mitt romney owes donald trump nothing. and mitt romney owe senate leader mitch mcconnell nothing. and one poll shows that 64% of mitt romney's extremely republican state of utah sent mitt romney to washington to stand up to donald trump. and today mitt romney said that he currently has no intention of running for president in republican primaries against donald trump. but he's waiting to see who does. >> i haven't decided who i'm going to endorse in 2020. i'm going to wait and see what the alternatives are. >> joining us now are jonathan frum. and yawnthen, i want yjonathan, inside what i would call the reasonable side of the republican party, where men like mitt romney had spent a lot of time certainly as a massachusetts governor, that's where he was. hard to tell much difference as romney as a massachusetts governor than a mike bloomberg as a mayor in policy terms. your reaction to what you saw romney do today and what you think it means for a senator like him who's now elected to a six-year term and doesn't have to worry about being primaried next year in what is donald trump's

romney had entertained a possible cabinet post. today the incoming senator wrote an op-ed slamming the president and to nobody's surprise, the president was quick to return the favor. leland vittert is live with the latest. >> a full day into this, mitt romney has found a single significant senate republican to come to his defense. soon-to-be former senator and outspoken trump critic jeff flake. other than that, what started as a blistering op-ed piece has the soon-to-be freshman senator seemingly alone with his own party now united against him. >> i think he's always been sort of a big government republican. he never liked reagan. >> rand paul hit romney harder than the president. >> i hope he's going to be a team player. if he's a team player, that will be great. i will say this. if he fought really hard against president obama, like he does against me, he would have won the election. >> romney wouldn't promise to be on the president's team in 2020. >> i'm going to wait and see what the alternatives are. >> trump critic and possi

romney's assessment?aller: well, like i said, that is his opinion, and i think the man is doing a fine job. -- that is fine. promises made, promises kept. thank you. host: james. mount clemens, michigan. caller: yes. romney is -- as a republican can stand up and tell the truth. no matter what party, if the president is not being -- doing the work of a president, he needs to be told that. host: what was it about mr. --thats thoughts that he you agree with? caller: i agree with everything he said. the office of president is not the office of king or a dictator. he has to be for all people, not just his party. by romney being a republican, i believe he stood up to him, and i praise him for that. host: that is change in michigan. breitbart, off the breitbart website, has a profile of mitt romney in release of this -- off the release of this op-ed. host: that is from breitbart's website this morning. this is gilbert. democrats line from detroit michigan. -- detroit, michigan. "letr: romney's article detroit go

why did mitt romney write this? >> it seems to be a declaration of sorts for romney. you know, it's not really clear what exactly it is in service of in a larger strategy. is he going to be able to go in and be a principle voice against the president? obviously we can see that. a lot of what he said is not new. parts of it seemed as if they were lifted from the 2016 speech, but if you go back to the 2016 speech, it didn't really change or alter the trajectory of the race, and trump still became the nominee. the question here and what is unclear is whether or not this op-ed is in a service or strategy that mitt romney will have as he begins to build the coalitions that can stand in opposition that he talked about in the op-ed while the united states senator. >> it's a new year. maybe romney thinks it's a new day in washington, and trying to set the tone. jeff flake and bob corker is leaving, and maybe mitt romney will be that voice. and here's more of the op-ed. did you just read this? >> yeah, it was so good. >> yeah, it begs reading again. >> no, we are done. >> davi

trump and romney could work together on that potentially. >> i don't know if you saw this, but mitt romney's niece tweeted about the op-ed calling it disappointing and unproductive. do you agree? >> i think for the people who are looking for that champion of the pre-trump republican party, mitt romney is serving as that vehicle. i think it is good for republicans to have this debate. what should the republican party stand for in terms of tone and temperament and policy. you need a champion on the other side to do that. >> nice to have you. thanks very much. >> thanks, poppy. >>> still to come, with the new year still bringing a second trump summit, will it bring a second trump summit with north korea's kim jong-un. new questions surrounding the regime could complicate matters. >>> u.s. stocks down as 2019 trading begins. we are live on the floor of the new york stock exchange. >>> just days after taking a major step, senator elizabeth warren set to make her first trip to iowa. we will discuss. pecialty storee what's new? olay has this season's hottest debut. like new clay stick masks. all ma

is it mitt romney's party or donald trump's republican party? i think the answer lies in the fact when romney took over, he asked her to stop using her maiden name. so this is donald trump's party. does that mean i think vom politically unsophisticated? no. i think you have two leaders with two very different sets of values and two different approaches to leading. and right now, in the republican party, there are many voters who see in trump somebody who has the same common enemies they have. they see someone willing to take on those enemies. in today's republican party politics, those are the identity politicses that i think frankly are more important than the values that mitt romney described in his op ed. as unfortunate as many may see that to be. >> on the policy front, mitt romney talks about syria, national security, trade. these were areas, too, if you think back to the 2016 primary where trump was separated from where traditionally the republican party had been. a lot of voices were critical of him. he was able to get the republican nomi

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 it's a fair criticism. but i'm 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. i'm thrilled and excited. my family is coming into town. my friends and supporters. we have a couple of buses coming from pennsylvania. so i'm eager to number one, go through the important ceremonial swearing in, the important moment of being sw

mitt romney will bring in a new dose of reality for this president. >> when romney was running againstresident obama, the same people -- we remember and so does the power panel, they are here to discuss hypocrisy after the break. larry o'connor. i'm ken jacobus and i switched to the spark cash card from capital one. i earn unlimited 2% cash back on everything i buy. and last year, i earned $36,000 in cash back. which i used to offer health insurance to my employees. what's in your wallet? .. ♪ >> this is a moment for all the >> this is a moment for all the democratic nominees as they come into the race to say in a democratic primary we are going to link arms and we are going to say no to the billionaires, no to the billionaires whether they are self funding or funding tax. >> elizabeth moran pushing her populist message. a big day for 2020. donors recalling on mitt romney, urging him to run on the republican side after the scathing op-ed. larry o'connor and former policy director for mitt romney, lonnie chin. let's start with elizabeth moran, cracking open a beer on instagram. get me a

president trump is responding to mitt romney in a tweet writing, here we go with mitt romney, but so fast. not so fast? >> that's what he wrote. >> the question will be is he a flake? i hope not. would much prefer that mitt focus on border security and so many other things where he can be helpful. he should be happy for all republicans, be a team player and win! all of this comes as the government shutdown hits day 12. at this hour president trump and congress are at an impasse. he invited leaders to the white house this afternoon. live at the white house with all of the breaking details on this meeting. what do we expect? >> good morning. it is not clear how much this meeting is set up to accomplish. we are getting breaking details of the set-up for this meeting. a source telling cnn that the meeting will take place this afternoon in a bit of an unexpected location in the situation room here at the white house. that's an area of the white house typically associated with monitoring and handling military conflicts, international kri cease and underscores the way this administration fe

romney is here for his first national interview as senator-elect romney. "the lead" starts right now. >>> putting up his mitts. senator-elect romney unloading on president trump, saying he's not what presidents should be made. is romney the new leader of the republican resistance? we'll ask the incoming senator in our live interview, coming up. >>> with hundreds of thousands of americans beginning 2019 without a paycheck, president trump huddling with his cabinet and inviting congressional leaders to the white house. is it a reality show or a real negotiation? >>> plus, forget 2019. bring on 2020. elizabeth warren, joe biden, kamala harris and 30 others. what are their messages to voters? >>> welcome to "the lead," i'm jake tapper. we begin with the politics lead. a full bore criticism of president trump's perceived lack of character from the u.s. senate's newest mitt romney. it's not how president trump wanted to start the new year. and romney will be joining us in just minutes. the republican-on-republican attack came as the government shutdown entered i

and romney has the same m.o. here. >> well, i think part of the kind of animosity that other republicans have toward romney over this is because as ha lerks y ki s ha ler haleyks y kind alluded to earlier, all the republicans in the senate, not all, most of them said similar things to what romney wrote, at least in private. they kind of all believe the same thing about donald trump. romney happens to come from a state where it's kind of an idiosyncratic red state. 64% of voters in it utah told the "associated press" recently that they want to see romney stand up to trump. >> right. right. >> he has a lot more latitude than most republicans in congress do to kind of assert his independence. and i think a lot of them, frankly, hold -- have some disdain for that. >> they're -- >> they're angry about that. >> that's right. they're jealous he gets to, like, say publicly what they all say privately. >> right. >> they're mad at all of us who ask them questions about it. mckay coppin, haley byrd, who's a phenomenal, phen

mitt romney is mitt romney. he wants to get things done in washington, want

mitt romney is mitt romney. he wants to get things done in washington, wants to find common ground with both parties and get things done for his state and the country. >> ryan williams, thank you. appreciate it. >> don't miss a live interview with mitt romney at 4 p.m. eastern on "the lead." >> you are watching cnn right now. the first meeting is scheduled between republicans and democrats since the government partially shut down four days ago. minutes before the gathering is taking place, the president sent a big sign that the situation will get worse before it gets better. in his first cabinet meeting of 2019, the president stood firm the government should spend $5 billion for a border wall. a no-go for democrats. >> would you expect anything less than 2.5 billion? >> not 2.5. we're asking for 5.6. somebody said 2.5. look, this is national security we're talking about. just like we talk about the military, just like we're talking about syria or afghanistan or all these different places. i mean, we spend in afg

mitt rom y romne romney. i want to bring in david chalian. it makes you wonder if like jeff flake mitt romney might rhetorically be against the president but ultimately jeff flake would vote with the president's initiatives and brett kavanaugh for instance. >> i notice jeff flake retweeted the romney op-ed. cindy mccain retweeted it. rand paul just announced he's holding a press conference to denounce this. you see what the chairwoman of the rnc is doing. you have the trump forces of the republican party which is the larger share of the republican party pushing back on romney's argument. >> there's a point that ronna mcdaniel makes that i wonder about where she says this is the first act of an incoming senator. what's the strategy of i haven't even walked in the door and i'm already throwing out this missil missile. >> the president makes clear in the op-ed he won't comment on every tweet, he won't comment on everything the president said but he wants to hold him accountable on this character and intel sbeg i

romney is a man of great character. conservative view about trade, he said he supported trump's approach to trade with china. i couldn't disagree more. 180 degrees, there was zero soybean imports to china in october. >> republicans can see if this realtime reaction to, you know, horrific bullying, anti-immigrant statements, things that are destructive for our country, realtime reaction on the part of the republican, they can watch to see how it plays. and perhaps mitt romney will give republicans an opening to use their big boy voices and speak out when something is blatantly wrong, incorrect, cruel our just plain destrictive. >> mitt romney is almost in a unique position here because he's in a completely solid situation politically in his home state. utah is a republican state, but it is not particular a trump state. he comes to this position as already having represented the republican party as its presidential nominee and as a former governor. so he is a senior figure in the gop already. so he has this ability to spe

>> well, i'm a friend of mitt romney's. i supported mitt romney. i think he's a very good leader. i'm glad he's going to be in the united states senate, and i agreed with a lot of the things that he wrote. that said, i'm not sure the timing was right. i think he's got to learn that he's coming in as a freshman senator. he should kind of be quiet for a little while and learn the ropes and demonstrate his commitment to getting the job done, but i really didn't disagree with anything that hen said. i'm particularly troubled when he called attention to what the world thinks of the united states today and our president, and i'm the chairman of the national -- for democracy, and i want our democracy to be seen as the best in the world, the gold start if you will, the rule that everybody should want to follow, and he said that when -- for message of our -- for most of our presidents, they have found that overseas about 85% of american presidents are perceived as having always tried to do the right thing, even if they disagreed with it. right now that number is about 16%. that's not good

, now senator romney? it's going to be hard for me to change that. but does he start to work with other senators in a way that, you know, builds a legislative coalitions to try and get the white house to chart a different course on policy or to chart a different course on the president's approach? that will be the real next test for, for senator romney. >> ryan, do you see him taking another step or seeing how this plays out and then -- >> he's kind of the only game in town now in washington. all of the, you know, well-known anti-trump republicans are -- have either retired, were defeated or in the case of john mccain, passed away. i mean, the last two years, that entire fax in the republican party has really just -- >> who is he going to get to sit with in the cafeteria? >> exactly. that's not like he's beloved by democrats. he's going to find it's a lonely place to be. as bob corker and jeff flake have. and all of us in the media, every time trump does something that seems to violate one of those princip

mitt romney. romney of course the 2012 republican presidential nominee. he wrote an op-ed in the "washington post" today criticizing trump. romney concedes he supports some of trump's decisions but also writes, "on balance, his conduct over the past two years is evidence that the president has not risen to the mantle of the office. with the nation so divided, resentful and angry, presidential leadership and qualities of character sin dispensable. and it is in this province where the incumbent's shortfall has been most glaring." didn't take long for trump to fire back on twitter. "here we go with mitt romney but so fast. question will be is he a flake? when asked about romney at today's cabinet meeting trump drove home his team player theme. >> the "washington post's" robert costa who'll join us in a moment captured the impact of romney's movying "romney's assertion of independence is a thunder clap in the gop thrusting him forward as trump's highest-profile republican foil in the new congress. in stoking talk of trump's vulnerability to a new challenger f

party chair woman mitt romney's niece. what is she saying this morning. >> certainly family feud in addition to this feud. the rnc chair tweeted out a defense of president trump essentially scolding her uncle for writing the op-ed. she says potus is attacked and obstructed by the mainstream media and democrats 24/7 for an incoming senator feeds into what the democrats and media want. those are just remarkable striking words from the niece of mitt romney and really shows that this chapter especially as mitt romney comes here into the u.s. senate potentially speaking out more against president trump opens up a new chapter in their storied relationship. >> thanks. joining us now to discuss, cnn's political director. and former communications director for the republican national committee. david, trump's twitter reaction, how he is responding to romney. would you consider it a measured response? >> well, i would consider it a totally unsurprising response. i'm sure mitt romney won't be surprised a bit. he knew he would draw th

romney.ey just spoke to another television network and he was asked about his 2020 ambitions. >> he was endorsing me. i was not endorsing him. i have not decided who i will endorse in 2020. >> so you are not on board. the senior senator from utah said he will endorse the president. >> it's too early to make that decision. i want to see the alternatives. >> and the gop woman tweeted out about the president being attacked. she said for a freshman senator to attack the president as their first act feeds into what the democrats and media wants and is unproductive. >> and mcdaniel is the niece of mitt romney. when he was asked about that. he said she is head of the republican party. you expect that. when team are you on, senator romney? didn't you run as a republican? the president has a point here. he said that if he ran as hard and pushed as hard against barack obama in the campaign as he is doing against donald trump, he might have won. that's entirely true. has mitt romney played team sports?

if you read mitt romney's op-ed, you really can't conclude mitt romney thinks donald trump should be re-nominated as the republican nominee for president or really reelected. you might think that trump won in 2016, what happened happened. they've got work with him. as romney said in the op-ed, work with what you agree, that's what he does as a senator. as a former presidential nominee himself, i think what romney's op-ed has done is make it legitimate to say, wait a second, whatever your position on the tax cuts or the judges or even whatever you voted, whoever you voted for in 2016, do you really want to renominate this guy in 2020? romney is really -- i don't know he himself will run. he probably won't. he opened up the possibility of a primary challenge, legitimatize the possibility of a primary challenge to donald trump in 2020. the way that's pretty remarkable and pretty important i think. >> rick, i want to play for you what robert costa of the washington post said on this network during our 7:00 p.m. eastern time hour tonight about some of the others in the party. >> people ar

and romney slams the president in an op-ed. >> mitt romney is different from flake and corker because he's sticking around. >> mitt romney will give republicans an opening to use their big boy voices and speak out when something is blatantly wrong, cruel or offensive. >> he's reprehensible. i can't believe the people of utah elected this creep. howie: warn rrp becomes the first candidate in the presidential race. >> the problem with arounden in addition to lying about her heritage. she has a problem not being herself. elizabeth warren is too left wing probably to be elected nationwide. >> you have been fighting your whole life, your whole career for people getting screwed by the financial system. howie: a view that she is unlikeable is a charge often aimed at women. a former "new york times" editor says the paper is unmistakably anti-trump. i'm howard kurtz and this is "mediabuzz." partial government shutdown is dragging on with little progress being made after that weekend meeting between president trump, chuck schumer and the new house speaker nancy pelosi followed by another marath

and romney just proved it. perhaps that's the after-dinner drink to revenge which is a dish best served cold. you let us know what you think brad meant. mitt romney will speak with jake lapper on "the lead" at 4:00 p.m. eastern. >>> if are you back from a holiday break, yes, the government is still partially shut down. it has been 11 days and counting. president trump holding firm on his demand for border wall funding in more than two dozen stwee tweets since friday. he's invited congressional leaders to meet with him at the white house. that hasn't happened since the shutdown began. a quarter of the federal government has been frozen for nearly two weeks. that means 800,000 federal workers are going unpaid while lawmakers still collect their paychecks. jessica dean with more from the white house. >> reporter: good morning. here at the white house, there is expected to be a meeting with the president and leadership from the house and senate, both parties, later this afternoon. details still being worked out. we

mitt romney's own party.mp hating back today. >> jason: i wish he could be more of a team player, surprised he did this quickly. i'm surprised he did this quickly." , i endorsed him, i think and vary profusely i read his op-ed. >> jason: leland vittert joins us live now with more on the war of words. >> good evening, jason. mitt romney seems to have been able to unify the republican party to a way that has been elusive for just about anybody else. so far, the only significant republican coming to romney's defense is outgoing senator jeff flake. other than that, he's alone after and op-ed named "he outlined a number of complaints of the president and said on balance, the president has not ribs wears into the mantle of the office. the president's response seems restraint. >> i just hope he is going to be a team player. if he is a team player, that will be great. i will say this, if he fought really hard against president obama, like he does against me, he would have one like the election. >> romney's needs and

november 2016, trump and romney photographed together at a fancy restaurant when romney was auditioning for secretary of state, and romney once described trump in this way. >> after he was elected president, it was very much my hope that he would rise to the occasion, rise to the mantle of the office, after all, becoming president of the united states is quite an elevation for anybody. and he had said during the campaign that he could be extraordinary presidential. when i hear that, i think of washington and lincoln and jefferson and roosevelt and kennedy and eisenhower and i think of those qualities, and i think that while he spoke of that and while that was my hope, i don't think he's followed through on that front. >> all right, so, do you think, joan, given that mitt romney went to trump tower when he was campaigning to get trump on his side that he's kissed the ring whenever he's needed to kiss the ring, that what he now says is authentic and genuine? >> i think it is authentic and genuine, but that doesn't mean he'll necessarily follow through, erin. i was very disappointed, actua

romney's not a bomb thrower. romney is an institutionalist.he is a died in the wool true believer republican. and if anything, he's not some insurge enlt. the insurgent is in the oval office. and when he talks about decency in his op-ed, he is asking his party and telling the country that we should go back to the way things were before this insurgent came into the oval office, before he disrupted everything about our national political discourse, relying on hate. he is trying to pull the party and the country back to where things were when things no, ma'am worked infinitely better than we do now. we had a president that was predictable to his own party and leaders in congress and to leaders on the world stage who used to look to the united states as a font of stability. might not agree with all the policies coming out of the oval office, but you understood and knew that over decades where the united states would go. he's reminding everybody what it stood for and where it should go if it wants to get back to the original roots. >> well, and dav

will romney do the same? thanks for the reporting. >>> this afternoon mitt romney gives his first interview with our very own jake tapper. don't miss that. >>> let's talk about all the news of the morning. good morning, ladies. rachel, to you, notable that romney is confronting the president just now, just as he assumes his senate seat versus those who did so on departure, right? what is his goal in all of this? is it a warning, a shot across the bow? >> yeah, absolutely. i think he is very clearly embracing stepping into that void that bob corker and jeff flake are leaving on capitol hill. those are two senators who are comfortable criticizing the president and pushing back on his tone when they disagree, which is something we don't see republicans do because a lot of them privately don't agree with the president on things but they muffle it because they are afraid of speaking out against him. right here you have mitt romney coming in before his first day and speaking out. i think it is really interesting to

learn more at the explorer card dot com. >>> mitt romney becomes senator romney and there's new indicationst might be a nightmare for trump. romney released an op-ed calling president trump thoughtless, saying he lacked honesty and integrity. causes dismay around the world and stokes the politics of anger and fear. he goes on to say trump is not risen to the mantle of the office. the romney trump relationship has been complex. you may recall that romney first came out against trump during 2016 saying he was a fraud and phony. after trump won they dined together over frog legs and talked about cabinet jobs. here was romney's response today. >> after he elected president, it was very much my hope that he would rise to the occasion, rise to the mantle of the office. becoming president of the united states is quite an elevation for anybody. he said during the campaign that he could be extraordinarily presidential. i don't think he has followed through on that front the way he's followed through on some of his other promises. >> trump has taken the bait and basically made a political theme to ta

lou: it's ignorance and the left-wing media just loves mitt romney for a day.here were they in 2020? let's look at this economy and impact right now. the markets are having fits. the democrats are even discussing the economy except you heard nancy pelosi say she's all about jobs and green jobs she's paying attention to what this president is saying and mitt romney is saying he's about tax cuts. these two people, romney and pelosi, are aping everything that present him has already accomplished. the same that's what they want to sound like jamie diamond with the head of chase went around saying what he was thinking about running for president was repeating or ripping off or stealing prodigiously from the trump agenda. it is silly what these supposed to. >> romney talking about bipartisanship but that would be whatever nancy pelosi once, i want. every single major issue that's been bipartisan including criminal bill that kushner just pushed through always the democrat bill and never republic and bill. in my sense, having bipartisanship and move the ball forward. d

what is the end game for romney? he's not sworn in and already blasting shots at donald trump. >> reporter: the end game is interesting. i can tell you a couple things. this is how romney feels about this issue. i asked him in may whether he thought donald trump was a role m model to his grandchildren, he told me no. he feels strongly about the president's deficiencies in character. secondly, it speaks to romney's strength in utah. mitt romney got almost 150,000 more votes for the seat than president trump got in 2016. romney's favoribility in utah is up there between christmas morning and puppies. he is untouchable in utah and can speak his mind, if he wants to. comparing romney to flake is interesting not just because flame is a fellow mormon, but it's what i heard from democrats and some republicans here, this idea that while romney's criticisms strike them as the kind of things they want to hear, they expect he is going to vote for things flake did. he will vote for the same judges and tax plan. i think what you

mitt romney fought really hard to try to defeat barack obama in 2012.'m not sure that he sort of gave up. i didn't hear that critique of him at the time. listen, i think the big question around mitt romney, wolf, for a lot of people ever since he got into the senate race and then elected and coming to washington is what is he going to do with being the stature of the former republican nominee in the united states senate as a junior senator? is he going to come and put his head down and just work on local issues? or is he going to use his stature on a national platform, and call the president to account when he feels necessary? mitt romney suggested in the op-ed, he's not going to comment on every tweet. he's not going to comment on everything the president does. but that he will, especially on these issues of character and integrity, call for accountability for the president. it's significant to a degree, but i'm not sure it changes any calculation here. jeff flake took this approach, bob corker, the late john mccain. these people were not able to sway

something romney denies. >> i'm not sure what mitt romney is trying to accomplish.s kind of sad. in i don't know how it really helps anybody's cause for people to stand up there like they're holier than thou. >> reporter: even romney's own niece, the republican national committee chairwoman ronna mcdaniel, called the comments "disappointing and unproductive." >> glor: all right, ed, as the fighting happens, on the subject of 2020, a whole lot the democrats looking towards 2020 right now and there has been movement from potential esndidates this week. >> reporter: that's right. roughly two dozen democrats, jeff, are still thinking about this or taking steps to run. elizabeth warren of massachusetts and julian castro of texas have launched exploratory committees, while the former vice-president joe biden is still thinking about what to do. he seemed to get an endorsement of sorts today from new york's governor andrew cuomo who said that he thinks biden has the best case to make among democrats. cuomo by the way said he is not running. so we can cross him off the list.

when romney was being considered for secretary of state. >> romney says he agrees with some of mr. trump's policies. he writes, "a president should demonstrate the essential qualities of honesty and integrity and elevate the national diskwours comity and mutual respect. it is in this province where the incumbent's shortfall has been most glaring." the op-ed indicates romney is planning to be the president's republican foil with corker and flake departing. >> a tweet, "jealousy is a drink best served warm." and romney just proved it. just let that marinade for a while, folks. if you figure it out, let us know what it means. mitt romney will speak with jake tapper on "the lead" at 4:30 p.m. eastern time on cnn. >>> if you're back from a break, the government is still partially shut down, 11 days and counting. president trump holding firm on his demand for border wall funding in more than two dozen tweets since friday. today he's invited congressional leaders to meet with him at the white house. that has not happened since the shutdown began. about a quarter of the federal government

lou were we asked what romney meant when he called -- ryan meant when he called romney the next standard-bearerking control of the house. the president remains clear on a border wall. president trump: without a wall you cannot have border security. it won't work. lou: diamond and silk. congressman matt gaetz. we hope you will be with us. we thank you for joining us tonight. reporter: socialist democrats pushing forward their agenda looking to expand our government. maybe they should look at socialist venezuela. the country

romney being romney and the president taking the high road pe called on romney to focus on border security and to be a team player for the republican party. we take all of that up and more here tonight. republican strategist ed rollins, rnc committee woman of california harmeet dylon joining us. >>> president trump holding two meetings today, both in which he put forward his position on key issues for the senate and the house leaderships. but it is his steadfast approach in demanding border security and a wall, as he met with those congressional leaders in his cabinet that is, well, shocking the rinos and radical dimms. fox news correspondent kevin cork joining us tonight from the white house with the latest. kevin? >> could be a long time and it could be quickly. could be a long time. it's too important a subject to walk away from. >> a defiant president trump today. just ahead of a planned white house briefing on the border, issued a stern warning to the arriving democrats. no wall, no deal. >> as long as it takes. i mean, look, i'm prepared. i think the people of the country think i'm r

and so i applaud mitt romney for saying that. >> do you think it's wise that senator-elect romney chosethrow down a preemptive gauntlet before he's even sworn in? he's been strongly criticized by the president's allies, including his own niece who, as you know, is head of the rnc. >> well, i heard the interview that mitt romney gave and he said that he wanted to basically tell the voters of utah and the people he represents what he's going to do when he gets here. and i think laying that out in an op-ed before you start is a good time to do that. so i think it was a good thing. >> one of the things he said in the op-ed was, and i'm quoting, he said "the president has not risen to the mantle of the office. at this point, do you believe that the president can actually rise to that standard? it's been two years. is it even possible? >> there's always ophope. a lot of us weren't supportive of him during the campaign, we hoped that he would rise to the occasion. and he did appoint some good people initially. there were some good policies that came from that. but in terms of the character iss

mitt romney wants that job. mitt romney wants to be the consciousness of the party. i don't know if that's going to mean anything substantive. i don't think it means he'll primary donald trump in 2020 but a power vacuum. i think he sees a narrative vacuum and the republican party in the senate and he wants to be that person that's the go-to answer for whenever trump says or does something offensive. >> bill, if this op-ed doesn't say and i agree with jason, doesn't say i'll primary the president, does it perhaps hint that if things go south for the president, if impeachment is a thing, any number of things, the mueller report, if things start to look bad for the president i'm here, i'm experienced, willing to run again? >> yeah. maybe. it doesn't say i'll primary the president an does say this man doesn't have the character to be president of the united states and opens the door for others. provides the umbrella for others to begin seriously exploring it. someone involved in trying to get people to primary the president and save the republican party, i'd say until, y

that was 2016 mitt romney. and this is now senator to be mitt romney just days before he's officially sworn in. the 2012 presidential candidate took aim at president trump in a scathing "washington post" op-ed writing, quote, trump's conduct over the past two years, particularly his actions this month, is evidence that the president has not risen to the mantle of the office. with the nation so divided, resentful and angry, presidential leadership and qualities of character is indispensable and it's in this province where the incumbent's shortfall has been most glaring. as expected, the president fired back on twitter saying, quote, here we go with mitt romney. what's so fast, is he a flake? i hope no. i would prefer mid-focus on border security and so many other things where he can be helpful. i won big, he didn't. be a team player and win. >> i want to draw attention to something you tweeted last night which is true for all of us on capitol hill, we have been wondering what kind of posture is senator mccain go