Return to Transcripts main page

New Day

Feinstein Defends Clinton On Email Controversy; Vice President Biden Considering A 2016 Run; Clinton's Plan: Ignore The Biden Chatter; DNA Test Shows President Harding Had Love Child. Aired 7:30- 8a ET

Aired August 14, 2015 - 07:30   ET

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

JOHN KING, CNN HOST, "INSIDE POLITICS": But don't blame Secretary Clinton or at least don't think she was knowingly in an environment where she was mishandling or not treating this information seriously.

JACKIE KUCINICH, "THE DAILY BEAST": Is it OK that she didn't know? It's still her team. I think the damage has been done. It can only get worse if it turns out maybe she did know about some of these e- mails. I don't know that Senator Feinstein while she has a deep knowledge in this area. I don't know this really moves the needle.

KING: She also has a very deep friendship with Hillary Clinton. It tells me that they are worried enough in Clinton land about this that they are looking for allies to come on the record who can't say immediately that's her campaign manager or that's her.

ED O'KEEFE, "THE WASHINGTON POST": Supposed it means Diane Feinstein won't be running for president. What it does suggest is she's making the hate the game, not the player argument, which actually is very substantive and principled argument to make in this town.

Because there are a lot of concerns that too much information gets classified and that the classification system is so different at the State Department versus other places, and the idea that things were being retroactively classified when they weren't sent to her Yahoo account or whatever heck it was.

It exposes a problem that exists before all this and now she is getting locked up in presidential politics.

KING: Now it's locked up in presidential politics. There's an FBI investigation. There is a congressional investigation. We are going to watch this one. This one is with us for a while.

Dianne Feinstein is a friend of Hillary Clinton. She's not running for president, which is the perfect segue way to follow. I want to start, Joe Biden was thinking about this. I want to start with the basic premise.

Because of Hillary Clinton's poll numbers, because of the way this town works and because of the constant conversations about, my God, is she weak, is she vulnerable, look at Bernie Sanders rising in the polls. I don't think there's a Democrat under 34. Every Democrat that would be 35 on Election Day next year has looked in the mirror and said should I get in the race for president at this moment now?

Some have more reason to have that conversation than others. Everybody around this town is talking about it so let's be honest. Let's start with Joe Biden. He's on vacation. I have been working the phones the last couple of days.

He's had very substantive conversations with people. How much do I have to raise? What would be the earliest I would get in? What would be latest I could wait?

I'm told in one conversation somebody joked with him wait until the day of the first Democratic debate, and now it's that morning and then show up at the debate. How would that rattle Hillary Clinton? It's a big source of controversy. Martin O'Malley says come on in. Donald Trump says I'd love that match up.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARTIN O'MALLEY (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think Vice President Biden is a tremendous public servant for our country. I would welcome his entrance into the race. I think the more voices for progress that people in our party hear from, I think the better our party will do.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (via telephone): I think I would match up great. I'm a job producer. I have had a great record. I haven't been involved in plagiarism. I think I would match up very well against Biden.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Two very important things we learn there, Martin O'Malley can multitask, he can walk, chew, and talk. That's important to being the president of the United States. Donald Trump never passes up an opportunity. Joe Biden is a hypothetical candidate and he's got to take a shot at him anyway.

KUCINICH: Trump is going to be Trump. Biden would hurt Hillary the worst. He's an establishment candidate. He is someone that could pull money away from her. Would he eventually beat her? I don't know, might just weaken her. Are they cutting up their nose to spite their face to get him in here?

O'KEEFE: It definitely creates more of a problem and unity and inevitability they had all hoped for certainly has been destroyed. Does Biden really want to risk his legacy and spend the next 18 months doing this? I think that's got to be weighing on him and especially his family.

KING: People say they are doing a pretty thorough checklist. They are talking budget issues and deadlines. So, in the middle of all this, the Gore balloon, help me here. I will say this. I covered the Clinton White House and the Gore campaign in 2000. There is no love lost between Al Gore and the Clintons. There's no love lost between Al Gore and Hillary Clinton. If you talk to people, boy, would he love to do it? We talk about Jeb Bush being off the bike a long time.

KUCINICH: I think that is the problem. As much as Al Gore would like to bring his climate change message into the forefront, it's a long shot to beat all long shots.

O'KEEFE: The only potential benefit to him, he could afford to float himself at least in the early months. With all the money he's earned.

KING: And he's from California now, not Tennessee. He may have better luck. Never mind, that was a cheap shot. I don't think this is a coincidence. The Clinton campaign announces yesterday that it has the endorsement of former Iowa Senator Tom Harkin, a favorite of liberals in his home state.

He ran for president against Bill Clinton in 1992. We have some pictures of Bill and Hillary Clinton at the last Harkin stake drive. A lot of people say why do this? Six months to the Iowa vote. This is a message.

[07:35:09] Number one, the new poll shows she's leading Bernie Sanders in Iowa. Tom Harkin lined up with the liberals in Iowa. If you are Joe Biden looking at this, if you're Al Gore, if you're Amy (inaudible), Jerry Brown, if you're anybody looking at this, she wants to say, study this.

Endorsements in fundraising actually tell you a lot more about who wins in the end than the early polls. She's trying to roll it out that I've got the army on my side.

KUCINICH: You know, Bernie Sanders is gaining on her. He surpassed her at least in one poll in New Hampshire and in Iowa, where Hillary Clinton hasn't done well and she didn't do well there in 2008. So, you know, yes, this is a message particularly to progressives saying, get in line.

O'KEEFE: Given the bad blood between Harkin and Bill Clinton back in the day, also a sign that bygones can be bygones, and you're right. It might keep other people out of it.

KING: Here is one of my favorites. Tell me if you like this or don't like this. One of the challenges in presidential politics is to make complicated things relatable to people.

So here is Scott Walker. Some have questioned whether he is ready on foreign policy. The big issue in the Iran nuclear deal is how much of a heads up will the United States or the International Atomic Energy Agency have to give Iran before we come in and investigate if we thought there was something going on?

Scott Walker trying to say, you want to understand this, parents, think of it this way.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCOTT WALKER (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (via telephone): To me, the provisions in this deal are like telling teenage boys, not only can you have the doors closed, but we got to shout up the stairs before we walk up the steps.

We are coming up to check and see what you are doing. I just want to give you advance notice. It makes no sense. You wouldn't do it as a parent. We certainly shouldn't be doing it with the leading country when it comes to state sponsored terrorism.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KUCINICH: Scott Walker, breaking it down.

O'KEEFE: I love it. I get it. I get it. That's the point.

KING: As the father of an 18-year-old girl, Michaela, I think he's on to something here.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: As being a former 18-year-old girl, I have no comment. Whoever said a long time ago is going to get it. That might have been Cuomo. Be sure to watch John King and his "INSIDE POLITICS" panel break down the very best political news of the week, every Sunday 8:30 Eastern. Have a great weekend, John.

They were talking about legacy there a moment ago. How about this for legacy? It's a mystery no more, new DNA testing revealing that President Warren Harding had a child out of wedlock. What does it mean for Harding's legacy? We are going to speak with his grandniece ahead in an interview you certainly don't want to miss.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:41:34]

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Here is something to bring from the past into the present. It was one of the biggest scandals in U.S. presidential history. It's no longer a rumor. We have DNA testing. What does it reveal?

President Warren G. Harding did father a child out of wedlock. That was a huge source of conflict in 1919. For decades, Nan Britain said her daughter was Harding's child. She was visually attacked for that.

Meanwhile, just last year, dozens of love letters Harding wrote to another mistress were also released. Let's discuss with someone close to the story. Abigail Harding, the grandniece of former President Warren Harding initiated the DNA testing.

It's very good to have you this morning. Why did you initiate the testing? What was the answer you wanted and why?

ABIGAIL HARDING, GRAND-NIECE OF WARREN HARDING: Well, I think after both my cousin, Peter and I had read the book it seemed so real. We wanted to know what the truth was. We always grew up believing it was not true, Warren G. Harding was sterile.

We said we have the technology, let's find out. Even more important, I think that everybody deserves to know who they are. The Blessing family, they knew who they were, but nobody else believed them. I think it was great for them to be able to say, we know exactly who we are and you all do, too.

PEREIRA: Hear, hear. I'm a firm believer in that. Abigail, I'm curious, though, not all the family was supportive of you doing the testing, right?

HARDING: No, there are 13 of us cousins of my generation who are living and a few of them, it was like they didn't care one way or the other. Some of us thought it was a great idea. Then, a few of them thought that things ought to be left. It was in the past. Let's just not go there.

CUOMO: Well, what do you think the impact is? Does it change your impression of your presidential relative? Do you think it besmirches his reputation? What do you think this means?

HARDING: Quite frankly, I don't know that it has any impact at all except that the whole story is just put to rest so people can concentrate on Harding himself. I think it has much more meaning for the blessing family than it does for Harding. It doesn't change my opinion of him.

Maybe had he been my grandfather I might have felt differently. He was a grand uncle who died 20 years before I was born, so it just -- it doesn't have a big effect on how I feel for him.

PEREIRA: It's interesting I can relate to the Blessing family in that regard. Have you been in contact with this second cousin and what has that been like, this relationship that is perhaps forming?

HARDMING: My cousin, Peter, has been in contact with him off and on for five years. The first time I talked to him, first of all, I e- mailed him about the ancestry.com DNA test, which I had taken just because I was doing family research in all areas of my family. I told him that my DNA was registered. If he did his we could get to the bottom of this.

[07:45:07] I got the results back on my web page. It said you have a second cousin. We knew it was Jim. It was very exciting. He called me and he said, the first thing he said was hi, cousin. We talked. We had a nice conversation. I haven't talked to him since. We have e-mailed him. We are planning on meeting next March. I'm really excited about that.

CUOMO: So, the legacy. Warren G. Harding, he doesn't usually get glowing reviews from presidential historians when they rank presidents and subjective things like that. Maybe part of it is the personal things. With this coming out, is it a cause for re-examination?

HARDING: I don't know if it's a cause for re-examination, but it certainly brings attention to him and maybe people will pay more attention. I'm not a historian. I've read a few books about Harding. There were a lot of things he did that were really good.

The thing that burns me up is people refer to him, he was well met, liked to play cards and have friends. He wasn't real smart. I think that's ridiculous. I don't think anybody gets to be president being stupid. I mean, he, maybe he made some mistakes, but I think there are some things there that need to be looked at.

PEREIRA: Abigail Harding, thanks so much for joining us. This is a tremendous story. You think about the fact this woman was vilified for years, the shame, the secrecy. It's really beautiful to see that now there's a level of acceptance and truth coming to life.

CUOMO: It's interesting that someone from the Harding clan gave closure to the Blessing family. President Harding is rumored to have created the word normalcy. There you go.

PEREIRA: Did you get fed that in your ear?

CUOMO: Yes, it was piped in my head.

PEREIRA: Right into his head. Well done.

CUOMO: It's a fun fact. I didn't say it's one I discovered. There's a hashtag going on right now called #ridenwithbiden. The vice president is considering this situation. Will he really get involved? We have the latest ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:51:24]

PEREIRA: Time for CNN Money now, chief business correspondent, Christine Romans. Tell us what's going on in the economy.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: I've got some good economic news for you guys, at least one gauge, new evidence of strength in the American economy. Retail sales shot up in July, more people spending more money dining out, on clothing, and on cars.

Another gauge shows that outstanding car loans topped a trillion dollars for the first time ever, another sign feeling confident enough to make an investment and borrow some money.

Speaking of cars, how do you plan on getting to work this morning? If you're like most folks you're driving a car all by your lonesome. More than three quarters of Americans are driving to work by themselves. Less than 10 percent are carpooling.

That number has been declining since 1980 and only about 3 percent of Americans walk to work -- Chris.

CUOMO: Three percent of Americans walk to work. Now I know that. Thank you, Christine.

Tom Brady has had a very busy week and not really on the field. He was in court dealing with deflate-gate. Then last night he was under center for the Patriots. He's really had a mixed bag this week.

Andy Scholes with this morning's "Bleacher Report." What have you got on Tom Brady?

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS: I've got to say so glad to have football back. We had six preseason games last night. All eyes were on Tom Brady and the New England Patriots. Brady getting a big ovation from the home crowd as he took the field before the game. He played two series, completing just one pass before giving way to Jimmy Garoppolo.

If Garoppolo is going to fill in for Brady, well, he has some work to do. He threw an interception and was sacked seven times in the game. Brady's lawyers are due back in court next week to continue settlement talks with the NFL.

The number one golfer in the world, Rory McIlroy returning to action yesterday at PGA Championship in Wisconsin. He had been out of action after hurting his ankle playing soccer with his buddies. Rory five shots back in the lead.

For the third straight major Dustin Johnson has at least a share of the lead after round one. He's six under. You can watch all of the action from round two starting at 2:00 p.m. Eastern on TNT.

And finally, just as awesome moment at the Indians-Yankees game. Mike Aviles twin 4-year-old daughters threw out the ceremonial first pitch to their dad. Adriana was diagnosed with leukemia in May and is currently getting treatment at the Cleveland clinic.

Guys, even the Indians owner, the GM, several players have all shaved their head in support. She's doing good and we wish her well.

PEREIRA: What a little love bug. Thanks for sharing that with us, Andy. We appreciate it.

All right, so we know the Iowa State Fair is home to music, food on a stick and a full serving of presidential politics. We take you to the Midwest as big names from both parties hit the campaign trail.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:59:00]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Big weekend here at the Iowa State Fair.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not a doubt in my mind that people are looking for a new leader.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have to challenge the status quo of Washington.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is Joe Biden running?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He has that authenticity that is really being craved.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He is the one that can bring the country together and move us forward.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think I would match up very well against Biden.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, "AC360": Is ISIS using chemical weapons?

SCIUTTO: It's a weapon of fear. It has an enormous effect on the battlefield.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The terror group uses sex slavery as a recruiting tool. The militant group justified its actions.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The details have shaken me to the core. They're teaching recruits that there is redemption through rape. It's a desecration.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO: Happy Friday. Good morning to you and welcome to your NEW DAY. It is Friday, August 14th, 8:00 in the east. Biden's maybe getting in the game. Trump's sending a shot across his bow and lots of meat on sticks, all these stories coming together at the Iowa State Fair over this weekend.

PEREIRA: So today Jeb Bush will hop into the spotlight. He has been taking a bit of a hit in the polls. He's facing backlash for defending his brother's policy in Iraq.