VP Joe Biden Receives Green Light from Obama to Run
JOHN BERMAN, CNN HOST: And late word that vice president Joe Biden has just received the biggest green light you can get for a presidential run. CNN senior Washington correspondent Jeff Zeleny broke the story. He joins us now by phone. Jeff, the president and vice president had lunch today. And the vice president left with a whole lot more than dessert.</s>JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT (on the phone): No question, John. I mean, President Obama has always said this will be, you know, Joe Biden's own decision on this. But I am told that he gave his blessing to a potential run. Did not try to talk the vice president out of his pursuit of the presidency. It is important to point out the vice president has still not decided. But this lunch today was far from one of the regular scheduled lunches. They talked about the 2016 campaign, but also about the messages and from what is happening out there in the country now, economic messages, economic policies. So the president did not try to walk him back at all. He, I'm told he gave his blessing to run. And of course now it is up to the vice president if he decides to do it.</s>BERMAN: Not an endorsement. To be clear, not an endorsement, but a blessing to run if Joe Biden decide to do it. And if you can believe it, the meeting between the president and vice president, not the only meeting today that is stirring speculation. Jeff Zeleny, I understand there is a meeting going on at the vice president's residence, right now. Also of note, that include two of the president's most trusted advisers.</s>ZELENY: That's right, John. Two of the president's top advisers, really some of his longest serving political advisers, Bob Bauer, who has been his election lawyer for years. And Anita Dunn, who is the communications director in the White House to help sort of craft his presidential campaign. Those two are among a few others meeting right now with vice president Biden in the naval observatory, his official residence in Washington. They have not yet signed on to any type of Biden campaign. But they're among the people that the vice president is talking to, as he decides to, if he is going to run or not. And again, everyone we speak to throughout, so-called Biden world, is still saying he has not yet made his decision. But John, he is on trying to get as much information as possible. Of course, he met with Elizabeth Warren over the weekend, the same type of meeting. But this meeting tonight signifies that if he would decide to run, there are people from the Obama inner circle who would no doubt be there to help him.</s>BERMAN: And these are Obama people meeting with Biden tonight talking about how to run, not whether to run. Jeff Zeleny, our senior Washington reporter with big breaking news on two fronts involving Joe Biden. But wait, there is more. Our chief national correspondent John King has the details on that. He joins us now along with CNN political commentator, Patti Solis Doyle, who ran Hillary Clinton's 2008 campaign and served as chief of staff for Joe Biden's presidential efforts so she knows a couple of people who might be involved in this. Also CNN political analyst Carl Bernstein, best-selling author of "a woman in charge, the life of Hillary Rodham Clinton." John, I want to start with you because if you are talking about meeting with Joe Biden with the president, Joe Biden meeting with Obama advisers right now, talking politics, I understand, John, you have news about meetings with fundraisers.</s>JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And John, just -- and more evidence that this is going to continue, and this is not exploded into the next level. Elizabeth Warren meeting was the first stroke. The blessing from the president which is gold to Joe Biden is the second stroke. The meeting tonight, part of what I am told is next series of meetings. The vice president meeting with people who put campaigns together whether it is the legal work, whether it is communications message. After Labor Day, some fundraisers will come in. Some other state party leaders and other national party leaders consulted. Most of these in political meetings. But the president also has a series of social events scheduled around things like Rosh Hashanah, for example where political donors, political activists around the country will be invited in for social events in which the vice president will have some time to just put his arm around him and have a quick conversation with them, maybe a cocktail with them. So, in a series of social events and a series of officially designed political meetings, the president throughout the early week of September will continue consultations. John, the goal is to decide by the end of the month. Again, everyone insists as Jeff told you, no final decision has been made. But what we are hearing from people close to the vice president, those actually in the meetings with him. Not people hearing second, third, fourth hand, is that he tells that he is more and more comfortable with the idea of running. I am told he has told people he very much wants to run. But he wants to spend the next several weeks trying to get a sense of terrain. Everyone, can he beat Hillary Clinton? Can he at least make it a good race? Number two, does he want to run anyway? Is this something he wants to say? And then number three, can he put the pieces together?</s>BERMAN: You are seeing a blueprint right now. It is more than a trial balloon. It is more like a trial rocket ship. Patti, you know, this latest reporting on the lunch, that President Obama gave his blessing to Joe Biden to run. Now, you know, the president, I don't think it is surprising he would give his blessing to say, you know, Joe, if you want to run. Run. But what we are seeing today with the leak of this meeting, with the leak of the blessing, with Josh Earnest on the White House podium saying what a great guy the president has always thought Joe Biden is, this is more than a blessing I think?</s>PATTI SOLIS DOYLE, FORMER CAMPAIGN MANAGER FOR HILLARY CLINTON: Well, look. The vice president is a great guy. And clearly there is a lot of affection and a lot of love between the president and vice president. And of course, the president was going to give him all the room he needs to make his decision.</s>BERMAN: But there are ways to say that we had lunch. And there are ways to say we had lunch. And this seems to be beyond that.</s>DOYLE: Right. So the next step is will he decide to actually run. And if he decide to actually run, then, the president and the White House are in a bit of a pickle, you know. Do they endorse? And if they endorse, who do they endorse? And if there is going to be an endorsement? What's the timing of that endorsement? It is happen early on, where they can make a difference, help him raise money, help her raise money, or do they let it play out a little bit. So, you know, it will be interesting to see.</s>BERMAN: The president will be in a pickle. So will Hillary Clinton which we will talk about in just a second. Before we bring her up specifically, Carl, you have been reporting, you have been hearing people close to Joe Biden saying that if he decide to run, he could say, look, I only want to do this for one term. I want to be a within term president because of his age. Do you think it is an advantage to make that statement going into a campaign? We have heard of that in the past, a candidate speculating they might do that. They never seem to actually go ahead with it.</s>CARL BERNSTEIN, JOURNALIST/AUTHOR: I think he has until if he were to win the nomination to do it. There is probably no necessity to do it now. The time to really do it would be if he had the nomination where in the mind of voters, who are little uneasy about his age. He could do it. But then I know he is thinking about it because some of the people I talked to a couple of weeks ago, when I first reported it. But the real factor that is driving so much of this, is the distrust within the party now about the viability of Hillary Clinton's campaign. She is on very shaky ground within her own party by people who are disappointed in the Democratic Party, with how she has run this campaign, with her difficulty with being straight forward and truthful about the matters of the server. And that's what's brought on so much of this along with Donald Trump.</s>BERMAN: So John, if you are Hillary Clinton, and the Clinton campaign is watching this, I mean, you have known that, that Joe Biden was thinking about it a while. But over the last four days, this has just gone to a whole new level.</s>KING: It certainly has. It's gone to a whole new level at a key moment. Number one, in an odd way, this could in the long run, if Joe Biden doesn't run or if he runs and can't beat Hillary Clinton in an odd way help her in the sense that what we were talking about two weeks up until Joe Biden started to dominate the conversation. That was the rise of Bernie Sanders who would come within striking distance of Hillary Clinton in a couple of the key early states. Now, he sort of on pause, while we talk will Joe Biden get in. But Hillary Clinton, Carl laid it out right, there are serious vulnerabilities and there is just a conversation about potential vulnerabilities. Remember, and Carl and Patti have both been through this. Some of this isn't quite, probably not, fair to Hillary Clinton, but when you an investigation, and you have the justice department involved, and you have the same lawyers coming out of the woodwork that a lot of senior Democrats saw back in the Bill Clinton days, they get nervous because trust me. I covered the Clintons in those days and the White House in those days. And the investigations never turn out as you expect it. There is always been some kind of surprise. Now, is that fair to Hillary Clinton? Probably not. But it is a fact and it is a history. And if you are an older senior Democrat, when the lawyers get involved, and you see that David Kendall profile on the front page of "The New York Times," you get a little nervous, John. And so, what does she have to do now? Keep to keep campaigning. She has to get out there and keep talking to voters. She is probably going to have to keep talking to the media. She has a key date on October. The vice president will make decision by then. But she has a key date in October before the select committee on Benghazi to give her public testimony. Jerry Brown the governor of California I think said it quite right this past weekend. She can't just, you know, shoot and make this email story go away. It is like a vampire. It keeps coming back. Got to put a stack in the heart.</s>BERNSTEIN: Another aspect, John, is that people in the Democratic Party, including her, you know, her really loyal supporters, believe that she has played into the hand of the Clinton's enemies and the party's enemies. And that is what has shaken so many people because, one again, it looks to these fundraisers, looks to these party leaders as if the Clintons have succumbed to their own worst instincts. And that is why there's so much talk. And Patti Doyle knows an awful lot about what happens in the situation.</s>BERMAN: Patti, let me just, before I let you respond, let me just show you a poll. This is Quinnipiac poll in Florida. It happened last week. It shows that Donald Trump is beating Hillary Clinton in Florida in the most recent polling there. But the Joe Biden is beating Donald Trump. In other words the Biden is doing better than Hillary Clinton is right now in Florida. So you are starting to see voters are responding to the polls say there is something going on here.</s>DOYLE: Look, I will relent that Hillary Clinton has not had a great summer. It has been a very rocky summer. But I just do not buy that Joe Biden is thinking about running because of Hillary's emails. I think -- look, the last sitting vice president that did not run in an open election I think was Dick Cheney. And thank goodness for that. But Joe Biden has done a great job as vice president. He has incredible relationship with the Congress on both sides of the aisle. He is beloved in the party. It would be strange for him not to be seriously considering --</s>BERMAN: But he is winning at 20 percent net favorable right now if Hillary Clinton did? Do you think that Joe Biden be considering --?</s>DOYLE: I think that the reason he has now taken a serious look has much less to do with Hillary's emails and much more to do with the health of his son.</s>BERMAN: It is going to be an awkward cocktail party. Next time the Obama been Clinton invite and get together. John King, Patti Solis Doyle, Carl Bernstein, thank you all so much. Appreciate your time. Other big news today, the market meltdown. Why it might not be over yet. And what you can do about it. Richard Quest, thank goodness, has all the answers. Also, Donald Trump says he has a 14-point plan for dealing with illegal immigration. See what happens though when he is grilled on the specifics. Univision and Fusion anchor Jorge Ramos weighs in. And later, the American heroes who saved a lot of lives when they took down a terrorist gunman on the speeding train, new details emerging about their act of bravery and who this would be killer might have been connected to.