Christie Not Running for President
ANDERSON COOPER, HOST: Erin, thanks very much. Good evening everyone. We begin with breaking news. Looking here at live pictures of the Seattle-Tacoma international airport, British Airways, flight 49. The 747 carrying Amanda Knox is now descending towards Seattle. And in a few minutes it will pull up at the gate. Shortly after that, we are expecting a news conference and possibly word from Amanda Knox herself. The news conference said to be by her family. Again, we expect possibly to hear from Amanda Knox. These are photos of her at London's Heathrow airport where she was changing planes for Seattle. Her trip home three years, 11 months since her incarceration in the murder of her roommate Meredith Kercher. Now, just a day since a jury in an appeals court cleared her and her boyfriend at the time of the charge. Safe to say her family has been waiting for and working for this moment for a very, very long time, working extraordinarily hard. Also safe to say it was a moment that Meredith Kercher's family has been dreading.</s>LYLE KERCHER, MEREDITH KERCHER'S BORTHER: It's also a very complex case. You know, there's a lot of evidence there, whether it's forensic or physical. And of course, one of the things we're left questioning is how the decision was so adamant the first time around has been so emphatically overturned.</s>COOPER: That was from the Kercher family in Britain earlier today. Again, we're waiting to hear from the Knox's themselves tonight, so as Drew Griffin reporting tonight from Seattle. So Drew, the plane that Amanda Knox is on landing within just a few minute, do we know what's going to happen as soon as she arrives?</s>DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SPECIAL INVESTIGATION UNIT: Well, she has to clear customs somewhat, and pick up her bags and extended family, have to come. And then we're expecting a news conference. I'm right in the middle of this huge, huge media gaggle, Anderson that is awaiting this news conference. We expect to hear from a spokesperson, an attorney and then Curt Knox, the father, Edda Mellis the mother, and perhaps we're told a statement from Amanda Knox, although that was unclear. The family very concerned how Amanda is going to handle all of this now that she's out and free and has the ability to interact with the media which she's not had yet in that Italian prison.</s>COOPER: And also the ability to actually speak freely, something she hasn't really been able to do. After they leave the airport, do we know what happens to her next? I mean, she obviously hasn't been able to plan for her future at this point. Where she even headed?</s>GRIFFIN: Look, you know, she lived with her mother. If that's where she goes back, we'll see. I can tell you there's going to be a lot of media chasing her, trying to find out where she is and capture every aspect of her life. The family told me they would like it if she could, quote, unquote, go dark for about six weeks, try to assess what she wants to do, what kind of deals she want to enter and kind of get back into this freedom and pressure slowly, but you know it's anybody's guess honestly if the media, the press, the tabloids will allow her to do that.</s>COOPER: Well, let's hope people respect the fact that this is a very young girl who is just now a young woman trying to readjust to life and hope people aren't chasing her down. Drew, we'll be back with you shortly again. I want to bring you that live press conference when it happens. For our politics now, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and the no heard around the Republican presidential world.</s>GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), NEW JERSEY: Now is not my time. I have a commitment to New Jersey that I simply will not abandon.</s>COOPER: Governor Christie today saying he was swayed by calls to run for president but ultimately not moved, which shouldn't come as news to anyone who has been following him the last couple years.</s>CHRISTIE: I'm governor, I want to be governor. I'm not running for president. I don't feel ready in my heart to be president. I don't want to run for president. I don't feel like I'm ready to be president. I don't want to run for president. I don't have the fire in the belly to run for president. I have big things to accomplish here. And that does not include leaving and running for national office. I'm 100 percent certain I'm not going to run.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you do see the presidency at all in your future?</s>CHRISTIE: No.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you running for president?</s>CHRISTIE: No!</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm kidding. I'm kidding. All right.</s>CHRISTIE: My God, I'm not running for president. I did. I said what do I have to do short of suicide to convince people I'm not running? Apparently, I actually have to commit suicide to convince people I'm not running.</s>COOPER: So, with Christie out, Rick Perry struggling for the moment, Mitt Romney seems to be merging to be a front-runner right now with Herman Cain getting a surprising boost. Let's talk about it with our political contributor Erick Erickson, editor in chief of redstate.com, Republican strategist Mary Matalin, also with us chief political analyst Gloria Borger. So Gloria, I can only imagine that Mitt Romney is part breathing a big sigh of relief tonight.</s>GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes. I spoke with some people in the Romney camp. They are clearly breathing a sigh of relief. Look, they would have been competing against Chris Christie for the same constituency in the Republican Party. They would have been competing for money in the Republican Party. And essentially they would have been making the same argument about being the most electable candidate in the Republican Party. So, with Chris Christie gone, what we're hearing tonight and what we're reporting on CNN is that some of those top would-be Christie fund-raisers are now moving very quickly to the Romney camp, including Ken Langone, who is the co-founder of Home Depot. So, the Romney people are quite happy about this. And all they have to do is convince Republicans to get on board. They're polling at a solid 25 percent. But you need to do better than that to get the nomination.</s>COOPER: Mary, let's look at some of those polls because after losing support, now seems as it Gloria says some voters are giving Romney a second look. New polls like this one from "the Washington Post" and ABC show Romney claiming the top spot, Perry battling of Herman Cain. For a second, what do you make about the rise of Herman Cain and I guess the stumble of Rick Perry?</s>MARY MATALIN, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: Well, the Romney is the same floor and the same ceiling he's had throughout the race. So, the dynamic hasn't changed, still a two man race Romney versus the anti- Romney. There is a two-man race for the not-Romney candidate. And there's well, or you could say another way, 75 percent of the primary electorate is still not with Romney. What Gloria just reported is an important fact to see where the money goes. But there is still an enthusiasm gap for Romney and there is a 13-point enthusiasm advantage for the conservative electorate at large. So this primary's very rational. The activists want their enthusiasm for their candidate to be commensurate with their enthusiasm for their message. And I think this thing will go longer into the primaries than people think.</s>COOPER: Well Erick, I mean is the Christie phenomenon, the interest in him as much about what voters thought of the current crop of candidates as what they thought about him?</s>ERICK ERICKSON, EDITOR IN CHIEF, REDSTATE.COM: Yes, I think it was a lot to do with him. His leadership performance at this press conference was so strong today. There will probably be a poll out next week showing he moves into first place in the Republican primary and Bill Kristol will start to rumour he's running again. Then we'll have a press conference where he says yet again for the 14th time he's not running. Look, the problem here and Mary is absolutely right here. The Republican conservative electorate wants someone who can beat Barack Obama but they want someone who can beat Mitt Romney along the way. Seventy five percent of them subdue. And they are trying - that's why you see all these other numbers bouncing up and down. Bachmann's rise, Cain's rise, Perry's rise. They're vetting these guys to see who can be the anti-Romney to then run against Barack Obama and be viable. The Romney is the bar in a survey that came out today that shows he has a huge problem with evangelical voters in the country, which will impact not just in Iowa, but in South Carolina as well.</s>BORGER: You know, Anderson, this wasn't supposed to be an establishment year for the Republican Party. This was supposed to be an outsider's year. You know, this was the tea party coming in and saying we're going to bring you a different kind of Republican candidate to challenge Barack Obama, who was a different kind of Republican candidate. Only guess what? It may turn out to be an establishment year.</s>COOPER: Mary, I mean is all -</s>ERICKSON: You know -</s>COOPER: Go ahead.</s>ERICKSON: Well, I was going to say, Gloria's absolutely right. It is largely because there are 50 billion tea party groups in the country all vying to be the national tea party. And each of them has a different candidate that they like. As long as there's no consensus there, it's Mitt Romney's race to lose.</s>MATALIN: But let me say to that point there is no establishment message.</s>BORGER: Right.</s>MATALIN: There might be an establishment candidate at the end, but this is an anti-establishment, anti-Washington, stop spending, start working year. So it doesn't matter who the messenger is. The message is not changing. That dynamic hasn't changed.</s>COOPER: Mary Matalin, Gloria Borger, thanks very much, Erick Erickson. I just want to take you to live pictures right now. Amanda Knox, her plane has landed in Seattle at the Tacoma airport. British airways flight 49. Amanda Knox we saw her changing planes earlier in London. Again, we anticipate a press conference, as Drew Griffin was reporting. She obviously has to clear customs. But not sure if she'll get a special whisk through customs but there's a press conference at the airport scheduled where we'll hear from members of the family, her legal team as well and possibly Amanda Knox herself. We'll bring that to you live. We anticipate that happening within the next 20 to 30 minutes, we were told to expect that. We are going to take a quick break. Let us know what you think. We're on facebook; follow me at twitter, @andersoncooper. I'll be tweeting tonight. Just to add tonight, also, the attorney general of the United States saying he only learned about the box ATF gun operations that we've been talking about called fast and the furious. We've been reporting on it for months now. He says he only learned about a few weeks before lawmakers asked him about it. Keeping them honest tonight, we have memos that say otherwise. We also have some tough questions too for the Republican curves men behind the investigation of the attorney general. First, let's check in with Isha Sesay.</s>ISHA SESAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Anderson, an interesting day of testimony in the Michael Jackson death trial. Look at Conrad Murray's girlfriends take the stand including the one who received cartons of the drug that killed Michael Jackson. That and much more, when 360 continues.