Mitt Romney addressed the controversial mocking directed at his adopted African American grandson, Kieran, by MSNBC.

Mitt Romney addressed the controversial mocking directed at his adopted African American grandson, Kieran, by MSNBC.

Melissa Harris-Perry has since apologized for the segment, in which she and a panel used the Romney child to make fun of the lack of diversity in the Republican Party.

Today on Fox News Sunday, Romney told Chris Wallace, “We love this little guy a great deal. He was an answer to prayer. And we love that he’s part of our family.”

Romney accepted Harris-Perry’s apology, saying, “The folks at MSNBC made a big mistake and they’ve apologized for it, and that’s all you can ask for. I’m going to move on from that; I’m sure they want to move on from it. Look, I’ve made plenty of mistakes myself and they’ve apologized for this and I think we can go on from there.”

The former presidential candidate added that children should be off limits from political attacks. “If you get in the political game, you can expect incoming. But children – that’s beyond the line. And I think they understand that and feel that as well. I think it’s a heartfelt apology and I think for that reason, we hold no ill will whatsoever.”

(Video: MSNBC panel mocks Romney's adopted grandchild)

Romney and Wallace also discussed ObamaCare and the upcoming Olympic games following terror attacks in Russia.

(Full Transcript)
WALLACE: Former Governor Mitt Romney joins us to discuss the road ahead for ObamaCare.
Plus, terror attacks in Russia intensify security concerns for next month's Olympic games in Sochi.
Romney, who headed the Olympics in Salt Lake City weighs in on that threat. It's a Fox News Sunday exclusive.

Then a new face off over the health care law. The Obama administration fights to preserve the birth control mandate after Supreme Court Justice Sotomayor blocks enforcement.
We'll talk with leaders on both sides of the debate. Ilyse Hogue of NARAL Pro-Choice America and Mark Rienzi with a Becket Fund for Religious Liberty.
And our power player of the week, Pulitzer prize-winning author Doris Kearns Goodwin on her guys.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DORIS KEARNS GOODWIN, PRESIENTIAL HISTORIAN: I have always chosen presidents that I think have been there at the most dramatic moments in our history.
(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALLACE: All right now on "Fox News Sunday."

And hello again from Fox News in Washington.

The new year has begun, but we face some of the same old issues -- problems with ObamaCare, a terror threat to disrupt the Winter Olympics in Russia now just a month away and a disgraceful political attack on a baby.

Here to talk about it all for the first time is former Massachusetts governor and 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney. And Governor Romney, happy few year and welcome back to Fox News Sunday.

ROMNEY: Thanks, Chris. Happy new year to you as well.

WALLACE: As you watch the rollout of ObamaCare from the botched website to the broken promise of "if you like your plans you can keep your plans" to all the questions of cost and coverage.
Governor, what bothers you the most?

ROMNEY: Well, it's not just that the president tells people that they have to buy health insurance, it's that he tells them what health insurance they have to buy. The idea that the government knows better than the American people what kind of insurance they have to have makes no sense, that it's something which I think the American people are rejecting in large numbers. And I think it's going to hurt the president and hurt the country and a lot of families.

People don't want to be told what type of insurance they have to have.

WALLACE: But didn't you and RomneyCare have coverage mandates? Didn't you, in effect, tell uninsured here's what you have to buy?

ROMNEY: Well, actually, one of the things I vetoed in the health legislation at our state was that very provision. I don't like the idea that the government tells people they have to have a gold plated health insurance policy, if they want something that's more specific to their needs.

The idea that a 70-year-old has to have birth control provisions or that they have to have maternity coverage, I mean these are kind of things that people ought to be able to select on their own and this is at the heart of the president's deception and dishonesty with regards to ObamaCare. And that is he told people, you can keep the insurance you have if you like it and that was not honest, that was deceptive and the American people recognize that and they're rejecting ObamaCare.

WALLACE: If President Obama had been honest during the 2012 campaign, if he admitted that millions of people will not be able to keep their policies, do you still think he would have beaten you?
ROMNEY: Well, I don't know. I wish I could go back and turn back the clock and take another try. But history is in the past and I'm not going to worry about what could have happened.

What I am worried about is that you have a lot of people who are going to find their premiums
going through the roof. They're going to find that the doctor they've had they can't keep. They're going to find that the policies they were promised they could have they're not going to be able to keep. And the American people are going to be very, very upset about that and should be upset about it. And not only is the ObamaCare hurting families one by one with regards to their own coverage, it's also continuing to delay the recovery of the economy.

The big story of 2013, a very distressing year, is that Americans continue not to be able to find the full-time jobs they need and that's something which the president has to recognize as the first priority of his administration. Get more Americans to work with higher wages and prospects for a
brighter future for their family.

WALLACE: We're going to talk at depth and depth in the next segment about the birth control mandate, contraception mandate as part of ObamaCare and the question of whether that should apply or not to religious affiliated non-profit groups. Under RomneyCare, those kind of organizations, if they offered goods or services, they also had to provide birth control. There, in fact, was no exemption at all for those organizations.

ROMNEY: Well, we did have specific legislation that tried to deal with these kind of religious exceptions and this was not an issue in our state. We didn't have the Catholic Church come to us and say, look, we got a problem here with the type of legislation you put in place. But, frankly, Chris, whatever mistakes may have been made in Massachusetts, those are things that can be dealt with at the state level. That's why it was at the heart of my plan for health care in America. And I think the heart of the Republican plan for health care in replacing ObamaCare is to say, look, let's let states put in place their own plans that make sense for their people. We can have federal guidelines say you need to keep people covered, you need to deal with pre-existing conditions.

But don't have the federal government take over health care, tell the American people precisely what type of coverage they have to have, have the federal government telling doctors what kind of procedures are authorized or not. That is not just the way to go. Let states and individuals have the powers that the constitution intended them to have.

WALLACE: Before you were governor, of course, you ran the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics. In the last week, there have been two terror attacks in Russia and we're putting them up on the screen, the first one at a train station, then one in a bus that killed more than 30 people and Muslim extremists have promised to disrupt the Sochi games next month.
Russian President Putin says he'll fight back. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VLADIMIR PUTIN, PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA (through translator): We will confidently, fiercely and consistently continue to fight against terrorists until their complete annihilation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALLACE: Governor, how concerned are you about violence during these winter games in Sochi?
ROMNEY: Well, I think with regards to any Olympics, there is always concern about violence, there was concern during our Olympics in 2002, of course, because we had just witnessed the tragedy
of 9/11 and we were very concerned and people wondered whether our games will be safe. Fortunately, they were safe.

But I don't think any major global event that brings people from all over the world together like
an Olympics can possibly escape the threat of violence. I do believe that the Russians will do everything in their power to protect the athletes and the spectators. I believe they'll be safe.
I am confident the games will be successful, because the athletes are the heart of the games. But Russia has a special problem given the threat that have been leveled at their direction. It's a problem that other games have also faced and be able to overcome successfully.

WALLACE: But I was going to talk to you about that the special threat. I mean, yes, there was a general threat against Salt Lake City just months after 9/11, on the other hand, we got here a Muslim terrorist group that has sworn to disrupt the Olympics. And as we have seen in Volgograd, they can kill dozens of people.

ROMNEY: There is for the question about it, it is very frightening to have any kind of Olympic event on your national soil and to recognize that there may be groups that target that event for some kind of an attack. And I'm convinced in the case of a nation like Russia, they have the resources to do their very best to protect the people from that kind of an attack.

And you should know, Chris, in my own view the heart of a successful Olympic security program is not just the hardened events and the magnetometers and the fences and so fort, but it's really the intelligence work that goes into the Olympics in the months and years before the games to make sure that you've identified people who might represent a threat.

And my guess is the Russians have done a pretty good job on the intelligence side of things to
keep the most dangerous people away.

WALLACE: Governor, I want to ask you a bigger question, the Olympic committee awarded these games to Russia back 2007 in part to try to reward and build up a, quote, new democracy. But today, Russia has turned more autocratic, Putin has signed a law against gays and Russia is spending $51 billion, which is more than all previous Winter Olympic games combined.

Governor, at some point does the country hosting the Olympics, does that country's values, can it undercut what the Olympics are supposed to be all about?

ROMNEY: Well, there's no question about that with regard to the Munich Olympics, for instance, and Hitler's presence there. That certainly undercut the Olympic message. And surely that could happen in our time, theoretically or specifically.

In my view, Russia has not been a particularly collaborative player on the world stage. Russia, after all, has been pushing for the continuance of Assad in Syria. It has been standing with Iran too often, in my view, against the tough sanctions that I think were necessary, although, they've come along to a certain degree. The harboring of Eric Snowden, I think, is designed to be a stick of the eye toward us.
Were it my choice, I would not vote for Russia to hold the Winter Olympics or the Summer Olympics. But it's not my choice.

They are a player on the global stage. They have a right to make their bid. But they do strain the view of people like myself as to their leadership and their characterization of the Olympic spirit.
WALLACE: Finally, sir, you send out a wonderful Christmas card each year -- and we've just put it up on the screen -- with your beautiful family. I'm fortunate enough to get the Christmas card, to be on your list. This year, you had a new member on your lap, your grandson Kieran, an African-American baby adopted by your son Ben.

For some reason, MSNBC decided to make him a target for ridicule. I know it's distasteful, sir, but here's a clip of what went on.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One of these things is not like the other.
(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It really sums up the diversity of the Republican Party.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

(CROSSTALK)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALLACE: Governor, this must be hurtful, and I know you are a classy guy and you don't want to get into it, but I've got to ask you, honestly, from the heart, how did you -- and, quite frankly, how did Mrs. Romney feel when you heard that your little baby grandson, Kieran, was the target for political ridicule?

ROMNEY: Well, first, let me just note, Chris, that we love this little guy a great deal. He was an answer to a prayer and we love that he's part of our family. He is a part of our family.
That being said, I recognize that people make mistakes. And the folks at MSNBC made a big mistake. And they've apologized for it. And that's all can you ask for.

I'm going to move on from that. I'm sure they want to move on from it. Look, I've made plenty of mistakes myself. And they've apologized for this. And, you know, I think we can go on from there.
WALLACE: Well, let me just ask -- and if I can press just a little bit on this, sir, you tend to speak from the head. I know Mrs. Romney tends to speak from the heart. I suspect she took this somewhat more personally. And, you know, the idea that political discourse would include going after a little baby.

ROMNEY: Well, you know, I think people recognize, and the folks at MSNBC who have apologized recognize that people like me are fair targets. If you get in the political game, you can expect incoming.

But children, that's a -- you know, that's beyond the line. And I think they understand that and feel that, as well. I think it's a heartfelt apology. And I think for that reason, we hold no ill will whatsoever.

WALLACE: And, finally, I just want to play it, because the anchor of the segment, as you mentioned, Melissa Harris-Perry, yesterday on her show did apologize for her comments.
Here's a bit of that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MELISSA HARRIS-PERRY, MSNBC: I broke the ground rule that families are off limits. And for that, I am sorry. Also, allow me to apologize to other families formed through trans-regional adoption, because I am deeply sorry that we suggested that interracial families are in any way funny or deserving of ridicule
.
(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALLACE: On the other hand, I have to point out, during the segment, she had a good laugh and said maybe Kieran would marry Kim Kardashian's daughter and then you and Kanye West would be in-laws.

Your reactions to her comments then and her apology yesterday, sir?

ROMNEY: You know, I think her apology was clearly heartfelt. And we accept that. And with regards to the rest of the comments, I hadn't heard those and don't really have any comment on those.

WALLACE: Governor Romney, we're going to leave it there. We want to thank you so much for joining us in the new year. It's always a pleasure to talk with you, sir.

ROMNEY: Thanks, Chris.
It's good to be with you.
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