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THE LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER

Israeli Prime Minister to Address Congress; LAPD Shooting Death; More Than 30 Democrats Boycotting Speech; Iraqi Forces Battle ISIS for Key City

Aired March 2, 2015 - 16:00   ET

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


BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN GUEST HOST: Netanyahu says no disrespect intended.

I'm Brianna Keilar. And this is THE LEAD.

The world lead. It's being described as the biggest setback in U.S./Israeli relations in decades, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu readies to tell Congress why President Obama's potential deal with Iran could destroy Israel.

The national lead. Cell phone video shows the LAPD firing five shots into a man's back, killing him. The cops already Tased him. He was already on the ground. He didn't have a gun. Now the department's top cop says his men did what they had to do to protect their lives.

And he called Russia a country of corruption and Vladimir Putin a pathological liar before being gunned down in the shadow of the Kremlin -- his assassin caught on surveillance video and now his model girlfriend says she thinks she could be next.

Welcome to THE LEAD. I'm Brianna Keilar. Jake Tapper is on assignment.

And we begin with our world lead, the tense relationship between Israel and the United States on display as Israel's prime minister arrives here in Washington as an uninvited guest as far as the White House is concerned. Benjamin Netanyahu is in town at the request of the Republican House to give a speech to Congress, counting all the ways that President Obama is getting it wrong when it comes to Iran.

But, today, addressing the Jewish lobbying group AIPAC, Netanyahu tried to hush all the rumors of reported behind-the-scenes fighting, saying the U.S. and Israeli marriage will weather this storm.

CNN is posted all around the globe covering this issue. We have Elise Labott traveling with Netanyahu. Michelle Kosinski is at the White House, Dana Bash on Capitol Hill. And we have Jim Sciutto in Switzerland, where high-level talks with Iran are taking place.

And I want to start right here in Washington and bring in CNN global affairs correspondent Elise Labott.

So you had, Elise, Netanyahu's message today. It seemed to be sometimes even the best of friends will fight seemed to be what he was saying. But what about tomorrow? Will what he says tomorrow perhaps undo some of the goodwill that he tried to reconstruct today?

ELISE LABOTT, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brianna, he definitely tried to lower the temperature and strike a more positive tone, and I think it's not only because he realizes the relationship with the U.S. is very important, but it's also because this bickering with the U.S. is diverting attention from the issue at hand, Iran.

And despite that friendly tone today, in his speech tomorrow, Benjamin Netanyahu will spare no effort to thwart the nuclear deal shaping up with Iran.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LABOTT (voice-over): He is just hours away from launching a full-out assault on the Obama administration's policy towards Iran. But Prime Minister Netanyahu said he's not attacking the president.

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: My speech is not intended to show any disrespect to President Obama or the esteemed office that he holds. I have great respect for both.

(APPLAUSE)

LABOTT: He spoke to a friendly audience to dial down tensions, but his remarks tomorrow will be provocative. Aides say the prime minister will lay out what he knows about the Iranian nuclear agreement on the table and warn about the dangers to Israel, the U.S. and the world if the deal goes forward.

NETANYAHU: Israel and the United States agree that Iran should not have nuclear weapons, but we disagree on the best way to prevent Iran from developing those weapons.

LABOTT: Netanyahu will also urge Congress to press the Obama administration to push back the March 24 deadline for a political framework, allowing more time for negotiations on a tougher deal.

SAMANTHA POWER, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS: There will never be a sunset on America's commitment to Israel's security. Never.

(APPLAUSE)

LABOTT: The White House put out its ambassador to the United Nations to assure Israel and its friends the United States will -- quote -- "take whatever steps are necessary to protect its close ally."

POWER: We believe diplomacy is the preferred route to secure our shared aim. But if diplomacy should fail, we know the stakes of a nuclear-armed Iran as well as everyone here. We will not let it happen.

LABOTT: But in an interview with CNN, Israel's intelligence minister outlined why his country can't just take America at its word.

YUVAL STEINITZ, ISRAELI INTELLIGENCE MINISTER: If there is going to be deal in few weeks' time, it's going to be a bad deal or an unsatisfactory deal that will not supply the necessary security and confidence to Israel and I believe also to the Western world altogether.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LABOTT: Now, Samantha Power was a friendly face to the Israeli and American Jewish community, having defended Israel at the U.N. many times. The really tough critic speaks tonight, National Security Adviser Susan Rice, who earlier this week called Netanyahu's visit destructive.

She is expected to give a speech about Iran, in a way prebut the prime minister's remarks. One of the themselves she is likely to raise is, what is the alternative to a nuclear deal? The U.S. does not believe that Israel has answered that question -- Brianna.

KEILAR: Yes, those are key remarks. And we will be watching. Elise Labott traveling with the prime minister from Israel to the U.S. and back, thank you so much.

I want to go now to CNN White House correspondent Michelle Kosinski.

So, Michelle, White House press secretary Josh Earnest said that President Obama didn't even tune in to watch Bibi's speech this morning.

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Right.

KEILAR: It seems like maybe he won't watch Bibi's speech tomorrow. You have got the administration trying to play this as if there's nothing to see here, but how tense are things behind closed doors, where we can't see what's going on?

KOSINSKI: Yes. Well, both Israel and the U.S. over the past several days have really tried to downplay that tension, even though it's been asked of the White House many times, what does this do to the relationship?

But, remember, it was hard to avoid that tension when we heard National Security Adviser Susan Rice say just about a week ago that the partisanship surrounding this could be destructive to the fabric of the relationship. And that was really surprising, because that was pretty much the strongest statement acknowledging the tension that we have heard so far.

And I think it was interesting today that even though the line from both Prime Minister Netanyahu and the U.S.'s ambassador to the U.N., Samantha Power, was that the alliance is stronger than ever, there are these very, very strong and unyielding shared values, that the U.S. has done a ton to help Israel, that Israel appreciates that greatly, the tension later on still managed to come out today in what we heard from the press secretary, that, first of all, if Israel doesn't like the prospect of these nuclear negotiations, then Israel has provided no other viable option. And, also, he acknowledged that the White House is upset that Israel

has and could continue to leak out these purported details about the negotiations, the White House saying that that radically distorts the negotiation -- negotiating position of allies and that that betrays the trust between allies -- Brianna.

KEILAR: Yes. And we expect to hear some of that certainly from Susan Rice. Michelle Kosinski at the White House, thank you.

In Switzerland, Secretary of State John Kerry met with his Iranian counterpart today.

And I want to go now to CNN chief national correspondent, national security correspondent, Jim Sciutto. He is in Montreux. He's traveling with Secretary Kerry.

So, Jim, today's, the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog says Iran is still hiding key information about their efforts to get nuclear weapons. Is there really even any trust here? Is there even enough between the U.S. and Iran to get a deal done?

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brianna, that point you raise is a pretty fundamental disagreement, lack of trust.

It's 16, 17 months into interim agreement and Iran still has not fessed up to past suspected past work on weaponization. That's a real issue. But I'll tell you, they are clearly making progress on other issues, because, just tonight, Zarif and Kerry they met twice for an hour each just in the span of three hours. And they're going to be meeting again on Tuesday into Wednesday.

They wouldn't be meeting here at this level unless they were making progress on key issues. And that's happening despite all the back and forth, all the drama in Washington. the nuclear talks here that are the core of the disagreement in Washington seem to be accelerating.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NETANYAHU: My speech is not intended to show any disrespect to President Obama.

SCIUTTO (voice-over): The acrimony between the U.S. and Israel in Washington...

NETANYAHU: I have a moral obligation to speak up in the face of these dangers.

SCIUTTO: ... so far having no impact on the nuclear talks between the U.S. and Iran here in Switzerland, Secretary of State John Kerry and his Iranian counterpart, Javad Zarif, meeting multiple times this week, with talks accelerating the negotiations to end the decades-long dispute over Iran's nuclear program, with Kerry well aware of Israel's concerns.

JOHN KERRY, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: Any deal that we would possibly agree to would make the international community and especially Israel safer than it is today. That's our standard.

SCIUTTO: So, what does a good deal look like? Supporters, including the administration, say a deal would restrict Iran's path to a nuclear bomb and extend the time it would need to embark on a weapons program, the so-called breakout period, to a year, all while allowing the civilian program under international monitoring, much like the interim agreement signed in 2013.

Opponents, including Prime Minister Netanyahu and some U.S. lawmakers, say the only way to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon is to end Iran's nuclear program altogether, particularly in light of Iran's past cheating. Just today, the IAEA said Iran still has not provided information on past efforts to research weaponization.

YUKIYA AMANO, DIRECTOR GENERAL, INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY: We have asked questions and the questions are clear, so they can answer.

SCIUTTO: Trouble is, Iran says it will never give up its nuclear program entirely, meaning that, if no deal is reached, military action and perhaps war could follow.

Even as the gaps narrowed today, another key disagreement was exposed. If there is agreement, the West wants sanctions lifted gradually to retain leverage. But Iran wants the sanctions lifted altogether right away.

MOHAMMAD JAVAD ZARIF, Iranian Foreign Minister: Our negotiating partners, particularly the Western countries and particularly the United States, must once and for all come to the political understanding that sanctions and agreement don't go together. If they want an agreement, sanctions must go.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCIUTTO: Now, on the IAEA questions, I spoke to a senior State Department official. Asked, they say that they raise this issue regularly, these past possible weaponization efforts and research. They raise them in the talks. It's one of the issues that they're trying to settle here in Montreux, in fact, and that any final agreement will include full disclosure on past weaponization research.

Brianna, it's still a major issue, one of several issues that still has to be narrowed if they are going to come to an agreement by the end of March deadline.

KEILAR: Yes, Jim Sciutto for us, thank you so much for that report.

He's in Switzerland with Secretary Kerry.

In our politics lead, today was just a warmup. Tomorrow is really the main event. But Netanyahu won't be speaking to a full house when he addresses Congress. Who is planning to boycott? That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: Welcome back to THE LEAD. I'm Brianna Keilar, in for Jake tapper.

The politics lead: more than 30 Democrats now plan to boycott tomorrow's speech from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

I want to bring in chief congressional correspondent Dana Bash.

So, Dana, you heard Netanyahu this morning. He said the speech isn't intended to divide Congress, but it really looks like that's exactly what it's doing.

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Of course, because at its heart, it's coming from a place of division, because the invitation came from the House speaker, who only did so because he wants Benjamin Netanyahu to get out to the American people and the world why he believes the nuclear deal that the White House is working on with its allies to deal with Iran is just flat wrong. So that's why you're going to have maybe even more than the 30-plus that will be boycotting and a lot of those who will be going are going to be going and just sitting there politely because they want to show respect, but not because they think it's a good thing to do.

And listen for the prime minister to try very hard to pressure members of Congress to use their power, their legislative power, to try to stop any kind of deal that comes out of Switzerland.

KEILAR: So, if you hear, Dana, dozens of Republicans aren't going, who do we expect to fill the seats that will be empty from them?

BASH: Probably, we won't see empty seats there, because they are going to have a lot of senators and so forthcoming in, being that there could be some in the back. I think what's also interesting is when it comes to the public, we are told that the request for tickets to be up in the visitors' gallery, 10 times more than usual.

So, there's a lot of interest, as you can imagine, coming in and there are some VIPs. Elie Wiesel, for example, Holocaust survivor, Nobel Peace winner, he is a guest of the House speaker. He will be in the gallery.

KEILAR: Yes, very hot ticket speech. And we know you'll be there covering it.

Dana Bash, thank you so much, on Capitol Hill for us.

BASH: Thanks, Bri.

KEILAR: I want to bring in now, former White House Middle East advisor, Ambassador Marc Ginsberg. And we also have Neri Zilber, from the Washington Institute for Near East Peace.

Thank you so much to both of you for being here.

And, first to you, Ambassador -- we see this friction, it seems like we are talking a lot about this animosity between the White House, between Netanyahu and some of the substance has been lost. Is this just a speed bump in the relationship or is this a bigger deal, do you think?

AMB. MARC GINSBERG, FORMER WHITE HOUSE MIDDLE EAST ADVISER: Well, it isn't just a speed bump, Brianna, because I have never seen it in all my 30 years involved in the U.S./Israeli relationship, particularly in the modern period. This is about as bad as it ever has been, number one. What does that mean? How does that translate?

The fact of the matter is, is that the president has been true to his word. He's continued to provide Israel with all the military support that it has needed despite the animosity that he has towards Netanyahu and Netanyahu obviously has towards him, but at the same time, the most important issue that is now confronting Israel, the Iranian agreement, what a terrible way for Israel to have to be concerned about the nature of this agreement and how it's being negotiated, knowing that the prime minister contributed to undermining the confidence that the White House has in its relationship with Israel.

KEILAR: What do you think about that? Is this something sort of Netanyahu hurting himself in all of this, or he gains politically?

NERI ZILBER, WASHINGTON INSTITUTE FOR NEAR EAST PEACE: Well, he gains politically in Israel among his natural constituency, among the right wing. Open question whether it helps him among the general population in Israel, coming up to an election. It seems to be a distraction, I believe, from the existential concerns of the average Israeli voter, which is very much not so much Iran but housing, the cost of living. So, open question whether it helps him, whether this whole circus actually helps Netanyahu.

KEILAR: Because there are certainly economic concerns in Israel right now, very much. That's sort of I guess changing the political landscape. It's not just about security. But if people are talking about the friction and they should be talking about Iran, what should -- what is really the goal for Netanyahu to communicate, as he tried, though, today about Iran and what this means for Israel?

GINSBERG: Let's be clear here -- he's really came to the United States in order to kill this negotiation. He does not want the administration to be able to negotiate the type of agreement that's emerging without at least helping to establish a blocking majority with the Republican House of Representatives to prevent it from happening. That's his goal. He's made it very clear that no matter what emerges from this negotiation is unacceptable.

Is that reasonable? I don't believe so. The ink is not even dry before we even know what this agreement looks like. Has he offered any alternative to what is emerging? He has had months to offer that alternative and he has not.

KEILAR: What could he do? If this is what the U.S. is saying he needs to offer an alternative, what should he be fighting for?

ZILBER: Well, I think it's legitimate for the Israeli prime minister to make his opinion known publicly. I think the way he's chosen to go about it is probably the wrong way to do it, obviously, given the circus that's been going on for the past few weeks. I think it's important given the circus to take a step back and look

at the real issue here. The speech Netanyahu's visit, very much a distraction from where the attention should be, which is Iran's violations of U.N. Security Council resolutions, the exact contours of the agreement and what comes the day after an agreement.

KEILAR: What are you expecting tomorrow in his speech? Will it be different from his speech to AIPAC today?

ZILBER: Very much so. I mean, the speech to AIPAC was very much setting the stage, kind of downplaying the differences in the relationship. Tomorrow is going to be very much geared towards Iran, Iran nuclear talks. It's going to be interesting as your correspondent mentioned to see how the Democrats respond.

KEILAR: Yes, what are you expecting to hear, Ambassador?

GINSBERG: I think the prime minister is going to lay out, and the substance is very important. I agree that he should be able to communicate that substance.

It's the process and the way in which it's coming about. He's essentially going to declare that Iran cannot be trusted to agree to any long-term negotiation that would absolve the West and Israel of any further concern over its nuclear ambitions and he may be right. And the fact of the matter is that there is indeed a legitimate concern for both Democrats and Republicans as well, as well as the White House, as well as Secretary Kerry.

KEILAR: He may be right but has he perhaps undercut himself is the question.

Neri and Ambassador, thanks so much to both of you.

And when we come back, a new hit list for ISIS. This time, the terrorist group is starting a war with the same social media site it uses to spread its hate. Why does ISIS want to take down Twitter?

Plus, a chaotic scene in L.A. that ends with three different police officers killing a man that they were trying to arrest. Why did they shoot him? New details on the investigation, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: Welcome back to THE LEAD. I'm Brianna Keilar, filling in for Jake Tapper.

In other world news, more than 20,000 Iraqi security forces are in a pitched battle against ISIS terrorists to recapture the city of Tikrit, a city you might remember as Saddam Hussein's hometown. Well, it's now an enemy stronghold 80 miles away from Baghdad that fell into ISIS hands last summer.

CNN's Barbara Starr live for us at the Pentagon with the latest.

And, Barbara, Iraqi forces are apparently getting some assistance from really what some people might consider to be an unlikely ally, right?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: And, Brianna, that ally is Iran. What kind of assistance or perhaps interference are they providing? That's a big question right now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STARR (voice-over): Iraqi Prime Minister Abadi says the fight to take back Tikrit is on. Saddam Hussein's hometown fell to ISIS eight months ago. The battle is a crucial test of the willingness of Iraqi troops to fight after months of U.S. training -- easier terrain in Tikrit than trying to recapture the biggest prize, Mosul.

MAJ. GEN. JAMES "SPIDER" MARKS, CNN MILITARY ANALYST/US ARMY (RET): The key thing in my mind is proximity to Baghdad. It's closer to Baghdad. Mosul is another 200 kilometers, you know, another many miles to the north from Tikrit.

STARR: The Iraqi forces attacking from several directions in the effort to retake Tikrit, engaging with ISIS north of the city at Al Alam, and south at Al Dour.

ISIS has its own images and version of events, claiming to show it is fighting back against the 30,000-man force Iraq says it is fielding here.

But U.S. officials are privately doubtful the Iraqi numbers are that high. The U.S. is saying little about the operation, viewing it as a gauge of Iraq's sectarian divide. Tikrit is a Sunni town. The troops are Shia-led.

And even as U.S. tensions with Iran grow, Tehran is in the thick of the Tikrit fight. The Iranian Fars news agency is reporting that Qassem Suleimani, the commander of the elite Iranian Quds brigade, is in Iraq overseeing the operation.

Iran is also providing Iraq and its Shia militias with weapons and ammunition.

Another sign? No one can predict is' next move. Nearly two dozen Christian hostages released by the group. Nobody knows why.

MARKS: We should not let up on ISIS because we saw this activity that seems to be a gesture of good faith. There is no good faith in ISIS. It doesn't exist. We should continue to pound them as hard and as viciously as we can.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STARR: Now, Iranian and U.S. military commanders in Iraq stay as far away from each other as they can. We are repeatedly told that they have no dealings with them. But Iran, not about to let the Iraqi government one of its main allies fall to ISIS. So, it will be interesting to keep a watch on all of this and see if and when Iranian and U.S. interests collide -- Brianna.

KEILAR: Barbara Starr for us at the Pentagon, thank you.