Bugged by a Progressive Group; Rift Over Same Sex Marriage
TAPPER: The "Politics Lead." They apparently found them all, a secret recording of a campaign strategy session between U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell and his advisers hit the internet this week on "Mother Jones" and, well, let's take a listen.</s>MITCH MCCONNELL, SENATE MINORITY LEADER: I assume most of you have played the game Whac-A-Mole? This is the Whac-A-Mole period of the campaign when anybody sticks their head up, do them out.</s>TAPPER: The more questionable part of the recording, of course, came when some of McConnell's advisers talked about the mental illness of a potential running mate. McConnell learned the recording and we have learned the recording was made by two leaders of the liberal group "Progress Kentucky" that's according to a Democratic operative who spoke to CNN's Jim Acosta.</s>JACOB CONWAY, KENTUCKY DEMOCRATIC OFFICIAL: They said that they were hanging out around the McConnell office and the campaign office that they were there. They overheard a conversation from the outside of the door.</s>TAPPER: Here to talk about this and some other issues Democratic strategist and CNN contributor Hilary Rosen, Rachel Campos-Duffy, blogger for catholicvote.org and wife of Republican Congressman Sean Duffy of Wisconsin, and Michael Scherer, White House correspondent for "Time" magazine. It did seem I have to say at first a lot of people were in the media, maybe were skeptical of McConnell's, this was a bug. The bugging incident type thing, but maybe he had a point.</s>MICHAEL SCHERER, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, "TIME" MAGAZINE: This wasn't exactly a bug. The way it's described is someone in the hallway. The big difference between a bug and someone in the hallway, one is illegal.</s>TAPPER: Good point.</s>SCHERER: If you're a party to a conversation and you can hear a conversation through a wall then you're allowed to tape that conversation. If you're not a party --</s>TAPPER: You are a party if you can overhear it?</s>SCHERER: Yes. If you leave a recording device though and then leave the room and are no longer party to it then you're in big trouble.</s>TAPPER: Interesting. Hilary, your take on this? I know that a lot of -- I had this very jaded panel the way this broke and they were like this is what happens. Democrats and Republicans go over everything.</s>HILARY ROSEN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: It does although Mitch McConnell's sort of faux outrage is a little amusing to me. You know, when he is in there talking about how we're going to do them out. We're going to play Whac-A-Mole with these candidates and literally trash Ashley Judd who I happen to know and is a lovely person. You know, trash her on the basis of like calling her looney and mentally ill and the like is ridiculous. So he ought to just say, you know, this is what happens in campaigns. Campaigns are rough. I'm sorry, you know, people had to hear that kind of conversation. That's how it goes. But to go on how now he is the victim because he was somehow overheard actually having a conversation with his strategists is really offensive.</s>TAPPER: Rachel?</s>RACHEL CAMPOS-DUFFY, SPOKESPERSON, THE LIBRE INITIATIVE: How about the full outrage from a strategist about what's pretty normal, you know, opposition research. I mean, everybody's freaking out about it. Look. There should be an obvious understanding of privacy when you're in -- these people were crawling around the walls, recording things. We know they shouldn't have been there. And then everybody's freaking out that they're actually doing their job, which is to vet candidates who are going to run against a candidate. I mean, I know she is your friend, but she has put herself out there. That's what happens.</s>ROSEN: That's my point. Politics can be really ugly and what he was planning on doing was being extra ugly. And what he ought to do now is just admit that that's what he was doing instead of making it about this whole other thing.</s>DUFFY: Yes.</s>SCHERER: I would say though Mitch McConnell's problem right now is he has a problem, primary problem on the right. He's trying to unite the right and by playing this up, by saying there is an evil left out there, crawling through the ceiling.</s>DUFFY: Works for him.</s>TAPPER: This group, "Progress Kentucky" had a racist ad against --</s>SCHERER: This is the second time they basically help the guy they're trying to hurt.</s>TAPPER: He is married to an Asian-American from Taiwan and they did a racist ad.</s>DUFFY: Right. That's the point. There is hypocrisy all the time on this kind of stuff. So had somebody on the right said something racial you can bet --</s>TAPPER: Well, people condemned it. I just called it here on</s>CNN. DUFFY: It was. But I haven't seen as many stories about it as I've seen about this.</s>ROSEN: But the other thing is that, Michael raises a right point, which is that Mitch McConnell would rather have the people of Kentucky thinking of him as a victim than actually the leader of the Republicans in Washington when he hasn't done a budget. When he's trying to help sneak, you know, and water down a gun control bill, when he's trying to do all sorts of other activities that are --</s>SCHERER: That serves a purpose.</s>ROSEN: This is what Mitch McConnell wants the story to be about instead of real politics.</s>TAPPER: Let's change subjects for one second. So Delaware announced new legislation today. That if passed would make it the 10th state to legalize same sex marriage. Attorney General Bo Biden is one of those leading the charge. Rachel, I want your point of view on this. In all our coverage of same sex marriage one of the things we talked about was real world San Francisco because Pedro I think it's fair to say was a revolutionary person on television. He was the first to a lot of Americans then young, now middle aged, the first out gay person in their living rooms.</s>DUFFY: Sure.</s>TAPPER: Bo Biden, Joe Biden, these are Catholics. You are a conservative Catholic, but you also happen to have had a relationship with Pedro.</s>DUFFY: Yes, I did.</s>TAPPER: What is your view on same sex marriage?</s>DUFFY: Let me just say you bring up I think a really good point. I think culturally, pop culture wise there has definitely been a softening of people's position on this. Even you see it is a generational thing. If you talk to a young Republican these days, a lot of them will probably say they don't care about the issue. They're in the party because it's the party that promotes, you know, economic liberty and self-reliance and is very entrepreneurial and up by your boot straps kind of party and that is what appeals to them. You know, as far as Bo Biden and Joe Biden being Catholics, look. The Catholic Church has teachings. They're dogma based on 2,000 years of history and church theology. They don't move with the winds of American popular culture. I don't know how devout these fellows are. I will tell you that I know that, you know, Joe Biden was a member of the Knights of Columbus and I know his membership was in question because of his position on abortion. So I don't really think people are looking whether they're Catholic or say they're Catholic. Let's just say they're not in communion with the church because --</s>ROSEN: Clearly, the church is out of touch with this. Look, the home country of the new pope, Argentina, has legalized same sex marriage. You know, that's where he was the leader of the institution. I think this is not a religious issue though. No religion would ever be forced to marry people of the same sex. They can do what they want, but marriage is a civil right. Granted, by the government and government benefits accrue to it and all Americans have to have that.</s>TAPPER: Right.</s>ROSEN: It's wrong to keep bringing religion into this.</s>TAPPER: I want you to put on your pundit hat. Will there be any Republican presidential candidates who support same sex marriage and will there be any Democratic presidential candidates who oppose it?</s>SCHERER: In 2016?</s>TAPPER: In 2016, yes.</s>SCHERER: I would say yes. We've had large enough fields. I don't think the nominee will support same sex marriage, but probably support civil unions on the Republican side. But you could easily have one person on the early debate stage who does trying really to do what the RNC is saying needs to be done, which is to attract younger voters.</s>TAPPER: And Democrats?</s>SCHERER: And Democrats. You could possibly also see but not really. I mean, at this point there's three left in the Senate or four left in the Senate.</s>TAPPER: Yes. It's an endangered species. Rachel Campos-Duffy, Hilary Rosen, Michael Scherer, thank you so much. Does the thought of giant mating bugs falling from the sky excite you or terrify you? Well, you might want to book a flight if it terrifies you. The cicada apocalypse is coming. That's our "Buried Lead" and it's next.