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Belgium Uncovers Terrorists Cells; Brussels to Increase Security against Possible Terrorist Threats; Terrorist Havens in Yemen Examined; Yemeni President's Chief of Staff Kidnapped; President and British Prime Minister Speak about Threat of Terrorism; Cover of Latest "Charlie Hebdo" Magazine Causes Riots in Jordan; Youth of Paris Terrorist Examined; Mitt Romney Reportedly Considering 2016 Presidential Run

Aired January 17, 2015 - 10:00   ET

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

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: The threat of terror has people around the world on edge this morning. Troops standing guard alongside police in France and Belgium today, and counterterrorism officials worried about possible sleeper cells.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Plus we're chasing new details in the connection to Yemen. Is that where the idea for the "Charlie Hebdo" attacks began? We just learned new details about Frenchmen who were in Yemen months earlier. We're live in Yemen next.

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PAUL: Look at the protesters clashing with police there. Thousands upset over the latest "Charlie Hebdo" magazine with the Prophet Mohammed on the cover, all of this straight ahead.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN breaking news.

PAUL: Good Saturday morning to you. We have some breaking news we want to share with you this morning. I'm Christi Paul.

BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell. The news is happening in the terrorist hotbed of Yemen. We're learning details about two Frenchmen who have been detained for suspected links to Al Qaeda. Yemen of course is the same place where Cherif and Said Kouachi, the two brothers named in the deadly Paris attacks, received orders to launch their deadly rampage on the offices of "Charlie Hebdo." CNN's Nick Paton Walsh is in live in Yemen. Nick, what are you hearing about these two Frenchmen?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, let's be clear, they were detected, quote, "some time ago" according to a Yemeni official briefed on security matters. This is not something that's happened as a reaction to the Paris attacks, but potentially that doesn't rule out the fact that these two Frenchmen may have known something or had some kind of links. They were detained as they tried to leave the country, I understand, a

few months ago, and are accused of noncombatant attempts to offer logistical support to Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. That could be all sorts of things, finance, being a doctor, I.T. support, anything. But it's not suggested they necessarily came here to fight.

Now, what's key is the Yemenis have them in their custody, presumably passing information from that to the French or other interested western allies and are working out quite what to do with them next. But clearly Yemeni officials today anxious to show they have been on their feet in the past few months, picking up suspicious foreigners leaving the country, and they are angry at the suggestions in many ways that it was Cherif and Said's trips here to Yemen that led them to be capable of what they did in Paris.

BLACKWELL: So their detention not happening this morning, we're just learning of it this morning as details come out.

Another story that we're hearing about in the last hour or so, the chief of staff of the Yemeni president was reportedly kidnapped by gunmen. Tell us more about this, what we've learned in the last hour.

WALSH: Just think about what you said, Victor, it gives you a real insight into how destabilized this country is, how much of a failing state Yemen is. The chief of staff of the Yemeni president in the city center where I'm standing here at Sana'a about 10:00 was stopped by armed men, taken out of his car, and kidnapped.

Now, this is all part of a long-raging conflict here inside Yemen, and in the last few months it's come to a head really. And the two sides unfortunately resemble much of the sectarian violence across the Middle East. On one side the more or less Shia group known as the Houthis. They are a tribe that has swept into Sana'a in the past few months and have checkpoints on many roads here.

On the other side are Sunni groups, and they include Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. Now, many are worried that's turning into sectarian bit of violence here. Today's abduction has been something that the Houthi political group has claimed as theirs. They've said they abducted this chief of staff or they detained him, in their words, because they were concerned that the president would usher in a new constitution which they consider to be not approved by them or illegal. They refer to the presidential administration as corrupt.

Now, of course there has been condemnation by the U.K. and British embassies who appeal for the chief of staff's immediate release, but it shows you how Al Qaeda could have got such a strong grip in this country. The chief of the staff of the president isn't safe in the capital of the city. Frankly, of course, in the past decade, Al Qaeda have been able to find a vacuum here to slip into and build their bomb-making skills, as it's known. Victor?

BLACKWELL: And Nick, you've clearly explained the destabilization and the strength, the stronghold of AQAP there in Yemen. Why is it so difficult to cool this hotbed for terrorists there? WALSH: Because ostensibly this is a fight over a very limited number

of resources. Yemen is a poor country and there's little infrastructure here really for an institution to rely upon like a government. The economy here is on the verge of collapse. I'm being told that there's months, weeks left until the government has trouble paying salaries. That's the major problem, when you have competing groups like this fighting over a limited pot, you have Al Qaeda in the mix as well, you have very limited options for the west in terms of intervention. They can provide aid here but it won't change things fast enough at all. That's the real issue here.

This is a state which has struggled for a long time to be coherent and provide the services that people need. When they don't get that they turn to tribes, then you get factionalism. Now you get the civil conflict you have here, and at that point people are concerned there's little you can really do to slow things down. And it appears as though the last few hours or so things have escalated significantly. Victor?

BLACKWELL: All right, Nick Paton Walsh live for us in Yemen this morning, Nick, thank you.

Our key U.S. allies are taking no chances against potential terror attacks.

PAUL: The dragnet is expanding across Europe for ISIS inspired terror suspects who are on the run. We know heavily armed troops are standing guard outside potential targets in Brussels and Antwerp, Belgium just days after sweeping anti-terror raids in Belgium, France, and Germany.

BLACKWELL: And just a short time ago Belgium's defense ministry laid out what's being done in the city there in Brussels. It's home to the NATO headquarters.

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CORRINE FAUT, CHIEF OF COMMUNICATIONS OF THE BELGIUM ARMY (via translator): we have moved to stage three of the terror alert threat. We are offering extra protection to ambassadors, Jewish institutions and other organizations, embassies and so on, that could be a threat. We need extra vigilance. It's also important to mention the -- we need a police reinforcement under the command of the federal police.

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PAUL: Let's bring in CNN's Phil Black. He is in Brussels. Phil, thank you for being with us. So we just heard there, a stage three terror alert is what they have risen to. Do you see anything that strikes you to signify there are different security measures being taken there?

PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, no doubt, Christi, indeed. We're not talking huge numbers of soldiers, but just to see soldiers on the streets of a city like Belgium is really pretty striking. Guarding key government buildings, buildings related to the European Union, and key Jewish institutions as well. As I say, not huge numbers, 150 in total, almost all of those here in the capital Brussels, another 30 or so in the city of Antwerp just north of here, 150 so far. They're talking about boosting those numbers in the next few days, could go as high as 300.

But it is a very different security posture, certainly very visual. You can't help but see it, as I say, very striking. It will be this way for at least the next week or so, and then they will examine it to determine whether or not these sorts of measures are still required. It will be under constant review during this time. But what it does show is despite the raids this country has seen, the belief that they have knocked out or prevented an imminent terror threat here, the belief that there is still a substantial threat, it does remain.

PAUL: Well, you mentioned 13 suspected militants were detained in Belgium. Do we have any sense of what was -- what was garnered in those raids? What was seized? What they were looking for specifically?

BLACK: Yes. It appears from what the prosecutor has said, from what authorities here say, they believe they knocked out what was a pretty clear, what they say, concrete plans to target police officers in this country. They believe that this particular network with people stationed at various places across the country, some involved in logistics, they believe, some set to actually carry out the attacks themselves, they were going to be killing police officers either on the streets or in the police stations where they were working.

We saw that dramatic raid in the town of Verviers south of Brussels. That was where the dramatic fire fight took place where two terror suspects were killed, a third detained during a fire fight with police. And it's in that town police say they found Kalashnikovs, explosives, other weapons, but also, importantly, police uniforms and communications equipment. All of that physical evidence they believe supports their theory that this threat was imminent and the goal of this particular organization was to kill police officers.

In all they arrested 13 people in this country. Two others were killed. But we're told now all but three of those detained have been released. In addition to that, four others have been arrested as part of this operation, four other Belgium nationals in France, the authorities here seeking their extradition to Belgium.

PAUL: We'll see what happens with that. All right, Phil Black, we appreciate the update so much, thank you.

BLACKWELL: CNN national security analyst Peter Bergen joins us now. He's the author of four books on terrorism including "Manhunt, The Ten-Year Search for bin Laden from 9/11 to Abbottabad." Peter, good to have you this morning with us. First question, do you think that -- what do you make of the breaking news that two Frenchmen are being detained in Yemen with the suspected links to Al Qaeda?

PETER BERGEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, as Nick Paton Walsh pointed out and you pointed out, the arrests were sort of announced today but seem to have taken place some time ago. But we've seen all sorts of westerners go to Yemen for, often they go there for supposedly religious or Arabic language, and then they kind of -- and they're looking for AQAP. We saw that with the underwear bomber who was a Nigerian who was basically studying in London. We saw that with Samir Khan who was from Charlotte, North Carolina, who joined AQAP and became the editor of its magazine. We've seen that with the Kouachi brothers now from Paris. It's part of a flow of westerners going to AQAP. It's nothing on the scale, Victor, of what we're seeing in Syria or in terms of the numbers, but it's been not insignificant over the past several years.

BLACKWELL: So there have been 17 suspected terrorists or terror arrests, 13 in Belgium, four at two places in France, and, of course, the estimate there, about 20 sleeper cells potentially across Europe. Do you think the priority for these cells is attack now or is it self- preservation, go underground and regroup?

BERGEN: I have no idea, Victor. I mean, if they're sleeper cells they're clearly very asleep, haven't done anything except with the case of the Belgium cell that was about to do an imminent attack. So I think it's hard for me to sort of pass that.

The 20 sleeper cells, as I think an estimate from one source, certainly, you know, we've seen a lot of returnees from Syria. You know, is this the time to strike when you get a lot of global media attention because of the context or the time to lay low? It's hard to tell. And I think it's also hard to assess the numbers of people who really make up these sleeper cells.

BLACKWELL: Well, in the discussion of assessment, former secretary of defense Leon Panetta assessed the environment we're in now -- you can watch the full interview tomorrow on "FAREED ZAKARIA GPS," but let's listen to part of it and we'll talk on the other side.

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LEON PANETTA, FORMER SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: You've got terrorists coming at us from a lot of different directions, from ISIS, from Boko Haram, from Al Shabaab, from AQAP, from other elements of Al Qaeda. They are recruiting like crazy from these various wars in Syria and Iraq and Yemen. And they seem to be involved in more planning and more weapons in terms of the types of attacks that they're working on. So I think it's pretty clear from what we're seeing that we are entering a more threatening and dangerous period in this war on terrorism.

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BLACKWELL: So what are the greatest elements of this more dangerous period? Is it their access to these weapons? Is it allies' inability to destabilize them? What do you see as making this a more dangerous period specifically?

BERGEN: I think the single largest factor, Victor, is just the volume of westerners who have gone to Syria. Former director of the CIA Leon Panetta mentioned Boko Haram and he also mentioned Al Shabaab. They're not really a threat to the west. Boko Haram, which is a Nigerian group, has only ever attacked one western target which was in the United Nations in Nigeria. They're really focused on Nigeria. Similarly with Al Shabaab, they're a group in Somalia. They try to attack cartoonists in the west. They didn't succeed, but they're also very focused on Somalia. They're not doing very well. It's really AQAP in Yemen and A.Q. in Syria, and ISIS in Syria and Iraq that are the problem, and that's going to be true going forward for quite some time.

BLACKWELL: All right, Peter Bergen, thank you so much for joining us this morning.

BERGEN: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: All right, President Obama is vowing to stand by France and do more to stop terror groups. He says, the way to do that, is online. That's next.

PAUL: Also, you know it just got a little easier for Americans to go to Cuba. What you need to know coming up.

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PAUL: It's 17 minutes past the hour right now. Secretary of State John Kerry is back in the U.S. this morning after visiting Paris. During that visit he laid wreaths at the sites of last week's terror attacks and he also met with the French president Francois Hollande and conveyed the, quote, "full and heartfelt condolences of Americans." Kerry did also say that he was unable to attend Sunday's massive unity march because he was in India at the time. Victor?

BLACKWELL: "A poisonous death cult," that's what British Prime Minister David Cameron is calling the threat from groups like ISIS and Al Qaeda. Cameron stood alongside President Obama at the White House on Friday vowing to disrupt terror groups and stop sleeper cells from communicating with each other. Erin McPike has the story.

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BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In the wake of the vicious attacks in Paris as well as the news surfacing out of Belgium today, we continue to stand unequivocally not only with our French friends and allies, but with also all of our partners who are dealing with this scourge.

ERIN MCPIKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron vowing to do more to disrupt terrorist communications.

DAVID CAMERON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: We should try to avoid the safe havens that could otherwise be created for terrorists to talk to each other. There is a very real connection between that and the capabilities that our intelligence services within the law use to defend our people.

MCPIKE: One of the major priorities for the U.S. and its allies is to identify the more than 19,000 foreign fighters who have traveled to Syria who may be planning attacks in their home countries.

OBAMA: Social media and the Internet is the primary way in which these terrorist organizations are communicating. That's no different than anybody else, but they're good at it. And when we have the ability to track that in a way that is legal, conforms with due process, rule of law, and presents oversight, then that's the capability that we have to preserve.

MCPIKE: The British prime minister has pushed for changes to how some Internet companies are encrypting their communications, something Mr. Obama said he's also worried about.

OBAMA: If we find evidence of a terrorist plot somewhere in the Middle East that traces directly back to London or New York, and we are confident that this individual or this network is about to activate a plot, and despite having a phone number or despite having social media address, we can't penetrate that, that's a problem.

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MCPIKE: But the big challenge here is privacy, Victor, and President Obama raised the concerns that Edward Snowden brought up back in 2013 as a big driver of that problem.

BLACKWELL: Erin, the president on another topic talked about sanctions against Iran. What's the message there?

MCPIKE: Victor, Congress is working on new sanctions and legislation for those new sanctions, but President Obama's message to lawmakers yesterday was, quote, hold your fire, and he is saying that because there are new negotiations with Iran under way and he says legislation could threaten those negotiations, so he is telling Congress to the to act. He, in fact, would veto that legislation.

BLACKWELL: All right, Erin McPike at the White House, thank you. Christi?

PAUL: Victor, Americans can travel to Cuba this weekend without special approval from the government, and some important people are getting ready to make that trip. We are live for you in Cuba with those details, next.

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PAUL: It's 23 minutes past the hour right now. And the door to Cuba has opened just a little bit wider. New travel rules are in place now, which makes it a bit easier for Americans who want to visit the island nation. Karl Penhaul is there live in Havana, Cuba, right now. Karl, good to see you. What do the new rules mean for Cubans and Americans?

KARL PENHAUL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well essentially for Cuba, what it means is according to both the Cuban government and also some tourist industry specialists up to a million Americans could arrive in Cuba each year obviously bringing with them tourist dollars. Now, there are 12 categories of so-called self-license, that means

basically jump on a plane and coming for things like religious activities, humanitarian activities, family visits, sports, and a number of other categories. But let's really be clear, these measures haven't been relaxed and eased to help Americans with their vacation plans. Really what the Obama administration is trying to do, both with this ease on travel restrictions but also with the four fold increase in remittances of Cuban-Americans to their relatives here on the island is to inject some cash into the Cuban economy.

Now, critics will say that will put cash into the hands of the communist government, but what the Obama administration is aiming to do is to put more cash, more dollars in the hands of ordinary Cubans on the low end whether they work in tourism or whether they're setting up private businesses. What is that going to affect? Yes, it could increase their standard of living, but what it is also going to do over time is create economic class divisions and that surely will also exacerbate political class divisions as well. Over the long term it could create some kind of unrest here, creating classes of haves and have-nots because more American money is coming into the economy here, Christi.

PAUL: Good point. We know an official from the state department is planning to make a trip to Cuba. Do we know what's on his agenda for that visit?

PENHAUL: Yes. We're getting more clarity on that. First of all over this weekend we have a Congressional delegation led by Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy, but that really is not the headline act. The headline act comes midweek next week, and that is the assistant secretary of state for western hemisphere affairs, Roberta Jacobson, this is the highest level delegation to Cuba in decades. Remember that diplomatic relations between the United States and Cuba were broken off in 1962 in the middle of the cold war and what Jacobson is coming to town for is to talk about how to normalize relations, how the first step could be to open a full-blown embassy here. Right now there's only an interest section. They're going to be talking there about possibly increasing staff numbers at the soon-to-be embassy and also ways that U.S. diplomats would be able to travel around the whole island, because right now, under restrictions in place on U.S. diplomats here in Cuba, they can only travel in a 25-mile radius around the U.S. interest sections. So like I say, headline act, Roberta Jacobson coming into town on Wednesday, talking about normalizing relations with Cuba after almost half a century of a deep freeze, Christi.

PAUL: Very good point. Boy, it's interesting to look at this and realize we're probably witnessing a new era here. Karl Penhaul, so appreciate it, thank you.

BLACKWELL: The effects of that latest "Charlie Hebdo" cover still rippling around the world, outrage in the streets and people overpowering police. Look at this. We'll talk more next.

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BLACKWELL: Look at this. This is video of protests in Jordan. The demonstrators here are angry over the latest "Charlie Hebdo" cover. They clashed with police yesterday.

PAUL: The controversial cover shows a picture of a tearful prophet Mohammed holding a sign that says "Je suis Charlie." Above the image the headline reads "All is forgiven."

BLACKWELL: And this latest cover has sparked controversy around the world, including places like Algeria. The satirical magazine normally publish about 60,000 issues.

PAUL: This week 5 million copies were distributed, and that was because of the worldwide demand.

BLACKWELL: And, of course, across Europe, scrambling to find terror suspects they say are on the run. In Paris about a dozen people have been arrested in connection to the "Charlie Hebdo" attack. They're accused of helping Amedy Coulibaly. And he gunned people at a kosher market last week before he was later killed.

Let's bring in CNN senior international correspondent Jim Bittermann. He is live this morning from Paris. What are we learning about Coulibaly, Jim?

JIM BITTERMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Victor, I think one of the things we're learning it's pretty easy thing to slip into terrorism. And, in fact, when we went down to visit the suburb where he grew up, one of the things you realize is that he wasn't really a committed terrorist as such. He was more of a criminal who became a terrorist. Here's what we found.

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BITTERMAN: In Paris, Amedy Coulibaly may go down in history as the religious extremist who died shooting it out with the anti-terror squad. but in the gritty Paris suburb of Grigny where he grew up, Coulibaly is remembered more as a local thug who spent much of his adult life behind bars.

In his early school photos obtained by France 2 Television, he looked likable enough. But teachers said, Coulibaly, the only boy in an immigrant family with 10 children, was an ongoing discipline problem. It was in his high school years here that Coulibaly first got into trouble. In the end he would be arrested five times for armed robbery and once for dealing in drugs. A lawyer who defended one of his accomplices believes Coulibaly changed from small crimes to hardened criminal when a motorcycle theft turned deadly and police shot one of his best friends.

PIERRE MAIRAT, LAWYER (via translator): This was a traumatic event when he lost his friend. He, too, could have died because a bullet could have easily hit him.

BITTERMAN: Coulibaly, who spent most of his adult life behind bars, was in and out of the sprawling and overcrowded national prison located coincidentally in his hometown. According to a journalist he himself made this video of life inside the prison. He seemed like a leader, she said, behind bars.

AGNES VAHRAMIAN, FRANCE 2 JOURNALIST (via translator): He was an intelligent boy, one of the tough ones. He was actually very at ease in prison. He was dominant and very much in charge. It was his second home really.

BITTERMAN: It's not clear when he got religion, but in 2010 when he was jailed here, he came in contact with an Islamic extremist, Jamaal Begal. By this time he was estranged from his family. The local mayor who grew up in the same public housing as the terrorist did says the Coulibalys, like many here, were just trying to better themselves.

MAYOR PHILIPPE RIO, GRIGNY, FRANCE (via translator): Yes, this area is violent, yes, there is delinquency, yes, there is poverty, yes, there is suffering, but there is also success.

BITTERMAN: But if Coulibaly's family was Muslim, it was hardly fundamentalist. One of his nine sisters, for example, teaches a dance class she calls therapy. Back in the family's hometown, some remember Coulibaly's attempts to fit in. In 2009 he was even invited to the French presidential palace as part of a panel meeting with President Sarkozy to discuss youth unemployment. He worked for a time as the local Coca-Cola plant where he met the girlfriend who later became his wife and accomplice. People may have known about Coulibaly's criminal record but were nonetheless surprised at his terrorist connections.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (via translator): We were shocked. It's hard to believe. It's unreal.

BITTERMAN: One person who was less surprised was a social worker who worked with Coulibaly as a young man, among other things, taking him to Disneyland, Paris. He said that after not seeing Coulibaly for 15 years, he suddenly showed up in his office last spring after getting out of prison.

DE CHARLES CLAUDE AKA, SOCIAL WORKER: He's lost, lost. He needs people every time to remind him that that can be done, that can't be done. When someone like him is involved with people, they can use him for anything.

BITTERMAN: The mayor of Grigny told CNN that it's wrong to imply that suburbs of Paris like his are nothing but breeding grounds for terrorists. Many people work their way into mainstream society from here, he says, like the mayor himself. But he adds that the large families, the unemployment, the lack of police, the decaying infrastructure, provide a fertile environment for all sorts of criminality, including in the case of Amedy Coulibaly, terrorism.

(END VIDEOTAPE) BITTERMAN: As you mentioned, Victor, they've picked up a dozen -- police picked up a dozen of Coulibaly's associates in that suburb of Grigny. They were held for the last 24 hours, which is what they can do under French law without being charged. Now the judge has ordered it be extended another 24 hours and can be done in terrorism cases. So it looks like the police are questioning them about the terrorist aspects of Coulibaly's life. Victor?

BLACKWELL: And similar searches continue across France and across Europe. Jim Bittermann in Paris for us, Jim, thank you.

PAUL: Speaking of Europe, the Euro Tunnel between France and England has been shut down we're learning this morning. According to a report, a truck caught fire and now service has been canceled for the rest of the day. Now on its website Eurostar only confirmed smoke in its north tunnel and posted this, quote, "If you are planning to travel today we advise you to postpone your journey and not to come to the station."

All right, back here at home, Mitt Romney took the stage last night at a huge Republican event. He knew there was an elephant in the room and he didn't avoid it.

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MITT ROMNEY, (R) FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Now there's some speculation about whether I'm about to embark on a political endeavor in which I've been previously unsuccessful.

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PAUL: What he said about his plans for 2016 and what the GOP is saying about it, next.

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PAUL: It's 40 minutes past the hour. Let's talk politics, shall we? Mitt Romney told members of the Republican National Committee he's thinking about running for president again.

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ROMNEY: I'm giving some serious consideration to the future. But this I know -- we can win in 2016 as a party in the House, in the Senate, and in the White House, if we communicate a clear vision where we're taking this country, what he believe in. Those principles I described are among those we're going to be fighting for, and we're going to win.

And I can tell you this as well -- regardless of what happens in the primaries and the political process that goes on, Ann Romney and I are going to be fighting for our nominee and make sure we win back the White House because the American people deserve it, and we're going to make it happen. Thanks, you guys. Great to be with you. (APPLAUSE)

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PAUL: If he does end up running, he could be up against the likes of Jeb Bush, Chris Christie, Mike Huckabee, Rand Paul, Marco Rubio. Let's talk about this with CNN politics executive editor Mark Preston. Mark, so I think a lot of people are reading into this, if he's run twice before unsuccessfully, what would encourage you to go for a third time?

MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICS EXECUTIVE EDITOR: You know, Christi, I think in many ways he thinks that he's been vindicated certainly on the foreign policy front where he thinks that the country right now really has succumbed to terrorism, the terrorism threat we're seeing overseas. He also thinks that the economy could be doing a lot better. And, you know, quite frankly he's being encouraged by his inner circle to try to give it another run. So Mitt Romney who once said, Christi, many times, he said many times that he would never run again, appears that he's thinking about doing so.

PAUL: You know, there's so many names as I just mentioned that are being thrown into the hat, so to speak, of possible contenders, how has the atmosphere changed for 2016, do you think, the political atmosphere? And who do you think might be best to run that race?

PRESTON: Well, you know, certainly the difference between the 2012 race and the 2016 race is that you have a much bigger field. You have candidates that many people think are more qualified. We have as many as a dozen Republicans right now who are thinking of running, and they're all across the political spectrum of the Republican Party. You have Tea Party candidates and you have establishment candidates. And, as you know, if Mitt Romney were to get in, he would be put into a pod of candidates such as Jeb Bush, perhaps Marco Rubio, perhaps Chris Christie in the more establishment point of candidates, you know, that are running.

So the interesting thing is that if he does get in, what would happen to the money and would he get the support? I have to tell you right now, Christi, while there's a lot of intrigue for a Romney candidacy, I think there's a lot of concern and I think people want it see some fresh faces, at least some people want to see some fresh faces out there, including the likes of Scott Walker, perhaps Marco Rubio, maybe Chris Christie. And of course everybody wants to see what Jeb Bush's message is going to be over the next couple months.

PAUL: I know you just got back from the GOP retreat. What's the buzz? What are Republicans saying about this?

PRESTON: You know, again, I think a lot of people were surprised by Mitt Romney's sudden interest in the race. It was just a week ago where we heard that he was actually thinking about getting in, and in his first public comments last night he actually acknowledged it.

I think that a lot of them want to hear what Mitt Romney has to say, but I think there is a lot of skepticism about whether he should run again and what kind of campaign he would run again. But if he were to run again, he certainly has a different message. He talked about poverty last night, he talked about, you know, lifting people up and trying to help the middle class. This is not something you heard Mitt Romney talk about, Christi, back in 2012, and last night he previewed if he were to run that that would be one of the main colors of his campaign.

PAUL: Mark Preston, thank you so much. We appreciate your insight as always. Victor?

BLACKWELL: With Mitt Romney potentially running for the White House for a third time, you know will are two women we have to hear from, CNN political commentator and democratic strategist Maria Cardona and Republican strategist Lisa Boothe. This is going to be good. We'll talk with them coming up.

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BLACKWELL: All right, so as we were talking about before the break, Mitt Romney in 2016, will he run or won't he run for the White House? I want to bring in CNN political commentator and Democratic strategist Maria Cardona and Republican strategist Lisa Boothe.

LISA BOOTHE, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Hi, Victor.

MARIA CARDONA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Good morning.

BLACKWELL: Good morning. So I want to start with this "Wall Street Journal" piece that was pretty unflattering of Governor Romney, "Romney Recycled." And they started it this way, let's put it up on the screen, "If Mitt Romney is the answer, what's the question?" Let's start with you, Maria. What is the question?

CARDONA: Well, I think the question is, what are Republicans going to offer the American people that has been different in the last two elections? And I think the issue with Mitt Romney is that a lot of Republicans are afraid that he will run the same kind of campaign that he ran in 2012, which was clearly disastrous because he couldn't figure out what kind of message to relay to the American people on why Republicans and he himself should be running the White House.

But look, I've talked to many Republicans, many of whom say it's a bad decision, but also a lot of them say, look, you know, he really believes that he can do this job, that he is the best in the Republican field to do this job. So I say as a Democrat and as a CNN commentator, I have three words for him, "Do it, Mitt."

BLACKWELL: Do it, Mitt. Lisa, how about it? He even has a 2012 co- chair who's out there who is 100 percent behind another run.

BOOTHE: I like Mitt Romney and I think he's certainly a formidable candidate and I think he would be a -- definitely has the qualities to be president.

But here are my concerns with him and I think they're the concerns of a lot of Republicans share. He definitely has a perception problem to overcome. And there was a postmortem by "The Boston Globe" that kind of hit the nail on the head, and what it did in showing exit polling that said the majority of American's liked Mitt Romney's vision, his leadership, and his values, but according to the question which candidate cares about me, Obama won by an 81 to 18 percent margin.

But here's the thing, I think Hillary Clinton has the same problem and even worse. You look at someone who's supposed to be a seasoned politician who's repeatedly stepped in with out of touch comments like we were dead broke, we're not like the truly well off, and telling people she hasn't driven a car in 18 years. So she's supposed to driving this income inequality message that people are saying she's going to, I think she's truly going to have a problem.

BLACKWELL: So what about that, Maria? Romney obviously couldn't get it done against Obama, but maybe a better shot against Hillary Clinton?

CARDONA: Oh, absolutely not. I think that Republicans who think that Hillary Clinton is going to have a problem figuring out how she is going to relay the message that she will put forward will help the middle class, they're just deluding themselves.

And look, as I said before, as a Democrat I would love Mitt Romney to run. The 47 percent, the "I don't care about poor people" comment, his "five car two story garage," his "I like to fire people," all of that solidifies the narrative not just of himself as somebody who does not understand middle-class and working-class families but as the Republican Party as a whole who does not understand and doesn't get the struggle of what this America is going through right now. An when you have the economy on a resurgence, it also takes away a key talking point that Republicans have -- like to have for many years now, which is now not existent.

BLACKWELL: So what I'm hearing from both of you.

BOOTHE: I think it's ironic --

BLACKWELL: Go ahead. What I'm hearing from both of you is there are obvious flaws in another run from Romney for the White House, and we're hearing it from the op-eds and we're hearing it from the opinion leaders. Then why is Mitt Romney leading the latest poll of potential 2016 candidates for the nomination? Lisa?

BOOTHE: I think a large part of that is because people know Mitt Romney, right. He has a high name recognition and people are well aware of him. If you look at recent polling I think 18 percent are undecided. So there's still a long time between now and the election. And I'm not saying that Mitt Romney is not the guy, I'm just saying he has got some real problems.

But I think it's ironic because a lot of things that Maria just highlighted that are problems that Mitt Romney will face are the exact problems that Hillary Clinton will face. She's repeatedly stepped in it, as I said before, with comments like the "we're dead broke" or "we're not like the truly well off," everyone though everyone knows that Bill and Hillary Clinton are millionaires and they're making, you know, $300,000 plus for each speaking engagement that Hillary Clinton is going to.

CARDONA: But, you know, the big difference? The big difference --

BOOTHE: How is she supposed to make --

CARDONA: I'll tell you --

BOOTHE: -- make the argument --

CARDONA: I will tell you how.

BOOTHE: -- middle class when she is not like everyday Americans.

CARDONA: I will tell you how, because her whole life, she actually has fought for the policies that help middle-class workers as opposed to Republicans and Mitt Romney who has only fought for the one percent who they represent each and every day.

BOOTHE: That's entirely untrue because --

CARDONA: That is absolutely true.

(CROSSTALK)

BLACKWELL: Let's hear from Lisa. Lisa, finish up the thought.

BOOTHE: Well those are policies helping the middle class.

CARDONA: Absolutely they are.

BOOTHE: No, they make good talking points. They make good talking points, but at the end of the day the rest of Americans are paying for those policies. If you look at Obamacare it's only helping about five percent of the population, it's going to cost the country over $2 trillion over the next decade.

(CROSSTALK)

BOOTHE: These are policies taking taxpayers with over $500 billion in tax. It's the biggest tax increase in raw dollars in history.

BLACKWELL: Maria, that's all. Maria?

CARDONA: Keep telling yourself that, Lisa, because Obamacare --

BOOTHE: It's reality.

BOOTHE: -- has been spectacularly successful in its goal, which is to reduce the number of uninsured Americans and reduce the rate at which health care is rising in this country. So again, if that's the only talking point that Republicans have going into 2016 then Mitt Romney is not their only problem.

BLACKWELL: All right, we have got to call it there. We've got to call it there. Lisa, Maria, I told you this was going to be good. Thank you both. (LAUGHTER)

CARDONA: Thank you, Victor.

BOOTHE: Have a great day.

BLACKWELL: Christi?

PAUL: We're following breaking news out of Florida right now. A mall in Melbourne has been evacuated and there are reports of a shooting. We're examining everything. We'll give you the latest in just a moment. Stay close.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: All right, we want to tell you about this breaking news. Right now police in Florida are responding to a shooting at a mall that happened earlier today in the city of Melbourne. Here's a police tweet a couple minutes ago. It said "Shooter is contained. Officers are clearing the mall store by store." There are a lot of questions here. We don't know how many people were shot. We don't know how many shooters there might have been, if there was anybody along with this person that they have contained. But authorities say the mall has been evacuated. We're going to obviously bring you more details as soon as we have them.

BLACKWELL: And we've got other stories making news this morning. Obviously Pope Francis, one of the big stories, he is forced unfortunately to cut a visit in the Philippines short because of an approaching typhoon.

PAUL: While on the trip, the Pope made controversial remarks about the terror attacks in France, saying, quote, "One cannot make fun of faith." However, the Pope did stress there was no justification for the killing of 17 people.

The Supreme Court will weigh in on the gay marriage debate. The high court will decide whether same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry or if the issue should be left up to the states. Right now 36 states and the District of Columbia allow same-sex marriages. The justices will hear arguments in April and should issue a ruling by June.

BLACKWELL: Safety inspectors are no longer allowed to bypass airport security. A program was in place that allowed them to do so, but it has been suspended after several incidents involving firearms. In New York one inspector was busted with a gun in his carryon, and in Atlanta two airport employees were arrested after they were caught smuggling more than 100 guns onto planes by skipping security check points.

PAUL: Penn State's former football coach the late Joe Paterno will have his record restored. The NCAA and the university reached an agreement that will bring back 112 wins. Those wins were wiped out after the Jerry Sandusky child molestation scandal. Sandusky was sentenced to 30 to 50 years in 2012, and Paterno died that same year. BLACKWELL: Police say two teens in Kentucky are increasingly brazen and dangerous and they're on the run this morning. Police are frantically searching for 18-year-old Dalton Hayes and his 13-year-old girlfriend Cheyenne Phillips. Authorities say the couple stole three cars, two with guns inside. The teens were spotted in South Carolina and they're believed to be heading to Florida.

PAUL: And these mug shots are causing outrage in north Miami beach, Florida, because police snipers used them to target practice. Here's the thing, a local woman noticed one of the photos was her brother and several other African-American men and she filed a complaint. Police say it's not a case of racism because they also use photos of other races as well as Usama bin Laden. Most of the mug shots are of people who were arrested 10 to 15 years ago. The police chief says officers did nothing wrong, but because of the current climate the practice will be stopped.

They have a good wrap up. We are so grateful for your company. Go make some great memories today.

BLACKWELL: There's much more ahead in the next hour of the CNN Newsroom. We turn to our colleague Fredricka Whitfield just a few steps away.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello.

BLACKWELL: Hello, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Do you like our new digs here?

BLACKWELL: Snazzy, that's the word I've been using all morning.

WHITFIELD: Did you let everybody know that we have a new home here?

BLACKWELL: Yes.

PAUL: Somebody asked -- was it Twitter or Instagram -- said you have some va-voom.

BLACKWELL: Yes, yes.

WHITFIELD: Va-voom -- that's a good word. I think that's going to be the word to drive the day.

BLACKWELL: Yes. We'll take it.

WHITFIELD: How about that.

PAUL: You take it.

WHITFIELD: You all have a great day. Thanks so much.

BLACKWELL: You too.

PAUL: You too.