Transcript: Mitt and Ann Romney open up on personal life in exclusive interview

BILL HEMMER, CO-HOST, "AMERICA'S NEWSROOM": I asked a lot of people what they would ask you. What would you say to the governor if you had a chance? And most said they did not know enough about you. Does that surprise you?

MITT ROMNEY, R-PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Oh, I don't think so at this early stage. We're just beginning a general election. We've gone through a primary, not a lot of people have focused time on the characteristics of a new candidate like myself.

And people will get to know me better. I'm -- my guess is they're going to get to know more about me than they'd like to by the time we're finished.

HEMMER: And a lot of people that have talked to me about that process think that you're a tough guy to crack.

(LAUGHTER)

HEMMER: Is there truth to that?

ANN ROMNEY, WIFE OF PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It depends on who's asking.

M. ROMNEY: You know, I don't know whether that's the case or not.

M.ROMNEY: As people get to know me a little better, they'll -- some will like me, some won't. It's probably the nature of most folks.

HEMMER: What do you think about that Mrs. Romney?

A. ROMNEY: I just think he's very private and the thing that is interesting for me is to see that there are misperceptions out there about how people think they know him. So this is why I love having the opportunity to say this is the narrative that I want, and this is the real narrative and the real person --

HEMMER: And that's part of the process, too, and all that. But you once ran a company. You ran a company in 2001, I think, at $12 billion in assets. What kind of a boss were you?

M. ROMNEY: Well, you have to ask the people that worked with me.

HEMMER: Well, what do you -- ?

(CROSSTALK)

HEMMER: Were you the first one in the morning? Were you the last one to leave? Did you take three-hour lunches?

A. ROMNEY: First one in the morning, not long -- no lunches and the last one to leave. I mean, he is a -- he is the hardest working person I've ever met besides his father, George Romney, who was a crazy man. But he --

(CROSSTALK)

A. ROMNEY: -- crazy good, crazy unbelievable good and --

M. ROMNEY: They called my dad "The Brick." That was his nickname, The Brick, just solid. Just couldn't penetrate.

HEMMER: What about you as a boss? How would you describe yourself?

M. ROMNEY: Well, again, I'm not the right one to describe that. But I didn't see myself as a boss. I saw myself as someone that would help organize an extraordinary people. And the people that worked at the firm I worked in were exceptionally bright, highly motivated with extraordinary insights, a number of them better than I on a series of dimensions.

And I wasn't always the highest compensated. I was the guy that set the compensation, but I paid other people more than I paid myself because I thought they were doing a better job.

HEMMER: Here you are, traveling all over the country and you're meeting with middle class families that have been through some kind of trauma over the past four years, and they were fighting to stay alive just to get through it. They'll save themselves and their kids from drowning, financially speaking.

HEMMER: How do you make a connection to those people?

M. ROMNEY: You know, as I speak to people that are middle America, what I find is that the statistics understate the kind of pain and insecurity that exist in America's homes. I see people who may be employed, but are very concerned they could lose their job at any time.

HEMMER: And back to the connection aspect of this, there will be people -- and you know this already -- who will look at you as just a successful rich guy.

M. ROMNEY: Like FDR and (inaudible) John F. Kennedy (inaudible) there have been plenty of people. This is --

(CROSSTALK)

M. ROMNEY: There's not a nation that divides people based upon whether they've been successful or not. We don't say, oh, boy, this person won the lottery and therefore they can't understand me or -- we instead look at people and celebrate their success and their achievement and we look for people who have the skills we think will make our lives better. The real need in America is to help middle income families get good jobs with rising incomes and more security and help people who are poor come out of poverty and become middle income.

(PART 2)

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HEMMER: In 2008, then candidate Barack Obama held a series of events where he made big speeches centered around race in America, religion in America, and he was able to draw -- used those events to draw a lot of attention to his message. And have you given consideration to doing that about your own faith?

M. ROMNEY: Well, I give (inaudible) speeches on topics of significance and have about once a week or once every two weeks for the last couple of months, and will continue doing so as regards religion in America. I gave a speech on that topic in my last campaign at the George Herbert Walker Bush Library. I don't know that I would add to that or change it in some way.

HEMMER: Then I take it nothing is planned or nothing's scheduled. But despite that, where do Americans need to understand about how important your faith is to you?

M. ROMNEY: Well, I think people who are people of faith believe that there's a purpose greater than themselves. And for me, I -- there's no question I believe in a Heavenly Father. I believe in His Son, Jesus Christ. I believe in the Holy Ghost. These are features that I think are part of many people's faith in this country. Other folks have differing views.

That's my view (inaudible) that are holy in my view that shape my sense of commitment to my nation. I'm taught to be patriotic and to support the nation and to follow the law. I'm also taught to care and serve other people.

HEMMER: A lot is made of your relationship with your father

HEMMER: Not a lot of (inaudible) said about your mom, Lenore (ph), and you -- she had three kids, and the doctors came to her and said, no more physically, it's not going to happen ever again. Then along comes you.

M. ROMNEY: Not exactly a normal kid, you know. She had to take what she got.

A. ROMNEY: Mitt's mother absolutely adored Mitt. It was the baby she never thought she would have.

HEMMER: And I've heard about the relationship, but the point is, he wasn't even supposed to be here.

A. ROMNEY: That's right. Yes. Here he is.

M. ROMNEY: What can I say?

M. ROMNEY: I think my mother found it hard when I fell completely in love with Ann, as a senior in high school, and I had no interest in talking to my mother, and only interested in being with Ann.

(CROSSTALK)

A. ROMNEY: I think a lot of mothers go through that.

HEMMER: You said that you've never had a serious argument in 43 years of marriage?

M. ROMNEY: (Inaudible) other places we agree or disagree, of course. There are places where we disagree. But we don't yell and slam doors --

(CROSSTALK)

HEMMER: (Inaudible) on the surface, to you expect me to believe that?

M. ROMNEY: Oh, we don't yell and slam doors.

A. ROMNEY: We don't scream.

HEMMER: But do you -- is it -- when it comes to policy or issues, is there disagreement?

A. ROMNEY: Well, I don't think we're ever exactly on the same page 100 percent, but --

HEMMER: Would you name one?

A. ROMNEY: I'm not going to name one because I don't think that's important. I'm not the one running for president, this guy is. And I completely support 90 percent of where Mitt is.

HEMMER: There's the possibility as we sit here today you could be in the White House in eight months.

Have you talked about that?

M. ROMNEY: Yes, we've spoken about that. We've thought about it. OK, what happens in that circumstance and are we prepared for that, what kinds of things would Ann focus on, which things would I do? We talk about how our life would change. But my guess is it's almost impossible to imagine how your life would change in that circumstance.

A. ROMNEY: I believe if Mitt wins, the country wins. If Mitt loses, the country loses. I really believe that. I think that we are at a dividing -- a real fork in the road as to which direction this country can go in.

And I really believe that there is a sense in the country that we are in danger and that we have got to turn this country around.

(PART 3)

HEMMER: The way I see you selling yourself is the manager that America needs.

M. ROMNEY: I'm not sure manager is as apt a word as leader. A manager, somehow, you have the perception that they're handing out assignments and checking off boxes, and so forth, and telling other people what to do. A leader is someone who has the respect of other individuals, is likely to follow -- is likely to be able to get people to follow them, that has a vision for where you need to go.

When I look at my experience as the governor and then as someone running a business, I hope that I was more a leader and less a manager and more able to be successful by virtue of leading, which is bringing good people together, setting a course and working together to achieve the mission that you set.

HEMMER: So now --

(CROSSTALK)

A. ROMNEY: I saw that especially at the Olympics. And it was a sense of sacrifice or just giving something up and going out and helping and doing something. And everyone that was there was doing the same thing. And that, to me, is the closest comparison that you can see as to what needs to be done in this country right now. And I agree with Mitt. It's leadership. He was able to step in at a critical time. I think people that worked at the Olympics will tell you, to this day, that it was the most purposeful moment of their life.

HEMMER: In Jacksonville two weeks ago, you were talking about some of the ads being run against you. And you said the purpose of the president's ads are not to describe success and failure, but somehow to suggest that I'm not a good person or not a good guy. Explain the last part of that, not a good person or not a good guy.

M. ROMNEY: Well, I think that part of the president's campaign is either directly through his campaign organization or through people who support him in the media, is to somehow denigrate me as a person, to -- I mean, they said early on that their objective in that campaign was to, quote, "kill Mitt Romney," not literally, but figuratively, obviously.

But (inaudible) somehow make me unacceptable. That's part of what they want to do. That's the nature of a campaign. And I mean, I'm a husband, a father, grandfather, a business guy. I care very deeply about the country and that's why I'm running. I care about the kind of country we're going to leave to the next generation, my kids and grandkids.

HEMMER: What -- is he a good guy

A. ROMNEY: The best. And you know, I've known him for so long, and I met him in high school, and so I know that he has unquestionable integrity. Obviously I think everyone knows he's very intelligent. But beyond that, the judgment is so good.

HEMMER: Governor, I think visibly I've seen you get angry twice, and once was --

(CROSSTALK)

HEMMER: -- that bale of hay in Iowa last summer, when a couple guys were not quite down at the same rate that you wanted them to.

Does he get mad?

A. ROMNEY: Oh, yes. He got -- yes, we all have a pushing point, so, yes, of course.

HEMMER: How does he express it?

A. ROMNEY: You know, in a lot more mature way than he did when he was younger. So I will say that we all learn a lot as we grow older.

HEMMER: (Inaudible)?

A. ROMNEY: Oh, yes. I mean, you know, we all --

HEMMER: Or does he get quiet and walk away?

A. ROMNEY: No, no, no. He's -- he deals with it straight on.

(PART 4)

HEMMER: Your dad says he likes to compete with you guys... Who usually comes out the winner in that?

CRAIG ROMNEY, MITT AND ANN ROMNEY'S SON: Not him...

We've got five brothers so it's a pretty competitive group.

HEMMER: What kind of advice has he passed to you?

C. ROMNEY: He's rarely taken me aside and said you need to do this, you need to do that. It's always been more of a lead by example and just kind of watching him as I grew up seeing his dedication and his integrity that stuff rubbed off on me I think. But he never was one to take me aside and give me a lecture or anything like that.

HEMMER: Sort of let you figure it out on your own?

C. ROMNEY: I guess so.

HEMMER: What about your mom?

C. ROMNEY: My mom was always the, she was always the... bit of a softer one in the family and my dad was more the disciplinarian. My mom... You could always... If you wanted to get away with something you went to mom not to dad. For money you went to mom... not to dad.

HEMMER: so she was the understanding, soft one. And Dad was the disciplinarian.

C. ROMNEY: you know you kind of have to take those roles. But it was interesting.. Growing up I never really had that weird teenager relationship with my parents it always... it was more of a friendship.

I was the youngest so I think they kind of figured out their parenting style by that point so it was very easy going.

M. ROMNEY WITH GRANDKIDS:

M. ROMNEY: Do you like going to school?

GRANDSON: No

M. ROMNEY: No?

GRANDSON: No

M. ROMNEY: Yes you do.

GRANDSON: No I don't want to do homework.

M. ROMNEY: I think we should get rid of vacations and have you go to school every day, don't you think?

(LAUGHTER)

C. ROMNEY: One of the benefits of the campaign is you're actually always out on the road traveling and you get to see your family a lot more than you would.

HEMMER: What do you think about him running for president a second time?

(LAUGHER)

A. ROMNEY: You're weren't a fan right?

C. ROMNEY: I had a harder time with it because it was heart breaking last time to see how it ended. But you know in the end, I think we decided it was something he had to do because he has been uniquely prepared to I think take the country at this point in time and really get it back on the right track.