Governor Bill Richardson Endorses Barack Obama; Passport Breaches: State Department Investigates Snooping
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Another big get for Barack Obama. A governor, a former presidential delegate, and, best of all, a superdelegate, endorses the Democratic frontrunner.</s>BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: What do Obama, Hillary Clinton and John McCain now have in common? All of them victims of unauthorized snooping at the State Department. Condoleezza Rice herself apologizing for the breaches. Hi there. I'm Brianna Keilar, in today for Kyra Phillips, at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.</s>LEMON: And I'm Don Lemon. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. It is just after 2:00 here in the East. And a big pickup for Barack Obama, a political blow for Hillary Clinton. New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, who served in the Bill Clinton White House, well, he is backing Obama for president. Our Jessica Yellin is covering the story for us, and she joins us now from Indianapolis. What are you doing there, first?</s>JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Don. We're here because this is going to be another state that will be voting after Pennsylvania, and Senator Hillary Clinton was here holding events. So, here we are, and, wow, what a big gift to the Obama campaign today. You know, as you say, he's not just a former Bill Clinton administration official, but he's also the nation's only Hispanic governor, and a man with considerable foreign policy credentials who lends all of that to the Obama campaign. Now, Richardson said in his speech today that he really was moved to do this, in part by Barack Obama's speech on race earlier this week. Richardson speaking about his concerns about especially the treatment of Hispanics and immigrants in this country, and he wants to see a leader who will heal those divisions, he says. And so he found that after that speech, Barack Obama was his man. Let's listen to some of what he said.</s>GOV. BILL RICHARDSON (D), NEW MEXICO: Senator Obama showed us once again what kind of leader he is.</s>YELLIN: He also said that he developed a personal affection for Barack Obama in some of the debates we've seen. He was a bit funny about the debates and how they can drag on, and how he never got called on, and he referred to a time that Barack Obama kind of gave him an assist when he didn't hear a question. And then they share a lot of similarities. They have lived overseas, and they have a similar different cultural mix in their blood, in their histories. So he feels a certain kinship to Obama he said. Of course, a blow to the Clinton campaign not so much because this is expected to sway voters' decisions in upcoming states like Indiana, where I am, but more because there's a concern this could persuade other superdelegates to break for Obama now. That's something Senator Clinton has been fighting desperately, waiting, she's saying, to let the voters decide before the superdelegates do. So, very good news for Barack Obama, and this has to be a morale blow to the Clinton campaign -- Don.</s>LEMON: All right. Jessica Yellin in Indianapolis, who explained to us why she's there. Thank you very much for that, Jessica. We look forward to your reports from there. And we want to remind our viewers that CNN en Espanol's Juan Carlos Lopez is going to talk to us in just a little bit about the nation's only Hispanic governor. What does this mean for the Hispanic community and for both the Clinton and the Obama campaigns?</s>KEILAR: Who snooped into Hillary Clinton's, Barack Obama's and John McCain's passport files? And why? The State Department is vowing to get to the bottom of what it calls imprudent curiosity. And our State Department correspondent, Zain Verjee, is joining us live now to tell us exactly what happened here -- Zain.</s>ZAIN VERJEE, CNN STATE DEPT. CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brianna, the snooping scandal continues here at the State Department. Just a short while ago, the State Department's spokesman, Sean McCormack, confirmed that Senator John McCain, as well as Senator Hillary Clinton's passport files had been snooped into, as well as Senator Barack Obama's. What he said was that on Hillary Clinton, her file was snooped into by a trainee that they brought in because of the whole passport backlog. You remember back over the summer when they had that major problem. That trainee did not have any authorization, and that trainee was a State Department employee. On Senator John McCain, this is what Sean McCormack had to say...</s>SEAN MCCORMACK, STATE DEPT. SPOKESMAN: They are going to take a look at these particular unauthorized accesses that we have talked about now in the case of these three presidential candidates. But they're also going to take a look at whether or not there are any systemic issues that need to be addressed. And in the course of doing that, if they come across any other incidents, of course they are going to report those. And if there's any action that needs to be taken as a result of any information that they may uncover in the course of their investigation, absolutely they're going to act on it.</s>VERJEE: Sean McCormack outlining the details of the investigation. What he said about Senator McCain was that they detected a breach a little earlier this year, and that one of the same contractors that went into Senator Obama's file was the same individual that also went into Senator McCain's files. And that individual is still an employee and still working for the contracting company the State Department here uses. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice earlier in the day spoke to Barack Obama and said, "I'm sorry."</s>CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECRETARY OF STATE: I told him that I was sorry, and I told him that I myself would be very disturbed if I learned that somebody had looked into my passport file. And therefore, I will stay on top of it and get to the bottom of it.</s>VERJEE: We know now that she's also spoken directly to Senator Clinton and Senator McCain, and the "I'm sorrys" just kept on coming today -- Brianna.</s>KEILAR: And there's some confusion, right, over whether the Justice Department is actually involved here, I think?</s>VERJEE: Well, from the State Department's point of view, the State Department's spokesman, Sean McCormack, is saying that the Justice Department is going to be working together with the State Department on this. He said this is something quite ordinary, that they do this all the time, and that they want hem involved earlier on, because if there is legal action to be taken down the road, they're aware. He did clarify in the briefing, though, that there was no joint investigation, just that they would "proceed together."</s>KEILAR: And real quickly, I just want to ask you, Zain, is there any concern from the State Department this could be politically motivated?</s>VERJEE: Well, that's the question everyone here is asking. And what the State Department is saying is that, for now, they treating it just as imprudent curiosity, but they're saying they're not going to dismiss the fact that it could be politically motivated.</s>KEILAR: It always makes you wonder if it's the tip of the iceberg. I think a lot of people probably concerned.</s>VERJEE: Yes.</s>KEILAR: Zain Verjee for us there at the State Department. Thanks.</s>LEMON: Back now to the Bill Richardson nomination -- Bill Richardson endorsement. Juan Carlos Lopez with CNN en Espanol joins us now from Washington to talk more about Bill Richardson's endorsement of Barack Obama. Thanks for joining us, sir. You were watching and observing. What are your thoughts?</s>JUAN CARLOS LOPEZ, CNN EN ESPANOL: Well, it was surprising. Everyone was expecting -- waiting to see what the governor would do. His friendship with President Bill Clinton, with Senator Hillary Clinton, was very well known, so it was very interesting to see him going to the Obama campaign. I'd like to hear part of his speech when he was endorsing Senator Obama, because he used some words in Spanish that a lot of people, a lot of Hispanics, will probably find interesting and will resonate with them.</s>RICHARDSON: As a Hispanic American, I was particularly touched by his words.</s>LOPEZ: And he was saying that this is a man that will respect the Hispanic community, that will treat the Hispanic community with that respect, that he says he further goes on to talk about the debate on illegal immigration. And the governor reflects what a lot of Hispanics think, that this debate has focused not only on illegal immigration, but on Hispanic presence in the U.S. So he's going to be an important tool, Don, for the Obama campaign from now on.</s>LEMON: And that's very interesting, because I think what he said in that, and I'm paraphrasing here, is that sort of the demonization of immigration in this country, that other politicians have -- have done that to immigration, and he thinks Barack Obama can change that?</s>LOPEZ: Yes. That's what he said. And remember, Barack Obama has said he would support immigration reform, as has -- said Senator Clinton. So that's an important thing for Governor Richardson. But it's the tone of the debate on immigration and the fact that he even said it in his words after he spoke Spanish, he said Hispanics have been singled out, he believes they have been singled out in this debate.</s>LEMON: OK. Juan Carlos Lopez from CNN en Espanol, joining us from Washington. Thank you, sir.</s>LOPEZ: You're welcome.</s>KEILAR: John McCain leading our Political Ticker today. He's been a fierce critic of France, but today's he's soaking in the sights and sounds of Paris. He's meeting with President Nicolas Sarkozy, who's considered much more pro-American than his predecessor, Jacques Chirac. McCain's wrapping up a weeklong congressional junket to the Middle East and to Europe.</s>LEMON: The Democratic convention won't have to seat a delegation from Florida if it doesn't want to. That's the effect of a federal appeals court dismissal of a lawsuit claiming the national party disenfranchised Florida voters. Hillary Clinton won Florida's primary, but party leaders say the state broke the rules by holding the vote too early. Today's ruling may be appealed.</s>KEILAR: Presidential candidates, they aren't the only ones trying to raise money these days. Denver, host of this year's Democratic convention, is trying to raise $40 million to help pay the bills. The fundraising committee was supposed to have $28 million in the bank this week, but the "L.A. Times" says it's $5 million short. Denver's mayor says the lengthy battle for the Democratic nomination could be distracting potential convention donors.</s>LEMON: Almost 4,000 American war dead. That's almost 4,000 shattered families. We'll meet a mother who lost her son, and so much more.