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Hillary Tells All, But Americans May Not Read It

Aired June 03, 2003 - 15:48   ET

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

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


MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Couple of new poll figures could forecast poor profits for Hillary Rodham Clinton's book. According to the latest CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup Poll, Americans are split fairly evenly on their opinion of the former first lady turned U.S senator.
Forty-three percent of those polled said they favor Mrs. Clinton, while the same percentage say they do not. And how do Americans feel about her new book? Only 5 percent of those polled say they're eager to read it 39 percent say they may read it some day, while a whopping 55 percent say they don't plan on reading it at all. They're going to rent the video. No, there is no video. And you -- anyway.

Hillary Clinton's "Living History" is due at book stores any day now. It is expected to be a candid look at her life with former President Bill Clinton in the White House and beyond.

Senior political analyst William Schneider -- we call him Bill -- joins us now from Boston, where he's going to be receiving a medal tomorrow. We'll toot his horn a little more tomorrow. But he's getting a medal for public service.

Congratulations, Bill Schneider. We're very proud of you.

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Thank you, Mr. O'Brien.

O'BRIEN: From no less an august institution than Harvard University.

Any way, let's talk about Hillary Clinton for just a moment. Enough about you. Let's talk about Hillary. Her book has the possibility, at least, of casting a bit of a shadow over the presidential race for the Democrats. I suspect they're not very happy about the timing of its release.

SCHNEIDER: That's exactly right. Look what we're talking about.

There are nine Democrats running for president, two-thirds of Democrats in the country can't name a single one of them and Hillary Rodham Clinton, the senator from New York, is coming out with her book, her version of events next week and that's what every one is going to be talking about. Especially Democrats who are longing for another Clinton.

She's not running, she insists. Her husband can't run and yet the Clintons' shadow is going to overshadow this campaign. And by the way, her husband's book, his memoirs of his presidency is scheduled to come out at the end of this year, just in time for the beginning of the campaign.

How's that?

O'BRIEN: Boy. Boy oh, boy. They just can't go away, can they?

Let's -- let's talk a little bit about her own potential ambitions. She's on the record as saying she's quite happy being a U.S. senator from New York, but nevertheless, is consistently talked about with presidential aspirations. Is this book like the first piece in the foundation for her run potentially?

SCHNEIDER: Yes, because she says she's going to serve out her six years as senator and then she doesn't rule out running in 2008. Now this book could be a big step forward.

Look, she's getting a lot of attention. Presidential candidates spend a lot of time and money trying to get attention. I don't think she's likely to be forgotten very fast, because when you ask Democrats, Who do you really want to be president? Who would you like to see the Democrats nominate? They'll tell you none of the candidates running. They want Hillary. So a lot of Democrats are dreaming of her in 2008 and I think this book will help keep the dream alive.

O'BRIEN: All right.

Now, let's talk about dish here. How much is she really going to tell us about Monica and all the stuff that most people want to hear about?

SCHNEIDER: Not a great deal, I don't think. but she'll have to talk about her feelings , about the way this affected her, about how -- she will probably acknowledge that she was very much hurt by those revelations. What we don't know how much she will go into the vast right wing conspiracy because that's what she called it at first and that was a little bit embarrassing at the time.

You remember that Al Gore was widely criticized for trying to put a distance between himself and President Clinton when he ran for president in 2000. You know what? I think Hillary Rodham Clinton, Senator Clinton could score points for trying to put some distance between herself and Bill Clinton, her husband, if she wants to have her own independent political career and this book may be the first step in trying to do that.

O'BRIEN: Interesting. That's quite a tightrope she's going to have to walk. It will be interesting to see how this reads.

Now, we were talking a little bit earlier about a little constitutional loophole, which would make it possible for -- if she decided to run in 2008 -- have as her running mate, her husband and the former president. He can't run for president again, but he could run for vice president with a couple provisos, right? SCHNEIDER: Well, yes. They both live in New York right now and it would be awkward, both if she would appoint him as her running mate, which I think is -- shall we say highly unlikely? But if she were to do it, it would be constitutional, but it would be much more convenient if he moved back to Arkansas so that the electoral votes from New York could be cast for Hillary Clinton for president from New York, Bill Clinton for president from Arkansas.

The constitution -- the 22nd Amendment to the constitution says no president shall be elected president of the United States more than twice. But it doesn't say any thing about vice president. Clinton has been elected twice, but he can still run and get elected constitutionally for vice president and some people would suspect if he did, she might be persuaded maybe to turn over power to him and it would be perfectly legal. He just can't get elected president of the United States again. That's the only thing in the constitution.

O'BRIEN: Hmmm. Interesting.

SCHNEIDER: How's that?

O'BRIEN: Well, as you say, unlikely, but a fun part of the game, nonetheless.

We thank you for that.

SCHNEIDER: And one more thing.

O'BRIEN: Yes?

SCHNEIDER: 2008, you know what we're looking forward to?

O'BRIEN: What?

SCHNEIDER: Hillary Clinton versus -- how about Jeb Bush?

O'BRIEN: There you go. There you go. You heard it here first. Maybe not first, but that's still pretty good.

All right. Medal-winning political analyst Bill Schneider from Boston. Congratulations. Good luck at your luncheon tomorrow. We appreciate you taking time for such an illustrious political commentator to be with us.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired June 3, 2003 - 15:48   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Couple of new poll figures could forecast poor profits for Hillary Rodham Clinton's book. According to the latest CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup Poll, Americans are split fairly evenly on their opinion of the former first lady turned U.S senator.
Forty-three percent of those polled said they favor Mrs. Clinton, while the same percentage say they do not. And how do Americans feel about her new book? Only 5 percent of those polled say they're eager to read it 39 percent say they may read it some day, while a whopping 55 percent say they don't plan on reading it at all. They're going to rent the video. No, there is no video. And you -- anyway.

Hillary Clinton's "Living History" is due at book stores any day now. It is expected to be a candid look at her life with former President Bill Clinton in the White House and beyond.

Senior political analyst William Schneider -- we call him Bill -- joins us now from Boston, where he's going to be receiving a medal tomorrow. We'll toot his horn a little more tomorrow. But he's getting a medal for public service.

Congratulations, Bill Schneider. We're very proud of you.

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Thank you, Mr. O'Brien.

O'BRIEN: From no less an august institution than Harvard University.

Any way, let's talk about Hillary Clinton for just a moment. Enough about you. Let's talk about Hillary. Her book has the possibility, at least, of casting a bit of a shadow over the presidential race for the Democrats. I suspect they're not very happy about the timing of its release.

SCHNEIDER: That's exactly right. Look what we're talking about.

There are nine Democrats running for president, two-thirds of Democrats in the country can't name a single one of them and Hillary Rodham Clinton, the senator from New York, is coming out with her book, her version of events next week and that's what every one is going to be talking about. Especially Democrats who are longing for another Clinton.

She's not running, she insists. Her husband can't run and yet the Clintons' shadow is going to overshadow this campaign. And by the way, her husband's book, his memoirs of his presidency is scheduled to come out at the end of this year, just in time for the beginning of the campaign.

How's that?

O'BRIEN: Boy. Boy oh, boy. They just can't go away, can they?

Let's -- let's talk a little bit about her own potential ambitions. She's on the record as saying she's quite happy being a U.S. senator from New York, but nevertheless, is consistently talked about with presidential aspirations. Is this book like the first piece in the foundation for her run potentially?

SCHNEIDER: Yes, because she says she's going to serve out her six years as senator and then she doesn't rule out running in 2008. Now this book could be a big step forward.

Look, she's getting a lot of attention. Presidential candidates spend a lot of time and money trying to get attention. I don't think she's likely to be forgotten very fast, because when you ask Democrats, Who do you really want to be president? Who would you like to see the Democrats nominate? They'll tell you none of the candidates running. They want Hillary. So a lot of Democrats are dreaming of her in 2008 and I think this book will help keep the dream alive.

O'BRIEN: All right.

Now, let's talk about dish here. How much is she really going to tell us about Monica and all the stuff that most people want to hear about?

SCHNEIDER: Not a great deal, I don't think. but she'll have to talk about her feelings , about the way this affected her, about how -- she will probably acknowledge that she was very much hurt by those revelations. What we don't know how much she will go into the vast right wing conspiracy because that's what she called it at first and that was a little bit embarrassing at the time.

You remember that Al Gore was widely criticized for trying to put a distance between himself and President Clinton when he ran for president in 2000. You know what? I think Hillary Rodham Clinton, Senator Clinton could score points for trying to put some distance between herself and Bill Clinton, her husband, if she wants to have her own independent political career and this book may be the first step in trying to do that.

O'BRIEN: Interesting. That's quite a tightrope she's going to have to walk. It will be interesting to see how this reads.

Now, we were talking a little bit earlier about a little constitutional loophole, which would make it possible for -- if she decided to run in 2008 -- have as her running mate, her husband and the former president. He can't run for president again, but he could run for vice president with a couple provisos, right? SCHNEIDER: Well, yes. They both live in New York right now and it would be awkward, both if she would appoint him as her running mate, which I think is -- shall we say highly unlikely? But if she were to do it, it would be constitutional, but it would be much more convenient if he moved back to Arkansas so that the electoral votes from New York could be cast for Hillary Clinton for president from New York, Bill Clinton for president from Arkansas.

The constitution -- the 22nd Amendment to the constitution says no president shall be elected president of the United States more than twice. But it doesn't say any thing about vice president. Clinton has been elected twice, but he can still run and get elected constitutionally for vice president and some people would suspect if he did, she might be persuaded maybe to turn over power to him and it would be perfectly legal. He just can't get elected president of the United States again. That's the only thing in the constitution.

O'BRIEN: Hmmm. Interesting.

SCHNEIDER: How's that?

O'BRIEN: Well, as you say, unlikely, but a fun part of the game, nonetheless.

We thank you for that.

SCHNEIDER: And one more thing.

O'BRIEN: Yes?

SCHNEIDER: 2008, you know what we're looking forward to?

O'BRIEN: What?

SCHNEIDER: Hillary Clinton versus -- how about Jeb Bush?

O'BRIEN: There you go. There you go. You heard it here first. Maybe not first, but that's still pretty good.

All right. Medal-winning political analyst Bill Schneider from Boston. Congratulations. Good luck at your luncheon tomorrow. We appreciate you taking time for such an illustrious political commentator to be with us.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com