ad info

 
CNN.comTranscripts
 
Editions | myCNN | Video | Audio | Headline News Brief | Feedback  

 

  Search
 
 

 

TOP STORIES

Bush signs order opening 'faith-based' charity office for business

Rescues continue 4 days after devastating India earthquake

DaimlerChrysler employees join rapidly swelling ranks of laid-off U.S. workers

Disney's GO.com is a goner

(MORE)

MARKETS
4:30pm ET, 4/16
144.70
8257.60
3.71
1394.72
10.90
879.91
 


WORLD

U.S.

POLITICS

LAW

TECHNOLOGY

ENTERTAINMENT

 
TRAVEL

ARTS & STYLE



(MORE HEADLINES)
 
CNN Websites
Networks image


Morning News

Historian Discusses Effects Clinton's Final Pardons May Have on Former President, Wife

Aired February 23, 2001 - 9:01 a.m. ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: A house committee is now looking into the role of former President Clinton's half-brother Roger in the pardon controversy. Meanwhile, senator Hillary Rodham Clinton is speaking out about her brother's involvement, calling it "terrible misjudgment."

CNN congressional correspondent Kate Snow joins us now, from Capitol Hill, with the latest.

Good morning, Kate.

KATE SNOW, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

President Clinton's spokesperson Julia Payne has just spoken with me, and I want to tell you what she says about these latest allegations that perhaps Roger Clinton was involved in some of the clemency proceedings. Julia Payne tells me that, yes, indeed, Roger Clinton was involved in less than 10 cases -- about five or six, she says. He personally asked his brother, President Clinton, to look at those cases and gave the president a list of names. But he did not, Julia Payne says, he did not lobby the president and he did not receive any money. She says absolutely no money changed hands. According to Payne, these were simply some friends or acquaintances of Roger Clinton, and he was doing them a favor in passing their names on to President Clinton.

That list was then forwarded to the White House counsel's office, and according to Payne, none on -- none of the people named on that list did ultimately receive clemency from President Clinton.

In a letter sent by Representative Dan Burton, the chairman of the House Government Reform Committee, they had asked Roger Clinton for more information about all of this. They, in fact, had named five people in that letter, including Carlos Vignali and Glenn Braswell, names you might remember from yesterday, because those two gentlemen were represented by Hugh Rodham, Hillary Rodham Clinton's brother.

Again, Representative Dan Burton mentioned those names in a letter to Roger Clinton. I'm told by Julia Payne that Roger Clinton doesn't even know those gentleman, that those two names were certainly not on the list that he gave to his brother, President Clinton. She says, in fact, that only one of the names that Dan Burton mentions in his letter to Roger Clinton was a friend of Roger Clinton and was included in his conversation that he had with President Clinton.

According to Julia Payne -- she says, look, there -- there should be no questions of impropriety about Roger Clinton's involvement. She said, "Should Roger have done it?" -- and I'm quoting -- "probably not." But he had never asked before, and none of these people were pardoned, so she said it's hard to see where the impropriety would be.

Also on another front, Hillary Rodham Clinton, talking about her brother, Hugh Rodham, and his involvement in two other cases, for which he was paid somewhere around $400,000. Yesterday, Senator Clinton came to the Capitol. She spoke to reporters for about 20 minutes. Of course, this is a week when most members of Congress aren't even up here on Capitol Hill. It's the Presidents' Day recess this week. Most of the members are back in their home districts, Hillary Clinton taking the time to come up to Capitol Hill to answer questions.

She says she knew nothing about brother Hugh's involvement in these two cases, she knew nothing of the money that had changed hands, she was not happy with the circumstances, disappointed in her brother, she said, but glad that things had been resolved and that he had now returned all of that money.

Kate Snow, CNN live, reporting from Capitol Hill, reporting from Capitol Hill. Back to you...

LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: All right, thanks, Kate.

Well, even before news of the Clinton family ties in the pardon controversy, the former president's standing with the American public was on the decline. A Gallup poll conducted earlier this week showed a nine-point drop in his favorable rating since early February.

Joining us, again, from New Orleans to talk about Clinton's pardon problems is presidential historian Douglas Brinkley.

Thanks for coming back today. We appreciate your time and your insight today.

DOUGLAS BRINKLEY, PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Oh, well thank you for having me on.

HARRIS: All right, got to ask you, first question: Now, that it seems that there is yet another controversy surrounding these pardons. Is it time now for the press or for any other agency to go now and examine every single pardon issue in the last days of Clinton administration?

BRINKLEY: Oh, I believe that's what's happening. Every pardon's going to be evaluated and studied. Once you've ripped down the damn, the flood's coming. And each one of these pardons is going to be looked at. There's going to be a new headline every day for a few weeks. The problem of the story is at the end -- end of the day, a month from now, two months from now, five months from now, where's this going to lead us? It's going to be an embarrassment to Bill Clinton, it's going to tarnish his legacy. He may never rise to the heights of his approval with the public. But by and large, there's not a whole lot that, I think, is going to be done, because short of there being some real proof of an exchange of cash for pardon, a lot of what happened, why these people were pardoned in Bill Clinton's head -- but what's clear is he wasn't putting the country's best interest in mind, but what was in the best interest of Bill and Hillary, first and foremost, when he made these pardons.

HARRIS: Now, you say the end of the day. When is that going to be?

BRINKLEY: I don't know. I mean, I think now that each one's going to be evaluated. There will be a few more big stories coming out in the next week. And I would say in about another month or two this will fade. Next year, all most people will remember: There was a big pardon scandal going on here. Remember, pardons tend to be controversial, whether its Ford pardoning Nixon, or Nixon pardoning Hoffa, or Jimmy Carter pardoning so-called Vietnam War draft dodgers. But this one in particular just has an odious smell which I think will be a permanent part of Clinton's legacy.

HARRIS: It's going to be interesting as to see how that plays out, because politics-time is like dog years: It may seem like a long time in politics, but to normal folks, everyday folks, it may not be that big of an issue for that long.

But finally, let me ask you this morning, what about the effect this is having on the Bush administration. I know for at last a time there they really weren't that concerned. They might have been welcoming President Clinton walking away with so much controversy and attention. Isn't this sort of a point of diminishing returns in that strategy so far right now?

BRINKLEY: Well, it is. And it proves a lot of things, that's that the great American soap opera of Bill and Hillary Clinton is not over; I don't see it any time soon. And in many ways, you're having -- there used to be famous book called "Being in the Shadow of FDR." All presidents that followed FDR were always in the shadow. Well, you're kind of in shadow of Bill Clinton, and it's hard even to seem like it is such a thing as the President Bush, the way that the media's been covering the Clintons.

But there are advantages to that. I think it gives George W. Bush a chance to get his White House in order, to start executing policies. He needs to, though, somehow connect better, I think, with the public at large and the media in that his presidency starts getting covered. Yesterday's first press conference by Bush was not covered very well, and it wasn't an exciting event. There are advantages to being that -- to that -- but in this age of 24-hour news, I think we need to see Bush being a little more innovative in the way he reaches out and touches people.

HARRIS: That's going to have to be the final word. Douglas Brinkley, thanks much, we appreciate it. BRINKLEY: Thank you.

HARRIS: talk to you later on.

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

 Search   


Back to the top