Transcript for Martin O'Malley on Joe Biden: 'It Would Be Nice to Have Another Lifelong Democrat in the Race'

Our country is already great but people like Donald Trump sell it short when they sell their workers short. I know nothing about him. I think he's got less than 1% in the poll and I did see my beautiful building on television. It's beautiful, tallest building in Las Vegas. I'm very proud of it. Most beautiful building in las Vegas. I know he was in front. Martin O'Malley was there to try and get some publicity, which he desperately needs. And governor martin O'Malley joins us now from Davenport, Iowa, after that appearance in front of trump's hotel in las Vegas this week, governor, thank you for joining us this morning. That was actually pretty mild from Mr. Trump. Thank you, George. He also said this week that you're a disgusting, little, weak, pathetic baby. Your response? My response is I'm not going to get into a name-calling debate with Mr. Trump but I do take great exception to the hateful language that he uses with regard to whole groups of new American immigrants, and I also have a great deal of disagreement with the economic policies he espouses, which are good for billionaires but bad for working people including those folks working at minimum wage at his hotel that he will not even allow to have the right to be heard and to bargain collectively for better wages. The biggest challenge in our country right now, George, is how do we get wages to go up again for Americans instead of down. 70% of us are working harder but not getting ahead, and that's not the way our country is supposed to work or our economy is supposed to work, and Mr. Trump's policies are absolutely the wrong sort of policies that would perpetuate this sort of wage stagnation. Do you think he's got any chance of being the nominee? Excuse me? Does Donald Trump? I suppose he could, which is why, you know, why we have such an outstanding opportunity here if only the democratic party would start holding debates. I mean, when you listen to their debates, very few of their candidates take him on directly. For the hatemongering, for the hateful speech about women and about immigrants, and so we have an opportunity as the democratic party if we'd start holding debates to talk about the ideas that actually make wages go up, raising the minimum wage, allowing workers to organize, making investments in our own country again. These are the things that will actually make the American dream real again. I know you're calling for more debates, the first one is scheduled for October, October 13th but I wonder what kind of case you will make over the course of those debates. Your Iowa co-chair George Appleby said the major factor in this nomination fight will be age and said I don't think we'll go back to someone much older whether Bernie sanders, 73, Hillary Clinton, 67. Do you agree that's going to be a major fact and is that a case you're going to make? Well, I believe that the country is looking for new leadership. We can't be this dissatisfied with how the economy is working for most of us or this dissatisfied at our very divided or polarized national politics and think a resort to old names is going to move us forward so I'm in Iowa today and now visited 30 of the 99 counties, and we're getting a very strong response on the ground from those activists who actually make the decision in the walks, and the phrase I hear over and over again, George, is the phrase, getting things done. There are many fine candidates in the democratic party who espouse Progressive goals and values and will make Progressive promises, but I'm the only one in our party who has 15 years of executive experience actually getting these things done, actually passing a living wage, passing the D.R.E.A.M. Act, passing marriage equality, creating an economic environment that the U.S. Chamber of commerce called the number one state in America for innovation and entrepreneurship. These are the things that we need to do as a country so we can include more of our people, more fully in the economic -- You'll hammer home on getting things done. Will it be harder to make that case if vice president Biden gets in? I would -- you know, I have a great deal of respect for vice president Biden. He's a very, very good and decent man. It would be nice to have at least one more lifelong democrat in the race, and I think his wisdom, I think his experience would -- Is that a shot at Bernie sanders for being part of the socialist party? No, it's a compliment to vice president Biden for also being a lifelong democrat. Okay. One other story about Hillary Clinton. You have said that this whole issue of e-mails is a distraction, a distraction from the campaign and you've refused to take it on so far. But I want to show you poll Numbers that came out from the quinnipiac poll from key states of Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania. They were asked is Hillary Clinton honest and trustworthy. 60% in Ohio said no, 64% in Florida, 63% in Pennsylvania said no. You just heard Scott walker say she would be the deceiver in chief. Do you believe she's honest and trustworthy? George, this is why we need to have debates because so long as our democratic party is not talking about the issues that matter most around the kitchen table the only question that will be asked every day, and it's a legitimate question by media, people like yourself or by the republicans are questions about Hillary Clinton's e-mails. Those are questions that I will leave to her and to her lawyers to answer. But as a party, we need to wake up, and we need to start having debates about the issues that really matter like making college more affordable for more families, making wages go up and not down. Making the investments that allow us to move to a 100% clean energy future as a nation so we can square our shoulders to the challenge of climate change. Until we start having debates and offering those ideas that move our country forward, we're going to be bogged down in questions of what did Hillary Clinton know and when did she know it, and we cannot allow our party to be branded by those sorts of questions of the past. We have to look to the future and we have to offer the ideas that move our country forward. That's why these debates are so important. Do you think you can convince the dnc to add more debates? I think the dnc will become convinced as they look at the poll Numbers that you just put up there that we're really hurring ourselves by not putting forward ideas that serve our national interests. The new ideas and the new generation of leadership people are looking for will be found in the democratic party, not the hatemongerers of the republican party. We need to offer these ideas. Governor O'Malley, thanks for your time this morning. Thank you, George.

This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.