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THE LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER

Former Mayor Says Obama Doesn't Love America; Record Cold Freezes Niagara Falls; Key Town Collapses As Cease-fire Crumbles

Aired February 19, 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 HOST: Welcome back to THE LEAD. We have some more breaking news in our National Lead. For the first time, we are seeing a photograph of the suspect just arrested, taken into custody by Las Vegas police after that tense standoff just a few minutes ago related to the road rage killing on Valentine's Day of 44-year-old Tammy Meyers, a mother of four.

This picture which you can see on the screen was tweeted by Las Vegas Metro P.D. We are blurring out the suspect's face because as of right now, we are unsure if he is over the age of 18. We will bring you more information on the story as the details continue to come in.

But we are going to turn right now to the Politics Lead. President Obama has been criticized by many Republicans for refraining from using the word Islamic when discussing the terrorist threat facing the west.

Explaining that we, the United States, the west, we are not at war with Islam, the president says, but with people who have perverted the faith and the president goes on using the word Islamic feeds into the clash of civilizations idea the terrorists are trying to create.

Now, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani has, shall we say, a different take. According to "Politico," at a private dinner gathering for possible presidential candidate Republican Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin, Giuliani said that President Obama talks that way because President Obama doesn't love America.

CNN national correspondent, Suzanne Malveaux, joins us now. Suzanne, this has become a national kerfuffle, not some ill-conceived remarks at a private dinner.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean, this is taking a national stage because one of the things is that they are saying this is terrible. That's what the White House is saying, these horrible remarks.

That's the only point that the White House and Giuliani can agree with now is the suggestion that the president doesn't love his own country is horrible.

But this is the kind of rhetoric that we are starting to see more often as this highly charged, emotional issue of patriotism again is taking center stage as our country is debating over whether or not we should engage in a full-blown war against ISIS.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX (voice-over): Former New York mayor and one-time presidential contender, Rudy Giuliani, created a firestorm when at a private Republican fundraiser he said this about President Obama.

"I know this is a horrible thing to say, but I do not believe that the president loves America. He doesn't love you and he doesn't love me. He wasn't brought up the way you were brought up and I was brought up, through love of his country."

Social media lit up after the comments were detailed in "Politico" as Democrats and critics demanded a retraction, forcing Giuliani to attempt to clean up the mess on Fox News.

RUDOLPH GIULIANI (R), FORMER NEW YORK MAYOR: I'm not questioning his patriotism. He's a patriot, I'm sure. What I'm saying, in his rhetoric I very rarely hear him say the things that I used to hear Ronald Reagan say, the things I used to hear Bill Clinton, say about how much he loves America. I do hear him criticize America much more often than other American presidents.

MALVEAUX: The White House made a thinly veiled attempt at seeming above the fray.

ERIC SCHULTZ, PRINCIPAL DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY (via telephone): There is enough to be doing damage control this morning. What I will tell you is I agree on one thing today, it was a horrible thing to say.

MALVEAUX: The remarks were delivered in front of the featured guests, likely presidential candidate, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, who remained silent during Giuliani's rant. Walker refused to denounce Giuliani's comments today.

GOVERNOR SCOTT WALKER (R), WISCONSIN: The mayor can speak for himself. I'm not going to comment on what the president thinks or not. He can speak for himself as well. I will tell you, I love America.

MALVEAUX: Walker's deflection stands in contrast to 2008, when Republican Senator John McCain politely rebuked a voter, who suggested Obama was an Arab.

SENATOR JOHN MCCAIN (R), FORMER GOP PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: No, ma'am. No, ma'am. He's a decent family man, citizen that I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues and that's what this campaign is all about. He's not. Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: At that time, that was a smear. We certainly don't agree with that position. Having said that, there are Republican strategists, who I talked with today who worry now that the rhetoric within their own party has already become extreme, having covered Obama back in 2008. What strikes me in Giuliani's comments is when he says Obama wasn't brought up the way you or I was brought up, harkens back to when his opponents tried to paint him as other. This is a narrative, Jake, that his supporters believe opened the door to using racist comments against him back in 2008.

TAPPER: Suzanne Malveaux, thank you.

In other national news, it is cold enough to slow down one of the greatest forces of nature, Niagara Falls, frozen as millions tried to protect themselves from this historic blast of cold. The impact and when we could all start to thaw out coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: Welcome back to THE LEAD. In national news, it is so cold --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How cold is it?

TAPPER: Thank you. So cold that Niagara Falls is more like Niagara freeze. That's not very good. Anyway, this rare and wild sight is made possible by a blast of frigid record-breaking air that is literally coming from Siberia. That's not a joke.

That's actually where it's coming from, cold enough to at least partially stop the flow of 600,000 gallons of water per second, 185 million people are feeling this amazing deep freeze, 30 states have wind chill warnings and advisories posted for today and tomorrow.

In the Midwest to the northeast and all the way down south in places like Huntsville, Alabama and Atlanta, where they are not equipped for weather that feels like 5 degrees. Two homeless people were found dead in these temperatures.

Our correspondents are standing by to bring you the impact of the storm. Rosa Flores is live in Times Square. Rene Marsh is at Reagan National Airport outside D.C. Rosa, first to you, the big apple is frozen to its core.

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: When the apple is that frozen be careful, don't bite into it because you will lose a tooth. Jake, it is really cold in New York City. Check this out, about 19 degrees right now and the city on a state of alert because of the low temperatures.

So it's about 19, but with the wind gusts peaking at about 40 miles an hour, the wind chill drops to zero degrees. Take a look around me, of course, iconic Times Square right now. If you ask all the people that are here, the only people who are happy are tourists.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Very cold but being from Scotland we're used to the cold. It's not too bad.

FLORES: How cold is it? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible).

FLORES: It's freezing even for Lady Liberty.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Very, very cold. We're from Florida.

FLORES: How cold are you?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Not that cold. We are from Canada.

FLORES: The universal sign for very cold.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FLORES: This is the universal sign for cold here in Times Square because hear this, Jake, tonight, the windchill, minus 20 degrees. There is no word for that.

TAPPER: Brutal, absolutely brutal. Thank you, Rosa Flores. So let's go to our Rene Marsh. She is at Reagan National right now. Rene, first of all, I'm sorry that you don't have the CNN hat that Rosa was wearing because you look very cold.

Frostbite in these temperatures can happen in less than half an hour. That's taking its toll not just on correspondents like yourself but airport crews.

RENE MARSH, CNN AVIATION AND GOVERNMENT REGULATION CORRESPONDENT: You are absolutely right. It's taking its toll both on the correspondents, the photographers and the crews out on the tarmac. When you have temperatures as frigid as they are here, of course, you have jet fuel equipment that's susceptible to freezing up.

And then you have the people on the tarmac, they have to have limited time outside and what does that do? It slows down operations. That means for the traveler, in some cases, delayed departures.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARSH (voice-over): A plane skids off the runway. Crews de-ice and excess snow cleared away. That's the scene at airports this week as the temperature from the Canadian border to the southeast continues to plunge.

On the street, the bone-chilling temperatures making roadways treacherous, the colder it gets, the more problems getting around. Below 15 degrees, salt stops being effective on slippery roads. Around 30 below zero, in general, car fuel and liquids turn to gel and won't run.

If it gets colder than 60 below zero, it can be hard to start a plane's engine. At the airports, the cold weather hits the crews on the tarmac the hardest, and that could mean departure delays.

KEITH WOLZINGER, "THE SPECTRUM GROUP": The baggage services, catering, fueling, all comes a little bit slower mostly because the crews can't stay exposed to the cold temperatures for long periods of time like they would in warmer weather.

MARSH: Ice and snow can bring travel to a halt, but the cold weather itself actually helps planes fly.

WOLZINGER: The cold weather actually makes the airplanes fly better. The engines can produce more power and the wings produce more lift.

MARSH: They are designed and tested to handle frigid temperatures. Before taking to the sky, this new airbus was put in a giant freezer in Florida, minus 45 degrees, to make sure it could withstand bitter cold.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARSH: All right, you know what? The bottom line is as long as there is no precipitation, these planes will take off. Again, they are built to fly despite the frigid temperatures at cruising altitude, get this it's a whopping below 48 degrees. So they can handle the cold. It's when you have the precipitation that is the problem. Back to you, Jake.

TAPPER: What kind of jerk anchor would send Rosa Flores and Rene Marsh out in this freezing cold? I'm sorry. I feel bad, guys.

FLORES: I wonder.

TAPPER: Go get warm. I apologize.

Coming up, the devastation staggering, nearly every building destroyed. Civilians still barricaded in basements, too afraid to leave. Now Ukrainian troops are pulling out of this key city. What will the pro-Russian separatists and Russian troops do next?

Plus, nearly 200 people possibly exposed to a super bug that is resistant to antibiotics. Two people who were infected are dead. What about the others? That's coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: Welcome back to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper. In world news today, the devastation is staggering. This is apparently what a cease-fire looks like in Eastern Ukraine. After days of relentless shelling, a key town is now in the hands of Russians and pro-Russian separatists.

CNN cameras went in to give us an idea of what this war is really like barely a home untouched by the barrage. Civilians, many of them elderly, forced to take shelter in their basements only to come out to wait in line for food.

And as if the disconnect between world capitals in the frontlines here couldn't be any more glaring today. The leaders of Ukraine, Russia, France, and Germany spoke on the phone and called on both sides to respect the cease-fire. How nice.

Our Nick Paton Walsh is live for us in Ukraine. Tell us what you saw in this town today -- Nick.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jake, as you mentioned, there are four world leaders out there still calling this a cease-fire. You may hear behind me shelling here in Donetsk.

What we saw today, though, was the result of a peak of violence in a key town called Debaltseve where frankly so many people seemed to have lost their lives when there was supposed to have been a cease-fire in place.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WALSH (voice-over): A grim wind rips through the bones of Ukraine's defeat in Debaltseve, the first junction in the graveyard of armor, a trove of loot. This Ukrainian soldier died of injuries, we are told and this day Kiev is still counting its losses.

(on camera): You can see in the destruction exactly how violent the clashes must have been, mostly at a peak during the supposed cease- fire. It gives you an idea really of how many losses must have been inflicted upon the Ukrainian military.

What it must have been like to be a civilian trapped in here during the fight for Debaltseve, the full of which the separatists such a seismic moment in the Ukrainian conflict.

(voice-over): Going further, says Sergei, Kiev gave the order. How do we live through this? Says Antonina, I wish they could feel like we did and their children, too.

It is the same scene on the road into the other side of town. This Russian shows me proof he says that fighting fascists not as seen here more poorly equipped conscripts. The shelling does not stop. Barely a home has escaped.

This, the first time so many have ventured out. Their world now part of a growing separatist enclave that is fast redrawing Europe's borders and it so often feels like a state more than a ragtag insurgency.

Consider this swift food handout where anger at their old masters, Kiev, is on display. There are many of us here, and remember how they said there were no people in Debaltseve. She lived through World War II. This is worse, she says. Is that really possible?

Two weeks ago, we saw Ukrainian soldiers' shelter people here and now, down in the basement, the owners have changed, but the tenants have not. Since I saw them last, these women have not left the underground.

Where am I going to live now? Everything is destroyed, one says. We have no windows or doors left. How will we live? The war of violence and surprises from the last century visited on to this.

(END VIDEOTAPE) WALSH: Politically, this is still a cease-fire but militarily, it is frankly a fast advance by separatists, who seem to have broader ambitions. The real question is what is the White House's policy right now to try to prevent Europe's borders being changed week by week here in Ukraine? -- Jake.

TAPPER: Nick Paton Walsh in Ukraine, thank you for that important report and please stay safe.

In national news, a deadly health scare is raising concern about safety at one of the nation's top hospitals. Nearly 200 patients may have been exposed to the superbug known as CRA at the UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles.

The outbreak occurred between October 2014 and January of this year. Health officials say at least seven people were infected and two of their deaths were linked to the drug resistant bacteria.

CNN's national correspondent, Kyung Lah, is live in Los Angeles. We also have CNN's chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta live in Atlanta. Kyung, start with you. First, does the hospital know what caused these infections?

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, UCLA Medical Services has narrowed it down to two particular scopes. These scopes are referred to as endoscopes. If you have ever gone to the hospital, it's used often to examine your pancreas.

They say that there was an insufficiency in the process and somehow, these scopes were the ones that transmitted this superbug patient to patient. Essentially they weren't properly cleaned. We spoke with one of those seven patients, those infected patients you are talking about -- Jake.

The attorney of one of those patients, he is an 18-year-old high school student, he came here for an out-patient procedure to have his pancreas looked at. He got the superbug. He was in the hospital for more than 80 days, much of it in the ICU. Here's what his attorney told us.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEVIN BOYLE: He was very, very unfortunately close to death. Imagine being in the ICU for months and months. There are some problems and unfortunately, he's not doing well right now. So the family is with him right now and they are hoping and praying that everything is going to be OK.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAH: Jake, he remains in the hospital still to this day -- Jake.

TAPPER: Tragic, Sanjay, how common are these superbugs and how dangerous is it for patients once they get infected?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, this particular superbug, by superbug we mean a bacteria that does not respond well to antibiotics, not easy to kill, they are unfortunately becoming more common as we develop more and more antibiotic resistance.

This particular one known as CRE has been around before. This is not the first time it's happened. They have even been linked to these scopes that Kyung was describing before. It's not just Los Angeles.

This is a known entity and it is a bad one, to your second question, Jake. At times, luckily there are not large numbers of infections, but up to half the people who get these infections can die from them.

We know that seven people have been diagnosed with the infection. Two people have died in this recent spat of cases out of Los Angeles.

TAPPER: Exactly why are they happening because people are becoming more resistant to antibiotics? What is exactly the reason?

GUPTA: Well, with regard to the superbugs, what happens a lot of times is the particular bacteria at one time could be treated pretty easily with pretty generic antibiotics.

As we use the antibiotics more and more, what happens is the bacteria that survived are ones that aren't killed by the antibiotics and they start to replicate. All of a sudden you develop generations of bacteria that just simply aren't killed by antibiotics.

That's what's happened here. The particular bacteria is something that used to be treated very, very easily, but because of this antibiotic resistance, that's the problem.

Now, Kyung made the point that this particular bacteria was on these scopes and the scopes went through a cleaning process that is a well- known cleaning process.

According to what we read now from UCLA and the people, who are looking into this, they followed the protocol in terms of how they clean these scopes, but that protocol did not work, did not get rid of this particular organism.

TAPPER: Horrific. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Kyung Lah, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

Make sure to follow me on Twitter @jaketapper and also @theleadcnn. Check out our show page @cnn.com/thelead for video, blogs and extras.

That is it for THE LEAD today. I'm Jake Tapper. I now turn you over to one Mr. Wolf Blitzer who is right next door in a place we like to call "THE SITUATION ROOM" -- Wolf.