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Mitt Romney Announces He's Not Running for President; Interview with Sen. Lindsey Graham on the 2016 Election

Aired January 30, 2015 - 11:00   ET

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

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Happy Friday, everybody. I'm Kate Bolduan. John is on assignment today.

We're going to continue with the breaking news that we were just hearing in the last hour, in the last couple minutes, actually -- Mitt Romney, despite all of the optics that looked like he was heading toward a third presidential run, he's announced to supporters on a conference call that he's not going to be making that effort. He will not be running for another nomination.

But there sure is a lot of fanfare around this, even the lead up to this call. Let's talk about all of this, the announcement and what this means for the Republican field going forward.

Chief Washington correspondent and anchor of "THE LEAD" Jake Tapper is here with me. Chief political analyst Gloria Borger, senior digital correspondent Chris Moody and our national political reporter Peter Hamby also joining us.

Gloria, you were one of the first to get this information.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Right.

BOLDUAN: What do you glean from the announcement?

BORGER: I should say first was Hugh Hewitt, radio host, and within nanoseconds, I think someone very senior in the Romney campaign pushed a button, and I got it as well.

I would have to say that in the last moments before this conference call, there was chatter back and forth that Romney wasn't going to do it. If you talk to funders a week or so ago and even as late as yesterday, I was told he's in. He's totally in.

I think what happened was there was a big meeting with Romney senior advisers. They laid it all out for him, the pros and cons. This is a man who wants to be president of the United States. The polling looks great.

The problem I think they had was with the funders who had gone to other places. Those important people who can raise hundreds of thousands of dollars by bundling money together. They all had gone to other places. Staff was disappearing. Romney's chief adviser in Iowa, his chief staffer, had gone to Jeb Bush's staff. And I think when he looked at the metrics of all of this, he decided that in the end he wouldn't be able to make as good a go of it as he would like, so he is stepping back. I might add they were not sort of saying, gee, Jeb Bush is a great candidate and if Jeb gets in, we won't. That's the way they were in September.

But as of a week or two ago or even a couple days ago, they were all in. But I think when they had this meeting and they laid it all out for him, I think that's when he made his decision.

BOLDUAN: And that's the most interesting part, Jake, because it really seemed almost until yesterday that he was running. I mean, the speech in Mississippi, all of the unanimous statements coming out from his aides and advisers were comparing him to Hillary Clinton, basically making him -- hold with me one second.

Let's actually listen to some of this call, Jake, and then I want to get your take on it all. Let's listen to it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY, FORMER REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: In addition state political leaders from several of the early primary states are on the line, and here in New York City and on the phone are people who have been helping me think through how to build a new team as well as supporters from the past, all been kind enough to volunteer their time during this deliberation stage. Welcome, and thank you.

Your loyalty and friendship and your desire to see the country with new conservative leadership does in fact warm the heart. After putting considerable thought into making another run for president, I've decided it's best to give other leaders in the party the opportunity to become our next nominee.

Let me give you some of my thinking. First, I'm convinced that with the help of the people on this call, we could win the nomination. Our finance calls made it clear we would have enough funding to be more than competitive and with few exceptions our political leadership is ready and enthusiastic about a new race.

The reaction of Republican voters across the country was most surprising and heartening. I know that early poll numbers move up and down great deal during the campaign, but we would have no doubt started in a strong position.

One poll out just today shows me gaining support and leading the next closest contender by nearly two to one and also leading in all of the four early states. So I'm convinced that we could win the nomination, but I fully realize it would have been a difficult task and a hard fight.

I also believe with the message of making the world safer, providing opportunity for every American regardless of the neighborhood they live in, and working to break the grip of poverty, I would have the best chance of beating the eventual Democratic nominee, but that's before the other contenders have had the opportunity to take their message to the voters.

I believe that one of our next generation of Republican leaders, one who may not be as well known as I am today, one who has not yet taken their message across the country, one who is just getting started, may well emerge as being better able to defeat the Democrat nominee. In fact, I expect and hope that to be the case.

I feel that it's critical that America elect a conservative leader to become our next president. You know that I wanted to be that president, but I do not want to make it more difficult for someone else to emerge who may have a better chance of becoming that president.

You can't imagine how hard it is for Ann and me to step aside, especially knowing of your support and the support of so many people across the country, but we believe it's best for the best of the party and the nation.

I've been asked and will certainly be asked again if there are any circumstances whatsoever that might develop that could change my mind. That seems unlikely. Accordingly, I'm not organizing a PAC or taking donations. I'm not hiring a campaign team.

I encourage all of you on this call to stay engaged in the process of selecting a Republican candidate for president. Sign up for a campaign on those you believe will be our best nominee. I believe a Republican winning back the White House is essential for our country, and I'll do whatever I can to make that happen.

So to all my supporters, friends, and family who worked both tirelessly and loyally to support my campaigns in the past, Ann and I will always be deeply appreciative. What you've already done is a tribute to your patriotism.

We're overwhelmed by your loyalty to us, by your generosity of spirit, and by your friendship. God bless you all and god bless our great country. Bye-bye.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: There you have it. That is the full statement coming from Mitt Romney on a conference call with some of his supporters.

Jake Tapper is here with me. Jake, what do you make of this statement?

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR, "THE LEAD": It is a very ambivalent statement.

BOLDUAN: Are you being kind in that?

TAPPER: I'm being kind. I don't know that his potential rivals, the people who are going to run for president, Jeb Bush, Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Chris Christie, et cetera, I don't know that they will be as kind, although there's no sense in publicly bashing him.

BOLDUAN: Do you get at all that people seem confused by the statement, because I am?

TAPPER: First of all, he says -- he -- okay, the headline is he's not running.

BOLDUAN: He's not running.

TAPPER: But -- but -- this speech, his remarks, are full of caveats.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

TAPPER: I could win. One poll out just today shows me gaining support and leading the next closest contender by nearly two to one. These are not the kind of things one says when they're announcing that they're not going to run.

BOLDUAN: What about --

TAPPER: I would have the best chance of beating the nominee.

BOLDUAN: This is the one that kills me. That seems unlikely.

TAPPER: Right. There's a thing in politics, the Sherman-esque statement. You ask me, Jake, are you ever going to run for president? If asked, I will not serve. I will never run for president. There's a very clear way to give a denial. That's never going to happen.

Mitt Romney puts out the hypothetical. I've been asked and will certainly be asked again if there are any circumstances whatsoever that might develop that could change my mind.

Instead of saying no, I'm not running.

BOLDUAN: Right.

TAPPER: There are many great candidates, and I will be supporting one of them. He says that seems unlikely. That's not closing the door. Now --

BOLDUAN: Then what's the rationale? What is the rationale behind making this statement with quite a bit of fanfare, if you will?

TAPPER: He's announcing he's not running for president, but just in case the party implodes and there is some desire for him to come in and save the day, the white knight on the stallion, that remains a possibility.

The names -- he doesn't mention --

BOLDUAN: There's no names.

TAPPER: -- of any of his rivals. He doesn't say there are so many great Republicans that could run.

BOLDUAN: Would you have expected him to say that?

TAPPER: Not necessarily, because then it becomes a contest of who didn't you name. But I just don't understand why one would say I'm not running, although clearly I could beat the Democrat. I have the best chance of beating the Democrat.

The one -- the nicest thing he says is that the next generation of Republican leaders who has not yet gone out and given their message across the country, that person may well emerge as being better able to defeat the Democrat nominee. In fact, I expect and hope that to be the case.

That's the strongest statement he gives for somebody else.

BOLDUAN: That's the strongest endorsement for the next -- whoever emerges, the next class of candidates, if you will.

Peter Hamby, join in on this. What's your take on this? My -- your initial reaction has to be who does this help and you would think this helps Jeb Bush.

PETER HAMBY, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER: I agree with Jake's assessment 100 percent that this is a really ambivalent statement. There's a bit of a concrete reason here, though, and Gloria touched on this.

He had a call last week in a meeting in Boston with a number of his advisers. Ann Romney has been pushing Romney to run. Romney is uncomfortable with seeing his place in the party diminished by Jeb Bush and others who are making calls to donors, et cetera.

There's a loyal crew of advisers in Boston who have been with Romney for a long time who are urging him to run. There are many other close advisers who are saying, you don't have this. This isn't yours for the taking, and they are backing that up with information from the field.

Romney said in that statement that he had field staff, and there was wide support from his former campaign staffers. That's actually not true. And that's a big reason that Romney is backing away from this.

And one of the biggest things that happened in this early stage of the Republican race so far -- again, Gloria talked about this -- David Kochel, who is one of Romney's longtime advisers going back to his first campaign as governor for Massachusetts, decided yesterday to go work for Jeb Bush. Again, one of Romney's most loyal people in the Republican Party went to work for Jeb Bush.

So as much as Romney thinks --

BOLDUAN: (Inaudible).

HAMBY: -- that he deserves to be president -- exactly, and Jeb has really owned the early stages of this campaign behind the scenes, the quote/unquote "invisible primary."

But the fact that one of Romney's closest people went to work for Jeb was probably one more nail in the coffin from people in his ear saying, as much as you want this, as much as you should be president, you have to think about your legacy, you have to think about the fact that you could not only lose the Republican primary, you could get completely dominated in the Republican primary. And that would be an embarrassment.

BORGER: And I think in a way.

BOLDUAN: Chris, join in on this. One second, Gloria. Chris, join in on this too. Does this also come down to -- often in politics, it comes down to money, a lot of donors probably pressuring him to say you need to make a decision or not because there are many big candidates looking to us for their support at this point.

CHRIS MOODY, CNN SENIOR DIGITAL CORRESPONDENT: There is a lot of overlap between Mitt Romney donors and potential Jeb Bush donors, and so I think that frees up a bit not just for Jeb Bush. I think we also need to bring New Jersey governor Chris Christie into the picture and a lot of the other candidates.

Chris Christie can now have a little bit more space to look for those donors as well. And I think that this makes the field a lot more wide open, certainly I honestly think more interesting because it allows more voices to come in, and we're in the period of this invisible primary period or this donor primary period where the competition, I think, is going to be all the more fierce because folks won't assume that it's just being sucked up by Jeb and Mitt.

BORGER: Can I just --

BOLDUAN: Gloria, jump in.

BORGER: I also want to say that the interesting thing about this statement is that Romney of course didn't come out and endorse anybody. It's very clear from talking to folks who are close to him, he didn't think Jeb Bush was going to be a particularly strong candidate, that Jeb Bush had not been, as one put it to me, to the Super Bowl before, that he didn't have the experience of running, that he was going to be attacked on his ties to Wall Street, and Mitt Romney of course had been vetted on that already and been through that with Bane Capital.

So he didn't come out and say, OK, I'm for Jeb or I'm for Christie. I think we're kind of in a funny way back to where we were this fall when Romney advisers were saying he would be, as Jake pointed out, the kind of white knight, that if it all fell apart and the field couldn't get it together and get -- and Republicans couldn't get behind one candidate that he would come in and rescue the party.

I think in the real world that's not the way things work, but I think it's clear from reading this statement and parsing this statement that Mitt Romney is still up for that if the party would come to him. I think that's really unlikely though.

BOLDUAN: Quick final point, Jake.

TAPPER: One final point is just the Democratic primary race looks to be one of the least competitive in modern history, should Hillary Clinton run, and I know that Romney from talking to advisers of his is very concerned about how nasty the Republican race is going to be, and it's very, very likely that one of the many factors in his decision is he didn't want to be part of it. He didn't want to be attacked, and he didn't want to do the attacking.

BOLDUAN: He's done with it. He was done it, at least that part of it, for now. Mitt Romney not running, that announcement coming just a few minutes ago.

Guys, thanks so much.

So we know that he says he won't -- he's not going to be running for president, but there are others that we've been discussing who are thinking about jumping into that ring. That list, as we've discussed, includes Chris Christie, Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, and Rand Paul.

Add now one more name to that list. South Carolina -- Senator Lindsey Graham --and Senator Graham is joining us now from Clemson, South Carolina.

Senator, it's great to see you. Thanks so much. Important to talk about your political aspirations as well, but first, what do you think of this announcement from Mitt Romney today, Senator?

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: I was a little bit surprised because I imagine everybody he's met in the last couple years has said I wish you were president. You could certainly add my name to that list.

But I'll leave it up to pundits to figure all this out. I'm just going to focus on what I'm trying to do. But he's a good man. Mitt and Ann Romney are probably the two nicest people I've ever met anywhere in political life. So I respect his decision. We'll see what it means.

BOLDUAN: Senator, does this announcement change the calculus for your decision? Because you are now testing the waters. You have started an organization to be able to raise money, build staff, put kind of the machine in place, if you will.

Does this announcement -- how does it change your calculation?

GRAHAM: Not at all. It's just one less good person to choose from. The way I look at it, Mitt Romney has a lot to offer the country and the Republican Party. There are other people out there, too, and I want to try to be one of those. Whether it works for me, I don't know. I'm going to take a look at it. But the name of this organization is SecurityThroughStrength.com and the theme is that for America to be secure, we need to be strong and have a strong military and get our act together when it comes to dealing with radical Islam and Iran on the march. Economic security, retirement security, being able to pass on the American dream, that's what I want to talk about. Securing America.

BOLDUAN: Why do you want to jump into this race? I've read, additionally on top of those points that you've made, I've read that you want to make a decision by the end of April. But as Jake was just pointing out, it's going to be a nasty Republican primary. Why would you want to get into that?

GRAHAM: Well for the last 13 years, men and women have been leaving home to go fight a war that has been very tough on military families. I think I have the ability to be a good Commander In Chief, and God knows we need one right now. So any sacrifice I have to make, in terms of being beat up or raising money or traveling, pales in comparison to what those who have been fighting this war have gone through, so they're my inspiration.

BOLDUAN: Your very close friend, John McCain, he often -- he has been joking recently that you're his illegitimate son, but he also is, as I said, a very close friend of yours. Has he given you any advice on how to run for president?

GRAHAM: He's given me a lot of encouragement. I guess I need to be in the will now, I'm going to claim part of the estate. But in all seriousness, the fact that John McCain, given who he is and what he's done for our country and his depth of knowledge on how to secure America, would suggest that I should be Commander In Chief, President of the United States, quite frankly, is one of the highlights of my life and it means a great deal to me for him to say that.

BOLDUAN: Senator, stick with me. It's clear that foreign policy would be -- will be - would be a centerpiece of your campaign. Now there's news, one of the Guantanamo detainees involved in the swap for Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl may have tried to return to militant activity. I want to get your take on this. It's a hugely important topic right now. Stay with me. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: Welcome back. There's some disturbing news coming out of Qatar. U.S. officials say one of the five Taliban militants released in exchange for American soldier Bowe Bergdahl is expected to have tried to return to militant activity.

Let's bring back Senator Lindsey Graham. Senator, foreign policy, this is one of your strong points. This is something I know you feel very strongly about. I want to ask you what you know about this news. Our Barbara Starr has been doing a lot of this reporting. What we've been told, that Congress has been informed. What more can you tell us?

GRAHAM: Well, all I can tell you is the likelihood of these five going back to the battle is almost as certain as the sun rising in the East and setting in the West. They are not reformed. They're leaders of the Taliban, they're collaborated with al Qaeda to plan the attacks on our homeland, and the president is looking for any reason he can find to release people from Guantanamo Bay to fulfill his campaign promise to close the place. I think it's a dangerous decision. I think it's unjustified. And quite frankly, it's going to come back to haunt us. To imagine them not going back to the fight at the end of the year is really impossible for me to understand, because they will.

BOLDUAN: Senator, take it all into consideration. Do you think it was a poor decision, a bad decision, by the president? I remember you and I talking about this when this decision was made. But when you take it all into consideration, the life, potentially, of a U.S. soldier and then the security concerns on balance of releasing these five detainees, you're talking about running for president. Would you have made this decision as president?

GRAHAM: Absolutely not.

BOLDUAN: What would you say to Bowe Bergdahl's family then?

GRAHAM: I would say this to every family, not just his family: No military member should expect the Commander In Chief to undercut the war effort. Hostilities are not over. The theory of the case is that hostilities in Afghanistan are over, therefore we're going to exchange prisoners. Take a look at your television and what happened today. The war is still ongoing in Afghanistan. These five people are going to go back to the battle. It's an affront to all of the Afghans that have been fighting to change their country and it's a front to the Americans who have served. It's dangerous to those who are in place. It changes the moment on the ground in Afghanistan in a bad way. I've been in the military for 33 years, I would tell my family, if something ever happened to me, do not release five of the people who collaborated with al Qaeda to attack our nation for my benefit. This is a bad decision. If he had been a medal of honor winner, I would not have done this. It undercuts the war effort and puts our nation at risk.

BOLDUAN: Senator, I always appreciate your honesty. I want to get your honest take on this, finally, so I'm not taking too much more of your time. Just yesterday, those protests in the Senate Armed Services Committee - First of all, were you in the committee yesterday?

GRAHAM: No, I missed that part of it but I saw it on television.

BOLDUAN: I wanted to ask you about that. So these protesters -- this is a hearing including Henry Kissinger -- and protesters disrupted the beginning of the hearing. At one point, the now chairman, Senator McCain, your friend, he said this. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R) ARIZONA: I have been a member of this committee for many years, and I have never seen anything as disgraceful and outrageous and despicable as the last demonstration that just took place about -- You know, you're going to have to shut up or I'm going to have you arrested. Get out of here, you low-life scum.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Disruptive, no doubt. These protests happen often in these committee hearings. Is it appropriate for a United States Senator to speak like that to protesters in a public hearing?

GRAHAM: All I can say, freedom allows people to have their say, but responsibility should attach itself to freedom because without responsibility, freedom leads to chaos. I think Senator McCain is speaking for a lot of Americans who found what happened there to be out of line. The protesters have a right to have their say, but they don't have a right to threaten a 92-year-old distinguished statesman or any other American who is trying to have their say. Your right to speak has limits. My right to be present and have a say. I'm not going to -- all I'm going to say is that we need the cops there the next time.

BOLDUAN: Senator Lindsey Graham, considering a now run for the 2016 nomination on the Republican side. Senator, it's always great to have you. Thank you very for your time. We'll be looking for your announcement one way or another coming up.

GRAHAM: Thanks much.

BOLDUAN: Thank you.

Coming up for us, New Englanders can't seem to catch a break right now, unfortunately. More snow today on top of what was leftover from this week's blizzard. Up next, a look at how much more is coming.

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