i have seen people who were friends, people who were followers of romney, who were supporters of romney, who were donors of romney turn on him, who were donors and supporters of john mccain turn on him, even though he's dead. who were supporters and donors of george w. bush turn on him, even though he's out there painting in crawford, texas, and promoting a book about painting of immigrants. so i've seen it. i've seen friendships of decades disappear overnight because of this political divide going on in the republican party. and i think if you ask mitt romney today, he would tell you that there is a real divide, but it's -- we've got to somehow get through it, right? it will either be divided or it won't. >> tolu, jake tapper did a great interview with the widow of john mccain, sinds cindy mccain, and her about this issue within the republican party and he brought up mccain's concession speech, what mccain said after he lost to obama. let's play it for people so they can remember what it was once like. >> senator obama and i have had and argued our differences and he has prevailed. no

. >> mitt romney is also in the grips of the trump effect. the utah senator narrowly avoiding a vote this weekend and he was wrongly booed by members of his hometown party. cnn's lauren fox is with me. let's begin with liz cheney. what are you hearing from other house republicans because months back she appeared safe. and now? >> that's exactly right. they took a vote in february to keep her in her leadership slot. of course, that was the secret ballot. this time around, my colleague, manu raju, and i are talking and she is in trouble. it's unclear whether they'll take another vote on whether she shall remain in that leadership slot. important to give you a sense of how frustrated republican lawmakers are. one republican told me, quote, it's real and much more widespread than before and completely of her own making, this, of course tauing about the tensions within the republican party because of cheney. they went on to say at this point it has zero to do with her vote and everything do with her words and actions. of course, we just played tha

mitt romney say decent man. most politicians, most of our national leaders deserve the respect -- i would say all of them deserve the respect of the base of their parties regardless of whether you disagree with them. there's a way in our society, in a civil society and advanced democracy that you express your discontent with people's ideas and it's not that rauckus mob ment mentality booing of someone who has represented them well. >> john, let's take a look at new video that has emerged from president trump, addressing a crowd at mar-a-lago, once again spreading election lies, like the sad old elvis act he has been doing lately. >> i wouldn't be surprised if they found thousands and thousands and thousands of votes. so we're going to watch it very closely. we'll watch pennsylvania, georgia and watch michigan, and wisconsin. you're watching new hampshire. they found a lot of votes up in new hampshire. >> yeah, john, this is like watching the hall of discredited presidents at disney world. it's like he's an anima

romney: thank you. sen. shaheen: safe travels. >> we will continue on here and have just a couple more conversations. i want to talk a little bit about recent article that came out in "the nation" by karen greenberg where she and others have called on the biden administration to end these endless wars. and one of the issues that she and others have been addressing and my colleague here at the sedona forum has been addressing as well is this question of the authorization of the use of military force, the aumf. i wanted to hear your thoughts on what you think we should be doing with regard to the aumf, and which movements we should be going in with regards to ending some of these "endless wars" such as the war on terror. sen. shaheen: even if we get rid of the aumf that congress voted on in 2001 before going into iraq, i do not think that ends the war on terror, and that is the frustrating thing. i agree. i think we ought to repeal the aumf because it opens the door to a lot of other potential conflict, but, i

it's as analogous that romney be booed.anyone who departs from the party line who even dares to criticize president trump is going to be ostracized by a large part of that party. >> so, let's turn to coronavirus, because that is just horrific. i mean, that is where the story is in so many ways, what is unfolding in india. it is personal for many americans. i imagine it's personal for you, the u.s. is home to more than 4.5 million people of indian des descent. you sit on the congressional india caucus as well as the progressive caucus, your district in the bay area including a large indian american population. what are you hearing from your constituents? >> pamela, it is personal for me. every day, i'm hearing stories of someone who is getting covid who can't go to the hospital, who is sick, in some cases, we have heard people who have passed away a few days because they don't have oxygen, they don't have medical care. it's really devastating and there's not an indian-american family in my district who i talked to who isn't

i know mitt romney.n't need to be doing this. >> he has a wife who loves him. he is going home to children who -- and grandchildren would love and respect him. he knows who he is. when they boo, they don't boo -- they don't reveal the character of mitt romney. they reveal the character of themselves. you hear that and hear people acting that way. the question from anybody that's raised in a half decent family is, what would these people's mom and dad think of them? were they not raised better than that? if they have faith in god, i'm sure most of there people would claim to be christians, does jesus not teach them better than to act that way? to be that rude to a man for doing something that they know they should all do. and that is, condemn what's going on over the past four or five years. mitt romney, you watch this tape -- don't feel sorry for mitt. mitt is fine. mitt knows who he is. the problem, eddie glaude, is that those people booing in the audience and being extraordinarily disrespectful to a ma

. >>> now mitt romney gets the trump effect. the former gop presidential nominee narrowly avoiding a vote this weekend. listen to the reception he got in his home state from his own party. >> you know me as a person. i say what i think. i don't hide the fact that i wasn't a fan of our last president's character issues. and i'm also known -- [ boos ] >> joining us now to discuss is peter wayner, he served in the reagan, george h.w. bush and george w. bush administrations. he is now a contributing writer at "the atlantic." what is the futurest republican part party that is anti-liz cheney and mitt romney? >> it's bleak in terms of morality and justice. as you said this is a party wed to a big lie. really whole series of big lies by a man who is perpetrating lies, morning, noon, and night. and so this is a party that i would say is a disease party right now. a dangerous party. people like liz cheney and mitt romney and adam kinsinger who dare to speak truth to this party and talk about the reality of things are targeted and in liz'

the romney, the liz cheney, the adam kinsinger. there's only a handful of them but they're just going to have a piece of the gop. maybe it's enough to deny what's left of the republican party victory, but i doubt it. and here is something else i want to say. what i'm about to say i think applies to many people who are in our business, but i don't think it applies to either of us. i don't think they mean what they say. and the proof of this is that 139 republicans in the house, just a couple of months ago, c challenged the election result with the base and the world watching. when they were behind closed doors and the vote was on liz cheney, all of a sudden the 139 became 61. it was an eanonymous vote. nobody knew. you can't have it both ways, chris. either you believe the election was rigged and, therefore, you want cheney out because, after all, theeshe voted to impeach. that's not the way the two votes were tallied. when the base isn't watching, i'll bet they tell the truth. i'll bet in the cloakroom what they're really saying is

and it's not just romney. congresswoman liz cheney, third ranking house republican is also taking heat for her friendly fist bump with president biden. romney and cheney face backlash for speaking their conscience, matt gaetz is feeling so energized by the maga base he's going on tour and will be joined by congressional lightning rod marjorie taylor greene. as you may recall she has previously mocked a school shooting survivor. the pair will kick off their america first tour may 7th. suzanne malveaux is there for us. i never thought i would see something like that continue to this day and gaetz, meanwhile, is feeling like he has enough support to go on tour. what's the state of the gop right now, suzanne? >> reporter: it is interesting and fascinating when you watch it. it's an exclusive club that's getting bigger here. these folks are facing the punishment, the wrath, if you will, of not only truch but his allies. cassidy, murkowski, cheney, burr, kinzinger, whether it is voting for impeachment, conviction or

senator mitt romney faces angry boos at his state's gop convention. hours later, a vote to censure him narrowly fails. >>> and successful splashdown, four astronauts back on earth after a record breaking mission. ♪ >>> hello, everyone, thank you so much for joining me this sunday. i'm fredricka whitfield. we begin this hour with a community in mourning, outraged and demanding answers. today the family of andrew brown jr. is holding a public viewing before his funeral tomorrow. sheriff's deputies fatally shot brown while serving warrants last month. his death has sparked nationwide outrage. today protesters are gathering for the 12th straight day in elizabeth city, north carolina, and yet, the sheriff's office has still not released body camera footage of the deadly shooting. a judge denied a request to release that video to the public. cnn's natasha chen is in elizabeth city. so natasha, what is happening there right now? >> yeah, fred, a rally and march is about to get started, we're seeing a number of people already gathered here at the water front

we're not looking to get rid of the mitt romneys and liz cheneys. neither are liberals.ns, it gets we'der and we'der to talk to republicans. >> it does. two things we want to talk about the metrics for the way trump has narrowed the party is that in 2012 mitt romney represented a broad enough cross-section of the republican party to actually win the presidential nomination. and now he's a pariah within the party. the other thing i'll say, and i think is pertinent here, we're talking about this being a kind of generational shift of the republican party into a much more narrow and sectarian organization, it's interesting to note that both mitt romney and liz cheney are the familial descendents of people who were prominent members of the old republican party. mitt romney's father is famously, of course, the governor of michigan and the secretary of housing and urban development and liz cheney's father was the vice president to george w. bush. so, i think in a way, this is as direct a repudiation you can see of that era of the republican party as you can imagine. >> it's rem

david, you did run against mitt romney. know even somebody like mitt, willing to say a lot of bizarre things, like ed if i really was from mexico, might get votes. they are willing to lower themselves, part of the base has need for guttural politics. the but i wonder at this point, since donald trump is pathetic, can't attack them on twitter or really hurt them, do you understand why as matter of politics republicans are genuflecting towards him? >> i am puzzled, joy, only nine years, less than since mitt romney was republican nominee, and being booed at state party convention, and the carnival barker cult leader, diminished as he may be at mar-a-lago has the republican party captive. it's cowardice so many seem fearful, afraid of immigrants, masks or some of vaccines. but above all afraid of getting on donald trump's bad side. and none of these people. i've met a lot of people who sought politics, didn't go in to pay all political capital at knees of one leader. there's issues they care about, tended to believe in the cons

romney and congresswoman liz cheney. many of the lawmakers staying silent on the reported allegations against congressman matt gaetz. not too long ago, the curfew in elizabeth city, north carolina lifted after protesters marched for 11 days now. >> the people who were arrested were not the violators, but, were, in fact, the advocates for justice. they, also, they're defending the, constitutional rights. >> the demonstrations following the police-involved shooting of andrew brown jr. whose funeral will be held tomorrow. >>> we'rewi following breaking news out of wisconsin. a deadly shooting at a green bay casino and hotel. three people, including the suspect, are dead. the shooter reportedly firing at random. >>> andin spacex's crew one bac on earth this's morning. the driving capsule splashing down off the coast of florida overnight. returning four astronauts home. more incredible images ahead. >> that team right now on their way to houston to be reunited with their families. we say good morning, it's sunday, may 2nd. >>

and that being said, i saw the courage of mitt romney standing up many, many times last few years. up in congress and was so forceful. and as much as you would think i would be relishing this fight, i believe in the end you want to have two parties that embrace truth, otherwise how are you ever going to have debate? when you have a major faction of major political party literally denying results of election, literally some of them embracing qanon and other people are not decrying it, you have a major problem going on. i would be cheering mitt romney instead of booing him as people did at his own convention. >> then you'd need to get a ticket to utah, go to the convention. >> i know, i guess i wouldn't be invited. wouldn't get good reception if he didn't. but point of it, i brought him up several times in the democratic presidential debates from the stage because i think we need more people who are willing to speak truth to power. you look at insurrection, which you brought up, at that moment, that night, there were a bunch of people not just mitt romney and liz cheney who voted to

you referenced the boos and senator romney got the brunt of that.tion to censure him actually failed, again, with a small number of delegates. theoretically, the most passionate and the maybe extreme number of delegates. the truth is we believe in utah there's room in the party for both senator mitt romney and senator mike lee and they're working together on really important legislation, and i hope there's room in the party for all of those voices. >> it's interesting, though. you're not talking about differences on, say, taxation or whether or not we should have troops in afghanistan, after september. you're talking about differences about a fact that one group of people is refusing to accept, and the other group of people is saying, like mitt romney and like you, joe biden won the election. now republicans at your convention, erupted into boos against romney, who as you know has been a lifelong republican, and i'm wondering -- well, let's take a listen. i want to play that clip. [ booing ] >> you know me as a person who -- who says what he thinks

here is utah senator mitt romney yesterday being booed at the utah republican convention.iticize biden's policies and his approach, but it was a struggle for him to get those words out because of his words and votes previously against trump. >> there is also no -- [ booing ] >> house conference chair liz cheney of wyoming has been attacked for standing up for the facts about the election and supporting the impeachment of trump for inciting the january 6th negotiation. this week after cheney came out in support of a commission that would focus on the insurrection, mccarthy and his deputy steve scalise both all in election liars started attempting to unundermine cheney in earnest, as anthony gonzalez another house republican who voted to impreach trump, told manu raju this week, if a prerequisite for leading or conference is lying to our voters, then liz is not the best fit, unquote. it is my opinion that the united states needs a healthy, thriving fact-based republican party. it is difficult to look at these events, all of them from the last week, and conclude that one. a l

romney: of course. but we were running along here and now we are seeing apprehensions at the border that has skyrocketed. and just as alarming, perhaps even more so, was the chart that came from senator portman, which is unaccompanied children who are being led into the country explosion. is this not a massive failure that would suggest that the administration needs to take immediate action to remedy what we are seeing here? sec. mayorkas: senator, we have taken immediate action with respect to the unaccompanied children. and we have -- sen. romney: is the number coming down? sec. mayorkas: we are addressing that challenge with increasing efficiency every single day. sen. romney: increasing efficiency to get them moved to other parts of the country and with families and out of these crowded facilities, i understand that, i am delighted that we are not having kids sleeping on floors and in cages, totally. but the number coming into our country and being released into our country is at skyrocketed level a

over the weekend, you can probably hear it, mitt romney, the utah senator, was booed in his home state for his votes to convict the president during the impeachment trials. >> you know me as a person who says what he thinks. i don't hide the fact that i wasn't a fan of our last president's character issues. aren't you embarrassed? you might call me an old-fashioned republican. i am. our party -- [ crowd boos ] >> you can boo all you want but i've been a republican all my life. i was a republican nominee for president in 2012. >> so, romney narrowly avoided censure in utah but at least 15 other sitting republican lawmakers have been censured by either their state or local parties. >> and two republican secretaries of state in nevada and georgia were also censured. and they, along with the secretaries of state in michigan and arizona, have received death threats for certifying the election and refusing to cave into the lies. at the state and local level, a number of republican officials have been forced to step down for criticizing president trump's actions on january 6th right before th

mitt romney on the other hand, he's not up for re-election at 2024. even though he got boo'd at his republican convention this weekend, whether he will run for reelection again remains to be seen. and he will have to face voters again. >> thank you very much. joining me now is a former republican senator from arizona. senator, thank you so much for taking the tomb this morning. >> thanks for having me on. >> so mitt romney survived his vote. only narrowly in a state where he remains popular. he outpolled the president in the state in national elections. what does that tell you right now about who has the upper hand in the republican party? the trump wing or those who are willing to oppose the former president? >> it depends on which part of the republican party you're talking about. if you're talking about the subset of a subset that dominates republican primary votes, then he's at a slight disadvantage. if you talk about republicans generally, statewide, he's in much better shape. the problem is republicans all have to go through or republican primar

senator romney: propose a new law. we have a crisis -- you talk about the humanitarian concerns of kids that come here. i understand. we have addressed that. you are addressing that. they are children. think of them coming here all the way from honduras, the trial of going across the entire country of mexico to get here. then being -- not being able to come into the country. butt this up. this is a crisis for -- put this up. this is a crisis for children. the fact that these kids are coming here making that journey and they are not going to be allowed to stay in this country. secretarty mayorkas: senator, if i may. with the united states of america, 90% of these children have a parent or legal guardian in the united states, and they have a claim of fear of persecution. senator romney: this is not a problem. your view is this is the way it's going to be. secretarty mayorkas: if i may, senator. they have a claim under the law for humanitarian relief. either their claim of asylum or their claim for special immigrant juven

senator mitt romney has also spoken out. and like cheney, voted for the former president's impeachment. here's how he was received this weekend, at a republican conference. >> you know me, as a person who says what he thinks. and i don't hide the fact that i wasn't a fan of our last president's character issues. >> the senator barely survived a censure vote from that group, not long after the booing finally stopped. but congresswoman cheney might no be so lucky when it comes to keeping her leadership position in the party. says that, after speaking with colleagues it's clear her support in the conference is waning. in the face of that, cheney, again, today, spoke out. and our jamie gangel joins us now with that breaking news. so, what more are you learning about what congresswoman cheney said today? >> it's clear, anderson, as you said. liz cheney is not afraid of donald trump. and what she did today was double down. she basically said that this is about truth, versus lies. this isn't even about the heart and soul of the rep

i can say whatever i want to ou and i romney. i can say whatever i want to you and i don't— romney.ever i want to you and i don't have to worry - romney. i can say whatever i want to you and i don't have to worry about i you and i don't have to worry about what donald trump can say and do to me but if i'm a republican in a republican caucus and i'm looking at president trump, if you don't go down to florida and kiss the ring, you can kiss your chances of election goodbye because the chances are they will run someone against you in the primary. i look at liz cheney who i knew for 21 years and she spoke up on principle and her values. you don't have to agree on how she voted on impeachment or anything but she voted for the best thing for her constituents. the same with mitt romney, a former governor and now in the senate for utah. i would say to your viewers, the people who go to these state party conventions tend to be the most conservative of the conservative, so listen to the booing and hissing. it doesn't necessarily represent the voters of wyoming or utah. i think those two will

mitt romney is a good man. he is taking a principle stand. when he looked down at the audience in utah last weekend, he said something important. he said aren't you embarrassed? aren't you embarrassed? really, aren't you ashamed at what you're doing? we all have to help them, but anderson, i want to take you back to post 9/11 and what was going on in the middle east then and what was i arguing at the time about the muslim world. you have to have a war of ideas. you have to have a war of ideas inside the slum. we can't change it from the outside. this is your story and narrative and republicans today need a war of ideas inside the republican party in order to make sure that honest and fair and positions of integrity and people triumph because if they don't and they get back into power, we are in real danger. i'm sorry, until they have this internal fight and the only way to cure that is to keep them out of power. >> republicans used to actually be a party of ideas whether one agree with them or not there were a lot of ideas floating around and

cnn's daniela diaz joins us now, a vote to censure senator romney failed. this and the difficulty of liz cheney having trouble getting along with members of her party. there are some divisions. >> this is the latest chapter of infighting in the republican party. we have senator mitt romney, you know, those clips you played where he was booed at the utah gop convention, especially when he said he disagrees with former president donald trump. he's been a frequent critic of former president donald trump, and on the other hand, you have former -- or current congresswoman liz cheney, the number three house republican who also is a frequent critic of former president donald trump and has blasted her colleagues in the senate for working to overturn the election results on january 6th. and she also elbow bumped president joe biden this week at his address to the joint congress. even though they come from different political parties, they're still americans, but this is part of a bigger problem that's happening with this divide in the party. you know, she said she d

romney?is father, the past, what happens to him now? >> that was a fascinating moment on so many levels for those of us who have covered mitt romney over the years, invoking his father's service to the party and sort of -- a real anger, you could see there, as he was booed well into his speech. romney has the liberty of being over the age of 70 and independently wealthy and he's not up until 2024. he could serve out his term and call it a career and enjoy his grandkids or try to come back in '24 and see where the party is. because, abby, who knows in '24 where the party is, especially in utah. his stature in utah with the general election is pretty -- >> totally different scenario. i want to get to tim scott who gave the republican response to joe biden's address. top part about policy, schools, et cetera, but the bottom part was all culture war, it was about race in particular. let's play what he said on thursday. >> today kids are being taught that the color of their skin defines them again

listen to this. >> the cat calls just as romney mentioned trump.se romney has long had a strained relationship with hard core activists in his state and there's obvious anger over the former president's impeachment. here's how a democratic law make m maker sees all this. >> could you imagine president barack obama going before a democratic audience and getting booed? it's as analogous that romney ran against obama be booed and just shows the republican party right now has an identity crisis. and anyone who departs from the party line, who even dares to criticize president trump is going to be ostracize by a large part of that party. >> as you remember romney often criticized trump throughout his presidency. >>> all right, we'll have the latest on our top story, the covid crisis in india when we return and we'll tell you about the international effort to get desperately needed help to people on the ground. >>> plus china's success at keeping covid-19 cases at a minimum for months is coming at a cost. vaccines are now a tough sell. that's not the onl

that and the romney situation. still, how much is republican silence over the years to blame for enabling trump and his conspiracy rather and letting it all fester among their base? >> the more you go along with it, the more you stay silent and the more it builds and the harder it becomes to beat back. we are in this mess with the big election lies and the insurrection. republicans decided to let donald trump to make his arguments after it was clear that he lost in november. they gave him a month to spin this thing up and fund raise and organize activists and that led to the insurrection in the capitol. there are republicans who think that if they look away from this, it will magically go away. the trump's problem will never magically go away. his nomination is for the taking in 2024. the only hope of beating this thing back is people willing to do what liz cheney and mit romney is willing to do. stand there and take the boos and be very firm. donald trump inciting a riot that put our democracy and national securit

mitt romney has the support of the people in utah. liz cheney, the people of wyoming. lisa murkowski, the people of alaska. but because of our closed primary system, because of election rules, they have to make it through this broken party process of the republicans right now to stand before general election voters. and i think that's one lesson we should draw from that. how do we make sure these people standing up on the right side of the constitution have the opportunity to stand before the voters in november? >> okay, to that point, i'm going to keep this with you, david, there is a new poll finding 46% of americans feel the bigger problem in elections is that the rules are not strict enough to prevent illegal voting. 45% say the bigger issue is that the rules make it too difficult for eligible citizens to vote. we're seeing more states advance laws that would make it harder for people to vote. and that includes your state of florida, passing a bill through the legislature there. the governor, ron desantis, is expected to sign it. is the republican strategy nothing

it seems like mitt romney got just that.hi, what does this say really about the allegiance inside the republican party to donald trump? >> well, yasmin, that's right. there is an allegiance. this isn't only a deeply divided party when it comes to policy. they're not arguing about how to increase health care, how to make sure that we are strengthening our economy, getting people back to work, they're divided when it comes to one man, and a man that not only lost the electoral college but lost the popular vote. and he's very unpopular in our country right now. and so it is very worrisome. if i were mitch mcconnell i'd be a little worried about this divide because as you're heading into the midterm elections, you want your party to have a sharp message about what they stand for. the opportunity that the republican party had at their last convention, they had an opportunity to lay out their values and in a platform. instead they said we stand for donald trump. and so going into the midterms and 2024, we don't know what the repub

mitt romney, who voted to convict trump not once but twice saying this. every person of conscience draws a line beyond which they will not go. liz cheney refuses to lie. as one of my fellow senate colleagues said to me i wouldn't want to be a member of a group that punished someone for following their conscience. that is sadly what dthe party i trying to do. the congresswoman is not on board with the gop's message. you got to wonder what their message is. what are their policy proposals? what's their plan for america? what is it? where are they -- what are they about? policy. how are they helping you. they doing for you. the go has been struggling to come up with any kind of coherent message at all. wrv they been standing up for lately? you really want to know? i have to say this every night and it's the truth. mr. potato head, dr. seuss. >> first they outlaw dr. seuss. and now they want to tell us what to say. >> i am sam, i am sam. that's sam i am. that's sam i am, i do not like that sam i am. do you like green eggs and ham? i do not like them sam i am.

i think romney in utah is a very important race to watch. he's up in 2024, so he's got a long way to go. you know, cindy mccain has all but left the republican party in arizona. but a lot of this fight really is playing out in the states even more so than in washington, d.c. in congress. but the big way it's playing out in congress, of course, is this fight between cheney and mccarthy. mccarthy has sort of distanced himself from liz cheney recently. there is talk among house republicans that there could be another vote to try and expel cheney from leadership. and it's all over this same issue. it's all over fealty to donald trump. and liz cheney is not willing to change her mind about him and what he did and his responsibility for january 6th. other republicans either don't want to talk about that or defend trump outright. >> we'll be watching to see what happens. ryan lizza, many thanks as always. >> thank you, rosemary. >>> caitlyn jenner is facing backlash from many in the lgbtq community for her views on trans athletes. jenner is a forme

mitt romney is an outstanding senator who serves his state and our country well. cheney is a woman of strength and conscience. we need to be accepting of differences in our party. we don't want to become like too much of the democratic party which has been taken over by the progressive left. >>> former president donald trump, meanwhile, continues to perpetuate the big lie about election fraud. video has surfaced of him addressing a crowd at mar-a-lago last wednesday discussing the republican-led recount that's currently under way in arizona's maricopa county. he lost that county by more than two points but told the crowd, quote, watch arizona, adding, some very interesting things are happening. watch. >> let's see what they find. i wouldn't be surprised if they found thousands and thousands and thousands of votes. so we're going to watch that very closely and after that you will watch pennsylvania and you will watch georgia and you're going to watch michigan and wisconsin and you're watching new hampshire, they found a lot of votes up in new hampshire just now. >>

adam kinzinger is one, romney, another, liz is a third.ad they're speaking out because it's important to be faithful to what you know to be true. but look, this caucus, this truth caucus could fit in a phone boot these days for the republican party. and oddly, you know, it is almost as if donald trump and the last year or so, we might look back and say that he was a restraining force on the madness in the republican party. and that once he left, those poisons that had been unleashed just spread further and further. so, this is a party, as i said, it's a diseased party and it's a dangerous party, and i am thankful for liz cheney and for mitt romney for speaking out. i wish more would join them. but the republican party having essentially accepted donald trump's corruptions for the last five years became complicit if th in those corruptions and he became them. there was all this talk during the trump presidency that there would be restraining forces on trump and that he would become more like them. in fact, it was the other way around. they

romney is making a big point. that's 70% of 26% or 27% of the u.s. population. is romney right? >> he's exactly right in this. the choice they are making between opportunists to character revealed by donald trump who seems to reveal people for who they fundamentally are. you can't win with 25 o% or 24%r the 23% of the vote. you not only can't win in a popular vote which i think they will never do. you can't win in key states that are swing states. the senate elections will be decided in swing states and the house election will be decided in swing states. you can't win of the small percentage in it. i think they are continuing with donald trump. before donald trump we need to expand our electric. we need to coalesce our smaller electric. they fundamentally understand that and that's why they are pushing restrictions and state to keep the electric being diverse. they understand and retain only a minority of the country right now and they can't win if that does not equal the popular voting in a given jurisdiction. >> what happens to the republicans who are putting their career in t

. >> in 2012, barack obama beat mitt romney by 16 points in 2016, trump beat hillary clinton by 16, and as president ally elections are getting closer and closer that texas republicans would be more moderate. that is not what we have seen.

. >> reporter: in 2012 mitt romney beat barack obama in texas by 16 points. in 2016 donald trump beat hillary clinton by nine points and in 2020 trump won by five. so you might think that as presidential elections here in texas get closer and closer that texas republicans would become more moderate, but that's just not what we've seen here in the texas capital. texas republicans have pass add

. >> reporter: in 2012, mitt romney beat barack obama in texas by 16 points n. 2016, donald trump beat hillary clinton by nine points. and in 2020, trump won by five. so you might think that as presidential elections here in texas get closer and closer that texas republicans would become more moderate. but that's just not what we have seen here in the texas capital. texas republicans passed a

and i'm also no fap of -- >> the cat calls came as romney mentioned trump.has had a long trained win. even then a resolution to senture romney for his votes to convict trump at the senate's impeachment trial failed. here is how a destruct lawmaker sees all of this. >> he was the nominee eight years ago. could you imagine president brauj going before a democratic party. anyone that departs from the party line that dares to criticize president trump is going to be ostracized by a large part of that party. >> are you angry? the frustration, the fear, the heartbreaking december celebration on the ground in new delhi, that's just ahead. by inventing a revolutionary pad, that's incredibly thin. because it protects differently. with two rapiddry layers that overlap, where you need it most. for strong protection, that's always discreet. it's time to question your protection. it's time for always discreet. spray, lift, skip, step. swipe, lift, spin, dry. slam, pan, still...fresh move, move, move, move aaaaand still fresh. degree. ultimate freshness activated when you

that senator mitt romney and senator lisa murkowski. the so, again, we are absolutely expecting that to fail to be filibustered and not to move forward. we still have to get to that point. we did hear from senator m murkowski yesterday. she said in part to been senator mitch mcconnell who said there doesn't need to be further investigation in this way. she is said to be making a decision for the short term political gain at the expense of understanding and acknowledging what was in front of us january 6th. i think we need to look at that critically s that what this is about? is everything just one election cycle after another?" mcconnell said there doesn't need to be further investigation in this way. there are law enforcement investigations. democrats have charged this is all politics. they simply don't want to be talking about this when the 2022 mid terms roll around as they look to take back majorities in the house and the senate. but again, kate, it's a long way before we even get to this procedural vote on january 6th at this point

. >> that is senator mitt romney being booed in utah, in his state. a sign that defying the former president still comes with a price. and next hour, a very special guest, celebrated chef marcus samuelson, a new york institution. his reaction to the city's plan to reopen completely in july, and what it's going to mean to him and his workers as well. but we do want to begin in north carolina and what's happening there where a public viewing is going on right now ahead of the funeral for police shooting victim andrew brown jr., along with a 12th day of protests demanding the release of body cam footage in the case. that's where we find nbc's vaughn hillyard who is in elizabeth city, north carolina, where a viewing is being held this afternoon. also joining us is melissa murray, professor at the nyu school of law and an msnbc legal analyst. welcome to you both, guys. vaughn, i see you're marching with some protesters there. talk us through what you've been seeing on the ground so far today. >> reporter: we're in elizabeth city, yasmin, and this march is

mitt romney is an outstanding senator who serves his state and our country well.arty that is led by just one person. >> so that booing came just hours before romney narrowly avoided censure by his state party for voting for trump's impeachment. the utah resolution to censure -- ripe with inaccuracies at the ukraine investigation and the capitol siege on january 6th. it falls into a pattern where the gop seems to be embracing conspiracy theories including election fraud, which is now the basis for dozens of new state election laws. restricting access to the ballot. here is cnn's brian stelter. >> reporter: this is stunning. it's depressing. >> it is a simple question. a matter of fact, not opinion. did biden legitimately win enough votes for the presidency? >> three in ten americans say no. >> reporter: cnn's new polling by ssrs showing the blistering damage of the big lie. damage led by the former president. >> i ran two elections, i won them both. >> reporter: these lies are now being turned into policy. with republicans pushing bills in state legislatures that w