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Breaking News
Romney to Announce Running Mate
Aired August 11, 2012 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
COLLEEN MCEDWARDS, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: And as we just creep by the midnight hour here on the East Coast of the United States, let's bring you up-to-date on the breaking news that we are covering here.
The Republican White House candidate Mitt Romney, his team announced just a short time ago that they will announce their vice presidential candidate. They are going to do this at a major stop in the state of Virginia on Saturday, just about 8 1/2 hours from now, it is expected to take place.
There is a short list of candidates as we've been discussing here. We do know who at this point. The campaign has put out a smartphone app if you want to follow it closely. You can definitely probably making a good time to download that if you don't have it already. And if you are watching this race closely.
Of course, the formal announcement of this candidate will end a lot of speculation. It will change the campaign the campaigns in very fundamental ways. It will say a lot about the candidate Mitt Romney and what he stands for this race, where so much is at stake, particularly with the state of the U.S. economy right now.
John King, you've been following this campaign so closely. I mean, no matter who it is in this announcement coming up, just a few hours from now, what's it going to do this race? How will it change it? And what does it say about the men in front?
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): A couple of things. Number, it gives you a sense of what kind of person Governor Romney want as his partner.
If you just think about in recent times, George W. Bush picked Dick Cheney. A lot of people thought George W. Bush, the Texas governor, some people thought he was a little bit of a hothead. He picked somebody with a deep Washington resume, somebody who is viewed as the cooler hand. They became much more controversial than the politics of Iraq war, et cetera. But when he was picked, it was a reassuring pick to many people, even many Democrats when George W. Bush picked Dick Cheney, said, oh, OK, that's a reassuring pick.
Bill Clinton picked Al Gore. He wanted to send a message that this is a different Democratic Party. It was not a party of liberal Michael Dukakis, or liberal Walter Mondale. They were going to be two Southern guys, two younger guys. They were going to change the Democratic Party and it helped. It helped to have a different image and it helped them picked up a couple of Southern states.
But the V.P. announcement, the vice presidential pick, is not going to win the election. Joe Biden did not win the election for Barack Obama. It may have helped, but he didn't win the election.
And whoever Romney picks tomorrow, it's not going to win or lose the election. They could lose, sometimes they lose election, but win the election for Mitt Romney. But it tells you what kind of a partner he wants, who does he want? It may be give some balance to the ticket.
They spent a lot of time, the Romney campaign, studying the map. They think they have to do very well in the Midwest to win the election. So that's why you hear Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota, Rob Portman of Ohio, three guys from the Midwest.
So, we'll learn about what kind of person he was and then we'll see what their interest are and what their experience is.
MCEDWARDS: You are CNN breaking news. I'm Colleen McEdwards at CNN Center. Welcome to our viewers around the world.
We have received confirmation just a short time ago that the Republican White House candidate Mitt Romney is going to reveal his vice presidential candidate. This is going to happen at a major campaign stop on Saturday, in the U.S. state of Virginia, just a few hours from now, a little over eight hours from now, wee are expecting that announcement to be made after weeks and weeks of speculation.
Wolf Blitzer is with us in D.C. Our John King is with us as well.
Wolf, what are the choices and the possibilities?
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR (via telephone): Well, the short --
(INAUDIBLE)
MCEDWARDS: I'm not hearing Wolf. Are you guys hearing him at all? Wolf, if you can hear me, start again, if you will.
And if we've lost Wolf, we'll go over to John. I think we've lost Wolf. We have been having a little problems with the connection there, but we'll get it back.
John King, if I can get you to pick up on that, we're just resetting here, wanting to tell people basically what's going on right from the beginning here. We do have confirmation that this announcement is just hours away. We don't know who it is, but remind us of the possibilities are.
KING: Little under nine hours from now, Mitt Romney, of course, the former Massachusetts governor, he will be the Republican nominee for president. The convention is a couple of weeks away. And we've all been waiting who will be his partner, who will be his vice presidential nominee.
We are now told by the campaign officially that announcement will come tomorrow in Norfolk, Virginia. That's the beginning of the bus Governor Romney is taking through. Virginia is one of the key swing states. President Obama carried it four years ago, Romney needs to carry it this year.
So, he is trying to gin up interest in is campaign. He's trying to make a statement about what kind of a partner he wants in the White House and he could be making a statement about which issues he wants to move front and center as we go into the final stretch of the campaign.
Now, the economy is obviously issue number one.
Who might be picked? We have been told, Colleen, the short list includes Paul Ryan, a private plane went from Boston to Gainesville, Wisconsin, tonight. Is that a hint or is that a bluff? We don't know.
Paul Ryan is the House budget committee chairman, a very polarizing figure in American politics. Most Americans don't know members of the House of Representatives, but Paul Ryan has been front and center in the last five years or so in the big debates over cutting federal spending, whether you need to move more quickly to a balance budget.
Our international viewers watched Europe through the debt crisis as well. The United States is having a similar debate, and Paul Ryan has been front and center in it, including a very controversial plan to rewrite the rules of the entitlement program, Social Security and retirement for seniors and American Medicare, the health care program for seniors in the United States.
So, he is a polarizing figure. Many conservatives said, please pick him, Governor Romney, we want a big debate about ideas. And guess what, Colleen? Many liberals have said, please pick him, because we think we can demonize him and win the election.
Paul Ryan, one of the candidates.
Another one is the former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, son of a truck driver, grew up in a middle class neighborhood in South St. Paul. Governor Romney is being ridiculed by President Obama for being wealthy and out of touch with the middle class. Governor Pawlenty would be somebody who can help him in the blue collar communities. I was with him a week or so ago, in an Irish pub in Ohio. He likes just, you know, back slap and shock around, the anti-Romney, if you will, when it comes to personal style.
The third potential pick, Rob Portman, senator from the big, pivotal -- can't lose the state of Ohio if you're Mitt Romney. He has to win the state of Ohio, Rob Portman was a house member and now a senator, also served in the Bush administration, probably the deepest resume of anybody on the short list, somebody who nobody could question, has the experience to be president, comes across to some people as a little bland, a little boring. The Tea Party doesn't love him because he enjoys working with Democrats.
That would be more of a governing pick for Governor Romney, trying to prove that you can start -- get off on a good track once you are elected. But maybe he gives a point or two in Ohio and again that's the state, ands you Senator Portman there, Ohio is the state Governor Romney has to win to win the White House.
Now, those are the top three. There are some others. This announcement tomorrow will be made in the state of Virginia. The Virginia governor, Bob McDonnell, was on the list early on, he faded in the course of the past several weeks. You'll never know. There could be a surprise there.
Marco Rubio, the freshman senator from Florida, also a very young man, but a darling of the Tea Party. Conservatives love him. That will be a statement from Romney. In the last hour, I mentioned, we don't think he's the choice, but again, we'll see if we get a surprise in the morning.
It will be Chris Christie, who is sort of the combustible, combative and kind of fun governor of the state of New Jersey. Again, that would be a controversial pick for Governor Romney.
The smoke tonight is around Congressman Ryan, Colleen, but we don't have confirmation and these things take funny twists sometimes.
MCEDWARDS: Yes, we do. We try to read the smoke signals. We try to read the tea leaves, but we will not know until that announcement is made a few hours from now.
Wolf Blitzer in D.C. for us.
No matter who it is, once this announcement is made, once it's out there, it's official. How does it change a campaign?
BLITZER: Well, one thing it does, once you have a vice presidential running mate, that person is obviously very, very important.
And as far as fund-raising is concerned, and this is one of the reasons why several of the Romney folks really wanted someone to be announced as quickly as possible. Once that person is the vice presidential running mate of Mitt Romney, that person can go out and start raising money, going to fund-raisers. And if you are the running mate, you can do better raising money with potential big shots than if you are not, if you're just a senator or a congressman or a governor or whatever.
So, once you are the running mate, that helps from the fund-raising perspective. And it presumably will generate some buzz out there. I'm a little surprised why the governor wants to do it on a Saturday morning, early Saturday morning, even as the Olympics are yet not completed. I guess there will be an explanation for that. I assume they wanted to wait until after the Olympics were done and then there would be an opportunity to generate more public attention.
But he wanted to do it on a Saturday. Remember, I think President Obama nominated Joe Biden as his running mate on a Saturday as well. You got that weekend coverage and go into the week. But it's still a little bit surprising to me that they wanted to do it so quickly even while the Olympics in London were still continuing.
But that's their decision, they wanted to do it and they will announce they will do it at 9:00 Saturday morning, Eastern Time.
And it's interesting as I have been pointing out it will be not only in Norfolk, Virginia, Virginia being a key battleground state. But in Virginia, Norfolk is the largest stable facility in the world. He'll be doing it aboard the USS Wisconsin.
Now, the USS Wisconsin may just be coincidental, but as you know, Paul Ryan, the congressman from Wisconsin, that could be a signal that it could be Paul Ryan. But who knows? We'll see how clever they are, as far as that's concerned.
MCEDWARDS: Yes, we do not know. There will be plenty to talk about on the Sunday talk shows, the political talk shows in the United States, around the world as well.
We're going to take a short break, but keep it here on CNN for all the developments in this breaking story.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MCEDWARDS: Election campaign. The Republican White House candidate, Mitt Romney, is set to reveal his vice presidential candidate. After weeks and weeks of speculation, it is coming in an announcement about eight, nine hours from now on the East Coast of the United States.
We have our Wolf Blitzer in D.C.
Wolf, how significant a moment is this in this campaign?
BLITZER: It's really, Colleen, when you think about it. The most important decision a presidential candidate can make because the first that he selects, the actual presidential nominee, that's the person who would become president if something were to happen to the president of the United States. It sends a signal that this is someone that the candidate believes would be qualified to be president, could take charge, could be commander in chief and lead the United States during that difficult time.
So, it's arguably the most important decision that Mitt Romney will have to make and will send a powerful signal to his critics, as well as his supporters, what he is all about and what he sees as far as the future of the United States is concerned. Someone he trusts, someone he can work with, someone he believes could take charge, if God forbid, something were to happen to the president of the United States.
So, it's a very, very important decision. It will be studied closely. We'll get a better understanding who Mitt Romney after we know who he selects. We don't yet know who will select. We know that there are a lot of names out there. We know that there's a short list we have been talking about that, but I think it's the most important decision an American presidential candidate can make. Four years ago when Barack Obama selected Joe Biden as he's running mate, at one point, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, a key member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, that sends a message about what then candidate Obama was all about.
The same with John McCain when he selected the then-governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin, to be his running mate. That sent a message as well. So, this will send a powerful message to the American voters and better explain, it will give us a little bit deeper understanding who Mitt Romney is.
MCEDWARDS: And we know as well that phone calls apparently went out to those on the short list being told thank you for participating this. So, presumably, those on Mitt Romney's short list know what we do not know at this point, and that is who is it going to be.
One of the potentials is Paul Ryan who we have talked a fair good bit about in our coverage and who our John King spent time with recently to get an idea of who this man is.
John, a numbers guy, right, in a campaign where the economy matters a lot.
KING: He's sort of the next, the next generation of the Republican Party and has been prominent since the Republicans captured the House after the 2010 election. He's the House budget chairman.
And, Colleen, if he is the vice presidential pick, he gets to debate Joe Biden in a few weeks down the road, but over the past couple of years, he's been debating not just President Obama, but the entire Democratic Party. Romney is a cautious guy ,but many conservatives have been arguing in recent days, you need to shake-up the campaign, you need to make it bold and about ideas, and you need to pick Paul Ryan.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
REP. PAUL RYAN (R), WISCONSIN: We want to give you that scalpel.
KING (voice-over): For Paul Ryan, debating Joe Biden might feel like a demotion.
RYAN: So my question is, why not freeze spending now and would you support a line item veto and help get a vote on it in the House?
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Let me respond to the two specific questions, but I want to just push back a little bit on the underlying premises, about us increasing spending by 84 percent.
RYAN: The discretionary spending and the bill Congress signs into law, that has increased 84 percent.
OBAMA: We'll have a longer debate on the budget numbers then, all right?
KING: Ryan is the GOP numbers guy. The chairman who is not afraid to say in his view the only way back to fiscal sanity is to dramatically shrink government and fundamentally change Medicare.
RYAN: If you don't address the issues now, they're going to steam roll us as a country. And the issue is, the more you delay fixing these problems, the much uglier the solutions are going to have to be.
KING: In short, he's a lightning rod. And if Mitt Romney tops Ryan to share the ticket, he will dramatically reshape the 2012 race.
DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: It would be a bold, it would be a risky choice. It's hard for me to see Mitt Romney who has played it safe all the way through this campaign making that kind of gamble.
KING: There are upsides. It would energize the GOP base sometimes suspicious of Romney. Ryan is an energetic debater and campaigner, and at just 42, he would add youthful vigor to the ticket.
Close friends like former House colleague Mark Green say Ryan would help Romney in Wisconsin and across the Midwest.
MARK GREEN (R), FORMER U.S. CONGRESSMAN: He gets that sort of blue collar conservatism that is the heart of the Republican Party.
KING: But tapping Ryan is a gamble because of the House GOP budget that bears his name. Up until now, Romney has done everything to make this campaign a referendum on the incumbent.
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The president's policy are not creating jobs.
KING: Add Ryan to the ticket, and there is no escaping this.
SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER (D), NEW YORK: Ryan plan to end Medicare as we know it must be taken off the table.
Other potential downsides, Ryan has never run statewide. He has no foreign policy experience. And some will question whether a 42-year- old House member is ready to be commander in chief.
GERGEN: One of the stars of the Republican over the next 10 to 20 years, whether he is ready at this moment only a campaign trail can tell. He's going to get a real beating.
KING: Ryan says family history makes him a fitness fanatic, leading House colleagues in grueling cross training workouts.
RYAN: My dad died of a heart attack at 55, my grandfather at 57. So, I've always had this incentive to stay healthy.
KING: And an avid hunter, as Green learned one day when he sent an e- mail from his post as ambassador to Tanzania.
GREEEN: I got this response saying, "I'm sitting in a deer state. It's hunting season. Leave me alone."
KING: He is a self-described nerd, but don't under estimate Ryan's ambition or his competitive streak. It's clear, if he had his druthers, he'd rather debate the president.
RYAN: I love the idea of Barack Obama, I love the fact that we have elected an African-American man as a president. I think that's just really say cool thing. I just don't like the ideas is coming from Barack Obama.
KING: But it is Romney who will share the biggest fall debate stage.
RYAN: Governor Mitt Romney, hopefully the next president of the United States of America.
KING: And Romney who decides whether to place a risky bet on Paul Ryan.
John King, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KING: And, Colleen, as we await the president's -- the nominee's pick, excuse me, tomorrow morning, we can say this. We knew the short list was Congressman Ryan, Governor Pawlenty and Senator Portman.
We are told tonight that Senator Portman is still planning to take a 100 mile fund-raising bike ride tomorrow to raise money for campaign research, and Governor Pawlenty just told Chris Welch and other reporters in New Hampshire and he had a busy schedule there on behalf of the Romney campaign and he plans to keeping that schedule.
So, unless there is a surprise not on the short list we knew of, all the indications are that Paul Ryan will be on the USS Wisconsin with Governor Romney tomorrow. We don't confirmation of that as yet. It could be a surprise but where there's smoke, often there's fire.
MCEDWARDS: Often there is fire and often a surprise as well. So, we shall see. We are about 8 1/2 hours away from knowing the answer, who will be the vice presidential candidate for the Republican candidate Mitt Romney in the U.S. presidential campaign.
Our thanks to John King and to Gloria Borger who had been with us through this. We are going to take a short break right here in this breaking news, but will be right back with Wolf Blitzer and Jim Acosta and much more coming up.
Keep it right here on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MCEDWARDS: I'm Colleen McEdwards at CNN Center. Welcome to our breaking news coverage.
We have confirmation from the Republican White House candidate Mitt Romney's campaign that just hours from now, he will officially named his running mate. A short list of candidates for the vice presidential running mate for Mitt Romney apparently have received phone calls informing them at least that they are perhaps not the choice, but we don't have an official announcement right now. But we have got Chris Welch on the line, CNN producer, who I understand has new information for us.
Chris, what have you got?
CHRIS WELCH, CNN POLITICAL PRODUCER (via telephone): Well, Colleen, Governor Tim Pawlenty, former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, who has been rumored to be on the short list, Governor Romney's short list for the vice presidential pick, she at his hotel and told me he is keeping his schedule in New Hampshire tomorrow. He had a full day of events starting at 10:00 a.m. tomorrow morning. He said he's keeping that and he is not going to be in Virginia.
He also told me that he did not get a phone call tonight from Governor Romney. Now, he said he know who is the pick is, but he would not say whether it was a definitive no for Governor Pawlenty.
MCEDWARDS: All right. So, he is keeping his schedule, I imagine a lot of the people on the short list here will try to at least go on as if nothing strange is going on here, right?
WELCH: Yes, that's correct. I mean, he is going to at least at this point keep the illusion going and keep people guessing.
MCEDWARDS: To what extent, Chris, is this expected to change the race? I mean, what are the people you are talking to and saying how big of an announcement this is about 8 1/2 hours from now?
WELCH: Well, you know, traditionally, the vice presidential picks are as you know covered extensively by the media and it's something that the public follows quite a bit up until the day. You know, I mean, the day that John McCain takes his running mate as Sarah Palin, that shocked a number of people. So, there's that element of surprise and something unsuspected could always happen and really could change the race all together.
MCEDWARDS: I want to bring Wolf Blitzer in D.C. You know, Wolf, for people around the world and the United States who may not be following this campaign blow by blow, I mean, this has been a pretty tight campaign, right? I understand the Republican Mitt Romney fines himself a little bit behind in the race right now. What changed?
BLITZER: Well, in the last few days, there had been three polls that came out, including our own CNN/ORC poll of registered voters across the United States, they've all shown that President Obama has a lead, a significant lead in the some of these polls over Mitt Romney despite the bad economic situation in the United States, the 8.3 unemployment, and all of the sense that the country economically is moving in the wrong direction as opposed to the right direction.
Despite all the bad economic indicators, all three of the polls, not only the CNN but a FOX poll and Ipsos poll have shown that President Obama is ahead nationally by five to nine points over Mitt Romney. Those are significant numbers. Now, if you dig deeper into the polls and ask why is the president ahead if the American people thinks the country is not moving in the right direction economically? The answer is favorability. That most Americans have a higher favorability opinion of the president than they do of Mitt Romney. In fact, over the past month or so, Mitt Romney's favorability, approval favorability, the positive numbers have actually gone down. And that would indicate why the president is ahead nationally.
Now, it's important that the national numbers, you got to really look at the states and the key battlegrounds. And there, it's very, very close.
MCEDWARDS: All right. Wolf Blitzer and Chris Welsh, CNN's political producer, bringing us the latest there. Once again, to recap if you are just joining us, Mitt Romney's campaign, the Republican White House candidate has announced that it is set to announce the vice presidential candidate for Mitt Romney. It's going to happen at a big campaign event Saturday morning on the East Coast of the United States.
Paul Ryan, congressman from Wisconsin, one of the possible contenders. Rob Portman of Ohio, Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, the former governor of Minnesota also there.
We are going to take a short break here in our breaking news coverage, but back in just a moment with much more. Keep it right here on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
EDWARDS: I'm Colleen McEdwards, at CNN center. Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world.
We are in breaking news coverage because we are just hours away from a significant development in the U.S. presidential campaign.
The Republican White House candidate Mitt Romney is getting set to announce his vice presidential candidate. Who is it going to be? We are going to find out about eight or nine hours from now, in an announcement that is going to be made in the U.S. state of Virginia, in Norfolk, where our Jim Acosta is right now.
Jim, tell us more about the event and what we can expect to see and hear there.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Well, one of the things that popped up this afternoon that I think was a big clue that Mitt Romney was going to be doing something big on this trip is the entourage he had with him. He normally doesn't travel with the number of advisers he is traveling with tonight and tomorrow morning.
Beth Myers, who is the head of his vice presidential search, she is on this trip. She does not normally travel with him. The fact that she showed up on this bus tour trip was a pretty big indication that something was going on. And Stu Stevens and Eric Fehrnstrom were also top advisers to the GOP contender, that is also a sign that they had something, a big plan for this trip.
I will tell you that we just don't know a whole lot right now in terms of what is going to happen at this event. But as Wolf and John King and others have been mentioning, the fact that they're staging this event on the USS Wisconsin I think is a pretty big sign that perhaps this is heading in Paul Ryan's direction.
But keep in mind Mitt Romney has said, and he said this earlier this week that he doesn't mind misdirecting the media from time to time, and that is part of the campaign. And so, this could be a misdirection. Who knows? But obviously the fact that they're hosting this on the USS Wisconsin I think is a pretty big sign.
And as John and Wolf and others have been saying throughout your coverage, this is a bold pick for Mitt Romney. Up until just a week ago, the conventional wisdom in Washington was he was going to pick somebody like a Rob Portman or a Tim Pawlenty, the safe choices in the vice presidential top tier.
But as these polls were coming out late in the week, you know, there was also a sense, especially within conservatives, among conservatives that Mitt Romney need to make a bold pick. And Paul Ryan would certainly be a bold pick.
I mean, keep in mind, during campaign, Mitt Romney basically adopted much of what Paul Ryan is proposing from a budget standpoint in Washington. Paul Ryan is talking about making some fairly dramatic changes to the Medicare program. Mitt Romney has essentially adopted that proposal for Medicare.
And so, this would basically present a ticket to the American people of two men, two politicians who are basically on the same page when it comes to that issue.
Democrats are already, you know, talking -- talking this up on Twitter. Progressive activists and so forth are talking this up on Twitter as a very big contrast for the coming general election campaign. If they are going -- these two candidates are going to be talking about a major social welfare change, major changes to the safety net in this country, then there will be a big contrast in this upcoming campaign.
MCEDWARDS: Jim Acosta there for us in Norfolk. And Jim -- as Jim mentioned, we don't know if it's going to be congressman Paul Ryan right now. We do not know that.
What we do know is the speculation about this is going to go on for hours. It's been a lot of hype about this announcement in the weeks past as well. The Romney campaign really doing a lot, Wolf, to keep the hype alive in terms of who the V.P. nominee is going to be. They even put out a smartphone app where you can follow this along. It certainly doesn't hurt the campaign to keep the hype alive and keep the excitement alive going about this, right?
Wolf, are you there? Have we got Wolf Blitzer in D.C.?
BLITZER: Can you hear me?
MCEDWARDS: Yes, got you, Wolf. It certainly doesn't hurt to keep the hype alive here, does it, from the Romney campaign's perspective?
BLITZER: He obviously wants attention. I'm a little surprised they're doing it on a Saturday morning, early on a Saturday morning, even as the Olympics have not yet been completed in London. But that's their decision.
When you see the two of them together, Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan, they look like a good team. Mitt Romney is what, 64, 65 years old, whatever he is. But Paul Ryan is, what, 41 years old.
MCEDWARDS: Forty-two, yes.
BLITZER: Yes, 42 years old. So obviously age difference.
But Paul Ryan has been in Washington for a long time. He was a young aide in 22, 23, 24 years old. And he has been a congressman. He rose in the ranks. He is now the chairman of the House Budget Committee. He is highly respected, especially by conservatives. And he is very, very sharp, very smart.
He doesn't have a whole lot of foreign policy experience, but he does have a lot of domestic economic experience. And the economy and jobs certainly issue number one in this presidential contest.
So when we see the two of them together, you can imagine the two of them together up on the stage at the Republican convention in Tampa, Florida, at the end of this month. How will they be together, their families? Both have wonderful families, and the image will be very, very positive when you see the two of them together, if in fact Paul Ryan is the vice presidential running mate.
All signs are pointing to that. Right now we don't have official confirmation. We'll hear what Mitt Romney has to say in the morning.
But as a lot of people have been pointing out, the announcement is going to be made in Norfolk, Virginia, aboard the USS Wisconsin -- Wisconsin being Paul Ryan's home state. So that is an intriguing hint, if you will, if in fact it's Ryan.
MCEDWARDS: Yes, it's either an intriguing hint, or it's just too perfect to be true, right? And as you're talking there, Wolf --
BLITZER : If in fact, if in fact it's more than just a hint, if in fact it is Paul Ryan and the announcement will be made aboard the USS Wisconsin, the arrangements for this bus trip have been in the works for days now.
MCEDWARDS: Yes.
BLITZER: So it looks -- it would appear that Ryan is in fact Mitt Romney's choice, it look like he made up his mind several days ago.
MCEDWARDS: Yes, some time ago. BLITZER: But it's obviously worked it out.
It's obviously something Mitt Romney has thought about, his wife Ann Romney, those are the two principals. And they worked very closely with a small team of people who have vetted him.
And this vetting process, Colleen, and I've spoken to a lot of candidates who have been vetted for vice presidential running mates over the years, Republicans and Democrats. It's really intense. They go through the toughest questions, financial backgrounds. They ask the most personal questions. Is there anything that could embarrass the Republican presidential candidate, any sexual issues out there, anything along those lines, they really go in depth.
And, you know, if it is in fact Paul Ryan, he has gone through that vetting process, and presumably there is nothing that could embarrass the Republican ticket if in fact he emerges over the next 87 days as the vice presidential running mate.
MCEDWARDS: We are certainly getting a better sense of who he is as we talk here, Wolf, and as we talk, we're seeing images of Paul Ryan, oftentimes with Mitt Romney, oftentimes on his own, getting a sense of what he looks like. He is becoming a familiar face.
I've got to ask you this, though. I mean, how closely are Americans watching this campaign? Because some analysts say it's been a bit of a sleeper. What are the chances that this could all be a great big yawn?
BLITZER: Well, I think that it will get even more exciting.
Look, I'm a political news junkie. So I love this kind of stuff. And a lot of the folks who watch CNN and watch the other cable news channels, they love this kind of stuff, too.
Are most Americans, you know, really all that enamored right now who their vice presidential running mate is going to be? Probably not. I do think when you look at the big picture, Colleen, my own gut tells me about 45 percent of the voters out there are going to vote for President Obama. About 45 percent are definitely going to vote for Mitt Romney.
So there is maybe a 10 percent margin out there of people who are still open, undecided, or could still switch their votes. And it's those people, those 8 percent or 10 percent where all of these hundreds of millions of dollars in advertisements are about to be directed.
And they're not going to be directed at states where we know the outcome like New York state's obviously go for the Democratic candidate. California for the Democratic candidate. Texas will go for the Republican candidate.
But the fourth largest state, Florida, for example, that's up in the air. And so they're going to spend a ton of money going for that 8 percent or 9 percent or 10 percent undecided or still flexible voter who might still be able to switch his or her votes in a state like Florida or Virginia or Ohio or Wisconsin, some of these other battleground states, Colorado, is an important battleground state, Iowa is an important battleground state.
So, maybe they are eight or ten states where this elect is going to take place, because the other states by and large, 40 of these states at least, we know where they're going to be. It's these eight or ten battleground states that will determine in the Electoral College system that we have here in the United States who the president will be.
EDWARDS: Indeed. Wolf Blitzer in D.C.., Jim Acosta awaiting this announcement in Norfolk, Virginia. I'm Colleen McEdwards at CNN center. We are less than nine hours away now from knowing who the vice presidential nominee will be for the Republican White House candidate Mitt Romney.
We're going to take a short break here on CNN. We'll be back with much more in just a moment.
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MCEDWARDS: Welcome back to CNN's breaking news coverage of a major turn, or what is about to be a major turn in the U.S. presidential campaign.
Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Colleen McEdwards.
Bringing you right up to date -- the Republican nominee Mitt Romney is hours away from saying who his vice presidential candidate will be. It's an important moment in a U.S. presidential campaign. It may change the tone of the debate. It will say a lot about who Mitt Romney is, what he stands for, and how the voters are going to react to this choice.
There is a short, short list. And we have been talking with our Wolf Blitzer and our Jim Acosta about Congressman Paul Ryan, who some are saying is certainly one of the choices, some are even saying a likely choice. Some are also saying potentially a risky choice.
Jim Acosta, tell us a little bit more about Congressman Paul Ryan and what the upside and the downside may be here.
ACOSTA: Well, Colleen, as most of our viewers know, or perhaps they should know, Paul Ryan is not only a congressman from Wisconsin, he is the chairman of the House Budget Committee. And, you know, he has laid out some pretty dramatic proposals for getting the budget under control in this country. It's something that members on both side of the aisle would like to see get done, but there are some big disagreements about how to do it.
And what Paul Ryan has talked about is really changing sort of the social safety net that has been in place in this country for a long period of time. So, for example, with the Medicare program, one thing that Paul Ryan has talked about is something called a premium support plan for Medicare. Instead of just a fee for service program where seniors get Medicare by virtue of the fact that they turned a certain age and they start receiving Medicare benefits, what they have talked about with the Ryan plan is something along the lines of a premium support plan or a voucher system as some Democrats have called it where seniors will get checks in the future and they'll be able to buy into the Medicare program.
Mitt Romney has sort of altered that somewhat. He has adapted that but altered it that people would be able to stay in the current Medicare program or choose sort of the Ryan approach, which is to buy into the insurance market through these premium support payments. And so this would be an interesting contrast I think in the upcoming campaign.
It's something that a lot of fiscal conservatives have been clamoring for in recent days. They've been saying that Romney needs to go bold. He needs to go with a Paul Ryan type, because it presents a stark contrast to the American people.
And, you know, setting the policy part of this to the side for a moment, Colleen, you know, keep in mind Paul Ryan, he really stuck his neck out during the primary process and got behind Mitt Romney during a pretty critical time in this campaign. Mitt Romney was having a tough time fighting off Rick Santorum as the primaries were heading up into the industrial Midwest. And Paul Ryan went out on a limb and supported Mitt Romney going into Wisconsin when there was some talk that Rick Santorum could have won that state and beaten Mitt Romney in that state.
And Paul Ryan, he campaigned across the state of Wisconsin with Mitt Romney, and it helped Mitt Romney win that state. And I think at that point there was a bond that was forged between these two men at that stage in this race. And it's really carried forward since then.
MCEDWARDS: Yes.
ACOSTA: I think that was maybe the beginning point of this relationship.
MCEDWARDS: Jim, just stand by. I'm going to go really quickly down this list. We don't know.
But here is a partial list. Senator Marco Rubio of the very important state of Florida. Senator Rob Portman of the very important industrial state of Ohio. Former Governor Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota.
And we can report now that signs are pointing away from those candidates. We do not have confirmation that it is Paul Ryan. But signs are certainly pointing in that direction, as we have been reporting.
And just recently, our John King spent a little bit of time with Paul Ryan to figure out who this person is, what kind of candidate he might make, and he is, as John King reports, a numbers guy in a campaign that is all about the economy.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RYAN: We want to give you that scalpel.
KING (voice-over): For Paul Ryan, debating Joe Biden might feel like a demotion.
RYAN: So my question is, why not freeze spending now and would you support a line item veto and help get a vote on it in the House?
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Let me respond to the two specific questions, but I want to just push back a little bit on the underlying premises, about us increasing spending by 84 percent.
RYAN: The discretionary spending and the bill Congress signs into law, that has increased 84 percent.
OBAMA: We'll have a longer debate on the budget numbers then, all right?
KING: Ryan is the GOP numbers guy. The chairman who is not afraid to say in his view the only way back to fiscal sanity is to dramatically shrink government and fundamentally change Medicare.
RYAN: If you don't address the issues now, they're going to steam roll us as a country. And the issue is, the more you delay fixing these problems, the much uglier the solutions are going to have to be.
KING: In short, he's a lightning rod. And if Mitt Romney tops Ryan to share the ticket, he will dramatically reshape the 2012 race.
DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: It would be a bold, it would be a risky choice. It's hard for me to see Mitt Romney who has played it safe all the way through this campaign making that kind of gamble.
KING: There are upsides. It would energize the GOP base sometimes suspicious of Romney. Ryan is an energetic debater and campaigner, and at just 42, he would add youthful vigor to the ticket.
Close friends like former House colleague Mark Green say Ryan would help Romney in Wisconsin and across the Midwest.
MARK GREEN (R), FORMER U.S. CONGRESSMAN: He gets that sort of blue collar conservatism that is the heart of the Republican Party.
KING: But tapping Ryan is a gamble because of the House GOP budget that bears his name. Up until now, Romney has done everything to make this campaign a referendum on the incumbent.
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The president's policy are not creating jobs.
KING: Add Ryan to the ticket, and there is no escaping this.
SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER (D), NEW YORK: Ryan plan to end Medicare as we know it must be taken off the table. Other potential downsides, Ryan has never run statewide. He has no foreign policy experience. And some will question whether a 42-year- old House member is ready to be commander in chief.
GERGEN: One of the stars of the Republican over the next 10 to 20 years, whether he is ready at this moment only a campaign trail can tell. He's going to get a real beating.
KING: Ryan says family history makes him a fitness fanatic, leading House colleagues in grueling cross training workouts.
RYAN: My dad died of a heart attack at 55, my grandfather at 57. So, I've always had this incentive to stay healthy.
KING: And an avid hunter, as Green learned one day when he sent an e- mail from his post as ambassador to Tanzania.
GREEEN: I got this response saying, "I'm sitting in a deer state. It's hunting season. Leave me alone."
KING: He is a self-described nerd, but don't under estimate Ryan's ambition or his competitive streak. It's clear, if he had his druthers, he'd rather debate the president.
RYAN: I love the idea of Barack Obama, I love the fact that we have elected an African-American man as a president. I think that's just really say cool thing. I just don't like the ideas is coming from Barack Obama.
KING: But it is Romney who will share the biggest fall debate stage.
RYAN: Governor Mitt Romney, hopefully the next president of the United States of America.
KING: And Romney who decides whether to place a risky bet on Paul Ryan.
John King, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KING: And, Colleen, CNN has told tonight, have I one source, a prominent Republican who says he has direct knowledge of Romney's pick, that it will indeed be Paul Ryan, a Wisconsin congressman, announced as a Republican vice presidential running mate tomorrow morning in Norfolk, Virginia.
Our Gloria Borger has a source that is suggesting that as well and our Peter Hamby.
So CNN now has at least three sources telling that when this announcement comes tomorrow, it will be the man you see on the screen there, 42 years old. He's a Republican congressman from the state of Wisconsin.
As we discussed earlier tonight, this would be counter to Governor Romney's DNA. He is known as a safe, cautious, methodical guy. This is a bit of a risky pick, but it's also a bold pick. It will make conservatives happy, and it will redefine the tone and tenor of the debate of the campaign, no question, no question the economy is number one in the American election.
But by picking Paul Ryan, Governor Romney is guaranteeing that the Democrats will attack the Republican ticket as a ticket that wants to, (a), cut taxes on the rich, and they will say now devastate the social safety net programs for elderly Americans. The Republicans say that's not true that will be the debate in the 87 days ahead.
MCEDWARDS: You bet.
OK, sources telling our John King that Mitt Romney's running mate will indeed be Congressman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin.
John, once this announcement happens, I'm losing track of time here. But probably less than eight hours from now, what happens in the campaign? I mean, practically speaking, how does Paul Ryan, how does his life change? What happens to the two of them? Do they start fanning out together? How does the campaign unfold from there?
KING: Well, Paul Ryan by noontime tomorrow will have Secret Service protection. That's about one of the changes about to happen in his life and so will his young family. Then they're planning a bus tour, Governor Romney is on a bus tour.
Paul Ryan was supposed to go on vacation, Colleen, in Colorado beginning tomorrow. Again, our sources are telling us instead we will see him on the deck of the USS Wisconsin in Norfolk, Virginia.
There is a bus tour planned over the next several days that goes through the states of Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, and Ohio. Those are four key battleground states, all carried by President Obama four years ago, all essential to the Republican Electoral College now. So tradition is the candidates go out together for a few days. We don't know for certain Paul Ryan will do the entire bus tour, but that is our expectation.
Then they tend to separate. And that's what you get. Double for your money. You spread them both out. You can hit two battleground states or two battleground cities at a time. You can also have two guys raising money.
And look for Ann Romney and Paul Ryan's wife as well to be part of this campaign. You see the pictures right here. It looks like they are comfortable together, they like each other. They spent a little bit of time together on the campaign trail in 2008.
Again, this is a bold choice, because the Democrats say there is so much to attack what Paul Ryan has done over the years. It's essentially a choice by Mitt Romney to say, sure, let's have a big debate about the big choices facing the American economy and American spending. Conservatives are thrilled by that the interesting part, Colleen so, are Democrats. MCEDWARDS: John, you just mentioned how a candidate's life changes when an announcement like this has been made and there is no clear example of that than the shot I believe we're about to show you right now, which is a live shot of Congressman Paul Ryan's house. I'm just told we don't have those pictures.
But you can bet everybody is scrambling to get that shot of his house, start getting the shots that everyone is going to want to have to build the story of this campaign from this moment forward.
Again, just to remind our viewers and to recap, sources are telling CNN, multiple sources are telling us that Mitt Romney's candidate for vice president is going to be Paul Ryan. Look, we don't know for sure until tomorrow morning when it's or this morning, Saturday morning when it's all announced in the United States.
But sources are telling me this is the guy right here. Paul Ryan, congressman, also chair of the House Budget Committee.
CNN's chief political analyst, Gloria Borger, is on the line with us as well.
Gloria, I understand your sources are telling you the same thing, right?
GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST (via telephone): Right. My sources sure are not steering me away from Paul Ryan, I can tell you that.
And I think there are some things to keep in mind about Paul Ryan, which is that he is a conservative who has done the blueprint for the budget, which really does change the way Medicare operates, essentially turns Medicare into a voucher system. It is something the Democrats have used. They've made Paul Ryan the poster child for people who want to take away your Medicare. Although his plan would only affect people who are currently over the age -- would not affect people who are currently over the age of 55.
He is a little bit unpredictable, you know. He voted for the auto bailout. He voted for the TARP bailout.
So, you know, he is somebody who comes from a blue collar town in Gainesville, Wisconsin. And he has been able to win in a district that is pretty split. He comes from working class roots himself, very different from Mitt Romney that way. And also comes from a different generation of politicians.
But he is a creature of Washington. He has been working here for more than 20 years. But he is somebody who has devoted himself nonstop to try to figure out a way to cut federal spending.
MCEDWARDS: We've got that life shot, Gloria. Just hang on here. I mentioned earlier how we were talk about how a person's life changes in a situation like this. We do have the live shot now of Congressman Paul Ryan's house -- there it is. There is someone standing on his doorstep. I don't know who that is. But I suspect it might be a reporter or a producer trying to perhaps get a comment there on what sources are telling CNN. This is the home of the person who will be the vice presidential running mate on the Republican side, Congressman Paul Ryan.
Wolf Blitzer is with us in D.C.
Paul Ryan, 20 years in Washington, Wolf. Forty-two years old. We've heard a couple of analysts already. Talk about his great credentials, but also question is he ready for this.
BLITZER: Well, he is obviously very, very intelligent. He knows the economy. He knows the budget. He is the chairman of the budget committee.
He does bring some controversy. The Republican base, the conservative base will love him -- there is no doubt about that in my mind.
The Democrats are already at least if you're looking at some of the social media comments that we're getting, they're beginning to salivate a little bit because they think this is going to bring some of the issues to the front, including the entitlement issues like Social Security and Medicare - - very popular issue, especially with seniors, people approaching those ages. And they're going to suggest that this guy wants to gut it, wants to change it, wants to end Medicare, for example, the way we know it. And they will go out of their way to make those points.
And I'm looking at some of these reactions from some of the Democrats. Bill Burton who runs a major pro-Obama super PAC, for example, former White House press secretary for President Obama. He tweeted a little while ago saying this will in fact change the race as far as the Republicans are concerned, but not necessarily the way they would like to see this race changed.
In other words, they're going to go after him, and they're going to bring a lot of these issues to the floor, the issues that Paul Ryan has boldly put forward as chairman of the budget committee, which a lot of conservatives like very much, but there is not necessarily. And so, the Democrats are going to use this and go after him big-time. And they're going to obviously try to score points this with this.
So, this will be an exciting new chapter. I'm looking forward to this. It will really allow issue number one to come to the floor. There are two very different economic policy plans that these two guys have -- the president of the United States, President Obama and Mitt Romney the Republican candidate. And now this will really crystallize it.
I'm also looking forward to that debate that will take place in October between Paul Ryan and Joe Biden, the vice president. There will be one vice presidential debate in October. There will be three presidential debates in October. Obviously I'm looking forward to the presidential debates as well.
But I think Biden versus Ryan, that will be a strong debate. They're both very intelligent. They're both very lively. They're not shy at all.
It will be good for the American public to see these two guys debate these issues because it will explain the fundamental differences on taxes, on entitlement spending, on cuts in spending, if you will. It will really hone in on where these two parties stand.
And I think it will be a good substantive debate.
MCEDWARDS: Maybe more Americans tune in from this point, right?
BLITZER: I think so. I think people will get energized. A lot of people love Paul Ryan. A lot of people don't love Paul Ryan. Most people probably don't know him that well.
You know, political news junkies know who he is. Inside the Beltway certainly know who he is. But most Americans probably never heard of him.
MCEDWARDS: Not so much the rest of us, although, Wolf, we're getting a sense of who he is now. We're seeing wall to wall pictures of him. That's going to continue. We've even seen a shot of the outside of his house.
So certainly we're getting to know Congressman Paul Ryan all around the world right now.
Again, to recap here on CNN, you're watching our breaking news coverage. Sources, multiple sources telling CNN that congressman Paul Ryan is going to be announced as the vice presidential running mate for the Republican candidate Mitt Romney. That announcement is just hours away.
We're taking a break, but we're coming right back with much more -- right here on CNN.
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