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Sources Say Senator Clinton Will Make Announcement About Presidential Aspirations; Senator Sam Brownback Expected To Announce Candidacy For President

Aired January 20, 2007 - 09:00   ET

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

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: New this morning, breaking news about presidential politics, and they don't break any bigger than this one. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton to make an announcement today about her presidential aspiration.
The Associated Press is reporting now that Clinton is expected to announce plans to form an exploratory committee. Associated Press reporting that she is going to make that announcement on her Web site. We are going to talk with our John Roberts and our Candy Crowley about today's developments. That is just two minutes away.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: T.J.'s favorite story of the day, I know.

HOLMES: Yes.

KEILAR: A big bang in New Haven, Connecticut. You saw the implosion live right here on CNN. The old Veterans Memorial Coliseum imploded to make room for another project aimed at revitalizing downtown New Haven.

HOLMES: Meantime, we'll turn to Iraq, where the U.S. military reporting two more American casualties, actually two U.S. soldiers, then also a U.S. marine killed yesterday and today in separate attacks, including a roadside bomb in Baghdad. January death toll for U.S. service members is now at 27.

Southeast Asia's most wanted terrorist reportedly dead. The Associated Press reports DNA tests have confirmed the head of the al Qaeda-linked group Abu Sayyaf was killed in a clash with Philippine troops several months ago.

KEILAR: From POWs to mom, Jessica Lynch gave birth to a baby girl Friday. You may recall Lynch was seriously wounded and taken prisoner early in the Iraq war in 2003. She was eventually freed by U.S. forces in a dramatic nighttime rescue.

HOLMES: All right. Take a look at this. We promised to show you this cool kitchen gadget and some more like it last week. This is a pretty cool faucet. But we had pretty good breaking news last week that delayed this story. So we're going to bring this back to you. Gerri Willis and "Open House" coming your way in about 30 minutes.

KEILAR: From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Brianna Keilar in for Betty Nguyen. This is CNN SATURDAY MORNING. HOLMES: Hello to you all, I'm T.J. Holmes. Thank you so much for being here. If you are just joining us this morning, just waking up, just tuning in, we have a big story to tell about.

We're following big breaking news in the 2008 presidential race. Democratic sources say Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton will make an announcement today about her presidential aspirations. CNN's senior national correspondent John Roberts is working his sources to find out more details on this. He's joining us now on the phone from Scottsdale, Arizona.

John, update our viewers about exactly what's been happening this morning and what you've been able to find out.

JOHN ROBERTS, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Good morning to you, T.J. It looks like today is the day a lot of people have been waiting for, a lot of people have been speculating about Hillary Clinton, according to Democratic sources, is expected to announce on her Web site, and it's www.HillaryClinton.com, that she is forming an exploratory committee to take a look at running for president in 2008.

She was the presumed Democratic frontrunner, but she was sort of playing it coy, even in an interview that I did with her on Thursday. I asked her the question that has to be asked, are you planning on running for president? She was playing her cards very close to her vest, only saying that she would make the decision soon. Looks like it was sooner rather than later. It's going to come today.

And probably a reason why, you see, she had been expected to not make the announcement until the end of this month. Probably the reason why is it's getting pretty jammed up there on the Democratic side with Bill Richardson, the governor of New Mexico, saying that he hasn't ruled out a run. He'll be making an announcement about an exploratory committee in the next day or two.

With Senator Barack Obama jumping in, saying he's got an exploratory committee going, and he'll make a final decision by February the 10th. She was losing a lot of the headlines. Looks like they didn't want to sit back and let other people win the news cycle.

So it would appear that she's coming out today, according to sources that I've spoken with and making the announcement of an exploratory committee. This is really going to make for a very interesting race on the Democratic side. And, of course, we still have to wait to see how interesting the race is going to be on the Republican side.

But T.J. all indications are that this is going to be one of the most wide open and fun-filled Democratic -- or rather presidential rides that we have seen in a long time. We're all very much looking forward to this.

HOLMES: John, you mentioned, it's getting crowded on the Democratic side. Certainly some big names, familiar names, familiar faces now. You can throw in a rock star or two even of course with the attention that Barack Obama is getting.

Other people who are thinking about getting in, other people who are maybe already in, what does this do for them to see that Senator Clinton now possibly in the game officially? What does this put through their mind and change their thinking, change their attitude about a presidential run?

ROBERTS: Well, it really sucks a lot of the oxygen out of the room. What you're going to see too is the attacks intensifying. John Edwards took a shot at the Clinton campaign the other day when he was speaking at that church in New York.

The Clinton campaign fired back at him. Barack Obama took a very veiled shot, or actually not so veiled shot at Hillary Clinton in announcing his plans to cap troop levels in Iraq. So it's already getting a little bit -- there's a little bit of a punch up already on the Democratic side. So that this is probably going to accelerate that.

And some of these other people who got in or thinking about getting in, may be thinking now, hmm, do I run for president, or do I try to get on the ticket as a vice presidential running mate? Or do I just simply try to make it through far enough that I can get a speaking place on the stage at the Democratic Convention? This race is so wide open; T.J. It's really going to be something to watch. And this is going to be, I think, the best presidential contest in many, many decades.

HOLMES: Well, it just got even more interesting. Senior national correspondent John Roberts. John, thank you so much for working those sources and helping us out here this morning. We appreciate it. We'll get back to you.

John earlier this week, just a couple days ago, spoke with Senator Clinton about the situation in Iraq. And a lot of criticism with Nouri al-Maliki. You can see more of his interview in "This Week at War." But talking about the growing violence and really dwindling faith with the Bush administration, and also top Democrats they are all increasingly questioning Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's leadership in Iraq. Here now, listen to what Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton had to say to our John Roberts in that interview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: Nouri al-Maliki, the prime minister, do you have any faith that he's the guy who can bring Iraq back to a state of security?

SEN. HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON (D), NEW YORK I don't have any faith.

ROBERTS: No faith in al-Maliki?

CLINTON: Whether there's a gap between his intentions and his will and capacity is the real problem, or whether he's doing what he intends to do to sort of mark time and further the dominance of his sectarian supporters, it's hard to tell. (END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: And as we were just saying, you can see that full interview with John Roberts and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. You can see it tonight on "This Week at War" that's at 7:00 Eastern. Don't catch it then, you can catch it again tomorrow afternoon at 1:00 Eastern Time. You do not want to miss it.

KEILAR: Yet another hat in the ring. Kansas Senator Sam Brownback is expected to announce his candidacy for president today. The self-professed Ronald Reagan conservative will become the first Republican to officially enter the 2008 presidential race.

New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson is also expected to be a player in the '08 race. The Associated Press reporting the Democrat is expected to open his exploratory committee tomorrow.

And we're going to check in now with Candy Crowley, she is in Topeka, Kansas, and Candy where you are covering Sam Brownback. But talking about Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton today, what should we read into regarding the timing of this?

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, you can read a lot into the timing of it. Whether or not it's true, we've known, obviously, that Hillary Clinton was interested in this that all signs were go. So this is not a surprise.

Now, obviously, it comes on the heels of Barack Obama, who looks to be at this point her main competition in this bid for the Democratic nomination. So one could read that he went ahead and left, so she went ahead and left. But we were led to believe prior to the Barack Obama announcement of an exploratory committee, that in fact toward the end of the month Hillary Clinton would go ahead and form an exploratory committee.

KEILAR: So we're hearing this announcement about the exploratory committee. Obviously, we've seen other candidates say they are announcing an exploratory committee but actually pull out of going forward and saying they're going to run for president. Once Hillary Clinton says that she is forming this exploratory committee, is that pretty much the point of no return for her, or do you think there's any possibility that she could choose not to run?

CROWLEY: There's always the possibility, but it's pretty unusual for any candidate, obviously, Evan Bayh did it, but it's pretty unusual for any candidate to form an exploratory committee and then back out of it.

Certainly, with Hillary Clinton, we don't expect that to happen. This is a very cautious candidate. This is someone who's been cautious as a politician. Almost nothing happens by mistake in Camp Clinton. So this is something she has thought about for some time. This is the kind of slow roll toward an official announcement that she did when she was in her Senate campaign. So this is following that sort of pattern. I wouldn't expect her at all. To dump out after forming this exploratory committee. KEILAR: Candy, you are in Kansas, you're covering Senator Sam Brownback. He's expected to announce his candidacy for president today. How might this announcement at this time affect potential Republican candidates?

CROWLEY: Well, what Senator Brownback does at this point is bring the conversation back to the base of the party, which are conservatives. He is, one would say, to the right of center. There is always a candidate that occupies that particular territory.

Brownback has been a favorite of the conservative wing of the party. Prior to this, Senator George Allen, who is now the former Senator of Virginia, had been widely seen as the frontrunner for that section of the party. But he lost his election last year to Jim Webb, so he no longer has --

KEILAR: Candy, you know we're just getting word actually. We're seeing on Hillary Rodham Clinton's Web site. She says, "I'm in." So it appears that this is official. What can you tell us? Is this the exploratory committee, or is this her saying I'm running, or is this both?

CROWLEY: We were told this is the exploratory committee is that the papers will be filed Monday. So this is, you know, the -- interesting the use of the new media that Barack Obama also did. So this is an exploratory committee. You know, the official announcements generally are done in carefully picked places. I suspect probably she will go back to New York for that sort of thing.

Much as Barack Obama decided to go back to Springfield, Illinois and his roots. So when you say I'm in, this is the exploratory committee, you get two bites of the apple here, Brianna. Here we are obsessed this morning with Senator Clinton's forming this exploratory committee. So she gets this particular time in the limelight, and then later you get the official announcement. So this is a two-fer really.

KEILAR: Let's talk about Web sites. She's obviously used her Web site to make this announcement. We saw that with Senator Barack Obama actually using streaming video on his. Is that something kind of new? Is this something we saw in the last election?

CROWLEY: No. This is new. Certainly, there was use of Web sites and use of the Web in general for fund-raising. Howard Dean comes to mind, obviously. He was a Web-driven candidate, very much mostly in funds. But this is the first time that Web sites have been used as the first stop.

And what they can do in doing this is obviously go directly to their supporters. They all have lengthy lists of supporters that they can instant e-mail and say, "I'm in." So that starts their particular constituency going. So it's a very smart use of this because, obviously, we follow it as well. And this way she can talk first to her supporters, and by osmosis to us.

KEILAR: So we saw very recently Senator Barack Obama announcing that he was forming an exploratory committee. Senator Clinton has done this, obviously. I guess you can say, Candy, this steals a little of his thunder, would you say that?

CROWLEY: Well everybody gets their day in the limelight. And certainly this will be story of the day much like Senator Barack Obama's exploratory committee announcement was his time in the day. It slows down after a while.

This is the announcement that is showing a little leg time for all of these candidates saying, yes, I'm in, or, no, I'm not. Because they've got to go to start to collect money here, and there's only a finite pool of money out there. This is the money campaign, and they have to get in quickly. After a while, it begins to slow down once the race takes shape.

KEILAR: Sorry to interrupt. We're hearing we just have video now, a similar tactic that Senator Barack Obama used on his Web site. This is some video from Senator Hillary Clinton's Web site. A videotape message from her. Lets listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: I announced today that I'm forming a Presidential Exploratory Committee. I'm not just starting a campaign though; I'm beginning conversation with you, with America, because we all need to be part of the discussion if we're all going to be part of the solution. And all of us have to be part of the solution.

Let's talk about how to bring the right end to the war in Iraq and to restore respect for America around the world, how to make us energy independent and free of foreign oil, how to end the deficits that threatens Social Security and Medicare. And let's definitely talk about how every American can have quality affordable health care. You know, after six years of George Bush, it is time to renew the promise of America.

Our basic bargain that no matter who you are or where you live, if you work hard and play by the rules, you can build a good life for yourself and your family. I grew up in a middle class family in the middle of America, and we believed in that promise. I still do.

I've spent my entire life trying to make good on it. Whether it was fighting for women's basic rights or children's basic health care, protecting our Social Security or protecting our soldiers, it's a kind of basic bargain, and we've got to keep up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Video now is just cutting out as we try to download more of it, Candy. I'm not sure if you had a chance to see it, but it's Senator Hillary Clinton. She's on a couch. Sort of a nice neutral- colored living room, a nice lamp on behind her, some soft lighting. She's kind of reclining very comfortably. What do you make of that sort of image she's trying to project on this message?

CROWLEY: Well, clearly, you know, you hit it. It's sort of the warm image, just a comfortable chat between you and me, and my supporters. And, again, what's interesting, we got a little bit of the vision thing and a little bit of the biography. So it is officially launched. Those are the first two things that you do, regardless of whether you call this an exploratory committee or a campaign. It's a done deal.

Also interesting, her saying, you and I have to have a conversation. Again, this is a mirror of her fight for the U.S. Senate seat from New York, where she did, if you recall, a listening tour. So expect Hillary Clinton to be in Iowa, where she hasn't gone, and New Hampshire, where she hasn't gone, and begin what will essentially mirror her listening tour from the Senate.

KEILAR: So we understand, Senator Barack Obama will be officially announcing whether or not he's going to run on February 10th. How do you think that will play with Senator Clinton? Will it play? Are they going to be sort of competing for the spotlight here?

CROWLEY: Absolutely. But they -- you know, they are beginning to circle each other, I think, as we saw with some of the veiled and not so veiled barbs at one another, at other candidates, and also those candidates kind of what we call the second tier candidates. I should warn that Barack Obama at this point and Hillary Clinton at this point have a lot of name recognition, and that almost necessarily right now in the cycle makes them the front runners.

But there are other people out there that definitely could be spoilers. John Edwards comes to mind. He polls very well in some of these early states. So right now we're looking at the people with the most name recognition, which is really, really helpful and a big leg up, but it is not definitive in terms of who eventually gets nominated.

KEILAR: All right. Candy Crowley talking to us on the phone from -- pardon me. Candy Crowley talking to us on the phone from Topeka, Kansas, where Kansas Senator Sam Brownback is expected to announce his candidacy for president today, obviously being somewhat upstaged by this announcement by Senator Hillary Clinton today.

HOLMES: Well, I think that was putting it nicely, somewhat.

KEILAR: Somewhat, yes.

HOLMES: But the big one in the room. Hillary Rodham Clinton, the announcement, it's official. She's pursuing a presidential bid. We'll have much more on this story coming up after the break.

We'll also head to the house where she used to occupy and where it now appears she wants to go back to, the White House. A live report coming up from there as well. Stick with us here the news is coming to us fast and furious on presidential politics. Stick around for CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: She's in, and she's in to win. That is the statement on Hillary Rodham Clinton's Web site that says she is in this thing to win it, making it official that she is interested in becoming the next president of the United States and the first female president of the U.S. She made it official that she is officially entering the presidential game.

She also, with her statement on her Web site, about her presidential run, also issued a videotape message. We were trying to show you some of that before the break. We've got the whole thing downloaded now. Let's take a listen to Hillary Rodham Clinton talking about her presidential run.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: I'm not just starting a campaign, though; I'm beginning a conversation with you, with America, because we all need to be part of the discussion if we're all going to be part of the solution. And all of us have to be part of the solution.

Let's talk about how to bring the right end to the war in Iraq and to restore respect for America around the world, how to make us energy independent and free of foreign oil, how to end the deficits that threatens Social Security and Medicare. And let's definitely talk about how every American can have quality affordable health care.

You know, after six years of George Bush, it is time to renew the promise of America. Our basic bargain, that no matter who you are or where you live, if you work hard and play by the rules, you can build a good life for yourself and your family. I grew up in a middle class family in the middle of America, and we believed in that promise. I still do.

I've spent my entire life trying to make good on it. Whether it was fighting for women's basic rights or children's basic health care, protecting our Social Security or protecting our soldiers. It's a kind of basic bargain, and we've got to keep up our end. So let's talk. Let's chat.

Let's start a dialogue about your ideas and mine because the conversation in Washington has been just a little one-sided lately, don't you think? And we can all see how well that worked. And while I can't visit everyone's living room, I can try. And with a little help from modern technology, I'll be holding live online video chats this week starting Monday. So let the conversation begin. I have a feeling it's going to be very interesting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: All right. There you have it. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton saying, that she is making it official at least, her decision she wants to get in this presidential run. Saying, I'm in, and I'm in to win. That is a direct quote from her Web site. She is establishing a presidential exploratory committee. What this does is allow her to explore the possibility of running for president. This allows her to officially and also legally raise the proper funds for a presidential run. But, yes, she is making her intentions clear that she does want to be the next president of the United States. Saying she is starting a conversation here now. And one of the first things in that videotape message she mentioned after the greeting essentially was the war in Iraq.

Of course, a lot of that on a lot of people's minds. Also saying the conversation in D.C. has been one-sided. We will hear a lot more on this, about this. We're working our sources and tapping into really the best political team on television to get more about this announcement today.

Meanwhile, talking about all this presidential politics and who is getting into the presidential run, who wants to go to the White House, well, the current president. He's still occupying that White House, and he's got a lot on his plate these days. He's huddling with top advisers on Iraq today. Also, his press secretary is talking to the party faithful. We want to head to White House correspondent Elaine Quijano. She joins us live from the White House.

Hello to you again, Elaine.

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, T.J.

That's right. We should mention that CNN actually asked White House press secretary Tony Snow this morning, who at this very hour is, in fact, speaking to members of the Republican National Committee for reaction as this news was breaking. And Tony Snow basically said, no comment.

What's interesting is this, of course, has been a White House that's been very careful to not cross the partisan line, and in particular, Tony Snow himself because he, in fact, has hit the campaign trail as no other press secretary has done before.

Today, in fact, declining to comment at the same time he's appearing at a Republican event. Now, we'll monitor this. Press secretary is supposed to be giving a speech and then taking some questions from the party faithful there. So we'll continue to monitor that, T.J.

But, of course, the White House, you can be sure, is watching these political developments very closely. In fact, just earlier this morning, we saw the president's top political adviser Karl Rove coming into the White House here.

But also today, of course, the focus is on Iraq. President Bush sitting down with his Defense Secretary Robert Gates as well as his Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Both of them are just back from a trip to the Middle East region. And aides say this really is an opportunity.

It was an opportunity for the president to get an update on how their trips went. Both of them visiting a number of countries, including Secretary Gates making a stop in Iraq, and these stops coming at a time, of course, when the political debate over Iraq has intensified.

Even abroad, as Secretary Rice traveled to the region as well, there has been great skepticism about the president's strategy and whether or not adding some 21,000 additional U.S. troops to Iraq will be effective. Secretary Rice meeting with a number of Arab allies on her visit, trying to garner international support for the plan. Now, all of that, of course, was on the table this morning during that meeting with President Bush.

At the same time, the president this weekend preparing to head to Camp David this morning, about an hour from now. He'll be putting the finishing touches on his State of the Union address, and aides say that the address this year is not going to focus solely on Iraq, that it won't be a laundry list of proposals, they say.

And you can be sure that part of the reason, certainly, is because it's a different dynamic this year. It is a Democratic Congress, and the president will be focusing on some domestic issues, areas where the White House feels it can have some common ground with Democrats, particularly, T.J., on issues like immigration, education, and health care, among others. T.J.

HOLMES: A different dynamic indeed for this State of the Union. All right. Our Elaine Quijano from the White House. Good to see you, Elaine.

QUIJANO: You too. Thanks.

KEILAR: Winter weather warnings issued across parts of the southwest. Don't adjust your TV sets. This is not last week's news. That region, of course, still recovering from last week's icy blast. In fact, more than 100,000 people are still without power, trying to survive the cold in the dark. And now another storm could make life even more difficult. Let's go now to the CNN Weather Center where Bonnie Schneider is going to tell us what is in store.

Not good news, right, Bonnie?

BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: No, no, not at all. We have a winter storm warning now in effect for New Mexico into northern Texas, Oklahoma as well. This means we will see snow today. We're seeing it right now in Amarillo. Expect six inches.

But what about tomorrow? The threat of wintry weather, including snow, stretches all the way to Indianapolis and Louisville, Kentucky. That's right in the Ohio Valley you will see snow too from this large system that's bringing rain right now to Texas, including cities like Dallas. But watch out for sleet mixing in at times. That will make for some tough driving.

Speaking of which, in Lubbock, Texas, you're getting freezing rain at this hour. This area of low pressure that's causing all this hasn't even left Arizona yet. It's really going to get going later this afternoon. Right now it's bringing snow to areas in the higher elevation. Rain to the Phoenix area. But this system will work its way to the east. When it does, it will bring a blast of wintry weather across a good portion of the country. And we're also watching the wind. Very strong winds for Boston and New York City for today. Watch out. We could see power outages because the winds will be so fierce, particularly across Massachusetts. So lots going on in weather today -- T.J., Brianna.

HOLMES: Bonnie, thank you so much. Hopefully, better news when we talk to you. We know it won't be for a few days at least. Hopefully, folks can hold on. Bonnie, thank you so much.

KEILAR: Time to stock up on those candles. Maybe get a nice book you can read.

HOLMES: We are going to have a check of the morning's top stories, just about three minutes away.

And then a sink with style "Open House" shows you homes of the future with an eye on function and fashion.

KEILAR: Plus she's in. Breaking news. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton takes the first step to run for the White House. We've got the best political team on TV covering this developing story coming up at 10:00 Eastern.

HOLMES: Then at 11:00 Eastern, a transporter for CNN teams across desert sands in the first days of the Iraq war, and it's now going to help those who fought in the battle.

KEILAR: We're going to talk with the CNN photographer who called Warrior One home for weeks.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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