laws, he does what he wants. if he smells weakness or an eagerness not to displease him, he shoves further, demanding more than of what he wants. today donald trump is test the limits of his new power, probing to see what he can get away, there's a federal law that outlaws hiring a member of