Return to Transcripts main page

At This Hour

Presidential Candidates Head for Iowa State Fair, Starting with Mike Huckabee; Jimmy Carter Announces He Has Cancer; Hillary Clinton Turns Over E-Mail Service to Justice Department; "The Seventies" Features Studio 54. Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired August 13, 2015 - 11:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[11:30:00] KATHIE OBRADOVICH, POLITICAL COLUMNIST, DES MOINES REGISTER: It flexes some muscles for presidential candidates they don't normally have to do, including how to eat fried food on a stick without looking extremely unattractive.

(CROSSTALK)

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: It's a challenge.

OBRADOVICH: Yes, it is. It's difficult. Very few people could pull off the corn dog and looking attractive. But the soapbox is a way for candidates to -- a lot of times, they just give their stump speech. Sometimes they spend the whole time answering questions. And sometimes candidates will pick out something they don't usually talk about, maybe something from their personal history or some topic that is personally important to them and try to get closer to people who maybe are not familiar with them. This is not a political crowd. These are people just walking by.

BOLDUAN: And, Kathie, stick with me.

Let's dip in. Former Governor Mike Huckabee is speaking right now on the soapbox. Let's listen.

MIKE HUCKABEE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & FORMER ARKANSAS GOVERNOR: -- some fried foods and rides just to hear a politician talk. But I think a lot of times you in Iowa hear a lot of politicians talk. You hear a lot of people come to your state. This time, 17 Republicans are coming to Iowa to ask for your vote and support in the caucuses. There will be a handful of Democrats who come as well. Hillary probably is not going to come. She'll e-mail in her appearances.

(APPLAUSE)

HUCKABEE: You see, I know the Clintons pretty well. I was born in Hope, Arkansas, the same town Bill Clinton was born in. People wonder sometimes how in the world is it possible so many politicians would come from one small town? The answer is, I don't know.

Here is what I do know. That for the Republicans who are deciding how to vote, who to vote for, a lot of the questions are, is there anybody on our side that has a good opportunity to take on the Clinton political machine? Folks, I'm the only one who has ever done it because every election I ever ran in Arkansas every time, I didn't just run against anyone. I ran against the entire political apparatus that the Clintons built over a 25-year period. I'm going to tell you, it's formidable.

I know most of you probably think the most Democratic state in the country is Massachusetts. Maybe you think it's Oregon or Vermont or Maine or New York or New Jersey, but you would be wrong. In the 1990s, the most Democratic state in all of America was Arkansas. When I was elected lieutenant governor, I was only the fourth Republican elected in 150 years.

BOLDUAN: Listening to former governor of Arkansas, Mike Huckabee, taking to the soapbox.

So, Kathie, you're back with me.

He did not miss an opportunity to take a jab at Hillary Clinton and the e-mail controversy surrounding her. This seems like a perfect setting for Mike Huckabee. He seems like he can shine on the soapbox.

OBRADOVICH: Absolutely. First of all, he has the experience of having run for president before, and that is really invaluable but, also, he has that easy, folksy style, a very conversational way of addressing people. Interesting he chose to go into the attack on Hillary Clinton. This is not a Republican crowd necessarily at the state fair. This is a bipartisan group, so going right on the attack is something that I think may be something that not all the candidates choose to do from that particular venue.

BOLDUAN: Now, Kathie, we can't let you go without saying this is an opportunity to connect with voters. They're right there with him and they are. That's the beauty of the state fair. It also does come with some risk, doesn't it? The soapbox is where Mitt Romney uttered that infamous line, corporations are people, and that obviously was used against him throughout his campaign.

OBRADOVICH: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, this is a really sort of a fluid situation at the state fair. You don't know who will be in up audience. Mitt Romney and some of the other candidates faced protesters who were very vocal and yelling questions. And corporations are people, too, were part of a back and forth with a protester. And so candidates really have to be on their toes. There are going to be people at the fair who will work hard to push them off message. This is a test, I think, of candidates also to be able to talk through distractions. There's a lot going on around them. Not everybody is paying attention. There may be loudspeakers. There may be something that happens.

BOLDUAN: Kathie, let me quick get your take on the polls and the poll numbers. One person even offered to give kids free helicopter rides is Donald Trump. There has been some clear tension between your paper and Donald Trump following a critical editorial piece written about him, they called him a blow hard that should step aside, pull the plug in his campaign, if you will. But he is leading now in Iowa. Do you think that editorial had anything to do with his numbers where he stands there? OBRADOVICH: No. I don't think the editorial has anything to do with

it. And, to be clear, that was the opinion of the editorial board and --

(CROSSTALK)

BOLDUAN: Separate from the political team, absolutely, yeah.

[11:35:09] OBRADOVICH: Yeah, not myself. He is -- I think the reason he is high in the polls right now is there's a real dissatisfaction with what's going on in Washington, disgust with the inaction in Congress. You look at your poll, your CNN poll, it's remarkable. The top three people in that Republican poll have never held office before. That really says something, I think, about the feeling of the electorate and how they feel about the political class right now.

Kathie Obradovich, great to see you. Kathie, thank you.

OBRADOVICH: Thank you for having me.

BOLDUAN: Enjoy the fair. Have some fried food for me, please.

OBRADOVICH: Absolutely.

BOLDUAN: Coming up for us, former President Jimmy Carter announces he has cancer and that it is spreading. New details about his condition and his treatment options ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: Happening now, support and well wishes are pouring in for former President Jimmy Carter after he announced he is battling cancer and says the disease is spreading. The 90-year-old former president issued a brief statement saying recent liver surgery redeveloped the cancer that it is now in other parts of his body. And he will be rearranging his schedule as necessary so he can undergo treatment. The former president has not revealed the type of cancer he has. He says that he's going to share more information as facts are more known, I guess, possibly as early as next week.

Joining me now to discuss is Dr. Johanna Bendell, director of the Gastrointestinal Cancer Research Program at Sarah Cannon Research Institute.

Doctor, thank you so much for your time.

There's obviously, as I kind of laid out, a lot of information not known and obviously the president is not a patient of yours, but what do you read from that brief statement that they released about how serious this could be?

[13:40:26] DR. JOHANNA BENDELL, DIRECTOR, GASTROINTESTINAL CANCER RESEARCH PROGRAM, SARAH CANNON RESEARCH INSTITUTE: From hearing that he has not only cancer in his liver but it has spread to other parts of his body, which makes us think this cancer is probably more advanced and knowing it's in his lifer and other parts and that they haven't released where the tumor or cancer has originated from, they're probably going to try to learn more about where this cancer came from the biopsy, from the surgery he just had.

BOLDUAN: And he is 90 years old. How does age factor into his treatment options going forward?

BENDELL: You know, interesting, he's 90 years old but such an active 9 -year-old person and when we see patients in the office we think not only of age but how active are the patients, how well are they performing their daily duties? He is doing so well. I think he would be a great candidate for potential treatment options.

BOLDUAN: Carter has a family history. His brother, his sister died of pancreatic cancer. We know how serious that type of cancer and lethal that cancer unfortunately is. Do you think he has pancreatic cancer with that kind of history?

BENDELL: Looking at what's been reported in the press statements, one is suspicious he could have pancreatic cancer. We have seen hereditary syndrome of pancreatic cancer, so this could be it. It's a very serious disease that carries a very poor outcome but, at the same time, we've made a lot of advances in improving the treatment of pancreatic cancer so patients live longer and feel better.

BOLDUAN: A lot more attention and more research and research dollars need to go to that, though, because it is such a lethal disease.

Doctor Bendell, thank you very much for your time.

BENDELL: So true. Thank you so much.

BOLDUAN: Of course. We wish, of course, the president and his family the best as he works towards his recovery.

After months of controversy, Hillary Clinton's private e-mail server is now in the hands of the FBI. Up next, we're going to speak to a former Justice Department official and a federal prosecutor about possible legal ramifications she could be facing.

An exPLOsion so violent it could be felt for miles, charring buildings, even melting cars. New details about this deadly blast ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:46:23] BOLDUAN: New this morning, the FBI now has Hillary Clinton's private e-mail server in their possession after months of controversy brewing. The server was in her New York home during her time as secretary of state. An intelligence officials are concerned sensitive government information could have been compromised. But the State Department says it's not clear yet if the material ought to be considered classified at all.

There's a back and forth going on, for sure, surrounding this. It's something that has dogged Clinton on the campaign trail for sure. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARLY FIORINA (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & FORMER CEO, HEWLETT- PACKARD: Hillary Clinton lies about Benghazi, she lies about e-mails, she is still defending Planned Parenthood, and she is still her party's front-runner.

GOV. SCOTT WALKER (R-WI), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Probably the Russian and Chinese government know more about Hillary Clinton's e- mail server than do members of the United States Congress.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Joining me now to discuss, justice reporter, Evan Perez, who has done a lot of reporting on this; as well as Victoria Toensing, a former Justice Department office and former chief counsel for the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Thank you both. Great to see you.

Victoria, Clinton has said all along she did nothing wrong, never passed along any classified information. You, though, think Hillary Clinton could face real trouble over this. Why?

VICTORIA TOENSING, FORMER JUSTICE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL & FORMER CHIEF COUNSEL, SENATE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: Oh, well, she has committed a crime. It's the same crime General David Petraeus pled guilty to, having classified information in an unauthorized location. That's the gist of the crime. It's a one-year maximum sentence, a misdemeanor. Petraeus got two years' probation and a $100,000 fine.

Look, here it is, she purposely put the server in her home, in an unauthorized location, and they have now found top-secret documents on that server, from her documents that were on that server. Petraeus was only confidential, which is the lowest classification for classified documents.

BOLDUAN: Now the campaign -- I spoke specifically to the campaign and press secretary, Evan, and I know you're speaking to sources as well. The campaign says there has been a dispute and was an ongoing between the State Department and intelligence community about whether the documents should be classified. They say they were not classified at the time, so it's not their fault. What is the Clinton campaign now saying about this? She long resisted turning over this private server, but clearly now has.

EVAN PEREZ, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: She has turned it over, Kate, and she has also done this without receiving a subpoena. She wanted to make sure it was clear she was cooperating with the FBI but, look, it's never good for the FBI to be nosing around your computer server. Nobody ever should want that. And so that's what the Clinton campaign is going to have and probably will be having this happen now for the next few months. The bottom line is, I think, Victoria is pointing to the idea of this

being a crime. The FBI is not sure yet. This is an investigation that is still at the assessment stage trying to make sure they figure out what is on these servers. I know the Clinton campaign has said that they were wiped but, as you know, even if you wipe things, you can still perhaps retrieve some of that, and the FBI is very sure that they will be able to do that.

We have a statement from the campaign that said that Mrs. Clinton directed her team to give e-mail server that was used in her tenure as secretary of state to the Justice Department, thumb drives, copies of her e-mails. She pledged to cooperate. "If there are more questions, we will continue to answer them." And I'm sure those questions will continue.

[13:49:58] TOENSING: I've been through this process as a federal prosecutor because I was an attorney before I was a Justice Department official. That's bull that she didn't receive a subpoena. What they did was gave her an out. She's also lied before that she's never received a subpoena. There are several that she has received. But for this server. I know exactly what happened. The FBI doesn't go in and say, pretty please. The FBI usually, does a subpoena. I'm sure they talked to her lawyer because they had to, she was represented, and said we're going to issue a subpoena unless you turn that over. And they worked out an agreement she could do the spin that's she doing. That is bull that she --

(CROSSTALK)

TOENSING: -- not threatened with a subpoena.

BOLDUAN: Let me ask you about this. The campaign -- spin aside -- the campaign they say they handed over. The server has been wiped. And also the campaign says that their understanding from Justice is that they aren't looking to reconstruct the server's history. They're not looking to reconstruct exactly what e-mails were there. They only want to make sure that the e-mails are secure now. What do you expect to happen from here on out?

TOENSING: Well, I am perplexed by that, Kate. Because where I come from, when you destroy evidence, it's called obstruction of justice. And I would have never --

(CROSSTALK)

BOLDUAN: According to the campaign, they weren't told they needed to keep it at all.

TOENSING: Oh, come on. There were congressional hearings. Anybody knows that. There were congressional hearings going on when she erased all of that material. A person who is being asked for documents in an investigation, and doesn't even matter if they're the target, has to preserve those documents. And the fact that she blatantly erased them and now is throwing it in the face of everyone is really obnoxious. I'm embarrassed that "The Washington Post," the hometown newspaper, doesn't have one word about this story today. It's an embarrassment for "The Washington Post." This is a serious matter.

And let me tell you, the intelligence community is in an uproar and that's why you're getting your leaks. They're upset with the way the State Department is conducting their review of documents.

BOLDUAN: It's clearly under investigation. In defense of the paper that I love, "The Washington Post," they have been covering it specifically on an ongoing basis. They've been doing a good job at it.

Victoria, great to see you. Thanks for coming in.

Evan, great reporting. Thank you.

So it was the party palace of the 1970s. Next, I will talk to the man who opened the doors to, yes, Studio 54, and also get his take on Donald Trump.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:56:14] BOLDUAN: Studio 54 was synonymous with the nightclub party culture, the disco, the dancing, the drugs and, of course, the celebrities. Tonight, CNN will explore the music of "The Seventies." And Studio 54 absolutely played a big part.

I sat down with a Studio 54 co-founder, Ian Schrager, to talk about why it was such a huge success before its very public demise.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IAN SCHRAGER, CO-FOUNDER, STUDIO 54: At that particular time, the sexual revolution, it seemed that America tipped over on its side and everyone rolled into New York and Europe tipped over and everyone rolled into New York when New York was in the doldrums, and it was during this kind of economic doldrums the studio was the perfect answer for the statement that was perfect for the people at the same time.

BOLDUAN: Do you have -- I'm sure you get this question a lot. Do you have a favorite memory or something, the story you tell at a dinner party of that night of Studio 54 that you can repeat?

SCHRAGER: Well, there's not a lot I can repeat. I think the first time was when we opened up the first night. We were both guys from Brooklyn, and here we were, one day, from Brooklyn and struggling and trying to climb the economic ladder, and the next day, we're the toasts of the town. It was like holding onto a lightning Bolt. When we opened up that first night, I remember getting a call from Steve at 5:00 or 6:00 in the morning. We were on the front page of "the New York Post" with a picture of Cher. At that time, Cher was like -- everybody wanted to know what was going on with her. Just an absolute thrill for Steve and I, something that we had done, a nightclub we opened was on the front page of the New York paper, and everything went from there.

BOLDUAN: Even when I was telling folks that I was going to be sitting down with you, people were like, everyone wants to know what it was like to be in there. There is a mythology almost of interest into what happened in Studio 54.

SCHRAGER: Anybody who was anybody passed through Studio 54 during that era from every field. And what was heartwarming to see, it was that everybody was themselves, were able to let loose and really have a good time. It was a great equalizer. The studio was a great equalizer. You could have a fancy lady in a ball gown dancing with a guy with his shirt off and jeans dancing next to a presidential candidate, dancing next to a movie star, and nobody really cared.

BOLDUAN: Did Trump ever frequent the club?

SCHRAGER: Of course, sure.

BOLDUAN: So you know him? You've known him for a long time.

SCHRAGER: I've known Donald a long time and I know the private Donald, not the public Donald. He's a really smart guy, really hard working. I view Donald in a prophet way, which is different than I think the public perception may be. I think he's a great guy. And I think he would be a great president of this country.

BOLDUAN: If those walls could talk in Studio 54, what do you think would be the one sentence they would say?

SCHRAGER: If they were talking specifically, to me, they would probably say, don't tell a soul what happened.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BOLDUAN: He was so great. So great to speak with him.

Tonight, you do not want to miss CNN's original series, "THE SEVENTIES", at 9:00 p.m.

Let's keep this music going while we finish the show.

Thank you for joining us AT THIS HOUR.

"LEGAL VIEW" with Ashleigh Banfield starts right now.