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Anaysis of Christie Announcement; Apple Introduces New iPhone

Aired October 04, 2011 - 13:42   ET

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

(GOV. CHRISTIE'S PRESS CONFERENCE SENT AS A SEPARATE DOCUMENT)

WOLF BLITZER, HOST, "THE SITUATION ROOM": All right, so there you have it, the governor of New Jersey will remain the governor of New Jersey, Chris Christie making it abundantly clear he is not going to run for the Republican presidential nomination. "Now is not my time," he said. "I have a commitment to New Jersey that I will simply not abandon."

John King is here. Gloria Borger is here. Ari Fleischer is joining us in a while. But quickly, John, what do you think? I don't think any of us were surprised. He had been so adamant over these many weeks and months that he's simply not ready to be president of the United States.

JOHN KING, ANCHOR, CNN'S "JOHN KING USA": He says he doesn't want to give up his job as governor. He made a point over and over and over again, I don't want to quit 20 months into my term. Some will read some other things into that, as well.

Look, you saw right there what so many Republicans love about Chris Christie. He's confident. He's funny. He's a straight shooter. You saw how he took command of that room, pointing out the questions. That's what people like. Are there things in his record that would have become issues if he ran for president? Yes. But he said from the beginning he wanted to be governor. He said from the beginning, I'm not ready, I don't burn in my heart for it.

You have to take him at his word, and I think he was quite honest there in saying, Look, so many people come to you and say, Should you do this, that he decided to think again. But in the end, he makes this decision that unless Governor Palin, who perhaps Governor Christie had in mind when he was talking about. I'm not quitting -- unless she gets in, we have our field.

BLITZER: The candidates who have been out there on the stage at these debates -- that's the Republican field. Gloria, what do you think?

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes, I think the same thing. And I think it is a stark contrast with Sarah Palin, who, of course, quit as governor of Alaska...

BLITZER: She's still thinking of running.

BORGER: She's still thinking of running, but she's not governor of Alaska anymore. He also declined -- I thought it was interesting -- to give any kind of endorsement at this point. He wasn't ready to do that.

But I think what you're going to see happening in the Republican field right now is a lot of support starting to crystallize around Mitt Romney. Perry's been disappointing. Romney is believed by many to be electable. And this may be a very, very good moment for Romney.

BLITZER: Is that your sense, as well, Ari Fleischer? You're our newest CNN political contributor, the former press secretary during the Bush administration. What do you think? Is it Mitt Romney's to lose right now?

ARI FLEISCHER, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR (via telephone): No, I think it's still too fluid and nobody has built up a big enough lead on anything that resembles a strong foundation for it to be Mitt's to lose. But today's announcement by Chris Christie that he's not in is clearly good news for Mitt Romney. Christie would have been a real threat to Romney more than to any of the other candidates.

I think, Wolf, what you're also seeing here is a man whose stock was already high rise even higher with Chris Christie. And that's the paradox. People really wanted him in because he's so direct, so blunt that he doesn't come across like a politician, even though he is one. And he kept his word. And that's the thing you hear from people more than anything else that drives them crazy about politicians. They just want people who do what they say and will keep their word.

That's what Chris Christie did today. He's taken himself off the field. I think it was the right decision. And now Republicans are going to have to move forward and find a winner among the ones that they have.

BLITZER: Yes, he made it clear, he said at one point -- looking at my notes, he said, New Jersey, whether you like it or not, you're stuck with me.

(LAUGHTER)

BLITZER: You don't often hear a sitting governor say that to not only a statewide audience but a national audience in a moment like this. So what you're saying, Ari, is you've (SIC) got a huge future out there, but not necessarily in this election cycle.

FLEISCHER: That's exactly right, Wolf. He does have a huge future. And the fact that he gave his word and he stuck by it is what separates him. That's what really endears people to politicians and gets them a lot of latitude for the hard calls that they have to make in office because people trust you. They think you'll keep your word, and that's important.

I will say one other thing that's always unsettled me a little about Chris Christie, who I like a lot. I think on the national level, if he had run, the bluntness could also turn into a double-edged sword over time. He said something along the lines of -- I could care -- he used the word "hell" in some context, saying, I could care less or I care about that -- hell. One thing you don't want to do is when you run for president is make parents tell their children, You're not allowed to watch that person. You don't want somebody to say to a 10-year-old, You can't listen. It's one of little things that I think he would have had to keep his eye on. The bluntness by -- overwhelmingly is a positive, but there are little signs like that he would have had to have been careful about.

BLITZER: Here's the clip when he made the announcement just a little while ago. Let's play it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: For months, I've been adamant about the fact that I would not run for president. My language was clear and direct, no matter how many times I was asked the question. For me, the answer was never anything but no. My job here in New Jersey is my passion.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: John King, I've made a list -- among those who have already decided they're not even throwing their hats in the ring -- now he joins that list, Chris Christie -- Mitch Daniels, Mike Huckabee, Haley Barbour, Paul Ryan, Donald Trump, Jeb Bush -- there are more -- John Thune, for example. A lot of Republicans said this is not their time right now. But there are a bunch of candidates who are in there.

KING: And that's who we need to focus on. And Governor Christie, I think -- he was polite to all of them, said, I'm not ready to endorse right now, as Gloria noted.

He also said, Look at my speech at the Reagan library because I don't think the candidates in the current field are addressing the big issues of the day in a focused and passionate way. It was a little bit of a -- not a criticism, but a little bit of a nudge for them there.

We have the candidates. Again, we have to wait for Governor Palin's decision. All indications are she is not running. There's another debate coming up quite soon. We have one in Nevada on CNN next month. These are the candidates. Like it or not, these are the candidates. And so you look at Governor Perry, Governor Romney, certainly the top tier of that field right now, Governor Huntsman trying to find a way to break through.. Herman Cain has been the surprise recently, coming up in the polls as Governor Perry has come down a little bit.

I think Ari's right that this benefits Romney. They call him the tortoise in his campaign. They think this is a good day for the tortoise. However, let Iowa vote. Let people organize. We don't know -- we don't know a lot.

BLITZER: I just I want to point out our CNN debate is October 18th, this month, this...

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: So we're getting ready. It's getting closer. And very quickly...

KING: It's October, isn't it.

BLITZER: Were you surprised, Gloria, he didn't endorse any of the Republican candidates?

BORGER: No, I wasn't surprised because he's a smart politician and he knows that it's too early. And they're probably all trying to get his endorsement right now. And I think he's going to sit back and see how the debate develops. There's nothing in it for him today to endorse another candidate.

BLITZER: Chris Christie can now go back to being the governor of New Jersey and not a national figure, at least not now.

Stay with CNN for all the political coverage as the day continues. Please join me later this afternoon in "THE SITUATION ROOM." Our new time, 4:00 PM Eastern. John King will be back at 6:00 PM Eastern for "JOHN KING USA," 7:00 PM Eastern, Erin Burnett "Out Front." She's got an exclusive interview with the treasury secretary, Timothy Geithner.

But after the break, we'll send it back to Los Angeles for much more of the CNN NEWSROOM with Randi Kaye. I'm Wolf Blitzer. Thanks for joining us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Randi Kaye. Well, you've heard the Chris Christie news today. The other big story that we're following is this. You can forget about the rumors, the delays, the lost prototypes. The wait is over. Apple is unveiling a new iPhone right now at its headquarters in Cupertino, California. But one name hangs over this iPhone reveal. That is Steve Jobs. It is the first launch without Jobs center stage as CEO.

So grab your iPhones because we are going in depth on this, and want to get some face time with Wired.com's New York bureau chief, John Abell. John, nice to see you.

JOHN ABELL, NEW YORK BUREAU CHIEF, WIRED.COM: Nice to see you.

KAYE: The new CEO, Tim Cook, is about to reveal the iPhone, probably already has, in fact, as we've been watching that Chris Christie news. But what do you think we can expect? What can you tell us about the new one?

ABELL: Well, he actually hasn't released it yet. I've been sitting here, following the Wired live blog. They're talking about other things. The new software, IOS 5, is coming out next week. Lots of really cool features, doing things that you've used other programs for -- Instapaper (ph), Google Latitude, Notification, things like that.

The actually phone itself we think will be thinner, we think will have rounded edges, like the iPad, we think will have possibly 4G, possibly near-field (ph) communication so you can buy things by just waving it at a credit card terminal. But we don't know. We should know in maybe 10 or 15 minutes.

KAYE: So the rumors continue.

ABELL: Yes.

KAYE: What do you make of it being -- having some 4G and also looking more like the iPad? Is that going to be something you think the consumers are going to want?

ABELL: Well, sure. I mean, already, we've seen a poll saying that 40 to 50 percent of people are going to upgrade or buy one. Sprint reportedly is putting down $20 billion to buy several years' worth. This could be the most successful version of the iPhone, and as we all know, the iPhone is probably the most history handset in the history of mobile phones.

KAYE: Yes. What about this voice control? I mean, do you think that will be a big change for consumers? I mean, Apple's really had to play catch-up with Google on that.

ABELL: Yes, well, you know, no one has really done voice control, command and control well, including Google. It's a very tricky thing to do. There are lots of problems. And the thing of it is, if it doesn't work reliably well, people give up on it. There is no perfect iteration of it yet.

If Apple manages to solve that problem, to make it reliable and a go- to kind of function, then, yes, you'll see it in every car. You'll see it on your desk. You'll see it on your kitchen counter. People will be using that like crazy because it frees up your hands. It's a third hand. If they can conquer that, it would be an awesome story. So far, no word out of Cupertino on that yet.

KAYE: What about just the evolution -- I mean, when you think about, you know, the cell phones that we used to use, or even before -- before we even had cell phones, I mean, they were like a brick that you'd put up to your ear.

ABELL: Sure.

KAYE: But you think about how this has changed -- I mean, how much do you think this iPhone 5 is going to change how we interact with each other and just what we do with our cell phones, what we use them for?

ABELL: Yes. Well, I mean, the revolution started in '07, when suddenly, you had a phone which did a million other things. It's now become not only the center of the universe, a center of a universe that we didn't really even know existed. Our smartphones do allow us to do things that were unimaginable.

And what Apple seems to be doing with this latest iteration is taking some of the -- some very good ideas that other people have done with location and with off-line reading and stuff like that to make it an even more indispensable device.

We already know that people like the phone itself, the way it feels in your hand, the cool factor and all of that. So as they continue to extend the functionality and do really, truly consumer things -- you know, we used to talk about processor speed and the resolution of screens. We're now talking about things that it does like locate family members and send wonderful, beautiful postcards to people. This becomes something that everybody can want and everybody can use, and that makes it a hugely popular device.

KAYE: Yes. I should tell you we're just getting word that it's going to be called the iPhone 4S, as in "Sam," not the iPhone 5.

ABELL: Yes, there were rumors to that effect, yes.

KAYE: Yes. What do you make of that this is being launched, of course, with the new CEO, Tim Cook? I mean, any implications there, not having Steve Jobs on this one?

ABELL: None. Absolutely none. I mean, Steve Jobs and Tim Cook go back a very long way. Whatever the opposite of friction is, that's what they've got. Tim Cook is kind of the perfect guy at the perfect time for this company. He inherits a company which is doing extraordinarily well, and yet still has tremendous potential, up side potential in terms of revenue and in terms of resonating with the general public.

He -- I'm given to understand he's not really comfortable with the sort of showcase kind of thing...

KAYE: Right.

ABELL: ... and I'm not watching it, so I don't really know. Steve -- Mr. Jobs was the showman, and everybody loved to see him.

KAYE: Yes.

ABELL: But really, the event is the stuff. Whoever presents the stuff is sort of getting in the way of the stuff.

KAYE: Right.

ABELL: So it's all about the stuff today, and the stuff so far sounds pretty cool.

KAYE: Yes, the stuff does sound pretty cool. John Abell from Wired.com -- John, thank you very much. Nice to see you.

ABELL: Any time, Randi. Thank you.

KAYE: And that will do it for me in this abbreviated show today, given the Chris Christie news. But CNN "NEWSROOM" will pick up right after the break with Brooke Baldwin in Atlanta.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)