before. i'm dr. sanjay gupta, thanks for coming along with us on this "fit nation" journey. we hope we've inspired you to get out of your comfort zone and start one of your own. hi, everyone, live in the cnn newsroom, i'm poppy harlow. it is 3:00 p.m. eastern. today's high looeped meeting between president-elect trump and one of his fiercest critics, mitt romney, has just wrapped up. the two appearing moments ago at trump's golf club in bedminister, new jersey. their meeting the first of the day. we're told one top take that may have been up for discussion, the job of secretary of state. our phil mattingly is live in bedminister where the meeting just wrapped up. look, there's been no love lost between the two of these. donald trump has called mitt romney a choke artist. mitt romney has said that donald

trump is a phony and a fraud. but the two men met today. what did they say. >> yeah, we're a long way from that. apparently what we saw is what you pointed out. foreign policy is a crucial component of what mitt romney wants to talk about, and it is exactly what they spoke about. what does that mean for perhaps a future cabinet position? that is untold. as they walked out together after an hour and 20-minute meeting, donald trump cupped his hands in front. his face, said it went great. mitt romney said this -- >> we had a -- a far-reaching conversation with regards to the various theaters in the world where there are interests of the united states, of real significance. we discussed those chairs and exchanged our views on those topics. very -- very thorough and in-depth discussion in the time we had. and appreciate the chance to speak with the president-elect. and -- and look forward to the

coming administration and the things we'll be doing. thank you. >> as you see, mitt romney did not answer any of the shouted questions. he turned and walked to his car and left. we weren't able to follow up on that. as you note, all the conversation appeared to be about foreign policy. now. mo has plenty of experience on the economic side of things. that was the big core of his 2012 campaign. but the focus on foreign policy only adding to the speculation about when this meeting might lead to a future position, i'm told from transition officials that is a possibility. it's something they wanted to discuss. the big question is, is that something donald trump wants to settle on, and perhaps more importantly, is that a position mitt romney would want? >> right. aside from the personal barbs back and forth, they've got real policy differences on free trade. they're on totally opposite ends of the spectrum. and the same thing on russia. they're on totally opposite ends of the spectrum, a huge issue now.

but we are told, phil, that the transition team says, yep, there may be another maker appointment announced today. any idea what that position might be? >> reporter: right now, we know there's a possibility of another appointment, and likely inside the track of national security. lining up with what we saw yesterday. obviously naming the attorney general, it the national security adviser, naming the prospective cia director yesterday a big component of a big national security push by the trump team. there's a possibility another name would be added to that, as well. we don't know what it might be yet. expect it to be on the lines of national security, perhaps on the intelligence side of things. poppy? >> phil mattingly, bring us more as you have it. thank you very much. let's bring in cnn political commentator and former mitt romney public policy director, lonnie chen. also with us, former georgia congressman and former senior adviser to the trump campaign, jack kingston. thank you, gentlemen, for being here. and lonnie, let me just begin with you. as you know, these two men have

said not the nicest things about one another. let's take a walk down memory lane. >> donald trump is a phony. a fraud. >> mit was a disaster as a candidate. >> he's playing the members of the american public for suckers. >> romney let us know. he was a very poor campaigner. >> he gets a free ride to the white house, and all we get is a lousy hat. >> romney choked like a dog. he choked. he went -- >> his promises are as worthless as a degree from trump university. >> i have a lot of friends -- i have a lot of friends, by the way, mitt romney is not one of them. >> maybe that changes after today. you wrote in mitt romney in this selection, you really wanted to see him as president four years ago and wanted to see him this year again. what do you make of all of this? can the two come together on the personal stuff and the policy stuff? mainly russia, as mitt romney calmed the greatest geopolitical

threat to the world back in 2012. >> i think that at core people have to understand mitt romney is a patriot. it's not just talk. this is a guy who cares and loves -- cares for and loves his country deeply. so immediately after the election, you saw him reaching out by saying, you know, look, i congratulate the president-elect. they had a very nice phone call where by all accounts the president-elect was gracious. i think that this is about sharing views with someone who's going to be leader of the free world. governor romney cares about what's going to happen to the president-elect's administration. he cares what's going to happen to the country. >> let me jump in and tell people. they're looking at donald trump, lives pictures walking back into the golf course. the woman who just left was michelle rhee. obviously potentially being considered for an education post. who knows what they said. doesn't look like she made any comments. continue what you were saying. >> this is part of a process of

helping the president-elect govern well. when the governor made the remarks, they talked about a bunch of stuff around the world. that's part of the process of helping the president-elect understands the challenges we face. >> to you, congressman, campaigning is much different than governing. you can get along with someone when you're governing even if you didn't get along with them on the campaign. what we know from the president-elect is that loyalty is huge for him. let's listen. >> there's never been the loyalty this we have. i have the most loyal people. this guy is so loyal. been very, very loyal. he's been loyal to trump from day one. she's so loyal and so amazing. >> mitt romney has not been loyal. do you read this meeting as optics, or do you think that mitt romney is seriously being considered for secretary of state? >> i don't think it's optics. mitt romney is a serious man. he has a grip on the world. he's been around the block

economically, politically. i think about george bush calling ronald reagan's plan voodoo economics. certainly hillary clinton and barack obama when they were opposing each other in the primary exchanged sharp elbows. that sort of i think this does happen. and you can get past that. at the same time, i think romney is the kind of guy that if they make their paegs -- and i believe they potential already have -- but i think he would be an absolute loyal soldier, but more importantly, they both love america and want to do what's right. >> amtrak on, your point of being -- congressman, on your point of being a local soldier, you can get past personal things. i want our viewers to listen to what donald trump has sbeds russia and vladimir putin over -- said wiabout russia and vladimir putin over the course of the campaign. so different from calling them our number-one geopolitical foe. let's listen. >> do you ever notice anything that goes wrong, they blame russia. russia did it, they have no

idea. we're being hacked because we have people who don't know what they're doing. they say putin likes trump. and he said nice things about me. he called me a genius. he said we're going to win. that's good. that's not bad. that's good. some opponents said they want us to disavoid the statement. why would i disavow, why? if we could get along with russia, wouldn't that be a good thing instead of a bad thing? i had nothing to do with putin. i've never spoken to him. i don't know anything about him other than he will respect me. >> congressman, to your point, can mitt romney be a "good soldier" and follow that ideology when it comes to pooun a putin and the kremlin if he has a vastly different view of russia? >> i think number one mitt romney does not need the job. he would want to do the job because of the best interests of america. in that respect, i think the two would understand that mitt, are you working for me, for my policy. are you comfortable with it. mitt romney's the guy who's going to say, no, i can't do

this. i want to say -- >> is that you saying is you don't think romney will take the post? >> no. that's 100% me, but i'm saying he would not take the post if the two had a major policy division, if they couldn't get together. i want to say this -- remember, trump said one of the problems he felt that we had the middle east is we always broadcasted to the enemy in advance what we were going to do next. bringing in somebody like mitt romney could throw some of our enemies off a little bit because it could be a mixed signal, and i think sometimes in foreign policy that's not a bad idea. >> what do you make of that, lonnie? can you know better than anyone how mitt romney feels about russia. how he feels about free trade. look, you've got the meeting today with president obama and president xi of china. china is critical. mitt romney feels different about free trade in china and the world trade center trade organization th-- world trade

organization. do they get on the same pang? >> i think it is clear the rhetoric drumpg used on the campaign trail reflects a different view of the world. that's truch the question is, is the policy going to be dramatically different. i think the one area where there is some concern and conflict is over the notion of cooperating with syria. cooperating and dealing with the syrian crisis. i think clearly that is the one policy pronouncement i would be concerned about. a lot of the other stuff seems to be about tone and bluster and about his relationship with putin, whatever that might be. so we have to really us is out what the genuine policy differences are there. on trade, i will say if you recall four years ago, governor romney was aggressive in terms of his stance on how we deal with china on the global trade stage. >> he wasn't paying flat tariffs -- >> no tpp, that's true. but i guess it's just important for us to really figure out as we go through the transition process, what is the policy of the trump administration going to be? and then we can have this discussion once we figure out exactly what it is they're going to be fighting for, once the

president-elect takes office. i think that's important to figure out. >> and another thing that's important, it's important for cabinet members to stay in their own lane. secretary of state would follow the lead of the ustr, the u.s. trade rep when it comes to trade policy. and one of the things that i know can be a problem, you don't want the secretary of hud to start dictating to the secretary of agriculture what he or she should be doing. so i would say mitt romney would be fine with some of the policies that are limited to state department. although that's vast, it's the whole gloen. again, he's the kind of guy who's going to sign on if he believes it's a good working relationship. i think that's what makes mitt romney a quality prospects for this position. >> we'll see. and as we know, donald trump is having nonstop meetings this weekend about a lot of these petition positions. we may get an announcement on the national security threat today. thank you very much. >> appreciate it. coming up, donald trump says

the catch the hit show "hamilton" "harassed his vice presidential pick." the direct appeal the actors made last night to mike pence. >> we have a guest. and vice president-elect pence, i hope you'll wait a few more minutes.

as president-elect trump works to fill his cabinet spots, vice president-elect pence got a

mixed response as he walked into the theater for "hamilton." [ boos and cheers ] >> later during the curtain call, one of the stars made a plea to pence, here's what he said -- >> vice president-elect pence, we welcome you, and we truly thank you for joining us here at "hasn't: an american musical." -- "hamilton: a american musical." we are diverse america who are alarmed and anxious that your newonstration will not protect us. our planet -- [ cheers ] our children, our parents, or defend us and uphold our inalienable rights, sir. but we truly hope this show has inspired you to uphold our american values and to work behalf of all of us, all of us. [ applause ] [ cheers ] >> thank you for attending the

show. an american story told by a diverse group of men and women of different colors, creeds, and origins. [ applause ] to represent all of us. >> rachel crane joins us. you've been following this all day, obviously talking to representatives from "hamilton." first to the president-elect. donald trump responding this morning on twitter. what's he saying? >> of course, you know, president-elect trump is has a busy schedule now trying to select his cabinet. still managed to find time tweet about last night's incident saying, actually calling it harassment. saying, "our wonderful future v.p. mike pence was harassed last night at the theater by the cast of "hamilton." cameras blazing. this should not happen." he sent a follow uptweet saying, "the theater must be a safe and special place. the cast was rude to a very good man, mike pence.

apologize." brandon dixon, the star of "hasn't" who also was the one delivering the message replied to donald trump's tweet saying, "conversation is not harassment, sir. and i appreciate mike pence for stopping to listen. " we have been able to confirm with a spokesperson for the musical that mike pence did indeed stop and hear the entirety of the message as he was leaving the theater. and that spokesperson also pointed out that he did not think this was harassment. he was unclear of what donald trump's definition of harassment was. he also pointed out that they thanked mike pence for coming to the show. their message delivered in a polite manner. the tone was respectful and polite. and a lot of chatter about this message on social media. over a million people talking about it on twitter. >> what are some of the responses? i'm sure they span the gamut. >> yes. lynn manuel miranda, the writer and the former star of "hamilton" tweeting, "proud of

"hamilton" music am, proud of brandon dixon for leading with love, and proud to remind you that all are welcome at the theater." also the mayor of new york office tweet being this showing support for the catst of "hamilton," the aclu. newt gingrich tweeting, "the arrogance and hostility of the "hamilt "hamilton" cast to the vice president-elect, a gest theater, is a re-- guest at the theater, is a reminder that the left still fights." just one of millions of tweets about the subject. and several hash tags actually trending on twitter right now. #boycotthamilton as well as ♪ pencemusical. the irony is that "hamilton" is sold out. by boycotting it, it's only going to maybe drop the prices. >> interesting. that is reflecting history. this is the current race coming into this at the end. not something anyone expected to see that was going to see

"hamilton." thank you. appreciate it. coming up next, trump's pick for attorney general. facing scrutiny over his task. we'll take a closer look at alabama senator jeff sessions and why a senate committee once refused to confirm him as a federal judge. oh no, that looks gross whoa, twhat is that? try it. you gotta try it, it's terrible. i don't wanna try it if it's terrible. it's like mango chutney and burnt hair. no thank you, i have a very sensitive palate. just try it! guys, i think we should hurry up. if you taste something bad, you want someone else to try it. it's what you do. i can't get the taste out of my mouth! if you want to save fifteen percent or more on car insurance, you switch to geico. it's what you do. shhh! dog, dog, dog.

president-elect trump holding back-to-back meetings in bedminister, new jersey, trying to fill many, many cabinet positions. mitt romney emerged with michelle rhee, a possible pick for secretary of education. much more on that as it comes in. meantime, donald trump's pick to run the justice department has had problems with senate confirmations before. in 1986, then-alabama attorney general jeff sessions could not get the blessing of the interstate judiciary committee to become a federal -- federal judiciary committee to become a federal judge. why? because he made racist comments. more on the senator's background. here we go. >> reporter: jeff sessions has been alabama's senator for 20 years, and before that, alabama's attorney general -- >> rule of law is an important thing. >> reporter: -- and u.s. attorney -- >> witness has not answered your question. >> reporter: he is currently a member of the senate judiciary committee. the same committee that denied him a federal judgeship in 1986

over allegations he made racial remarks calling the naacp un-american and communist inspired. one african-american u.s. attorney who worked under sessions testified that sessions called him "boy" and joked about the kkk, saying he was okay with them until he learned that they smoked marijuana. sessions denied the allegations and says he's never been a racist. >> i am not a arrests. i am not insensitive to blacks. i've supported civil rights activity in my state. >> reporter: in the senate, sessions earned the reputation as a staunch conservative and garnered respect from his colleagues on both sides of the aisle. if confirmed, he will be taking the reins as the chief law enforcement officer in the country. at a time when the relationship between law enforcement and communities of color is front and center. >> everyone needs to be held to account. just because you are a sitting senator going before those who

are your brothers and sisters in the same body doesn't mean you're entitled to just walk into a position that is the -- frankly one of the most powerful positions in this country. >> pamela brown reporting. thank you for that. lens talk more with our panel, cnn supreme court justice report and former senior trump adviser and former georgia congressman jack kingston is back. aryan alet me begin with you. we saw the background there and the controversy over these alleged remarks. racist remarks. if he is confirmed, talk about the biggest way that he could reshape the justice department as we know it. >> he is going to reshape the justice department. you know, elections matter. if you think back to it, under the obama administration, attorney general lynch and holder, they really focused on issues like gay marriage, voting rights, consumer and environmental protections, that building has a limited number of resources. and he, if he makes it, he'll shift those resources. he cares a lot about immigration reform. you heard that on the campaign

trail. and another way he might do it, he really cares about drug enforcement. he might look almost at marijuana, it's illegal under federal law. but some states have allowed it. the obama administration took sort of a hands-off approach there. he may not. he may look more closely at that. and that's what so many of these civil rights groups are concerned about. that he would undo what they've seep as progress under the obama administration. >> he will have sweeping powers. and to the allegations that pamela covered in her piece about alleged racist remarks, you also have the other side of it where, you know, a number of his supporters and trump supporters say, look, they say the mainstream media is not talking about things like the fact that he voted to confirm attorney general holder, that he voted to extend the civil rights act 30 more years. that he was the one who brought forth the fair sentencing act in

2010. fighting those mandatory minimum sentences. given both sides of the coin, how likely is it that the allegations of racism are going to hurt him in con snirmz. >> i just don't think they're going to hurt him. first of all, you know, during that period of time 30 years ago when he was a u.s. attorney, he also led the fight to indict and try henry hayes, henry francis hayes, the klan number alabama who murdered michael mcdonnell. he led that. then as a u.s. -- as the attorney general of alabama, sought the death penalty. his detractor 30 years ago, a guy named thomas figure, was later accused of bribing a witness. i think so much of of that was a long time ago. the fact aren't there. he also -- >> let me jump in, congressman, and push back with this. because those facts stood at the time that -- that the senate judiciary committee did not confirm him as a federal judge. the first time they'd done that,

sir, in 48 years, and included two republicans siding with democrats against that. >> but remember, one of those republicans are, the inspector denounced the vote, said it was a mistake. and thomas figure had not been convicted of bribery at the time. that was many years later. i only say that because the witness had a lot of allegations. most of them were hearsay. there weren't other people -- who saw this. but you know, one of the things you hadn't mentioned also, that as a senator, he also championed the cause of rosa parks getting the congressional medal of honor and got a million dollars for the rosa parks museum. a lot of water has gone under the bridge since 1986. and i think people around alabama and the united states of america have gotten to know jeff sessions as a guy who's very honorable, who does his homework, who served on the judiciary committee and has been very evenhanded. one of the things, as you pointed out, he voted to support the nomination of eric holder.

but he also is known for being fair to nominees in general. haven't gone through that unpleasant experience himself. he has been sympathetic and polite to everybody who comes before him. i think he's going to get points for that. >> arianna, let me ask you this. you wrote sentencively about how he -- extensively about how he could shape the justice department this week. you pointed out the deference he will give to states. >> well, yeah. because look where he comes from, right? he understands that. he served there as an a.g., and very often the conservatives feel like the states should be heard. going back to their constitutional principles. what's interesting about him is he is conservative. he is not a moderate bridge builder that trump has put up there. he's very conservative, and he cares about these principles. >> he is also, congressman, loyal. he was the first sitting u.s. senator to come out and support donald trump. we know that donald trump rewards loyalty.

>> well, he came out way early, and he did put a lot of his own political goodwill at risk doing it. i don't think donald trump will appoint anybody based on loyalty. he's going to look at talent and ask them to answer tough questions and get the job done. i want to say about his conservative nature. keep in mind loretta lynch and eric holder were liberals. that was president obama's right to choose his team to implement his vision that he campaigned on. and so i'm not sure why the left is so surprised that donald trump would appoint somebody who believes in his principles. i mean, it's not donald trump's job at this moment to be politically correct to the left. >> i wouldn't say people are surprised. it's certainly going to be a contentious debate that carries on to the con firchlz process. we will watch. arianna, congressman, thank you very much. >> thanks. coming up, donald trump announces his pick for national security advisors. a retired general -- adviser. a retired general who says islam

is a cancer. could the new cia director help donald trump keep his promise to bring back water boarding? we'll talk about it live. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ how else do you think he gets around so fast? take the reins this holiday and get the mercedes-benz you've always wanted during the winter event. now lease the 2017 gla250 for $329 a month at your local mercedes-benz dealer. don't put off checking out your options until sixty-five. now is a good time to get the ball rolling. consider an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. like any of these types of plans, it could help you with out-of-pocket medical costs. call now and request your free decision guide

and explore the range of aarp medicare supplement plans. start gathering the information you need... to roll into sixty-five with confidence. ...one of many pieces in my i havlife.hma... so when my asthma symptoms kept coming back on my long-term control medicine. i talked to my doctor and found a missing piece in my asthma treatment with breo. once-daily breo prevents asthma symptoms. breo is for adults with asthma not well controlled on a long-term asthma control medicine, like an inhaled corticosteroid. breo won't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. breo opens up airways to help improve breathing for a full 24 hours. breo contains a type of medicine that increases the risk of death from asthma problems and may increase the risk of hospitalization in children and adolescents. breo is not for people whose asthma is well controlled on a long-term asthma control medicine, like an inhaled corticosteroid. once your asthma is well controlled, your doctor will decide if you can stop breo and prescribe a different asthma control medicine, like an inhaled corticosteroid. do not take breo more than prescribed. see your doctor if your asthma does not improve or gets worse.

ask your doctor if 24-hour breo could be a missing piece for you. see if you're eligible for 12 months free at mybreo.com.

this was moments ago in bed minutes -- bedminister, new jersey. as secretary of defense, the president-elect with a busy day meeting earlier today with mitt romney. he's got nonstop meetings as his transition team puts it. hiring the men and women who will be his top advisers at the white house. donald trump's choice for national security adviser marks a remarkable comeback for michael flynn. the retired three-star general has extensive military experience but was force the out of his job at the defense intelligence agency two years ago, in part because of his combative management style. he is a registered democrat and stunned colleagues by joining the trump campaign. remember his name was throated

possibly as trump's running mate at one point. and by tramping to russia in december. you see him there next to, who else, russian president vladimir putin, who's actually paid for that visit. one of multiple appearances that flynn has made on russian television. flynn says he went to russia to crack down on iran's involve investment middle eastern conflicts and says he was not directly paid by russia. they are the optics that are an issue. kimberly -- is with us, so is military analyst and lieutenant general mark hurtling. both know flynn. thank you for being here. let me begin with you, i mean, if we can pull that picture back up, is flynn too close to russia? >> on the one hand when you're a new administration and you're taking office, you want to reach out to major superpowers, if you're running for office you

want to talk to major superpowers. you could see this visit in the light. he and i have been friends for while, and he hung up on me. i didn't get a real answer. i don't think they realized that this would be the image, would rocket around the world. he had intelligence briefings, we didn't know as a retired officer, what he can get, we didn't know he was going to moscow. >> general, to you, as one who knows him, one of the keys to surrounding shim because of his commen commen comments. >> islam is a political ideology, a political ideology. it definitely hides behind the notion of it being a religion.

it's like cancer, i've gone through cancer in my own life, and so it's like cancer. it's like a malignant cancer in this case. it has metastasized. >> he also tweeted fear of muslims is rational, please forward this to others. the truth fears no questions. general hurtling, to you, it seems like he is conflating the religion, islam, and radical islamic terrorism. and making it sound as though they are one. does it concern you? >> it concerns me greatly. my mike is a passionate and energized speaker. he will do well. it relies on emotions more than fact. he frankly gets it wrong in both of the statements. and as a general author had he said either of those things, and -- and saz a retired general officer, i try -- and as a retired general officer, i try

and live by the beliefs instilled in me. he goes against the values we take. >> what happens if he continues to say these things in his new position? >> well, that remains to be seen. and i don't want to prejudge any of that. but we are fighting with muslims right now in iraq. we are shoulder to shoulder in iraq and afghanistan, and many other places with muslim soldiers. islam is not a threat in and of itself. i don't believe it's a political movement. it's a religion. so yeah, islamism is certainly a political movement. and there are some radical extreme muslims as part of the religion. but he is certainly conflating those two things and being very unprofessional in the way he's doing it. >> kimberly, i want to get your take on congressman mike pompeo, the choice for the head of the cia. obviously a congressman from kansas. let's just take off some of the things we know about him. he's very conservative. he's from the tea party. a former army guy, graduated

first in his class from west point. he was part of the house panel that investigated the benghazi attacks. he said that trey goudie didn't go far enough in his report against hillary clinton. and he is opposed to closing gitmo. do you believe he will help trump keep the campaign promise of water boarding? techniques that have been called terrorism? >> yes, he's said that water boarding, which president obama called torture, that he doesn't think it's -- the nsa is looking into the metadata for americans' phone records. when they got checked, he said that shouldn't have lapped.

the cia has a technical arm that some officers say is more powerful than the nsa's at looking at data overseas. he wants to make use of that as much as he can. he's going in to the cia to return them to the forefront on the war on terror and hand back some of the -- what were seen asset excesses of the bush administration. and you combine that with a michael flynn who is on record as wanting to be more aggressive against islam, it's a -- a combination that has got civil rights and human rights activists worried. >> very quickly to you, general. john mccain came out and said, basically i don't care what the president says, we will not be water boarding. what happens to the people who are actually tasked with carrying these things out? if they are told, yes, you will water board, but they believe it

is torture, what do they do? >> if it was a military person, a uniformed person, they could disregard that as an illegal order, which it is. it violates the geneva convention on two different counts. but we went through this discussion once before, poppy, truthfully in the early 2000s when water boarding was brought in. the military said we would not do. it the cia didn't have a lot of the agents that said they would do it, too. they went out to contractors who thought it would be effective. so those contractors were hired by the cia. they were not cia personnel. and it -- truthfully, when you're talking about the legalities of all this, it gets troubling when you're asked to disobey what are known to be violations of international law. >> kimberly, lieutenant general, thank you both very much. appreciate the information considering they both know mr. flynn. coming up, president-elect trump will take office with a supreme court seat to fill. the list of possible nominees

may be getting shorter. even and you can't stand donald trump, you think donald trump is the worst, you're going to vote for me -- do you know why? justices of the supreme court. my lineage was the vecchios and zuccolis. through ancestry, through dna i found out that i was only 16% italian. he was 34% eastern european. so i went onto ancestry, soon learned that one of our ancestors we thought was italian was eastern european. this is my ancestor who i didn't know about. he looks a little bit like me, yes. ancestry has many paths to discovering your story. get started for free at ancestry.com

welcome back. donald trump's transition team has more than 4,000 jobs to fill, including an open seat on

the supreme court left open by the late antonin scalia. during his term, trump may get to shape the high court for decades to come. justice ruth bader ginsburg is 83. anthony kennedy is 80. justice steven breyer, 78. trump released a list of possible jusises to fill the seat -- justices to fill the seat during his campaign saying the list is definitive and will choose only from it in picking future justices of the supreme court. our supreme court reporter is back with me. is there an even shorter list that is circulating now, especially among republicans? i mean, what names would you be looking at most closely now? >> it's worth noting that no other president-elect has ever put out such a list. frankly, it was done to soothe the conservatives. a short list has, merge emerged william pryor, 54. he's called roe v. wade an abomination. diane sykes, 58. she's on the seventh circuit. a dark horse candidate is joan

larsen. she serves on the michigan supreme court, not an appellate court. she hasn't been on the bench that long. but the conservatives have a lot of faith in her. and she's a former scalia clerk. and then finally there's senator mike lee. he's 45, best friends with ted cruz. the only non-judge on this list. he comes with solid credentials for them. >> speaking of ted cruz, he had a meeting this week with donald trump which i think surprised a lot of people considering they were not the best of friends during the campaign. but the talk was would there be even a chance that donald trump would tap ted cruz for -- for scalia's seat. he'son that list of 21. what do you think the chances are? >> well, that's the big question. would trump go off this list. but if he did, the conservatives of course would love ted cruz. he comes -- he was a rehnquist clerk for chief justice rehnquist. he comes with solid credentials.

i guess some think maybe trump wouldn't mind taking him out of the political arena. but i talked to trump yesterday. he was in -- i had talked to cruz yesterday. he was in town -- >> i was going to say, give us the scoop on the interview with donald trump. >> not trump. cruz. i said, look, would you talk the seat if -- if you were asked? he completely dodged the question. >> former solicitor general, certainly has a long legal background. let me ask you also, ruth bader ginsburg, 83. she was so confident during the election that a democrat would win. that she stayed in her seat, she didn't step down. any insight now? >> what's interesting is back in 2014, a law professor publicly wrote in the "l.a. times" saiding she should step down if only to give a chance too a younger nominee. she said the way congress is now, we couldn't get a progressive that would please us in my seat. i'm going stay on.

she also said that she thought obama would put -- would be succeeded by a democratic president. so like a lot of people, she may have not thought clearly on who would win the election. it's worth noting she's showing no signs of slowing down. she's been spoofed in "saturday night live," but at the end of the day, she is 83 years old. >> appreciate the reporting. fascinating, and as soon as you know more, let us know. this is obviously something that's getting a lot of attention. coming up, trump tower, now one of the biggest draws in new york city. every tourist seems to go there, especially now. how the secret service is working to keet the president-elect safe in his own home. there's now an unprecedented security plan in place. you don't let anything keep you sidelined. that's why you drink ensure. with 9 grams of protein and 26 vitamins and minerals.

for the strength and energy to get back to doing... ...what you love. ensure. always be you.

no intention of adopting.er,

he was the very last kennel in the very last row. emaciated. he was skin and bones. usually what you see in neglected dogs. it was one of those complete, meant-to-be moments... i totally fell in love with him. (avo) through the subaru share the love event, we've helped the aspca save nearly thirty thousand animals so far. get a new subaru, and we'll donate another two hundred and fifty dollars to help those in need. ♪put a little love in your heart.♪ voting is now under way for cnn hero of the year. sheldon smith is one of this

year's top ten cnn heroes. his non-profit, the dove tail project, has help eed nearly 20 young dads build skills to help them be responsible parents. >> being a dad has helped me to overcome. i didn't have a father figure around. it doesn't come with a map or a manual. and sometimes you can learn from others or you learn on the fly. >> i'm trying to do better so my son don't have to go through what i went through. >> i want to figure out how to provide these men with the skills and tools they need to stay involved in their children's life, and really support the next generation of children. my goal at the end oh of the day when i started the dove tail project was to break the cycle, because i grew up in a community where a lot of young men face the same issues that i was facing, and no one was doing anything about it.

there aren't too many place where is a father can get the help and support that he needs. being able to have those resources that you need to make an impact on your child's life, like employment or some type of assistance is key and very important. i really wanted to be the person who built the hub for that. >> you can vote for sheldon or any of your favorite top ten cnn heroes right now at cnnheroes.com. we'll be right back.

top of the hour, i'm poppy harlow in new york. they were bitter enemies during the presidential campaign, but today, president-elect donald trump and mitt romney shook hands in a meeting that may have included talk about the job of secretary of state. to say that trump and romney have held and had a rocky relationship is putting it mildly. romney called trump a con man, a phony, and a fraud who would bring trickle down racism to america. trump called romney a choke artist for losing the 2012 election. but that was then, apparently this is now. what remains to be seen is whether they'll join forces. we d