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Remembering Gerald Ford in Grand Rapids, Michigan; Mitt Romney To Set Up Exploratory Presidential Campaign Committee

Aired January 03, 2007 - 13:56   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Tom DeFrank with the "New York Daily News" conducted Ford's last interview, had the chance to spend a lot of time with the former president, interviewing him, getting to know him.
And when we look at the family church, Tom, the fact that this family worshiped here since the 1940s, whether it was the marriage to Betty or funerals of his parents, the baptism -- baptisms, I should say, of his children, his faith was important.

And within that came a lot of stories about humility, and I know that you experienced a number of those. I love the one of when the two of you were in Cleveland and he was told he had to check into the emperor suite.

TOM DEFRANK, "NEW YORK DAILY NEWS": It's one of my favorite stories. It was the last weekend of that frenzied 1976 campaign against Jimmy Carter, which, of course, he lost. And I believe it was the Saturday before the election, and he had been to four states. He was blitzing the country.

He gets several hours of downtime in Cleveland, and he's into a -- they put him in a Marriott in Cleveland for a few hours. And he walks into his suite and, of course, presidents always get very good suites but it's usually the presidential suite.

But this one had a big plaque on the door saying the emperor suite. He didn't like that and he turned to his military aide, Bob Barrett, who is an honorary pallbearer at these services, and he said I don't like this, fix it.

So Barrett went rooting around. He found a piece of cardboard, some tape and a felt-tip pen and he taped over the emperor suite and he scrawled with the felt-tip, Gerry Ford's room. That's Gerry Ford.

And I wanted to add, Kyra, if I could say something, too, to what Jeanne said about the University of Michigan. Several years ago, maybe 10 years ago, the University of Michigan retired his number, number 48. And there was a big ceremony at half-time at a Michigan game. The president and Mrs. Ford and all the family were there.

He loved this picture so much, and he loved the fact that they thought well enough of him that they retired his number, 48, that he made it his Christmas card that year. So instead of the usual Christmas card with the family and the kids and the grandchildren, there was a big picture of President Ford holding his jersey, number 48, that Michigan had retired. He just loved that.

PHILLIPS: And he actually could have gone on to play professional football, but he wanted to go to Yale, right?

DEFRANK: He did, indeed. And he had met an assistant coach at Yale at the time, a fellow named Red Blaik, who your sports listeners will know became the famous head coach at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

He met Red Blaik and Blaik had suggested that he buy a little place in Palm Springs and got him on to Palm Spring, and they knew each other later at Yale. Well, there's a picture, number 48, that's his old jersey. Centers don't have 40 numbers these days. They have 50s. But that was 70 years ago.

The other story I wanted to tell quickly about the University of Michigan is that last October, his public policy school was dedicated at the University of Michigan and he really wanted to go. When I saw him in may, he said, I'm going to be there. And he said, I used to walk by this vacant lot when I was coming back from football practice to my job.

He was waiting on tables, as I recall, to help get through the University of Michigan. He said, I walked through this vacant lot with beer bottles and glass strewn all over. He said, never did I think that 70 years later that would be the home of the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan.

He was so excited about being able to go, and it kind of broke everybody's heart around him to discover that two days before he had to cancel. He was just too weak to go, so he missed it.

But Ann Arbor and Grand Rapids and the University of Michigan were right at the center of his universe after his family.

PHILLIPS: Well, something else, too, as you have -- you had a chance to spend a lot of time with him and with Betty Ford and just talking about their relationship and his relationship with his family.

But there was also another relationship that a lot of people talked about, and that was his relationship with Nixon. A lot of people thought they were really close because he pardoned him later on, and other people said, no, they weren't close at all.

Now, you have actually gone out to stay they were not close, right, and actually Nixon, many times -- how do I say it -- talked behind Ford's back and Ford continued to be forgiving and a good friend to Nixon.

DEFRANK: Gerry Ford was one of the most decent people that I have ever known. He turned the other cheek like -- like you would not believe, Kyra. And he and Nixon had begun as friends.

They were both young members of the House of Representatives. And they became founding members of something called the Chowder and Marching Society, which was a Republican social club. Ford was the last surviving member, just like he was the last surviving member of the Warren Commission.

So he and Nixon knew each other. They were friends. They were friendly. But they were never close.

You just have to think about it for a minute. Gerry Ford was gregarious, he was full of life. He loved a good joke.

Richard Nixon, for all of his strengths as a foreign policy president, was uptight, paranoid, possessed by demons. There were stories during Watergate where he was allegedly talking to the pictures on the walls.

Gerry Ford was just not like that. And so they were -- they were a personality chemical misfit.

Now, they were friends. And I know what President Ford has said to other journalists about this, but they weren't close. And I've talked to President Ford about this several times over the last 17 years -- 20 years, I guess I should say -- and he knew that Nixon was lying to him about Watergate.

At some point he figured out that things that Richard Nixon was telling him about his, Nixon's, innocence were just not true. And I'll tell you, Gerry Ford was the kind of guy that he -- when he got to know someone and was dealing with them, he administered a test. And you never knew when he was doing a test, but a test was being administered.

At some point you either flunked or passed. And if you passed, he trusted you and he would be the most generous of people. And if you flunked, you were done.

And so I know how angry he was to have learned that Richard Nixon lied to him. That didn't mean he felt badly for him at the end. He did feel terribly bad, badly about the strain on Richard Nixon, Pat Nixon, their children. And I do believe that his human compassion for President Nixon was a factor in the pardon.

I don't think it was the primary factor for a moment. And the notion that they were close friends -- and that's why he pardoned Nixon -- is just not correct.

PHILLIPS: Well, it's -- Tom, I love how you tell the stories. And just seeing who's here at all the various services and what they're saying about him and listening to you and just talking about his life, he stood for what was right. And even though -- even in the midst of all of that, he did what was right.

And this is the payoff. You pass away after an incredible 90- plus years, and no one has a bad thing to say about you. That right there is a blessing in itself.

DEFRANK: Absolutely.

PHILLIPS: Tom, thanks. Stay with us. We'll be talking some more. Tom DeFrank.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, very interesting insight that Tom DeFrank offered there. And this is quite a history lesson for the nation as we continue our coverage of the burial and memorial service for the former president, the 38th president of the United States, Gerald R. Ford.

There you see the casket, the flag-draped casket in the back of the Hearse there, and the throngs and throngs of people who have been lining the route here just to greet members of the family and just to say their good-byes to the former president.

Here's what's happening now, just to let you know.

The casket team is what they're called. It will move to the rear of the Hearse, and then the body bearers, or as most people call them, the pallbearers, will move the casket and halt when it's in full view so that everyone can get a look at the president and pay their respects, or at the casket, at least.

And then the Presentation of Arms, when they will play "Ruffles and Flourishes," which we've heard through all the events here, and then "Hail to the Chief." And then a hymn will be played, "Fairest Lord Jesus," will be played, and then the body will be brought in to Grace Episcopal Chapel here -- Cathedral, rather -- in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

So, again, a very big history lesson for most people who are tuning into this. There are tidbits that we learned about most of this.

Jeanne, a lot of pageantry.

Jeanne Meserve is standing by at the Ford Museum.

But a lot of pageantry with this. And we've been talking about what a simple man this was, at least simple in the way that he thought and led his life, very smart, obviously, to be the president of the United States, but he wasn't much for fanfare. But when you're the president of the United States and you pass away, of course, this is something that must be done, all of this pageantry, Jeanne.

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, but he struck a different tone than, for instance, we saw at the funeral of President Ronald Reagan. We all remember the caisson going down Constitution Avenue, the horse with the riderless saddle, and the boots turned backwards in the stirrup to represent the fallen leader, the fly-over that took place in Washington.

I talked to James Cannon, who is a biographer of President Ford, and he said that Ford saw that and said, "Not for me. That's not the tone I want to set." And so, instead, in Washington you saw that Hearse drive in from Andrews Air Force Base. It paused briefly at the World War II Memorial and then went straight on to the Capitol. Today you'll see some of those elements that were missing in Washington, that fly-over. That is going to take place here. But some of the other things, yes, you're absolutely right, they are just part of the tradition, they are part of the state funeral formula that has been set, and they take place, the 21-gun salute that you've heard repeatedly, the playing of "Ruffles and Flourishes," the heavy use of military cordons and the military pallbearers.

All those are the sorts of things that are set in a very long tradition. That is why we're seeing them -- Don.

LEMON: Yes. Jeanne, thank you. And don't go anywhere, because I want to continue to talk to you.

But it appears that what is called the casket team has moved to the rear of the Hearse, as is indicated in these type affairs, state affairs, as Jeanne Meserve was pointing out to us. So that that has happened there. So they will move into the rear, and then there will be, as we said, "Ruffles and Flourishes" and other -- "Hail to the Chief," and what have you. That will be played.

But Jeanne, it's just amazing to see, you know, Grand Rapids, Michigan the Midwest, the center of -- really the center of the country, and that's sort of the values. We can't really stress this enough, the values that Gerald R. Ford brought to office, and not only brought to the office of the presidency, but pretty much to every public office he held, and also to his children. He instilled that in his children.

MESERVE: Yes, we've heard it over and over again in the various eulogies that have been made and the interviews about President Ford. Apparently there was a family motto when he was growing up, tell the truth, work hard, and come to dinner on time. And people say that really exemplified the man.

I think Tom DeFrank told me the other day that he was the most punctual man that he had ever met. He thought that reflected that upbringing, that rather strict and moral code that he was raised to.

I don't think it's exclusively Midwestern, but they certainly are proud of it in this part of the country. They talk about it a lot, that they believe they're grounded in the basics. They know what's important.

LEMON: Yes.

MESERVE: Truth, dignity.

LEMON: And having lived in the Midwest, Jeanne, it's -- you know, they call it the Midwestern mentality and Midwestern nice. So they're very proud of it in that part of the country. And we can't hold that against them. Those are -- those are good values at least to have, or at least to want to strive for.

MESERVE: That's right.

PHILLIPS: Tom DeFrank still with us.

Tom, I don't know if you heard Jeanne. Jeanne referenced you about this moral code, this Midwestern thread that Gerry Ford and his family had.

You want to talk more about that?

DEFRANK: Well, just -- he was amazingly honest about himself. He was -- he -- when he made a -- when he made a -- when he gave his word, he would never go back on his word. That's just the way he was.

And he was -- one of the things I liked about him, not as a journalist, just as a human being, he -- was the total lack of pretense, Kyra. You said something nice about my story, so I'm going to tell you another one here.

PHILLIPS: Can you tell I read your stories, Tom?

DEFRANK: Well, I don't think you've read this one, so that's why I'm going to tell you right now.

PHILLIPS: OK.

DEFRANK: He used to love to come up and talk to the press when he was vice president. He traveled constantly as vice president.

He wanted to get out of town, because Washington was such a poisonous place amid the wreckage of Watergate. He wanted to get out of town and try to save his beloved Republican party.

So he traveled constantly. And there was a small group of us, five of us, really, who traveled with him every place.

And his cabin was in the back of Air Force Two. The press was up front. So almost every time we were out on the way back to Andrews Air Force Base, he'd come up, sit with us.

We didn't go back and see him. He came up and sat with us, ordered a martini, and then we'd all shoot the breeze. And he was very clear about what was on and off the record.

PHILLIPS: Wait a minute, let's go back to the martini for a second. Were you all partaking in the martinis as well?

DEFRANK: I'm not a martini guy, but everybody was drinking. And he always had a couple. And...

PHILLIPS: This was the Algonquin moment, but on Air Force One.

DEFRANK: On Air Force Two.

PHILLIPS: Air Force Two, that's right. I'm sorry.

DEFRANK: He never did that on Air Force One, but on Air Force Two, he did. And there was one night he gave a speech in Florida that was just an awful speech. He was not much of an orator, and he would be the first to till. That's another piece of his honesty, Kyra. And he would be the first to tell you.

So he comes up, he has a martini. And we're all talking. And he says, "So, what do you think of my speech?"

And nobody wanted to say how bad it was, so nobody said anything. You know, if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. Nobody says anything.

So Ford looks around the cabin and he says, "Not worth a damn, was it?" And then out came this booming, infectious, Middle Western laugh of his, this basso profundo in a high-pitch voice -- I know that's a contradiction in terms -- but that was Gerry Ford. You know, he understood who he was, he understood his strengths, he understood his weaknesses, and he wasn't shy about being honest about himself.

PHILLIPS: And there -- OK, first of all, two questions for you.

So, first of all, it sounds like you had easier access to the vice president than the White House spokesperson. That would never happen nowadays. You wouldn't be able to get to the vice president easier than you would Tony Snow.

DEFRANK: Well, I think that's -- that's very clear. But, of course, the world has changed, Kyra. There's no -- there's no -- there was no CNN then.

You had morning -- morning shows and evening news shows. And that was it. You didn't have a 24-hour news cycle, you didn't have the proliferation of cable and other networks.

And, you know, when a president travels on a -- on a non-newsy trip, there might still be 50 or 60 or 70 journalists going. Nobody wanted to travel with Gerry Ford.

As I said, there were five of us and one photographer. And to show you what kind of guy he was, at his first state dinner, a week after he became president...

PHILLIPS: Right?

DEFRANK: ... it was a dinner for King Hussein that had been set up months before by Nixon. At that first state dinner, President Ford invited all six of us as official guests to the dinner. That's never been done before. I suspect that it will never be done again.

But that was Gerald R. Ford. That was who he was.

PHILLIPS: And he was a smart man, because here we are, all these years later, and you're on live television talking over his -- one of his funeral ceremonies, saying these wonderful things about him. And I know we're getting on to a presidential historian, Richard Shenkman is with us. But real quickly, just to make something clear, because I don't want to leave our viewers with the wrong impression, we were joking about his speech and how he pretty much knew it wasn't that well- written, and he made fun of himself, but he really was a very bright guy.

I mean, there were times he ran his own budget meetings and he did certain things within the White House that normally leaders wouldn't do, right? He showed a lot of intellectual strength at times.

DEFRANK: Exactly right. I've written about what I call the lightweight myth. Anybody who thinks he was a lightweight should go and look at his budget briefing in 1976 which he conducted himself, did it all by himself without numbers, without charts to help him.

He was -- he was smarter than people give him credit for. Most people don't realize that he went to Yale Law School. And Yale Law School does not hand out law degrees to bozos. And if you don't think so, somebody should ask his fellow Yale law graduates, Bill and Hillary Clinton. They'll tell you about that.

PHILLIPS: You've got to know how to write at Yale Law School, that's for sure.

Tom DeFrank, love talking with you. Stay with us, OK?

DEFRANK: Thanks, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: OK.

LEMON: Yes, a lot of myths about the former president. And he was a lot smarter than most people give him credit for. As he said, you don't go to Yale Law School unless you have some sort of academic prowess.

And also, same thing when it comes to him being a klutz, you know. People would make fun of him, "Saturday Night Live," Chevy Chase in general. The president, you know, who was always tripping. And he was an avid golfer, very good at golf, but even a better athlete when it comes to football and other things.

Let's talk about the long life that he lived and the legacy. And we'll bring in Richard Shenkman, who is a presidential historian.

Talk to us about the legacy of Gerald R. Ford, and especially, I would think, that may even change now because of events that have happened over the last couple of days.

RICHARD SHENKMAN, PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Well, you know, Americans don't pay much attention to history. This is a moment where they're actually focusing on a president's legacy. And I think it's been very helpful over the last six, seven days to review President Ford's legacy and to understand a few things about history.

Everybody remembers the Nixon pardon, and they remember, probably, if they're old enough, that they opposed it at the time. Most Americans opposed it. They were very cynical that there had been some kind of a deal between Ford and Nixon, where basically Ford traded the presidency in exchange for giving Nixon a pardon.

That was the common view at the time. And there was a lot of kind of -- People really wanted to see Richard Nixon twisting slowly in the wind, and Ford's pardon ended that.

LEMON: And Richard, just -- we may have to cut you off at any point, so I apologize in advance.

SHENKMAN: Sure.

LEMON: We want to talk about folks who are entering now. We saw the former president, Jimmy Carter. We're also -- former defense secretary, who was chief of staff to Gerald R. Ford, Donald Rumsfeld.

And there is the former first lady as well, Rosalynn Carter, and the Cheneys as well. And Lynn Cheney, and then the vice president. I think I see -- do I see Karl Rove in that crowd? I can't really make out exactly who is there. But a lot of dignitaries at this event.

You were saying, as we listen to this -- and again, we may have to go to this and cut you off at any second. So I just want to tell you that.

But this is a uniquely -- or I shouldn't say uniquely, but this is a new experience, having these grand funerals. This is a fairly new experience for the American public.

Did this start after the -- or during the Kennedy era, or after the Kennedy funeral?

SHENKMAN: Well, really, the first president to have a grand funeral was George Washington. But after George Washington, we started being more Republican in our -- the way we remembered, commemorated our presidents, small "r" Republican, Republican simplicity.

When Lincoln died, we had, of course, a big event. Anytime a president dies in office, well, then, the country really stops. And we take a measure, a strong measure of the man.

LEMON: But do we always? In modern times, have we always made -- some people say traditionally we didn't make as much of a fuss over the death of a president?

SHENKMAN: Exactly. Well, this is -- this is a great point.

I mean, Kennedy, of course, we were going to make a big fuss over because he's assassinated while he's president of the United States. So that, of course, we were going to -- we were going to have a big event there.

But we didn't begin having major events of these funerals until Eisenhower died. That was the first modern funeral where the country stopped, looked, listened, where you had the president going to the Rotunda, then to the National Cathedral. Back to the National Cathedral, twice, even, service there, another service in Abilene.

This was a major event. President Nixon gave an oration, a eulogy on behalf of Eisenhower. And then after Eisenhower, almost all the presidents who have passed away have been given this royal treatment. All of them except for Harry Truman.

Harry Truman had planned to have a five-day national funeral. He was going to have a big event. In fact, he used to tell his friends in advance of his death, he'd say, "Well, my only regret is I'm not going to be there to witness this thing. It's going to be grand. It's going to be fantastic. It's going to be a five-day festival remembering Harry Truman."

Well, after he died, Bess decided that she wanted to simplify things. So instead, they may do simply with one service at the Truman Library. That was it.

LEMON: Yes.

You know, we've been -- lots of dignitaries we've seen, you know, the Clintons, we've seen the Carters, and a lot of very famous political figures. But probably the most moving moment and the most pictures have been pictures of the family, and especially Betty Ford and the children.

The children, of course, very saddened by this. But we're also getting glimpses of the grandchildren. This is all -- his children -- remember this -- they were almost adults, or at least teenagers when he was in the White House. But for his grandkids, this is something quite new for them.

SHENKMAN: Sure. This is a new experience for them.

I'm suspecting that today we'll see a little bit more of the family, perhaps they'll be talking to us. And that's common at these modern funerals now.

If you remember back to the Reagan funeral, we had the president's family talking. Ron Reagan Jr. was talking at this point in the proceedings. This is more of a small, intimate service. And we'll probably feel the family's pain a little bit more than I think we have over the last six days.

LEMON: And Richard, you know what? The former first lady deciding that she wanted this time for quiet contemplation, which we can all understand, and that she will join later for the funeral services.

Let's talk about her legacy, because she was -- you know, words that have described her that I've been reading, "trendsetter," "trailblazer," "role model," starting the Betty Ford Clinic, talking about women's rights and equal rights, dealing with breast cancer.

What might her legacy be, or how might history view Betty Ford's tenure as -- and there she is as she arrives. And she did not attend the earlier portion of the services, but she's joining the service now.

But let's talk about Betty Ford's tenure as first lady and legacy there. How might history view that?

SHENKMAN: Well, it's been said that Betty Ford is leaving a stronger legacy than Gerald Ford did, and there is a lot of truth in that.

Betty Ford reinvented the role of first lady in American history. Before Betty Ford, except for Eleanor Roosevelt, first ladies basically were relatively quiet. They maybe championed some non- controversial issues like Lady Bird Johnson did in beautifying America's highways. But they had a secondary role.

Betty Ford comes on the stage, and at first, of course, she hadn't prepared for this any more than her husband had. And she didn't really know what she wanted to do with her power. And, of course, first ladies have power.

But then she had breast cancer. And after the breast cancer operation, she decided she wanted to go public about it and talk about it. And she became newly empowered as a public figure in her own right.

This immediately sent her off into politics. She began championing the Equal Rights Amendment. She was calling up state legislators in places like Florida, which hadn't approved the amendment, trying to get Florida to go along and approve it. They only needed five more states before the amendment would become part of the Constitution.

Well, she reinvented the role of the first lady. All first ladies afterward were going to be different types.

LEMON: Richard, let's listen in.

PHILLIPS: Tom DeFrank, "New York Daily News," conducted Ford's last interview with us, as we're watching a very peaceful, calm ceremony here at the Episcopal -- Grace Episcopal Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan, looking at Betty Ford right now.

Tom, I'm being told that when the casket started coming in, that you put your hand over your heart.

DEFRANK: Well, the reason I did that was, I was in the U.S. Army for a long time. And so I'm a military guy at heart. I have great affection for the military.

And I have done that over the last three days or four days every time "Hail to the Chief" is played with "Ruffles and Flourishes," because "Ruffles and Flourishes" is a military honor. And when you play "Hail to the Chief," you always begin with "Ruffles and Flourishes," which is something I learned when I was an ROTC cadet at Texas A&M a long, long time ago. And so out of respect for him, when "Hail to the Chief" has been played the last three days, that's what I do.

(CROSSTALK)

PHILLIPS: ...crown him with many crowns? I believe that's what -- that's what will be next.

DEFRANK: Yes.

PHILLIPS: Tom, Betty Ford, we were talking a little bit about her just prior to when we saw her enter the church. It's obviously been a tough time for her. We haven't -- she didn't go to the earlier service. She came, though, of course, to this one, where Rumsfeld and Jimmy Carter will speak.

I love the story of when she found out she was becoming the first lady. And she had so many people come over to her and say, well, how would you like to begin, where would you like to start, what would you like to do? And she said, I have no idea. I have no idea where I'm going to start.

And then she ended up doing some of the most unbelievable and most memorable things that any first lady has ever done.

DEFRANK: Yes. And the biggest one, I think, Kyra, is she was herself, which meant she spoke her mind.

She didn't -- she was not the kind of -- she is not the kind of person to whom it's a good thing to say, don't do this, don't say that, what we think would be best for you to do. Betty Ford doesn't like that. She is unprogrammable.

And she's not a loose cannon by any means, but she has a very strong sense of who she is and what she wants to do and what she wants to say. And she didn't mince words when she was first lady.

Now, she was more of a traditional first lady. She wasn't like, say, Hillary Clinton or Rosalynn Carter, who were first ladies who took an active role in a lot of political issues and policy issues. She was more of a traditional first lady.

She talked to her husband, but she was not a policy person, except after she developed breast cancer and had her drug interaction problems. And she became a real advocate for programs that dealt with those sort of afflictions. But she was very powerful with him.

She used to refer to it as pillow talk. And she was not shy about telling her beloved Gerry Ford what she was thinking. But she didn't really dabble a whole lot in policy.

PHILLIPS: But she definitely talked about controversial issues, whether it was drug addiction, alcoholism, abortion. She had no problem talking about the issues that a lot of people didn't want to talk about. DEFRANK: Exactly right. And she did it fearlessly, and she didn't care if some people said, "Oh, my goodness, we shouldn't do that."

I've had plenty of conversations with her. Not as many as with President Ford, of course, but lots of conversations with Betty Ford alone and in the presence of other reporters. And never in any of those conversations did I ever hear her utter the words, "Now, this needs to be off the record."

Betty Ford was not an "off the record" kind of person, and isn't. She says what she thinks, and if somebody doesn't like it, well, that's just too bad.

PHILLIPS: They were almost married 60 years. And if you think about, I mean, just even dealing with the alcoholism aspect, and they made it through, they hung in there together, what an -- what an incredible testament and what a wonderful love story. Everything they endured, everything they went through personally, politically, and made it to almost 60 years.

DEFRANK: And sometimes you don't have to say a word, and you know what each of them was thinking. I haven't talked much about the last time I saw him, Kyra, which was only five weeks ago in November. It was a very short conversation. It was very painful, very poignant, but I'll just say for now, at least, that midway through this very brief conversation between President Ford and me, in his study from a hospital bed, in his study, midway through this, unexpected to me, Mrs. Ford showed up.

And as frail as President Ford was, as difficult as a moment it was for him, when Mrs. Ford came into the room, his eyes lit up. And he didn't say a word and she didn't say a word. But she looked at him, and you knew.

PHILLIPS: Something else that I was thinking about that we didn't have a chance to talk about, and that was the assassination attempt on his life. And Sara Jane Moore, boy hadn't heard that name in quite a long time, now serving a prison sentence in Dublin, came forward and, I believe, one of the affiliates got a comment from her via telephone.

And she was saying she never did want to kill him. And she felt horrible about it and apologized for it. Remind us about that time where he almost did lose his life and didn't.

DEFRANK: Well, that was the second assassination attempt as he was coming out a side entrance to the St. Frances Hotel in San Francisco, and she was standing across the street in a crowd. From probably, what, 50 or 60 feet away.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We receive the body of our brother ...

PHILLIPS: Let's hold that thought and listen, Tom.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let us pray with confidence to God, the giver of life, that he will raise him to perfection in the company of the saints. Deliver your servant Gerald, oh sovereign Lord Christ from all evil, and set him free from every bond, that he may rest with all your saints in the eternal habitations where with the father and the holy spirit, you live and reign one God, forever and ever, amen.

Let us also pray for all who mourn, that they may cast their care on God and know the consolation of his love. Almighty God, look with pity upon the sorrows of your servants for whom we pray.

Remember them, Lord, in your mercy. Nourish them with patience. Comfort them with a sense of your goodness. Lift up your countenance upon them and give them peace. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, amen.

(SILENCE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am the resurrection and the light said the Lord. he that believeth in me though he were dead, yet shall he live, and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. I know that my redeemer liveth and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the Earth, and though this body be destroyed, yet shall I see God whom I shall see for myself and mine eyes shall behold and not as a stranger.

For none of us liveth to himself and no one dieth to himself. For if we live, we live unto the Lord. And if we die, we die unto the Lord. Whether we live or die, therefore, we are the Lord's. Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord, even so set the spirit for they rest from their labors.

(SILENCE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Lord be with you.

AUDIENCE: And also with you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let us pray. Oh God whose mercies cannot be numbered, accept our prayers on behalf of thy servant Gerald Ford and grant him an entrance into the land of light and joy and the fellowship of thy saints. Through Jesus Christ, thy son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee in the holy spirit, one God now and forever.

AUDIENCE: Amen.

(SILENCE)

PHILLIPS: The body of former President Gerald Ford nearing the end of a sentimental journey here in Grand Rapids, Michigan. After leaving the church here where he worshipped there with his wife, Betty, and his children since 1940s, he'll be taking -- taken, actually, and buried on a hill near the Gerald R. Ford presidential library and museum.

Tom DeFrank, "New York Daily News," conducted Ford's last interview, still with us, watching the ceremony. Almost to, what the pastor says, Tom, the land of light and joy. DEFRANK: Well, this is Mike Ford, the president's oldest son, who, I believe, is an ordained minister. I'm not certain about that, but I think so. And Mike always delivers the invocation at every one of these annual dinners President and Mrs. Ford had in Washington.

For the last 25 years, the two of them would come back to Washington and have an alumni reunion. And it's hard to imagine any president since Ford where you could get 300 people to show up 30 years after he left office every year.

And at all these events, which were really a wonderful event, we had one in June, and the Fords weren't here because they were both pretty frail. But Mike Ford delivered the invocation, and so I'm sure he's doing the same right now.

PHILLIPS: We'll take it right to break, then, Tom. Thanks.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Once again, live from Grand Rapids, Michigan, the body of former President Gerald Ford nearing the end of his 93 years here at Grace Episcopal Church where he worshipped from the 1940s. His wife, Betty Ford there, side by side by his casket, his kids as well.

Among the speakers at the service, Donald Rumsfeld, Ford's chief of staff and defense secretary. As you know, he went on to be defense secretary for President George Bush until he recently resigned. Also giving a eulogy will be former President Jimmy Carter. We will take both of those live when they step up to the podium.

The 38th president died last week at the age of 93. You remember Ford led the United States from August 1974 to January 1977 after the Watergate scandal that forced Richard Nixon from office. And one of Ford's first acts as president was to pardon Nixon. To his critics, Ford explained that that pardon was necessary to heal the country. Everybody's gathered to remember his life and his legacy.

LEMON: And as we continue to watch that very moving tribute to the former president, we want to update you on some other news we have happening, specifically a school shooting, and Fredricka Whitfield's in the newsroom to tell us all about it.

What do you know, Fred?

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Well, Don, earlier today a shooting took place at a Henry Foss High School in Tacoma, Washington. The school was on lockdown while police and authorities tried to find the alleged gunman.

After searching that area and closing down the school and having about 1,700 students from that Foss High School move to another school so that parents could pick them up, police say they have apprehended, arrested the alleged shooter who turns out, according to police, to be a student.

We don't know if it was a student at that school, but one other student did die from that shooting that took place at that high school earlier this morning. It's unclear the motive as well, and police continue to question this suspect who is a student who is in custody. And when police are able to reveal any more information about this case, why it happened, perhaps we'll be able to bring that to you.

Meantime, many of those students have been picked up from their parents, and to much relief, are now safe. But some very frightening moments taking place there in Tacoma, Washington, this morning at that high school.

LEMON: Fredricka, didn't they have to move all those students at one point out of the school to some other location?

WHITFIELD: Right, 1,700 students that they moved to a neighboring school just after they had lockdown on that high school, Foss High School. We don't know the circumstances as to how they were able to find the suspect, but police say that that student, suspect, has been cooperative, was taken into custody without a fight.

LEMON: As soon as we find out more, we'll check back with you. Thank you very much, Fredricka Whitfield in the newsroom.

PHILLIPS: Leaving office, but not leaving politics, not hardly. Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney swears in a new legislature a day before he hands the reins of the Bay State to Governor-Elect Deval Patrick. Between now and then, he says he'll file papers setting up an exploratory presidential campaign committee.

CNN's Dan Lothian brings us a candidate and his politics.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Governor Mitt Romney's day job is about to end, but he's one step closer to getting in line for another: president of the United States.

GOV. MITT ROMNEY (R), MASSACHUSETTS: You need to put together a fundraising network and see that you have individuals who might support you if you decided to get into it.

LOTHIAN: From New Hampshire to Iowa to South Carolina, Romney has been raising money and his profile.

RON KAUFMAN, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: It's been a long time since anyone who captivates an audience in the way Governor Romney does. And I think that's going to be a big plus for him over the next couple years.

LOTHIAN: But critics say as Romney has been testing the waters, he's moved away from the more moderate gubernatorial candidate that he was four years ago. Jeff Santos is a liberal radio talk show host in Boston.

JEFF SANTOS, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: He has played around with the choice and life issue. LOTHIAN: Romney admits he now takes a harder line against abortion than he did in his gubernatorial campaign. But he disagrees he's toughened his stance against same-sex marriage.

ROMNEY: I'm in the same position I was before.

LOTHIAN: He shared that position with evangelicals in October during a nationally-televised rally against same-sex marriage.

ROMNEY: Every child deserves a mother and a father.

LOTHIAN: A warm welcome from a key voting block. But political analysts say some of them may be reluctant to embrace him as a presidential candidate because he's a Mormon.

DAVID GERGEN, FORMER WHITE HOUSE ADVISER: There are people in his own party, in his own conservative base, the social conservatives, evangelical conservatives, some of whom see Mormonism as an errant, a deviation from the word of God.

LOTHIAN: But Romney says his faith presents an opportunity to explore common ground.

ROMNEY: And I find that evangelical leaders and conservative Christians around the country respect people who share their values. And we're on the same page when it comes to values.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: And here's a quick look at where Mitt Romney stands on major issues. He supports President Bush's position on the Iraq war and opposes troop withdrawal. Romney supported the president's tax cuts and favors an independent panel to come up with a plan for Social Security reform.

He opposes same-sex marriage and civil unions. As Massachusetts governor, Romney authorized the use of state police for immigration enforcement, and supports stronger laws against illegal immigrants and companies that employ them. Romney opposes abortion rights but earlier in his career he supported them.

LEMON: In case of emergency, a terror emergency, could first responders communicate as well as they need to? The Department of Homeland Security says only six U.S. cities and regions out of 75 have fully implemented advanced emergency communication systems since 9/11.

The best grades go to Washington, San Diego and Minneapolis-St. Paul, followed by Columbus, Ohio; Sioux Falls, South Dakota; and Laramie County, Wyoming, which includes the state capital, Cheyenne. The lowest scores go to Chicago, Cleveland and Baton Rouge along with Mandan, North Dakota and American Samoa.

PHILLIPS: And stay with us for continuing coverage live out of Grand Rapids, Michigan, as we continue to follow the special remembrance services and the final ceremonies for former President Gerald Ford. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: So what exactly happened at the execution of the former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein? You've probably seen the cell phone video that has been released. And it's creating a lot of controversy. A security guard present at this execution of Saddam Hussein is being questioned and detained now in connection with the cell phone video that showed taunting, apparently from Shiites, in the moments just before the former Iraqi dictator was hanged.

Tony Snow talked a little bit about it at the White House briefing today. Kathleen Koch was there.

What did he say, Kathleen?

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A lot of concern on the part of reporters about what the administration thought about the spectacle that the execution devolved into. A White House spokesman this morning said that U.S. embassy personnel, the U.S. military spokesmen in Baghdad expressed their concerns to Iraqi officials before and after the execution and that things would have been handled differently if the U.S. were in charge.

Snow this afternoon really tried to refocus attention on the fact that in the end, justice was done.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY SNOW, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: You had a long process where people were very careful about having a legal process where he had the right to self-defense, where he had the right to counsel, where he had the right to make his best case.

And the government is investigating the conduct of some people within the chamber. And I think we leave it at that.

But the one thing you've got to keep in mind is, you got justice. This is a man who killed hundreds of thousands and was executed for it according to the laws of the country and in accordance with legal traditions that have met international scrutiny.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOCH: Snow says that President Bush himself has not seen the video of the execution. He says that President Bush is staying focused on his primary job right now, and that's crafting the new U.S. strategy in Iraq -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, when do you think he could make that speech? We heard possibly sometime next week.

KOCH: Well, President Bush in an op-ed in the "Wall Street Journal" today said that he would make the address in the days ahead. Tony Snow this afternoon said that the plan is fairly far along. He says it's not done yet. Before the president reveals it to the nation, he said he'll be doing some discussions and notification visits, talking with lawmakers on Capitol Hill about it, also notifying the Iraqis.

Snow said, quote, "They will know and will have agreed to work with us." -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Kathleen Koch live at the White House, thanks.

And you can you go to CNN.com to get more on the execution of Saddam Hussein. You can read his farewell letter, comment on the images you've seen and interact with others. Get more at CNN.com, where you're in control.

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