Mitt Romney to Speak Tomorrow on Presidential Race
B. BALDWIN: Breaking news we've been covering this afternoon, the fact that we've now learned that Mitt Romney is apparently set to speak his mind about this state of the Republican race for president. The 2012 Republican presidential nominee will reveal some more of his opinions about the state of the Republican Party tomorrow morning from the University of Utah, 11:30 a.m. Eastern. A source close to Romney tells CNN, no endorsement is expected. But now, pundits are obviously having a field day trying to predict exactly what it is he will be saying. Joining me now, Republican Consultant Susan Del Percio, sorry, the, I don't know if that snapped (ph), one time administration official with former NYC, New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Conservative Strategist and Pollster Lisa Boothe, and U.S. News & World Report, Senior Politics Writer, David Catanese. So, welcome to all of you. And David, we have a little bit of reporting on what, you know, Romney is supposed to say as far as the other candidates. But what are you hearing?</s>DAVID CATANESE, SENIOR POLITICS WRITER, U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT: Well, where has he been, would be my question.</s>B. BALDWIN: Yeah.</s>CATANESE: You know, look, with 15 states have voted. You know, hundreds of thousands of votes have been cast. Now, Trump looks like the front-runner. Mitt Romney is going to come out and talking. And it looks like he is going to repudiate Trump without endorsing one of the other candidates. But this smells like too little too late. And it's all because if you're a mainstream establishment Republican, you didn't believe Trump was real. You didn't believe August was real. You didn't believe September was real. You thought this was all a bubble that was going to burst once the votes were cast. And now, coming in March 2nd to try to save this thing -- I mean, Trump hasn't been saying anything new, you know. He's had the same rapport, the same confrontational bombastic tone. And now, Mitt Romney is deciding to act? This is a long Hail Mary pass it looks like.</s>B. BALDWIN: Well, Susan, let me turn to you because we were talking, you know, last week, he came out and was attacking Trump on the tax returns. Now, all of a sudden, he'll be speaking tomorrow. We do know that he will be criticizing Trump. To what degree? I don't really know. But, you're saying, he's doing it now because why?</s>SUSAN DEL PERCIO, FORMER OFFICIAL IN MAYOR RUDY GUILANI ADMINISTRATION: Well, two things, one, I think he's doing tomorrow because like last week, it's right before a debate. So whatever issues he brings up, it'll play in tomorrow night's debate. And the second reason is, he is a better messenger than some of these Super PACs or former spokespeople for different campaigns. You need -- you know, he was the last person to run for president from the Republican Party. He is a Republican figurehead. Yes, he's part of the establishment. But he -- when he delivers a question to Donald Trump or attacks Donald Trump, people really listen and eats up the time. The biggest question I have is, will Trump take the bait?</s>B. BALDWIN: Well, Lisa, what do you think? I mean, this has obviously the potential to backfire. We've been watching them back and forth on Twitter. Does Trump take the bait?</s>LISA BOOTHE, VICE PRESIDENT OF POLITICAL POLLING, WPA RESEARCH: Well -- and he very well may, but does that mean anything, and does it change the dynamics of the situation? I think that's the big question mark.</s>B. BALDWIN: Could he get more supporters out of it?</s>BOOTHE: Well, there's been a lot -- well, potentially. I mean, there's been a lot of ammunition that has been thrown Donald Trump's way. But the reality is he had significant wins in New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Nevada as well as Super Tuesday last night and has indicated his dominance in various regions of the United States. I mean, he's won in the north. He's won in the south, he's won in the west, and he has also picked up, you know, different parts of the Republican delegation along the way. And what he's been doing is running this rage against the machine type of campaign that's resonating with Republican voters who are angry. They're angry with the establishment. They're angry with people, quite frankly, like Mitt Romney. So I don't know if he is the right messenger at this moment for this anti-Trump rhetoric and the reality as this comes down to math, you need 1,237 delegates ...</s>B. BALDWIN: Yeah.</s>BOOTHE: ... to the convention out of that 2,472, and Donald Trump is well on his way. So my question to Mitt Romney was, where were you two weeks ago? Where were you a month ago? And that is at the point where ...</s>B. BALDWIN: To David's point.</s>BOOTHE: Yeah, exactly, to David's point. At a point when maybe it would have made the difference. Or what we've seen throughout this process so far, maybe it would have just emboldened him.</s>B. BALDWIN: So, David, back to you, you know, we've talked about obviously the number of delegates that is the most important part. But it's also the numbers in terms of record turnout on the Republican side. And you look the Donald Trump with regard to that. I want to play some sound. This is Former Governor Mike Huckabee speaking just last night.</s>MIKE HUCKABEE, (R) FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The establishment Republicans are all, you know, bed-wetting over this. And they don't seem to understand that we have an election. Look, I just believe that at some point we need to recognize. If you want to oppose Donald Trump, do it, but don't pretend that somehow that all these voters who have gone out and voted for him are stupid. They're not stupid. I tell you what they are. They're angry. And they're angry at the very establishment who is going nuts because Donald Trump is doing so well and they don't get it that they're the problem.</s>B. BALDWIN: Susan, David, how do these, you know, establishment leaders, these louder (ph) voices, these anti-Trump folks. How do they, you know, not disparage this pro-Trump folks and get them on their side?</s>CATANESE: They're in a vice. You're not seeing -- look, you got one U.S. senator who has come out and said he will not vote for Trump. And I believe today, you have a governor, Massachusetts, who said he will not vote for Trump. But frankly, you got all these statements from the speaker, to Mitch McConnell, who are repudiating tactics but they won't even say the guy's name, because it's dicey to vet here. I mean, the conventional wisdom is Trump is going to be a drag on the ticket. He's going to bring the whole party down, this is going to blow up the party. But look at the numbers that you just cited.</s>B. BALDWIN: Yeah.</s>CATANESE: Record turnout on the Republican side. So, if you're a senator or in a Senate race in Colorado, do you want to put your arm up to Trump and not go near him and repudiate him? Or, do you think he's going to bring you a tailwind? And I think that's the unknown right now. And that's why you see a lot of these establishment figures walking the line. Repudiating some of the tactics, some of the language, but not going as far to say, "We can't have him, we won't vote for him."</s>B. BALDWIN: David Catanese, Lisa Boothe, Susan Del Percio, thank you all very much.</s>DEL PERCIO: Thank you, Brooke.</s>B. BALDWIN: Again, we will be watching to see what Mitt Romney says tomorrow at the University of Utah. Next, though, we talk about Chris Christie. Chris Christie and the look on his face might have stolen the show from his former Republican rival, who he has now endorsed, Donald Trump, last night. Why some are now calling on the New Jersey Governor to resign.