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The Lead with Jake Tapper
Hillary Hits The Speaker Circuit; "You'd Be Fired" If You Acted Like Bill Clinton; Sterling: "Do I Have Any Freedom Of Speech"; Smerconish's New Political Thriller "Talk"
Aired May 09, 2014 - 16:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Welcome back to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper. In our "Politics Lead," Hillary Clinton left public service 15 months ago, but why do I feel like I've seen so much of her lately? Because I have. Everyone has. Clinton has had more than a dozen speaking engagements and events in the last month alone. Sure, the media has given her a lot of attention over becoming a grandmother and her upcoming book release and Benghazi. But is there a strategy behind all of these public appearances?
Let's bring in CNN's senior political correspondent, Brianna Keilar. Brianna, Hillary can't seem to stay out of the spotlight even if she wants to, why are we seeing so much of her?
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well you know, actually, this is her job right now as a private citizen. A lot of these speeches have been on the calendar for months, many of them are paid, and this was actually supposed to be a bit of a break for her. Now that she was under the political microscope, so far ahead of 2016, instead it's turned into a bit of a warm up.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR (voice-over): Like Rocky gearing up for a vouch or depending on your political views, Hillary Clinton is getting in fighting shape, rolling out what many see as a soft launch for a presidential campaign in 2016.
HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: I am thinking about it but I am going to continue to think about it, but I am going to continue to think about it for a while.
KEILAR: But instead of the nakedly political swing through Iowa or New Hampshire, Clinton is frequenting the confines of auditoriums filled with fans. It's a lower key forum for testing out a potential message like she did in Miami.
CLINTON: I hope that your generation will be a true participation.
KEILAR: It allows here to wade back into domestic politics as she did in Maryland.
CLINTON: I think that we have to reign in what has become an almost article of faith that anyone can have a gun anywhere any time.
KEILAR: While an array of supportive questioners give her a chance to show a personal side.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What is your guilty pleasure?
CLINTON: Let's see.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are there that many?
CLINTON: I'm just trying to think of the G-rated ones.
KEILAR: There have been some bumps in the road like when she compared Vladimir Putin to Hitler and then found herself backpedaling. And memorably one dodge projectile. In June, Clinton will move into a new phase, releasing her next book and with it an avalanche of attention and attacks on her time at the State Department, from the triumphs to the tragedies, from Burma to Benghazi and then the glass ceiling that she attempted to crack in 2008.
CLINTON: Could you imagine, if Rocky Balboa got halfway up those art museum stairs and said, well, I guess, that's about far enough? That's not the way it works.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR: That was Hillary Clinton in 2008. You can tell what character of the movie she would fancy herself as. It is not Ivan Drago, I would say.
TAPPER: Let's bring in Maggie Haberman to the conversation. She is a CNN political analyst and senior political writer for "Politico." Maggie, all of these speeches and exposures, does it help to see her run?
MAGGIE HABERMAN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: It certainly helps if she decides to run. I would agree, she's doing a test drive right now. Her book comes out in a month. That's going to be a very intense period of time. A lot of media and interactions with people. This can only help her because she gets in fighting form. She does get to flex muscles she hasn't had to use in a while. I'm very struck by how loose she seems. That was not something you would have seen in the 2008 campaign too frequently. If she keeps that up, it works pretty well. Right now the rules are different.
TAPPER: As Brianna pointed out in the piece, there are risks to this. For instance, earlier this week she really criticized the Nigerian government on this and came out from people who didn't like those comments, former State Department officials, that she had been pushed to make Boko Haram a terrorist group, the group that seized the girls, a terrorist group, and she resisted. So there is a potential price for all these exposures.
KEILAR: That's right and then her camp finds itself in the kind of awkward position of wanting to come out and kind of defend her, but not trying to appear that they are throwing their hat into the rink politically too much. So there certainly is a sort of difficulty in that. I think it's also really her standing in the polls opens her up for attacks. She's going to be attacked. Republicans are attacking her.
TAPPER: Right.
KEILAR: So I would say that even though a lot of these are paid speeches and they are supposed to be the things that she was doing, they also give her a chance to get her message out there. There's also a positive to it.
TAPPER: Earlier this week, I had Congressman Trey Gowdy on and he said he wanted to hear from Clinton, from Susan Rice and Cheryl Mills, the top Clinton deputy. He wouldn't specifically answer when I said if they won't come willingly, will you subpoena them? But let's say it happens that way because she doesn't seem inclined to leap into the fray on Benghazi. Do you think she will fight it?
HABERMAN: I do. I think that she believes what she said earlier this week, which is that in New York when she said she thinks this is -- everything has been answered. She's satisfied that she hasn't called t shots in this Congress. This is not something that her folks want to go through again.
As Brianna said, they are being very careful about how they are addressing or talking about it and making clear where they stand, where they will be. They are waiting to see how it plays out, despite Democrats about how they are going to handle this committee right now is where the option is.
KEILAR: Yes, because if Democrats, right now we don't even know if Democrats will participate on the committee. If they don't participate on the committee, it's really hard to see how she would go ahead and participate. Gowdy wants to hear from her and Rand Paul saying subpoena her. Gowdy isn't going that far.
TAPPER: I wonder if her people would like Democrats to not participate in the panel thus not giving at least the bipartisan and more of a reason not to go. That's not a real committee.
HABERMAN: It's so discredited in advance that the people who think there should be participation among House Democrats believe that at this point, even if we go along with it, it's muddied up and it's clear that we're going into this unwillingly. We don't want to leave the playing field empty of our players.
TAPPER: One other story that was big in the news this week that deals with Hillary Clinton has to do with Monica Lewinsky. There was a lot of talk about this story, the essay that she wrote for "Vanity Fair." She said it was a consensual relationship addressing comments that a possible 2016 candidate, when he attacked Bill Clinton as a sexual predator, pushing back on that, here's what Rand Paul said to CNN's Mark Preston a little while ago when asked about Lewinsky pushing back.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SENATOR RAND PAUL (R), KENTUCKY: Is it ever appropriate for a 50- year-old man to take advantage of, even if it's consensual, a 20-year- old woman in the workplace and have relations in the office? No one agrees with that being appropriate. Almost any job in the country, you would be fired, immediately let go and you would be shunned and yet the Democrats celebrate him as a great role model. That, to me, is a real problem.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: I guess we're not going to hear the end of that attack from Rand Paul.
HABERMAN: No. We're hearing the beginning of that from Rand Paul and it's going to continue for a while. I suspect we're not going to hear the last of Monica Lewinsky. I asked is this going to be the last she's going to speak in my guess is not. There's been no response from the Clintons so far about how they are going to handle it. I suspect Hillary Clinton will say as little as possible for as long as she can on this topic.
TAPPER: She can't say, Monica said it was consensual.
KEILAR: No. I also thought it was interesting, she had a chance to be asked about this and she wasn't asked about this at this event yesterday.
TAPPER: Does that surprise you, though? These groups that she's speaking before --
KEILAR: She was interviewed by a journalist.
HABERMAN: I don't think those questions were not out of nowhere I think they were questions that Hillary wanted to address, Benghazi and the Nigerian abduction.
KEILAR: And I think the reasoning behind it was I think she thought that Nigeria was very topical to ask. I don't think she can entirely avoid it, though. I almost wondered if there wasn't a bit of a relief in a way if she was asked that question or if she could move on.
HABERMAN: There was a zero possibility about this and in the media that surrounds it.
TAPPER: We'll see. We'll see. I'm not certain. She's granting interviews, too. Maggie Haberman, Brianna Keilar, thank you so much.
When we come back, who hasn't done their best Archie bunker impersonations? Donald Sterling allegedly on tape yet again saying vial racism is part of his game with the ladies.
Plus ready for the next "Grey's Anatomy" or "Scandal", the newest drama from TV's hottest producer, coming up.
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TAPPER: Welcome back to THE LEAD. In other national news today, CNN has learned that former Time Warner and City Core Chair Richard Parsons will be the interim CEO of the Los Angeles Clippers. To be clear, he's not replacing Donald Sterling who owns the team. That's a whole other headache for the NBA.
Meanwhile Radar Online released more audio today that is supposedly Donald Sterling having a phone conversation with an unknown person. In this latest sample, he defends the racist comments made to V. Stiviano. The excuse is jealousy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD STERLING (via telephone): Who thinks that anybody is going to tape something? The girl is black. I like her. I'm jealous that she's with other black girls. I want her. So what the hell can I in private tell her? You know, I don't want you to be with anybody? I mean, do I have -- can I -- am I a person? Do I have any freedom of speech?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: We can all chastise Mr. Sterling for using jealousy as a defense, but a lot of people have seized on this point of privacy. Let's bring in Michael Smerconish. He has many jobs, radio host, CNN host of "Smerconish" and author of the new political thriller "Talk."
Michael, congrats on the book. I want to get to that in a second. But let's start with Donald Sterling. I'm trying to figure out exactly -- this seems to have been a strategic leak maybe from his side explaining his point of view. How do you see the release of this tape?
MICHAEL SMERCONISH, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: It seems so odd and he seems like a needy individual. How in the world could the guy have been victimized, quote/unquote, "by being surreptitiously recorded," if that's what happened and the tape comes out and then he is going to have a subsequent conversation and repeat the same sort of subject matter? Too much coincidence for me, Jake. It sounds like a PR stunt designed to somehow rehabilitate him and I think it will fall flat.
TAPPER: There's another controversy in the news. Two brothers, David and Jason Benham, were working on HGTV show called "Flip It Forward," this is the kind of show that my wife loves, I don't know about yours. But then the web site "Right Wing Watch" posted a radio show tape of a prayer rally he held in 2007. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID BENHAM, FORMER "FLIP IT FORWARD" CO-HOST: We love all people. I love homosexuals. I love Islam, Muslims and my brother and I would never discriminate. Never have we and never would we.
There's an agenda out here. That's the real issue. There's an agenda in America that demands silence, especially for men and women who profess Jesus Christ and hold to his standards.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: Let's listen to the interview that caused them to be fired by HGTV.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BENHAM: Eighty seven percent of Americans are Christians and yet we have abortion on demand, we have no fault divorce and homosexuality and an agenda that is attacking the nation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: Michael, their argument now is they wanted to have this TV show and they are faithful Christians and now there is an agenda, in their view, the gay agenda and a liberal agenda where they can't even have a past of believing in those things and get a TV show. What do you make of all of this?
SMERCONISH: I would never defend what they said when they make comments about the criticisms that they raise and now it comes back to haunt them. It does turn into a got you type of mentality, slippery slope is not an overused type of expression in this regard.
And Jake, I would rather the public be empowered to do the firing. And I may be wrong but in all of these instances, whether it's Paula Deen or the Duck Dynasty guy, let the public be the one to turn off the dial instead of having the employer do so.
TAPPER: Let's talk about "Talk," a fictionalized account starring a radio host, Stan Powers, on his way to becoming a rising star. What do you and Stan Powers have in common, do you think?
SMERCONISH: We are both radio personalities. Stan Powers will say anything in order to get nationally syndicated. That's never the way that I played the game. The book is not intended to be a body read. Something that Jake Tapper would get a kick out of turning the pages.
I'm indicting the polarized media and I'm trying to sound an alarm. To wake up and on that list, and very high on the list in terms of the causal factors, I think the polarized media -- Jake, in the early '80s, 60 percent of the Senate comprised of moderates, it was also a different era of talk radio where only personality mattered, not litmus tests. I see it causally connected. Not as a coincidence.
TAPPER: Michael Smerconish, thank you so much. You can watch "SMERCONISH" every Saturday morning at 9 a.m. Eastern right here on CNN. You can read the book "Talk." Thanks, Michael.
The "Sports Lead," Cleveland has not had much to cheer about in the world of sports over the past six or so decades. They watch Lebron take his talents to south beach and star for the Browns. But now maybe they have the man who can turn that brown frown upside down. The guy they call Johnny Football dropped a 22 and in the lap of the Cleveland Browns and last night's NFL draft, let's go to the dog pound for reaction.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm tired of losing. I'm tired of not having a quarterback. Great day for Cleveland.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Great pick. It's time for a change. Go Browns.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: Hello, Cleveland. Hello, Cleveland. Johnny Manziel of Texas won the Heisman Trophy in 2012. He did so in a very quiet fashion.
Coming up he's the man behind Beevis and Butthead. He'll tell us all about it next.
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TAPPER: Welcome back to THE LEAD. The "Pop Culture Lead" now. Guess what, ABC has got a fever and the only prescription is more Shonda Rhymes. After the success of "Grey's Anatomy" and "Scandal," the network picked up another show from the hottest show on TV. A legal thriller called "How to Get Away with Murder" and there's a new HBO comedy and it's worth watching. It's showing us the scrappy side of "Silicon Valley," our Laurie Segall caught up with the cast and creators whom who may already know and she joins us now.
LAURIE SEGALL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's such an interesting time where technology is truly becoming culture. Hollywood has caught on. These are the minds, the writers behind Seinfeld enthusiasm office space. I actually caught up with them and they gave me a little bit of inside look at what went in the making of the show. Check it out.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A name defines a company. It has to be something primal, something that you can scream out during intercourse.
SEGALL (voice-over): HBO's new series "Silicon Valley" is lifting the curtain on nerd culture. Actor Thomas Middleditch, who played the struggling tech entrepreneur reluctantly admitted he was prepared for the role.
THOMAS MIDDLEDITCH, ACTOR, "SILICON VALLEY": Does it show?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
MIDDLEDITCH: I wish I could have done that, but my hands can't even squish that bottle.
SEGALL: At the heart of the series, Mike Judge known for creating shows like "Office Space" and before all of that, Judge worked in Silicon Valley.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I used to be an engineer and I know these types of people more. SEGALL: These types of people are now the new rock stars and Hollywood has taken notice.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A very interim billions of dollars and you're doing research for this.
SEGALL: I met the show's creators last September at a conference where tech entrepreneurs go to get discovered and launch their startups.
(on camera): And I saw you guys, you were at (inaudible) last September, kind of doing research for this.
MIKE JUDGE, CREATOR, HBO'S "SILICON VALLEY": We went to parties and visited incubators and start-ups.
ALEC BERG, PRODUCER, HBO'S "SILICON VALLEY": We were just saying what's app is worth more than Campbell soup or Xerox. That's crazy.
SEGALL: Are programmers, encoders, are these the new heroes?
BERG: I don't feel like the Carnegies of the past are were cerebral and we're living in an era where nerds are --
SEGALL: There's something funny about having to fake it until you make it. Is it universal?
TJ MILLER, ACTOR, HBO'S "SILICON VALLEY": Just in general, yes, I think there's a lot. Anyplace where it's really difficult to make any sort of headway. Yes, you've got to have the right combination and being able to falsify confidence like myself.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SEGALL: I got to say, Jake, when I met them, I actually took the creators to a Silicon Valley party where everybody was Google Glass and I think they got a little bit of an inspiration there. You know, this is the new American dream so it's very interesting to see Hollywood taking note.
TAPPER: You've covered startups and techs for years. How has it changed?
SEGALL: So much has changed. I covered the Instagram founders when they were only a couple of them, they hadn't sold their company for a billion dollars. Everybody wants in and everyone cares now. You know, people didn't use to really turn their heads and now they really are.
TAPPER: It just seems very true to life. Laurie Segall, thank you so much. We appreciate it. That is it for THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper. You can follow me on Twitter @jaketappe. I now turn you over to Wolf Blitzer. He is in "THE SITUATION ROOM." Happy Mother's Day especially to my mother, my mother-in-law and of course, my beloved wife.
