Gingrich Vows 'Whatever It Takes'; The 'Other' Republicans; White House Takes Mortgage Giants to Task
WOLF BLITZER, HOST: T.J., thanks very much. Happening now, embattled GOP presidential candidate, Newt Gingrich, vowing whatever it takes, reassuring supporters he's staying in the race for the White House despite a major campaign implosion and he's ready to square off with his opponents in CNN's first Republican debate in New Hampshire Monday night. Also, the CIA chief, Leon Panetta, warning there are 1,000 Al Qaeda terrorists still in Iraq. Could U.S. troops be withdrawing from the country too soon? And a star in one of television's most popular comedies igniting a national firestorm after making homophobic remarks. Could Tracy Morgan's anti-gay rant end up costing him his job? I'm Wolf Blitzer. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM. But up first, the growing political controversy swirling around Republican presidential hopeful, Newt Gingrich, just one day after the stunning revelations that most of his senior staff quit. New questions, also, about his potential viability as a candidate. Gingrich now insists he's in it for a long hall and he's explaining the campaign breakup this way.</s>NEWT GINGRICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There is a fundamental strategic difference between the traditional consulting community and the kind of campaign I want to run. Now, we'll find out over the next year who's right.</s>BLITZER: Let's bring in our chief political analyst, Gloria Borger. She's been working this story for us. What are these fundamental differences that Newt Gingrich is talking about?</s>GLORIA BORGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, it's very clear, in trying to piece this together over the last couple of days, that this is a campaign staff that felt that they had completely lost control of their candidate, that there was a candidate who had no discipline, who wouldn't adhere to the schedule they wanted. It was very difficult in terms of getting him to focus on a particular vision or a particular set of ideas he wanted to get across to his voters. Someone said to me that he just couldn't make the transition from being Newt Gingrich, the great thinker, to negotiating Newt Gingrich, the candidate, who has to learn to speak succinctly and to tell voters the things he is going to do as president. Then he started making these mistakes, particularly on "Meet the Press," when he came out and called the House Republican budget right- wing social engineering. Things got worse. And they just decided, in frustration, as professionals, that they had to leave this campaign because it was clear to them, after a conference call with the candidate and some real heavy discussions with the candidate, that he wasn't going to change.</s>BLITZER: A lot of people think this is the end of his campaign for all practical purposes.</s>BORGER: Well, a lot of people do. And I think it's hard to think otherwise, quite frankly. But Newt Gingrich himself -- you saw that video earlier. And then he pasted something on his Facebook page today. And let me read you from that. He said, quote: "As someone who has been in public life for nearly 40 years, I know full well the rigors of campaigning for public office. I will endure them. I will carry the message of American renewal to every part of this great land, whatever it takes." So there you have it. But let me add one thing here. Some people have been saying, you know what, other campaigns have survived large staffs leaving. For example, Ronald Reagan and John McCain. Ronald Reagan fired his campaign. John McCain fired top advisers. The difference with Newt Gingrich is that his top advisers have quit en masse. So it wasn't the candidate making the decision that the staff needs to go, we need to retool the campaign. It was the staff saying the candidate does not have the discipline or the will to retool this campaign. So that's a little bit different.</s>BLITZER: And a lot of people are saying this now creates an opening for Texas governor, Rick Perry.</s>BORGER: Sure. Well, it does for a couple of reasons, the most obvious of which is that Newt Gingrich's two top staffers are very close to Governor Rick Perry. One of them ran his gubernatorial race. We know that Perry has been kind of publicly flirting with the notion. Now he's got, it would seem to me, a readymade staff if he wants it. So we'll have to see what he decides to do. He also has a readymade constituency in the Republican Party, which is that Tea Party constituency that Sarah Palin says has not really been represented well in this Republican field. So we'll have to see what happens on that.</s>BLITZER: Maybe another Texas governor in the race for the White House. We'll soon find out.</s>BORGER: We've seen those.</s>BLITZER: Yes. All right, thanks very much. Newt Gingrich is just one of many Republican presidential candidates you'll see facing off only here on CNN in Monday night's New Hampshire debate. But as they shape the race, whether any of them winds up winning their party's nomination certainly remains to be seen. As CNN's Jim Acosta reports, some GOP voters may have not found what they're looking for yet.</s>JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, according to a new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll, GOP voters seem to have an appetite for some alternatives.</s>ACOSTA (voice-over): The Ronald Reagan bumper sticker on the Cadillac parked out front is just the first sign Tammy's Diner in Round Hill, Virginia serves conservative politics right along with the country ham. And it's a good thing the current list of likely GOP candidates isn't on the menu. Some of these Republicans just might stick with coffee.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I like somebody who's smart and conservative, a staunch Republican. There is no model, no perfect guy sitting right there right now.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Obama is going to get elected again. None of these guys can beat him.</s>ACOSTA (on camera): You don't think so?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, not right now.</s>ACOSTA: There may be another reason why voters in Round Hill are looking for some other options for 2012. A few big name politicians are acting like presidential teases.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What about when this session is over, Governor? Are you going to think about it?</s>GOV.  RICK PERRY (R), TEXAS: Yes, sir.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: About running for president?</s>PERRY: I'm going to think about it. But I think about -- I think about a lot of things.</s>ACOSTA: Texas Governor Rick Perry is stoking speculation with plans to stage a national prayer event later this summer. Former New York City mayor, Rudy Giuliani, keeps popping up in New Hampshire.</s>SARAH PALIN (R), FORMER VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Hi, there.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi.</s>PALIN: How are you?</s>ACOSTA: And Sarah Palin not only has a campaign-style bus, there's a pro-Palin movie coming soon.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you think the odds are that you will run?</s>PALIN: I don't know. I honestly don't know. It's -- it's still, you know, a matter of looking at the field and considering much.</s>ACOSTA: New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is headed to Iowa for an education conference next month, but insists he's not running.</s>GOV.  CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), NEW JERSEY: I made a commitment to the people of New Jersey when I asked them for four years as governor.</s>ACOSTA: Think of these Republicans as specials of the day, not quite on the GOP menu, but not quite off. A new CNN/Opinion Research poll shows Republicans do want alternatives. Two-thirds of GOP voters would like to see Giuliani jump into the race. A slightly smaller, though not too shabby majority, wants Palin to run, as well. Another recent poll found nearly 40 percent of Republicans aren't happy with their choices.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If the election were tomorrow, it would probably be Mitt Romney. But that's -- that's only because of there's -- of the lack of choice.</s>ACOSTA: Back at Tammy's Diner, even the prospect of some new choices, like Palin, don't sound too appetizing.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you going to get elected the president and lead that way, too? Give me a break. You couldn't do that.</s>ACOSTA: A sign that when it comes to the GOP field these days, not every Republican is a satisfied customer.</s>ACOSTA: While this field has its critics, it may also have a frontrunner. Mitt Romney is the leading Republican, according to a slew of new polls. The only question is whether Romney can fight off any new flavors of the month that are added to the GOP menu -- Wolf.</s>BLITZER: All right, Jim. Jim Acosta reporting. I never stop marveling at the occasional weirdness of presidential politics. I often wondered why some Democrats were running for the nation's highest office. The same can now be said of some Republicans. Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, he's a smart politician, but he lost his bid for reelection in Pennsylvania to Democrat Bob Casey by 18 points. He now thinks he can win the Republican nomination. Herman Cain, a successful business executive, has never held any elected public office. He lost in his bid to win the Republican Senatorial nomination in Georgia back in 2004. But he's now running for president. Sarah Palin, who's thinking of running, served as governor of Alaska for only two years, quitting midway through her first term. She's made millions of dollars since then. Jon Huntsman quit as Utah's governor during his second term to become the U.S. ambassador to China. "I believe if people elect someone to a position, that person has a responsibility to finish the job." There are many Republicans not satisfied, as you just heard, with the current field. They're urging many others, like Chris Christie, Rick Perry, Paul Ryan, Jeb Bush, Rudy Giuliani, to jump in. Here's a question -- why isn't anyone urging the two most experienced Republican leaders in the country to run, the House speaker, John Boehner, and the Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell? Presidential politics always a bit weird and that's why I love covering politics. You can read my thought, by the way, on our new blog, CNN.com/situationroom. Go there. I think you will enjoy. Let's get to the White House right now, where, for the first time, the Obama administration is singling out top mortgage giants for failing to prevent millions of American homeowners from going into foreclosure. Our White House correspondent, Brianna Keilar, is joining us now with more. It's a pretty shocking development that we're learning -- Brianna. Update our viewers.</s>BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Wolf. The Treasury Department is starting to withhold incentive payments to four mortgage lenders, including some pretty big banks. We're talking about Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo. But what they're really using here as a stick, Wolf, is sort of this idea of really humiliating -- publicly humiliating these institutions into kind of doing the right thing. Here's the big picture, though. This is the first time in the history of this program that we've seen the Obama administration do something like this, in its mortgage relief program that some call a failure.</s>KEILAR:  (voice-over): February 2009 -- with millions on the brink of foreclosure, President Obama rolled out his plan to keep them in their homes.</s>BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The plan I am announcing focuses on rescuing families who played by the rules and acted responsible, by refinancing loans for millions of families in traditional mortgages who are underwater or close to it.</s>KEILAR: Millions of families -- up to four million, in fact, were supposed to avoid foreclosure under the plan. To date, it has kept just about 700,000 in their homes. Neil Barofsky, the former independent watchdog for the program, has become its chief critic. He resigned from his post in March. (on camera): So how do you characterize the outcome of this program?</s>NEIL BAROFSKY, FORMER TARP INSPECTOR GENERAL: It's a failure. I mean I -- I really think it's difficult to define it anything other than as an abject failure.</s>KEILAR:  (voice-over): Lenders whose loans to people who couldn't afford them led to the foreclosure crisis were supposed to modify loans so struggling homeowners could reduce their monthly payments. In exchange, the government would make an incentive payment to the lender. But it didn't really happen. Barofsky says it's because the payments are not enough and there are no penalties for banks not participating. (on camera): How many fines has Treasury imposed in this program?</s>BAROFSKY: Zero. Not one. Notwithstanding the fact that in November of 2009, they issued a press release and said that they're going to start holding servicers accountable with penalties and withholding payments if they -- if they don't comply with the terms of their agreements, nothing followed.</s>KEILAR:  (voice-over): While Barofsky blames the Treasury Department, Secretary Tim Geithner points a finger at the mortgage companies.</s>TIMOTHY GEITHNER, SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY: They are not putting enough resources in separate. They are not doing a good enough job of helping homeowners navigate through a very complicated, difficult process. They have to do a better job.</s>KEILAR: Now, Geithner also highlighted a number of other programs that the Obama administi -- the Obama administration has undertaken to try to help struggling homeowners. One helps those who are unemployed and underwater on their loans. There's another program that targets, Wolf, some of the hardest hit states, giving states the ability to kind of put that money in different places. The thing is, though, there are no numbers on those programs yet. We'll see them soon, but we don't really know how well they're doing.</s>BLITZER: It's a story that affects millions, as you point out, millions of our viewers out there. Thank you. Brianna Keilar is over at the White House. Is Moammar Gadhafi on NATO's hit list? He's virtually a fugitive in his own capital now. Is the Alliance targeting getting him for assassination? U.S. troops were expected to pull out of Iraq -- all of them -- by year's end. So why are top Pentagon brass now hinting that they could stay longer? And a rant by the comedian, Tracy Morgan, hits a nerve, sparking controversy across the country. You're going to find out if he's apologizing for making homophobic slurs. Stay with us. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.