Former Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore Enters Republican Presidential Race
KEILAR: Former Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore is the latest Republican to join the presidential race. He joins a very crowded lineup of contenders. You have 17 GOP candidates in all now. And Gilmore says he has experience with national security and the economy that other Republican candidates lack. Gilmore served as Virginia governor from 1998 to 2002. He's also served as chairman of the Republican National Committee and chairman of the congressional panel to assess America's capabilities to respond to a terrorist attack. This is a panel known as the Gilmore Commission. And he is a U.S. Army veteran. He's also here to talk about some of this. Governor, thank you so much for being with me.</s>JIM GILMORE, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & FORMER VIRGINIA GOVERNOR: Thank you.</s>KEILAR: There's this forum tonight in New Hampshire. You won't be there. You Mike Huckabee, Donald Trump, won't be in attendance. Why not?</s>GILMORE: I think we got into the race so late they could not make the preparations for us to be there tonight. But I've been to New Hampshire eight times, I visited every county in New Hampshire, I've been there multiple days on each trip and continue to go back because New Hampshire is important.</s>KEILAR: You ran briefly in 2008. You struggled with fund-raising. You're back at it again. I wonder what lessons you learned and what do you think you bring to a crowded field that other candidates don't?</s>GILMORE: I think it's the entire package, Brianna. I am a governor and governors are considered legitimate for this debate in this presidential campaign. A governor has run a state. He understands what is going on. But I have an additional component. The fact that I'm a United States Army veteran, a degree in Soviet affairs, that I chaired the National Commission on the Homeland Security for the United States, I was during t governor during the 9/11 attack so I have foreign policy credentials to go along with gubernatorial credentials and that combination doesn't exist elsewhere in the field.</s>KEILAR: The Monmouth University poll of Republican voters, you have 77 percent of people who said they don't have an opinion of you. That means they don't know you. You have an uphill battle when you look at the numbers. And the fact that you aren't polling in the top 10, so you won't be in the main debate stage Thursday night, creates another challenge. How do you get people to have an opinion of you?</s>GILMORE: I think it will be a long race. There's an opportunity to appear multiple times band in additional debates. Hopefully, I'll be in the debate on Thursday with FOX. It's a chance to talk about issues of importance to the people of the United States. After a while, the people of the country will say, "Look, I'm tired of the circus. I want a candidate who understands my concerns, jobs, opportunities." And my real concern about the international threat. I'm addressing those issues and I'm capable of doing that.</s>KEILAR: Your record is going to be looked at. A big legacy for you when you left the state of Virginia was you went in very well as governor, very well received. You got rid of the state vehicle tax, which voters told you they wanted. But when you left, unable to strike a budget deal, there was a big budget shortfall and that was part of your legacy. Knowing that your record will be scrutinized, if you are to gain more attention, what do you say to voters?</s>GILMORE: I would say if I had -- Virginia only gets one term. If I had a chance to serve in the second term there wouldn't have been a budget shortfall. We would have constructed on a budget that delivered on the promise of the car tax cut. But it wasn't to keep a legacy it was to deliver a value to working people. A real tax cut. I'm telling you now, the problem we're facing in the United States today is that the economy is dragging and people don't the opportunities that they need and represent tax reform policy can revitalize this economy, get our growth up, get our wages up and give people a chance for a future.</s>KEILAR: How do you take on an opponent like Donald Trump?</s>GILMORE: I'm not concerned about Donald Trump. I'm more concerned about the opportunity, as you have said, to get my ideas out there, the idea of revitalizing the economy and the deep experience I have to address the international crisis. It's very real. The danger of the United States is serious. We have multiple challenges at this point because of the weakness of the Obama/Clinton foreign policy. The Obama/Clinton foreign policy has made a dangerous world more dangerous. I believe I can reverse the American decline and get America back on the upswing both in terms of jobs and opportunity and foreign policy.</s>KEILAR: You say your executive experience as governor matters a lot. There's a number of governors in the race, including Jeb Bush. I want to ask you about his immigration proposal just out today. He says he would crack down on sanctuary cities, local cities that don't enforce federal immigration laws. He would beef up security at the border with more bases, new roads for patrol. He would kick out immigrants who have overstayed their visas and have a biometric exit system.</s>GILMORE: I think he's right about sanctuary cities and I know we have to secure the border. I'm a little taken aback by his position that he wants to deport five million people who have overstayed their visas. His signature issue for years has been amnesty. Jeb has been about amnesty. So I think he's trying to have it both ways. This is both-way Jeb now. If he can take a signature issue he's cared about so much, amnesty for illegal aliens, then turn on a dime, what will he do as president? Can he be trusted to carry out the things he says he'll do? I think he's looking at Trump's numbers and he's seen the light but the light is Trump's poll numbers.</s>KEILAR: Governor Gilmore, thanks so much for being with us. Appreciate it.</s>GILMORE: Thank you, Brianna.</s>KEILAR: To learn more about Governor Jim Gilmore and all of the presidential contenders, 16 more of them, head over to CNN politics.com. Up next, another near-miss reported in New York as a mystery drone flies too close to a packed passenger plane. We'll take a closer look at this next.