(Youtube URL here)
CNN does not cite any specific source but as you can see from the video they are reporting formal talks between the Clinton campaign and the Obama campaign as well as listing three possible scenarios, one of which is by exiting gracefully and running on the ticket as Barack Obama's vice president.
The CNN report stresses, twice, that is "could" end Hillary Clinton's presidential run while reporting news that might or might not be accurate.
According to Talking Points Memo, they contacted both campaigns and got adamant denials of CNN's report.
Hillary Clinton's spokesman, Howard Wolfson said:
1) There have been no discussions with the Obama campaign
2) The only scenario being discussed by this campaign is Senator Clinton's nomination as President
3) The report is 100% false
Barack Obama's spokesman, Bill Burton said:
This is something that I agree with Howard on 100%.
Suzanne Malveaux was the person reporting for CNN and she claims that the Clinton campaign was outlining three possible scenarios.
The first scenario was that Obama would choose someone else as his running mate to which the CNN reporter says the Clinton campaign would find that “completely unacceptable" and that Cliton would find that dismissal so insultingly offensive that it could kick off a “civil war within the party.”
The second scenario is that Obama would offer the vice presidency to Clinton, as a courtesy, with the understanding that she would turn it down. According to Malveaux, Obama insiders are hesitant about that scenario because after striking a deal, Clinton could break it by publicly accepting the offer despite any previous agreement.
The third scenario involves Obama and Clinton getting together to what can be done to make her comfortable bowing out, which might include Obama supporting efforts for Clinton to become the Senate majority leader.
Malveaux claims the information for this report, which if true would be a tremendous scoop, came from Clinton's inner circle.
The threat of civil war within the party does sound like the Clinton campaign but given her recent public remarks regarding Michigan and Florida and well as fighting to the convention, leads me to believe this is some type of signal from her "inner circle" that is attempting to give her a way to back track and find her a graceful exit and perhaps even a opening to the Obama campaign to approach Clinton to hash things out now before the damage done to the Democratic party gets any worse.
Let us not forget some of the numbers showing that it is possible Clinton could take the popular vote while Obama keeps the delegate lead, which would definitely cause more fracturing within the Democratic party.
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