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Decision Day For Romney; Romney Responds To Obama Jab; "New York Times" Magazine: "Tom Brady Cannot Stop"

Aired January 30, 2015 - 07:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to NEW DAY.

It's unclear this morning whether a Jordanian fighter pilot and a Japanese journalist held captive by ISIS survived a deadline for a prisoner exchange. Extremists demanding the release of a female jihadist on Death Row in a Jordanian jail over 24 hours ago. Jordan still insisting it requires proof that their pilot is still alive before they move ahead with a proposed swap.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: U.S. officials suspect one of the five Gitmo detainees swapped for Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl last year tried to return to militant activity. Officials will not say which one of the five they're concerned with, but believe that he has contacted Taliban associates after being handed over to Qatar. At the time of the swap...

* ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: One of the five Gitmo detainees swapped for Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl last year tried to return to militant activity. Officials will not say which one of the five they're concerned with, but believe he has contacted Taliban associates after being handed over to Qatar. At the time of the swap the president said he would not do it if he thought it could harm national security.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: We have breaking news, rap mogul, Suge Knight, had been arrested in connection with a fatal hit-and-run and is being held on $2 million bail. He's accused of running over two men in his truck following an argument on a film set in Compton.

Witnesses say he backed over them before leaving the scene. The incident is being investigated as a homicide. But Knight's attorney says it was an accident and that he expects Knight will be totally exonerated.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: A dramatic takedown caught on video, a 19-year-old man carrying a fake gun forced his way into a Dutch TV station demanding air time. He said if he did not get on camera, bombs would go off around the Netherlands.

A security guard let him into an empty studio and kept him talking until police were able to arrive. They stormed in with guns you see drawn and arrested him. Now officials in the Netherlands say this man is not linked to terror, they say, though, his motives at this point are unclear.

This whole incident was not broadcast live, however the station showed the video once they went back on air, terribly frightening.

CAMEROTA: My goodness.

CUOMO: At least he had the good sense to drop his fake gun.

CAMEROTA: Yes, thank goodness. It could have gone so much differently.

CUOMO: All right, how about some "Inside Politics" on NEW DAY with Mr. John King.

PEREIRA: Nothing to talk about there.

CUOMO: I know I wish we had something for you, John. I guess it's just going to be Super Bowl chat today.

JOHN KING, CNN HOST, "INSIDE POLITICS": Michaela, you mentioned the Super Bowl, Mr. Cuomo. I'm going to add this because I have to. On the way offset, Madeleine Albright told me she's a Patriots fan.

CUOMO: I don't believe that. I saw you tweet that. I don't buy it.

KING: She controls the world, so that's a good thing. It's January 30th, 2015 and yet it is 2016 decision day for Mitt Romney. We've been talking for a couple of weeks now. Somewhat surprised when Mitt Romney said I'm seriously thinking about running for president again. This would be a third time.

With me this morning as Governor Romney prepares to talk to supporters to share insights and their reporting, Margaret Talev of "Bloomberg" and Chris Moody of CNN. A, it was a surprise he said he might do this again. Now is it a surprise he's moving so quickly?

He sent an e-mail late last night to his top supporters, dial in at 11:00 and we're told this morning he is prepared to tell them not an official announcement, but he's going to tell them if he's getting out, if he decided never mind.

He will tell them that and otherwise, indications seem to be that he's leaning forward and is going to run this campaign.

MARGARET TALEV, "BLOOMBERG NEWS": When you look at the last few days, I think you're seeing a lot of movement towards Jeb Bush. You're seeing one of Romney's key supporters from Iowa, for many years, moving into Jeb Bush's camp.

And I think that Governor Romney has decided he needs to sort of stop this momentum and turn the narrative back to his own control as much as he can, and that's what this is about.

KING: Right, to that point, I was e-mailing with a Romney supporter this morning, who has spoken to the governor and he said he knows because of all the pressure out there. He needs to make a decision by pressure the supporter said.

Governor Bush just yesterday, for example, signed up a top Romney operative from 2012 to run the Jeb Bush campaign. Some donors have said sorry, Governor, I'm going to be with Governor Bush this time. Is that what it's about, to stop the bleeding among the activists and the donors?

CHRIS MOODY, CNN POLITICS SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: This is the behind- the-scenes donor campaign. He's not going after the run-of-the-mill people who are going to vote for him around the country, but the people who are going to fund his campaign.

That includes through the PAC, possibly the super PAC that will be part of the campaign. Because what Jeb was doing was snatching up all of those people very quickly. And there was very little alternative necessarily for that type of donor looking for the so- called establishment candidate.

And I think Mitt Romney wanted to wait a little bit longer if he was going to make that decision. But by Jeb starting the gun, Romney had to get in and let the donors know that he's seriously thinking about it as well.

KING: Let's go through some of the pros and cons. Our last three presidents, President Obama, President George W. Bush, and President Bill Clinton won on their first run, their first run for president, they won.

But Ronald Reagan, it was his third time. Mitt Romney knows that. Bob Dole was the nominee. He ran twice, was the nominee and lost. McCain was the nominee and lost on his second time. In this age, the Twitter age, are voters ready to give you a third time?

TALEV: It's much harder. The time cycles are much more compressed. This is not Ronald Reagan's campaign cycle any more. You do see Mitt Romney doing some of the public outreach although again the purpose of the public outreach is for the behind-the-scenes campaign.

As he tries to rebrand himself and make this case that he's sort of more in touch with the common man's concerns, you see him struggling to find the window to make that third bid, if it's possible.

KING: And yet, even if he loses some activists and supporters, even if he loses some big donors, he was just the presidential nominee in the last cycle. He's got more than anybody else, whether it's Jeb Bush, Chris Christie, Rand Paul, Ted Cruz, he would start with more than anybody else.

He has the experience of going through those debates. Now if you're not a Romney fan, you can say he made some mistakes in those debates, the question is whether or not he's learned lessons from that.

But from an experience standpoint, pretty formidable even people out there laughing saying no, not Mitt again, you had your chance. He would start the most formidable Republican candidate, no?

MOODY: When it comes to infrastructure, Mitt Romney has a railroad laid since about 2006 and this has been going on for a long time for him. But remember, when we're comparing other election cycles, they're not all created equal.

On the Republican nomination side, this is a really potentially deep bench with, sitting governors, lots of possible senators, and so it's very different from 2012 and of course, it's very different from 1980, you've got a lot of people he's going to have to contend with.

And that goes for the so-called establishment candidates with deep money on the establishment side and Wall Street. But also for the Tea Party activists and the conservatives, they're going to be coming against him, too. So he might be very formidable, yes. But it's a tough road ahead. It's a crowded field.

KING: He'll be attacks from the establishment candidates and attacks from the Tea Party. We'll see if he's up to that challenge if he runs. The question is if. Again, we'll get word from Governor Romney at 11:00. His actions in recent days, if you're watching him, seem to believe that he wants into the race.

Late last night, the president gives a speech to the Democratic retreat and the speech was not carried on live television. Mitt Romney tweeting out after the president's speech, "Mr. Obama, wonder why my concern about poverty, the record number of poor in your term and your record of failure to remedy it."

So that sounds like 2012 there, a Romney-Obama debate. Mitt Romney tweeting after President Obama at that Democratic retreat said this --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We've got a former presidential candidate on the other side, who suddenly is just deeply concerned about poverty. That's great. Let's go. Come on, let's do something about it. I am glad that the rhetoric at least has shifted. Let's now make sure that the policies match up with the rhetoric.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: No love lost between President Obama and Governor Romney. But part of the issue there is can you recreate yourself or at least you know, shift your brand a bit where Romney who was infamous for the 47 percent remark, infamous for being uncomfortable discussing his own wealth.

Now appears to indicate he is ready to talk about his wealth, but also ready to mount a company where he says it is time to use my experience in the business world to change government to help poor people. That was not Romney 2012.

TALEV: Did you sense the sarcasm. President Obama has two votes here, number one, there is no love lost between him and Mitt Romney and he obviously thinks the rebranding attempt is sort of ridiculous and he is enjoying pointing that out.

But number two, President Obama's game is a little bit different. He really wants to continue to remain relevant for as long as possible and to shape not only the 2016 field in his party, but the 2016 race altogether.

And to have you know, a little bit of mojo against the new Republican majority in Congress. So Romney is sort of a proxy for that battle.

KING: Now for the record you're calling at Bloomberg Mark Helprin first reported this call. We're told he's ready to give his supporters insight on his decision.

Let's close with this Chris Moody, Lindsay Graham also there's about 100 people on the Republican side thinking about running for the nomination. Senator Lindsay Graham of South Carolina, listen to him here telling CNN's Dana Bash why he thinks he might run, too.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SENATOR LINDSAY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: I'm tired of just complaining, I'm now ready to try to lead. Whether or not there's a market for me, I won't know until I try.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: So if you're tired of complaining, you should run for president. That's going to be a really crowded field.

MOODY: It's going to be very crowded. What we saw him do is start the PAC which shows that he's not just blowing smoke. Here he might do something about this. The interesting thing about Lindsay Graham, he holds close policy views with Marco Rubio.

Like he worked with Rubio on the immigration bill that was very controversial among the Republican base, but also on foreign policy, and I think if you have a Rubio/Graham, Senator Rand Paul in a race, I think you're going to see Rubio and Graham kind of work together possibly to talk about foreign policy with Rand Paul.

KING: It is remarkable, Chris Moody, Margaret Talev, thanks.

Alisyn, as we get back to you, it is remarkable. We won't know the ultimate number for six months or so. But if you look through the number of people who are planning New Hampshire visits, there are about two dozen Republicans thinking about running for the nomination.

In part they think because it's a winnable race. We'll watch and the big one today, we'll get word from Governor Romney in a few hours.

CAMEROTA: We sure will at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time. We'll be watching to see what his decision is. John, thanks so much. Make sure to watch John King and his "Inside Politics" panel

break down the best political news of the week every Sunday at 8:30 a.m. Eastern.

All right, ahead of the Super Bowl, and in the thick of deflate-gate, a closer look at future hall of famer, Tom Brady. A "New York Times" magazine correspondent, who profiled the New England Patriot reveals what you do not know about this star quarterback. You thought you knew everything but no.

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PEREIRA: Good song for the quarterback of the Patriots, when the Patriots and Seahawks take the field Sunday in Super Bowl XLIX all eyes likely going to be on the New England quarterback, Tom Brady. He's at the center of the bizarre deflate-gate scandal.

We want to talk to Mark Lebovich. He is a chief national correspondent for "New York Times" magazine, just wrote this great cover story, Tom Brady cannot top the season with the NFL's ageless, ruthless, fearless superstar.

It's really good to have you here with us, Mark. It was really interesting for me to read a little bit about you. Lifelong Pats fan and you have interviewed politicians and presidents, yet meeting this superstar athlete, getting rare access to him. You got a little star- struck.

MARK LEBOVICH, CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT, "NEW YORK TIMES" MAGAZINE: It was strange, a very different experience. Again I'm used to the protocols of world leaders and politicians and stuff, and then this was this guy who you've been watching for years and you realize you don't know him. He carries himself with such a total confidence.

Unlike politicians, I mean, a guy like Tom Brady, he doesn't need me. It's, obviously he cares about you know coming off in a certain way to the public. But it was, it was a very different dynamic and it took a while to get used to. But after a while he seemed pretty normal.

PEREIRA: You liked him?

LEBOVICH: I did. I totally did. He would -- he seems like he has a lot of core decency, a lot of thoughtfulness. And I did more than I thought I would.

CAMEROTA: So you went to his house.

LEBOVICH: I did, two of them.

CAMEROTA: Here in Manhattan -- his grand manse.

LEBOVICH: One in Manhattan, one in Massachusetts.

CAMEROTA: What surprised you about him or his house or his family or anything?

LEBOVICH: Both of his houses are gorgeous. That is not surprising.

CAMEROTA: Because of his gorgeous wife.

LEBOVICH: The houses are very nice. There's a caravan of nannys and chefs and a lot of support staff. But you know, ultimately in both of the times I went, it was just him and me. We just sort of went into the room. I mean you see people running around. But it's basically just a guy in his house. He's very proud of where he lives.

But he's at the stadium most of the time. He spends, what was striking to me, he has a long commute. He lives in Boston or close to Boston. Down to Foxborough is about 40 minutes and most of the players live about 5 minutes from the stadium.

CUOMO: Snow allowing.

LEBOVICH: Snow allowing, traffic allowing. It's not the most pleasant commute in the world. He goes really, really early in the morning.

CUOMO: Was it hard for to you hear that he always wished he could play for the Jets? Don't answer that. Talk to us about Alex Guerrero, who the man is and the role he plays in his life.

LEBOVICH: Alex is Tom's body coach, which is sort of a personal trainer on the surface. But ultimately, this is a guy who has his technique, which is massage, spiritual counseling, which is you know, the whole -- he's a degree in Chinese medicine. He spend -- I mean, Tom sees him for like two, sometimes three physical sessions a day but --

CUOMO: A day? Two to three a day.

LEBOVICH: One in the morning, one after practice. Alex will often come home with Tom. Alex lives close to the stadium. Brady lives 45 minutes north. They'll go back together. Tom's kids call him Uncle Alex. His son, Ben, it's his godfather.

PEREIRA: The really untraditional methods that they use -- the man is 37 years old.

LEBOVICH: Absolutely.

PEREIRA: Late in the game, if you will for a quarterback.

LEBOVICH: Well, yes. And first of all, there is this basic clash between sort of orthopedic industrial complex of the NFL and the sort of traditional training and medicine you know that they practice. With the alternative medicine practices that Alex has, a lot of other players are turning to. So there's an interesting clash of cultures here that you know doesn't always play out with some harmony in the locker room.

CAMEROTA: If I had a cold, I'd have to cancel the game. Is he going to, will he perform as well this weekend because he has a cold, a head cold?

LEBOVICH: I don't know if you heard, they just canceled the game because of the cold.

CUOMO: What am I going to do with all the nachos?

LEBOVICH: No, he says he's going to be 100 percent.

CUOMO: Guys play with broken bones, but it shows a level of intrigue about him.

LEBOVICH: Which is amazing.

CUOMO: Which a part look and a big part success. How much is this guy, Guerrero, because he's not just massaging his body. He's massaging his mind in a lot of ways.

LEBOVICH: Brady would say he couldn't be playing now if it wasn't for Alex Guerrero. I don't think he would be playing at this high a level. This is Brady talking. He's obviously very loyal to Alex. Tom Brady, I don't think I've ever been around anyone in any profession, who is as fully dedicated to what he does. He's a workaholic.

Like a lot of people, but he has it in. He seems to think about how he's going to prepare his body. Not just for the next game, but for like the next hour of practice, the next day of practice, the next sort of mind training with Guerrero.

And I mean, I have to say I was quite admirable to watch and a guy like Johnny Manziel could learn a lot about dedication by watching him. It was a striking kind of thing to see and it was great because I don't usually get to see this.

PEREIRA: We don't get this kind of access to an all-star athlete like this guy. Mark Lebovich, it's a great article. Great insight into who this guy is. It's a pleasure to have you here with us.

A few things to let you know about here on CNN, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is holding a state of the NFL news conference at 1:30 p.m. Eastern. You can catch it here on CNN.

Tomorrow go inside football's biggest game, CNN's Rachel Nichols and hall of famer, Dan Marino will have CNN's kickoff in Arizona, 4:30 p.m. Eastern. It's going to be a good weekend.

CUOMO: Dan Marino, one of the few guys who can get the ball out as quickly as Mr. Brady.

All right, but we do have a lot of breaking news this morning. Here's the big question, will Mitt Romney announce he's running for president? Guess what.

Unlike Hillary, you're going to have your answer at 11:00 a.m. today, kind of. He's going to tell people if he's really thinking about getting in or not, what can we expect?

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CAMEROTA: Oil prices falling, business correspondent, Alison Kosik here for CNN MONEY now. That sounds like good news, right?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: It's good news, Alisyn, if you're a driver, not so good news if you're an energy producer, but this has been happening a while. Oil prices have been falling for seven months now. Crude oil is about $45 a barrel.

That's very close to its lowest level that we've seen in six years. Oil prices have tumbled fast. It was just last summer when a barrel of oil was just over $100. This is kind of turning out to be an oil market game of chicken as producers refuse to cut supply.

Shares of Amazon soaring this morning before the bell. The company is posting a profit last quarter on strong holiday sales. Believe it or not, making money is pretty rare for Amazon. That's because all of its long-term investments.

Want a little burger to go with stock. Shares of Shake Shack began trading at the New York Stock Exchange today. Its IPO priced at $21 a share raising $105 million. The burger giant's big advantage over McDonald's, millennials loved it even with burgers that cost twice as much. On the IPO day, they're pulling out the food truck to give away food for free.

PEREIRA: That's some breaking news right there. All right, Alison, thanks so much.

Well, today, it's decision day apparently for Mitt Romney, CNN has learned that Mitt Romney will announce whether or not he's running for president. We'll have more on this right after the break. Stay with us.

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CAMEROTA: We do have breaking news for you at this hour. Mitt Romney expected to announce his decision. Will he run?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think he probably will.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's big news, what we found out on at 11:00 call.

CUOMO: Terrorists continue to change their demands in the fate of two hostages is on the line.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have asked for proof of life.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm very pessimistic about the fate of the hostages.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They are attempting to elevate themselves into a political movement. CAMEROTA: When Bowe Bergdahl was swapped for Taliban prisoners, critics of the move warned that the militants would return to the battlefield.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One of them attempting to communicate with Taliban associates.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're confident that we would be able to mitigate any threat of re-engagement by any of these members.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo, Alisyn Camerota, and Michaela Pereira.

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