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THE LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER

Conservatives Gather to Woo the Base; Tensions Grow Ahead of Israeli PM Visit; D.C. vs. Capitol Hill in Pot Showdown

Aired February 26, 2015 - 16:30   ET

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


JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper.

Politics today. Today the Conservative Political Action Conference or CPAC got under way in Maryland not far from the nation's capital. And let's just say if the phrase big government were part of a drinking game, we would all need to hand over the keys for the ride home.

For Republican presidential hopefuls, this gathering of party loyalists and conservative activists is like a dress rehearsal of sorts for election season campaign rallies where they can test their one-liners and tout their conservative credentials.

Just minutes from now, Wisconsin governor and rising Republican star Scott Walker is expected to take the stage. It could help solidify him as the emerging frontrunner for his party's nomination in 2016.

Let's go live now to CNN senior political correspondent Brianna Keilar at the conference.

Brianna, Ted Cruz quoted scripture, Chris Christie told the White House to shut up, and this has only been going on for a few hours.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. And you know, Jake, there is always some very flavorful moments here at CPAC but you're also seeing the race for the GOP presidential nomination really play out. And that started with Chris Christie, New Jersey governor, taking aim at the establishment pick, Jeb Bush.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR (voice-over): At the annual conservative revival of CPAC, GOP presidential hopeful Chris Christie took aim at Jeb Bush, the GOP establishment favorite for 2016, who is luring donors and supporters away from the New Jersey governor.

GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), NEW JERSEY: If the elites in Washington who make backroom deals decide who the president's going to be, then he's definitely the frontrunner.

KEILAR: Christie faced a reserved crowd and tough interviewer, conservative talk show host Laura Ingraham, questioning him about his famously brash personality.

CHRISTIE: You're going to hear it directly from me and bluntly because I care. If I didn't care, there's no reason to do this. LAURA INGRAHAM: But sit down and shut up?

CHRISTIE: Yes, well, sometimes people need to be told to sit down and shut up.

KEILAR: If Christie's reception was somewhat muted at this proving ground for Republicans eyeing the White House, the crowd was more energized for Texas senator and Tea Party favorite, Ted Cruz, who came out of the gate taking a shot at Hillary Clinton and recent revelations that her family's charity has accepted foreign donations since she left government and also once even as she served as secretary of state.

SEN. TED CRUZ (R), TEXAS: We could have had Hillary here, but we couldn't find a foreign nation to foot the bill.

KEILAR: But most of his criticism was against Republicans, including this jab presumably at Chris Christie and Jeb Bush.

CRUZ: I'm pretty confident you haven't seen any speakers come up here yet and say, actually I'm a swishy moderate who stands for nothing. Demand action, not talk.

KEILAR: This year, CPAC, ever colorful, features Gov-tron, leading the fight against big government. A pro-tax reform photo booth and appeals to younger conservatives as well as the CPAC's straw poll, a barometer for GOP activists.

But perhaps nothing was as popular as the red meat. Cruz playing this word association game with FOX News Channel host Sean Hannity.

SEAN HANNITY, FOX NEWS HOST: Hillary Clinton.

CRUZ: Washington.

HANNITY: Bill Clinton.

CRUZ: Youth outreach.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: Just scathing there as you can see, Jake. But CPAC this year comes amid a surge in the poll for Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker. He is going to be speaking next hour so people really paying attention to him as polls show that he is right now the top Republican potential presidential candidate in the first in the nation caucus state of Iowa. Very important there.

We're also going to be hearing this evening from Bobby Jindal and Sarah Palin who will no doubt be a crowd pleaser, as she always is at CPAC, and then a really big day tomorrow. Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, Rand Paul, Rick Perry as well as Donald Trump -- Jake.

TAPPER: All right. Brianna Keilar, thank you so much. Appreciate it. In addition to looking ahead to 2016, potential candidates are also

looking ahead to next week, when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to speak before Congress.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. BEN CARSON, AUTHOR/CPAC SPEAKER: Let's not turn our back on Israel. Let's listen to Netanyahu and what he has to say.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Netanyahu will ask Congress to oppose a pending U.S. nuclear deal with Iran, a deal that the White House says is critical to national security.

The prime minister accepted an invitation from House Speaker John Boehner, further deepening the divide between the Obama administration and the Israeli government.

White House officials have not been shy about their opposition to the speech. Dozens of Democrats including the vice president will not attend.

Joining me now to discuss it all, former State Department, Middle East negotiator, and vice president of the Woodrow Wilson International Center, Aaron David Miller.

Thank you so much for being here. So let me ask you, where do you come down on this? Should Netanyahu have not have accepted? Is the White House making too big a deal out of it? What do you think?

AARON DAVID MILLER, WOODROW WILSON INTERNATIONAL CENTER: I think it's a perfect storm generated by a dysfunctional relationship, perhaps worst in the modern period between any Israeli prime minister and American president.

Three factors, we're in the end game on Iran, there's no question. March, June, you're going to know deal, no deal. Number two, you have a Republican-controlled Congress. They want to assert their own independent foreign policy. They do not trust the president on Iran. And finally, you've got Israeli politics and elections scheduled.

You put all three things together against the backdrop of this ongoing soap opera between Netanyahu and Obama, over the course of the last five years, and you get probably the worst element of tension, intrusion into domestic politics, cold shoulder from the White House, Republican opposition, a fragmenting, at least the initial stages of bipartisanship on Israel.

TAPPER: Yes.

MILLER: And that's basically how it's going to play out.

TAPPER: So we -- I mean, we've seen tension between Obama and Netanyahu before. Netanyahu lecturing Obama in the Oval Office, Obama making Netanyahu come around a back door during a visit one time. And I can give you more examples and you can give me even more than that.

But Susan Rice, the national security adviser, calling the speech destructive. John Kerry, the secretary of state, saying that when it comes to Iran, Netanyahu is in his words quote, wrong. And then invoking Netanyahu supporting the Iraq war which, by the way, secretary Kerry did, too.

But forgetting that inconvenient fact, have you ever seen an administration, an American administration, criticize an Israeli prime minister so directly as in this last week?

MILLER: Well, no. Even the Bush 41-Baker showdown with Shamir over loan guarantees managed amidst all attentions to produce something significant, the Madrid Peace Conference. That, I think, is the anomaly here.

Two -- number one, it's gone on longer without production. We've got dysfunction in the relationship without producing anything. I mean, carter got along with Begin. Shamir got along with Bush to produce the Madrid Peace Conference. Even Bill Clinton got along with Benjamin Netanyahu in his first incarnation to produce two interim agreements on the Israeli-Palestinian issue.

Here you have a dysfunctional policy interaction, you've got a dysfunctional personality interaction.

TAPPER: Yes.

MILLER: And it's really taking its toll.

TAPPER: What do you say -- I heard this criticism over the weekend and I want to get your response to it. This is not me speaking.

What do you say to somebody who says, you know, we're just a few away -- a few presidents away potentially from a president who doesn't support Israel the way that this relationship has been going and the way that public sentiment in the United States has been trending.

The United States does not need Israel the way Israel needs the United States. Is it Netanyahu making a mistake here by picking this fight with Obama? What would your response to that argument, again, not made by me -- what would your response be?

MILLER: Well, I think the notion of an Israeli prime minister coming here when the end game on Iran is playing itself out, accepting a partisan invitation from one party, and not the other, isn't -- frankly isn't a good idea. But I'd caution those who argue the sky is falling here. You basically -- and my own line is that I'm like Lehman Brothers. This relationship is too big to fail. And I say that because we need friends in this region as we watch it melt down.

I say that because the behavior of Isis, Assad, Hamas, Hezbollah, and even the mullahs in Iran are far worse than Netanyahu's efforts to protect not only what he regards as his interests but also to frame a campaign commercial in anticipation of his own elections, far worse behavior. We deal with the Saudis, we deal with the Qataris, we deal with the

Emiratis. They don't share our values and perhaps at times not even our interests. We need friends. Israel is one of those. And I suspect that in the wake of all this broken crockery there will be an effort, assuming he's re-elected on March 17th --

TAPPER: Which he probably will be.

MILLER: Perhaps.

TAPPER: Yes.

MILLER: To find a way to restore some semblance of balance. If the administration, the Israelis want to get anything done over the next 20 - 20 months, that's what they're going to have to do.

TAPPER: All right. Aaron David Miller, thank you for your insights as always. Really appreciate it.

MILLER: Pleasure, Jake.

TAPPER: The people have spoken and now marijuana is legal in the nation's capital or is it? Washingtonians are lighting up even as some in Congress warn they are still breaking the law. Are they just blowing smoke?

And the sports LEAD, there is no question this kid has skills and he should. He's the son of LeBron James. He may only be 10 but he is already catching the eye of scouts. At 10?

That's ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: We're back with the MONEY LEAD. Is it me or did Abe Lincoln look like he was suppressing a giggle this morning?

Today it became legal to smoke and grow your own weed in Washington, D.C. The capital of a country that still does not allow that on a federal level and some on Capitol Hill are none too happy about it. You could even call them buzzkills were you so inclined. They've threatened to put the mayor in jail if she allows Washingtonians to light up.

CNN's Miguel Marquez was at a midnight pot party here in D.C. last night as the youth in possession of marijuana became legal.

Miguel, I -- usually I get a contact high just from being in my crew. But tell me the scene was like.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I am now the senior pot correspondent for the network.

TAPPER: Congratulations on that.

MARQUEZ: Look, it is a brave new world out there. People who were afraid to talk about this on camera yesterday, today they are celebrating openly and completely.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you guys happy to be here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Beyond happy.

MARQUEZ (voice-over): Happily and legally, smoking up in the nation's capital.

ALEX JEFFREY, DC NORML: For the first time ever, recreational marijuana is being smoked without regulation, without taxation in Barack Obama's backyard.

MARQUEZ: No one at this midnight pot party a stranger to using marijuana, but for those who enjoy it, being able to use it legally, a new and nearly emotional experience.

JEFFREY: For the first time, I feel safe and I feel respected and I feel comfortable.

MARQUEZ: Not everyone so satisfied. The chairman of the congressional committee overseeing the District of Columbia insists the city is breaking the law in allowing residents to smoke.

REP. JASON CHAFFETZ (R), OVERSIGHT CHAIRMAN: Free rein on marijuana use? I just don't buy that. I just don't think that's the way they should operate. So states' rights, yes. But Washington, D.C. is not a state.

MARQUEZ: Congress has stopped D.C. from allowing recreational sales but the cultivation, possession and use here now legal for anyone over 21.

(On camera): What is this going to be called?

ADAM EIDINGER, POT ACTIVIST: It's called Capital Hemp.

MARQUEZ: Capital Hemp.

EIDINGER: Yes.

MARQUEZ: When will you open?

EIDINGER: We're hoping to open by April 20th, 4/20.

MARQUEZ (voice-over): Adam Eidinger readying for 4/20 friendly D.C. He started the pot legalizing Initiative 71 after his head shop here was raided. He and his staff arrested, the business shut down.

(On camera): They raided your old shop?

EIDINGER: Yes. The police raided two stores in the middle of the night, 35 police officers.

MARQUEZ (voice-over): Eidinger says it was that very treatment sparking his passion to legalize marijuana here and more.

EIDINGER: We didn't just focus on passing a marijuana initiative. We'll be focused on making sure that politicians were elected, that were going to support us once they got in office.

MARQUEZ: A sort of pot revolution that is happening here in Washington. A simple but powerful message.

JEFFREY: It's better to be able to do this on a camera and know that it's OK.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARQUEZ: Now there are some members of Congress out there who say what D.C. is doing is not legal. They will work to stop it. But the mayor here, the attorney general for the District of Columbia and the police say Congress, do your best.

TAPPER: Very interesting. Miguel Marquez, thank you so much as always.

The Buried Lead. Incredible images of these mysterious craters. What caused these bottomless pits to appear?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: Welcome back to THE LEAD. The "Sports Lead" now. There is an amazingly talented young basketball star catching the eyes of college scouts long before he even enters high school. His name, LeBron James. But before you think you've somehow woken up in 1995, let's be clear. I'm not -- no, no, Reza, I'm not talking about this LeBron. Yes. I'm talking about this LeBron.

LeBron James, Jr., who's the son of the Cleveland Cavaliers star James Senior says he's not thrilled that his 10-year-old son is already getting scholarship offers. He told a CBS station in Detroit that it should be a violation to recruit kids that young. James, however, did not call out which schools have been cruising the biddy basketball courts for talent.

Turning out to our buried lead, in a bizarre phenomenon, one of the most remote parts of the planet, it is a situation that is so potentially dangerous, scientists are worried about even attempting to study it.

Come take a look at this. These are giant craters that have been popping up in Siberia, one estimated to be about 100 feet in diameter. The first crater was discovered last summer. Researchers now suspect there could be dozens more. The leading theory amongst scientist is that the phenomenon has tried to climate change. Researchers say that's causing permafrost to thaw, leaving methane gas trapped under ground which eventually explodes.

Russian scientists have called for an urgent investigation. They are worried the craters could jeopardize nearby gas fields while spewing highly flammable methane into the atmosphere. While the idea of climate change may be a source of controversy here

in the U.S., even debate on some shows, on one part of the world they can't afford to debate whether or not climate change is real. It's already a potential crisis.

Vanuatu is an island nation in the south pacific ocean that you probably won't find much about on trip advisor but on CNN's newest series, "THE WONDER LIST," my friend and host Bill Weir travels to this tiny island to get a first-hand look at how climate change is not just changing their landscape but threatening their very existence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL WEIR, CNN HOST: There is an alarming number of Americans who are skeptical that it's even happening and that island nations see this as an easy way to get some extra money. What is the reality when it comes to climate change for an island nation like this one?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, some of the smaller islands within Vanuatu is -- I mean, we have seen because we have been living here years and years. We can see the sea level rising.

WEIR: You can see the actual changes?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We can see the actual changes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Joining me now live is one of my favorite people in world. "WONDER LIST" host Bill -- I'm not talking -- that's not a joke. I'm serious. "WONDER LIST" host Bill Weir.

Bill, tell us what lured you to this island and what else you uncovered there.

WEIR: You are one of my favorite people, Jake, as well. And I love being on the show. You know, it started with a grand question. Climate change is one little aspect of that. We're going to get into it in further episodes as well, but I started with a question. I know you've got kids. And I looked at my 10-year-old daughter who was going to turn my age in the year 2050. And I thought, I wonder what kind of planet she'll have at that time. Well, there' still be wild tigers, how many species will go extinct in the Galapagos.

And I wonder if there will still be island nations like Hawaii 100 years ago? You know, Bali without burger joints or strip malls. And Vanuatu is such a fascinating test case because it's 83 different islands, very different tribes on each one, some of them have Wi-Fi, and amazing cell phone coverage and they can't wait for the tourists to come. Others have seen the big city and want no part of it.

So it's this real sort of neighbor versus neighbor debate whether or not to join the modern world. And it is the most beautiful bountiful place I have ever seen. I met so many surprising characters. That guy is the chief of a tribe that actually worships the volcano. They think that in the 1940s a god appeared on their island in the form of an American serviceman who said if you shun modernization, you will be rewarded with shiploads of cargo and then came World War II and boatloads of cargo, prophesy fulfilled.

And so as a result of that, they are resistant to development because this volcano which is amazing, they see it as holy ground instead of a tourist trap.

TAPPER: What are some of the other episodes coming up on this season? What else -- what are you looking forward to the most, which episodes?

WEIR: This is a great one. Galapagos we're going to do in week two. You know, some amazing steps being taken down there to prevent this current mass extinction that we're living in, including snipers in helicopters shooting hundreds of thousands of feral invasive goats to save the giant tortoise that Charles Darwin introduced to us.

Great story in the Dead Sea in the Middle East. Sort of echoes what you just showed, those giant sinkholes. Same thing is happening as the Dead Sea disappears. The Jordan River where Christians know Jesus was baptized, is drying up. It's a huge water management story, political in-fighting, but I walked away from it with hope, because in desert cultures, even warring neighbors know that a thirsty enemy is a more desperate enemy. So if there is going to be a path to peace in the Middle East it will probably be over water.

TAPPER: Yes. This may put you on the spot, but I like doing that, as you know. Of all the places you visited, which one surprised you the most?

WEIR: Well, I think the trip to Israel for that story, just because of what -- the hope I took out of a place that you read, you know, so many dire headlines about every day. But this is the alps, we went to the glaciers. There's the mouth of the Jordan there. But I really have to say, and this is not just me pimping the premiere, this Vanuatu episode is mind-blowing in so many ways. I saw a picture of these guys in loin cloths with bows and arrows perched on top of this unbelievable, you know, volcanic mountain.

I said I want to go there, I want to meet those guy, I got there, the guy in the picture's name is Bob. He wants to be an actor. And the cell phone service is better than midtown Manhattan. So the world is -- the world is getting so small, so fast. And we want to just celebrate what we have while we have it.

TAPPER: And you can catch the rest of the journey on the premiere episode of "THE WONDER LIST WITH BILL WEIR" this Sunday at 10:00 p.m. Do not miss it.

Bill Weir, thank you so much.

That's it for THE LEAD. I am Jake Tapper. I now turn you over to Wolf Blitzer. He is right next door in a place that around here we like to call "THE SITUATION ROOM."