Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Jeb Bush to Officially Announce Run for Presidency. Aired 3:30p-4:00p ET.

Aired June 15, 2015 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00] DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: But these last few months have not been kind to him and even though he had a good trip to Europe, even though he's raised piles of money, far more than anybody else. He's essentially on defense going into the day. He stumbled on the Iraq question. You know, he had to shake up his campaign team. It's been a sluggish quality of the campaign.

Today is a very important moment. He has to shift from defense to offense. The campaign, the offensive campaign has to start now and he has to create some momentum coming out of this and this speech is going to be heavily compared to Hillary Clinton's speech. He has to offer a fresh vision for the country.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN HOST: Hillary Clinton just speaking over the weekend. Roosevelt Island here in New York City. And we'll get to that. We'll get to Hillary versus Jeb.

But S.E., I want to talk about a little bit about his competition. I really made noted the fact that his friend, Marco Rubio who you know, also wants the same job, president of the United States, he actually sent out a statement today welcoming Jeb Bush to the race, saying they are sincerely friends. Jeb Bush has even responded to that sort of saying essentially thank you via twitter. What do you make of those two together and the rest of the competition?

S.E. CUPP, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes. Marco is, you know, tough competition for Jeb. People are going to naturally compare them. They are both from Florida. Jeb was -- he's seen as sort of a mentor and early supporter of Marco. And Marco has supported Jeb Bush in the past. And so, they are going to be heavily compared. Not to mention the fact that, you know, Marco is a lot younger and he looks a lot more energetic.

And I think Dana mentioned this earlier, I think a lot of people are wondering if Jeb has that fire in the belly. You know, Marco seems excited. He's out there. You know, he's galvanizing the base. People want Jeb to show the same kind of passion and fervor which is probably hard for someone who is self-admitted introvert to do.

But in addition to the personality stuff you got to do today, he has to convince people, why me? We have a big Republican bench. It's deep, it's impressive, there are a lot of good potential candidates out there. He's got to say, why me? Other than the fact that I used to be a governor of a pretty important state and, you know, I'm a Bush, what's going to make me different than all of these other very talented people? And being the adult in the room is smart but I don't think it's enough with this field.

BALDWIN: Dan, to you, just as the coms guy here on the panel, I'm wondering, you know, what do you think of the preseason rollout, the curve ball David Gergen alluded to some of the issues and shake-ups within the campaign, you had the FOX interview which should have been, you know, election answer 101 about the Iraq war and that was a flub and that became the question to ask, you know, all of these different candidates. He's been up and down on the polls. How would you grade this, from a communications perspective, about how this has gone?

DAN PFEIFFER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I think by all measures the first six months of the Bush campaign has been a disaster. He's very rusty. He hasn't run for office in a very long time over a decade. He is very good of raising money, but that is really been about it. He hasn't been able to get over the stump.

As you pointed out, if there's one question he should have been prepared for, it was the Iraq question. He messed it up and then took five days to fix it. And so, it's been a really rough start. Today is his moment to try to get it going in the right direction but he has a lot of work to do because campaigns are about two things, really, successful ones. Projecting the future and enthusiasm, generating enthusiasm from your supporters and he's been unable to do either thus far.

BALDWIN: S.E., I want you to respond to the "d" word, disaster that Dan just used.

CUPP: I think that's a little harsh. You know, he is at all the scrutiny of a candidate without any of the boost, the benefits that you get from announcing your run. So, I think he is maybe inoculated himself against a number of small points because all of this happened so quickly.

He knows he's got to get things back on track. Believe me. I mean, the campaign is very aware of sort of the rocky start. But he had an excellent trip to Europe which is not an easy thing to do, as many prior candidates and presidents can attest. So I wouldn't call it a disaster but he certainly is starting at least from neutral, if not slightly behind.

BALDWIN: Gloria, to you, because I think it was David Gergen that mentioned, you know, he needs to show fire in his belly. He needs doing this speech really have this momentum moving forward. How does he do that?

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I think he has to talk about what he's done. He has got to remind people what kind of governor he was in Florida. This is somebody who is a little wonky (ph). He's been out of public life for a while. You have to get yourself re-acclimated to that.

He's not a great speech giver, by the way. He is much better in a Q&A setting and in kind of one of these big speech settings. So this could be a time to see if he has gotten any better at that. And he has to let people know what he wants to do as president of the United States.

You know, Dan was saying, it's got to be about the future. So he's got to distance himself from the past and it's harder for him for someone than for Hillary Clinton because he looks like his brother. Hillary Clinton is a woman. She looks different, right?

[15:35:07] BALDWIN: Right.

BORGER: And then he's got to talk about the future.

BALDWIN: We're talking about the future but also a picture, apparently, he took behind the scenes backstage there in Miami. He just tweeted it out. This was the back of Jeb. I believe -- talking to dad backstage. So dad must be on the phone. Head to Jeb2016.com to watch the speech starting soon.

So David Gergen, here he is. You know, we talk about distancing one self. And at the same time, you have love for father so he's got George H.W. Bush on the phone. How do you read that tweet?

GERGEN: Well, listen, I think you have to give him a little break here, you know. Hillary Clinton had Bill Clinton up there, you know. So, these folks can't disentangle themselves.

BALDWIN: It's his family.

CUPP: Right.

GERGEN: I think he's shown an awful lot of love for his father and I think his father is still well respected. If anything, his popularity has gone up. But, Jeb what has to do today is not just talk about the future. He has to define it in a way that is sort of interesting, that Hillary Clinton speech was I thought went very well but what was new in it, what was thoughtful, what was insightful? Her husband was always very insightful. Jeb is going to offer something about technology which he knows an awful lot about. Going to Estonia, I thought quite interesting that he came out of there with all sorts of new fresh ideas about how government can be much more tech-oriented and much more effective with citizens and be much more responsive. Bring something new to this table. We need something that gets beyond the kind of arguments that we've been having over the last five to ten years.

BALDWIN: On Estonia, Dana, I mean, you're fresh off a plane as well and that's where you, I know, talked to Jeb Bush. But remind all of us -- why did he go to Estonia, specifically?

DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's a very good question. He went to Estonia and Poland and Germany. And the reason is, just kind of big picture, that this has become a ritual for people who are about to or just announced for president to go abroad to kind of stamp their passports and be in positions where they look presidential.

And, you know, for a lot of people who did it, especially this cycle, it turned out to be a disaster. They messed up and that was the story of the trip. Chris Christie had a problem, Bobby Jindal and it went on and on.

For Jeb Bush, he actually came off of the trip without messing up and unfortunately in this day and age, that helped determine that it was a success. But why he went to Estonia and Poland in particular, let's just actually kind of segue this to his father. He talked very much not just about the private sector, as David said, the tech industry, ways that he would try to get ideas from other countries to help business here, but also because of those countries being members of the former soviet bloc that are doing well now, doing better now that have had a lot of problems, obviously, especially over, you know, the past half a century. They were under the thumb of the Soviet Union.

But his father, in particular -- and he talked about this at every stop -- his father when he was vice president and then president was very aggressive about helping these countries get back up on their feet. So he actually didn't shy away from his family legacy when it came to his father abroad. He did certainly not talk very much at all about his brother. And so, it is noteworthy on a political level and also a policy level, but also on a personal level.

It's not a surprise that they put out this tweet on him with the phone with his father. They are so incredibly close. When I talked to Jeb on the streets of Estonia couple of days ago, it was just after his father's 91st birthday. And he was talking about the fact that, you know, he thinks he's the greatest man alive and that he wouldn't -- didn't want to think about him today because Bushes tend to cry and he would probably start to cry. So I think that it's not a surprise that he would want to get out there, that he's thinking about his father on a day like today.

BALDWIN: Yes, I think David Gergen was spot-on. This is family. Let's kind a break him on that.

S.E., to you. Because, you know, as Dana was in Estonia with Jeb Bush and they spoke, you know, one word as we mentioned a moment ago, one word that Jeb Bush used to described himself in introvert. And when you flash forward to that big bright flashy debate stage and all those massive personalities, you know, fighting for attention on that stage, how is that supposed to translate when you're Jeb Bush?

CUPP: Yes. And I think it's funny. I don't know if somebody already said this, but, you know, the Jeb logo has an exclamation point maybe to convey, you know, I'm here, I'm a people person.

I think it's going to be hard. But interestingly, you know, people in the Senate today, like Marco Rubio and Rand Paul and Ted Cruz have a tendency to carry over some of the hostility of the past couple of years because they have been mired in it and people are very much over the kind of divisive mudslinging kind of rhetoric that has defined the past administration.

So Jeb actually is uniquely in a very good position to not carry that baggage into his speeches, to not sound like he's been in Washington for the past six years, mudslinging with the president. So, I actually, think in some ways it's been a gift that he's been out of the scene and can approach the future and policies with kind of fresh eyes and without the sort of personal sense of animosity towards Democrats or Obama.

[15:40:40] BALDWIN: Let's talk a little bit about Hillary Clinton. Dan, to you. Because I think someone already mentioned earlier, you know, this could be the sort of battling of two political dynasty families, the Clintons versus the Bushes again. But do you think that for Hillary Clinton, if you were camp Hillary, would you be most worried about Jeb Bush or would it be more from Marco Rubio? How do you think this all stacks up against Hillary Clinton?

PFEIFFER: If I was in the Hillary Clinton campaign, I would want to run against Jeb Bush much more so than Marco Rubio or Scott Walker.

BALDWIN: Why?

PFEIFFER: Because the best case Republicans could make would be change towards more the same, where is future versus past. And Jeb Bush represents past. It's much less popular than the Clinton past. And so, I think the Republicans will be doing themselves a huge -- putting themselves at a huge disadvantage to nominate Jeb Bush against Hillary. I think she'd much rather run against Jeb Bush than Marco Rubio or Scott Walker.

BALDWIN: OK. I want to all of you to please standby. We are watching and waiting for Jeb Bush take the stage and make an official announcement. As we go to break, I should also tell you on the other side, as we keep talking about Dana Bash's chat with Jeb Bush in Estonia, we'll play part of that for you next.

You are watching CNN special live coverage of the big Jeb Bush announcement in Miami.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:45:39] BALDWIN: We are minutes away from the big Jeb Bush announcement that he plans to throw his hat in the ring officially and run for the presidency. These are live pictures as we are watching and waiting Jeb there in Miami.

Meantime, our chief congressional correspondent Dana Bash just spoke with Jeb Bush. They were in Estonia just within the last couple of days. Here's a piece of that interview.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BASH: You are going to make a very big announcement but you've been on the campaign trail for six months.

JEB BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Yes.

BASH: What is going to be different after your big speech? How are you going to be able to break away from the pact finally?

BUSH: By working hard, by being strategic, but also by asking people for their vote. I haven't had a chance to do that. I think this transition to a candidacy will allow me to be more direct about my advocacy of the leadership skills necessary for the next president to fix a few things.

And as a candidate, contrary to being someone who was listening and learning along the way, I'll offer up alternatives for the path that we are on as well. I'll be more specific on policy.

BASH: And you sounds like you've been preparing people for a long haul. Do you see a long haul for yourself?

BUSH: Yes.

BASH: Is that because I was going to be tough for you, New Hampshire has been kind of mixed for the Bushes historically and that it is going to maybe take a while for you to be able to break out?

BUSH: Yes, I think so. Look. I don't know how many people are running. And the last count, there are double digits. It's a very competitive field. It will take time. It always does. People make up their mind in the last weeks of these primaries. So my expectation is that we'll have slow, steady progress. That's been the expectation all along.

BASH: One of your friends recently said to me one of your challenges is for you to become known as Jeb. And not just another Bush.

BUSH: Yes.

BASH: What does that mean? Who is Jeb Bush?

BUSH: Well, Jeb is different than George and Jeb is who he is. My life story is different. And I got to do that when I ran as governor and I got to share my passion for service when I was governor and in telling that story is going to be part of this. I don't have to disassociate myself from my family. I love them. But I know that for me to be successful, I'm going to have to show my heart, tell my story.

BASH: Can you give me one little example of who Jeb Bush is that makes you feel like you are the guy who people should choose to be president?

BUSH: Well, I can make decisions. I've made tough decisions. I have a life experience that's full of works and full of successes. It's something that I think has been lacking in the presidency, as have someone who has been tempered by life. And along the way, I'll get to share that. And so, you know, I've lived overseas, I've worked overseas. I've been in business. I've served as governor. I give back to my community. I have a great relationship with my wife and family and I'll get to share all of that. Part of that is important. It's something that took a little getting used to personally to show my heart because I'm introverted so it's important to do.

BASH: One last question. Yesterday was your father's birthday. He turned 91 years old. Can you reflect on that, given that you have a very close relationship with your father personally, but now you're going to embark on a journey to follow in his footsteps politically.

BUSH: Yes.

BASH: Professionally.

BUSH: Yes.

BASH: What is it going to feel like when you give that announcement speech?

BUSH: Well, I'm not going to try to think about that because Bushes are known to cry once in a while. It's very emotional for me. I love my dad. I called him yesterday and wished him a happy birthday and he said, I'm having a birthday? So I think he was joking. I hope so. He's just the greatest man alive. And I'll be thinking about him when I'm announcing my decision.

BASH: OK. Thank you, governor. Appreciate your time.

BUSH: Thanks.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: That was Dana Bash in Estonia and here she is in Miami.

We are waiting the decision. He's running a little tardy and you're saying this is one big difference between who?

BASH: Between him and his brother, Brooke. I covered his brother for several years in the White House and he was notoriously punctual, often early and Jeb Bush is now maybe about 25, 30 minutes late. His son, George P. Bush, who is an elected official in Texas, the Texas land commissioner, just took the stage. And there is there's still another speaker before his father is supposed to speak and formally announce. So yes, there you go. There's the difference between the two.

[15:50:15] BALDWIN: OK, there you go. You got one on. Dana, thank you so much.

Stand by. We'll come back as soon as we see him.

Meanwhile, Gloria Borger is sitting next to me, and just been having this conversation to this whole thing. And I think one interesting point to you. In the audience there in Miami is Barbara Bush is the one who said about a year or so ago I don't think we need another Bush in the White House. Walking that back now.

BORGER: Yes. She is walking that back big time, as they say. And she at the tie, you know, haven't we seen enough? There are other families in this country? And at that time I interviewed Neil Bush, one of his brothers who is not in politics, and Neil said, well, if you asked my father that question, he would say no, he wants Jeb to run. And there was clearly encouragement from that quarter. And I think his mother is now on board with this, obviously.

But, you know, he's a different Bush.

BALDWIN: He said himself to Dana. My life story is different.

BORGER: It is.

BALDWIN: We'll get more on that. Let me get another quick commercial break in, as we await the announcement from Jeb Bush in Miami at Miami Dade College. Live picture here.

Quick break. Back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:56:16] BALDWIN: Live pictures from Miami here. A couple people have been speaking, we're still waiting. And at Miami-Dade college, where he will be announcing he will be throwing his hat in the ring. We were talking about Gloria Borger about their mother, Barbara Bush, who said a while ago we may not need another Bush in the White House, and she's obviously walking that one back. But she is there in the audience, two of the most important women in my life.

And speaking of women. David Gergen, let me bring you back in because I think this is also important, just to mention, he is married to Columba, this is his wife's name. She is Mexican. They speak Spanish in the home, I believe Jeb Bush studied abroad in Venezuela. Tell me more about this slice of his life?

GERGEN: Well, Columba has been a very, very important asset for him personally. And there's been questions about her -- she's more introvert than he is, and it shuns the public spotlight, sometimes feels uncomfortable. And Jeb had to weigh this during his political life about how much he wants to bring her in. He has been very careful. And I think he would not have run this time had she not given a green light, and agreed to it. And I can't tell you how committed he is to her.

I've heard him spell about it privately. She is young woman. He met when he was young. He traveled and met her, came home, and was involved with her, his family was not enthusiastic about a marriage. He insisted on going forward, as I understand the story. And it's been a very, very close family ever since. But she is not a Michelle, she's not a Hillary. But she is herself, her own person, and he's as devoted to her as he is to his dad.

BALDWIN: Knowing that color, S.E. Cupp, and also knowing about the specifically as he has been governor in the state of Florida now, for two terms, do we know, as far as Hispanic vote is concerned, that is obviously something huge he has going for him for the presidency.

CUPP: It is. And just at the right time, right? I mean, you know, with all of the conversations about immigration, not one that makes him popular on the far right, but still a national conversation that we are having. His inroads with Hispanic voters could be very good. And would be wise to remind people that his brother, George Bush, actually got 44 percent of the Hispanic vote in 2004. So it is possible.

The problem, of course, again is there's an actual Latino also running for president on the GOP side, Marco Rubio. So they're both going to yet again have the competition over the story line, but he's certain in a very good position, both with the family background, his geographic background and some of his immigration policies. He's in a good position to court some Hispanic voters away from the Democrats.

BALDWIN: Forty five seconds, Dan Pfeiffer, last but certainly not least before we handed into Tapper. You know, you sort of said that Jeb Bush roll-out has been a disaster. You know, S.E. just brought up Marco Rubio, how do you think his campaign has done?

PFEIFFER: You know, he stand (ph) pretty well for a first time presidential candidate. He's survival the first few months here. And he put himself in the top tier Republican candidate right off the bat, and so he's got to feel pretty good where he is.

BALDWIN: OK. S.E. Cupp and Dan Pfeiffer, and Gloria Borger, and David Gergen, thank you. And of course, Dana Bash in the thick of it all for us in Miami.

Again she had just spoken with Jeb Bush, as they were just in Estonia on his European tour. He admitted to her he's an introvert. We'll see how he plays as debate as concern. He said, listen, I am Jeb, I am not George, again distancing himself. Also, the logo, as you will see it here in Miami, Jeb!.

Again, minutes away from Jeb's official announcement. Keep it right here with CNN. I'm Brook Baldwin. Thank you so much for watching. We are going to take you now to Washington D.C. My colleague Jake Tapper, "the LEAD" starts right now.

END