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U.S.-Israeli Relations Hit Rock Bottom; Israelis React to Netanyahu Speech; Report: Widespread Racial Bias in Ferguson Police; Interview with Dr. Ben Carson

Aired March 4, 2015 - 06:00   ET

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


(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: This is a bad deal. It's a very bad deal.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNTIED STATES: The prime minister didn't offer any viable alternatives.

NEWT GINGRICH, FMR. SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: When we talk about national security, Israel talks about survival.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: A close call for 238 people on board a Turkish Airlines flight.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It crash-landed onto the runway. The front area seems to have collapsed

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The State Department does not have all of Secretary Clinton's e-mails.

JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The policy allows individuals to use their personal e-mail address.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: The race to be president, Dr. Ben Carson --

DR. BEN CARSON, AUTHOR, "ONE NATION": A lot of people who go into prison go into prison straight and when they come out, they're gay. Did somebody happen while they were in there?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY, with Chris Cuomo, Alisyn Camerota and Michaela Pereira.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Food for thought. Good morning, welcome to your NEW DAY. It is Wednesday, March 4th, just before 6:00 in the East.

Prime Minister Netenyahu's speech to Congress about Iran has U.S.- Israeli relations at a low point. Netenyahu warned Congress to avoid a deal with Iran. The President of the United States then questioning the Israeli leader's credibility, saying he has no alternative to the current negotiations and dismissing his warnings about Iran's nuclear program, saying they are nothing new.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Republicans now scrambling to fast-track a bill that would give the Senate sign-off powers on any nuclear deal struck with Iran. The White House making it clear the president will veto any such bill. So what are the political repercussions from Netanyahu's speech?

Let's begin our coverage with CNN senior White House correspondent, Jim Acosta.

What are they saying at the White House, Jim?

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Alisyn, the White House knows President Obama may have a tougher sales job now after that fiery speech from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The president still has to convince lawmakers up on Capitol Hill to loosen some of the sanctions that would come with any nuclear agreement with Iran, which is why the president presented his own 11- minute rebuttal to Netanyahu's speech from the Oval Office yesterday. The president dismissed the prime minister's speech as nothing new. Here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: On the core issue, which is how do we prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, which would make it far more dangerous, and would give it scope for even greater action in the region, the prime minister didn't offer any viable alternatives.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: And now there is a potential new complication for the Iranian nuclear talks. And Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell may fast- track a measure that would give the Senate the ability to sign off on this nuclear deal that's still in negotiations.

A senior administration official told me last night the president would veto that legislation. Meanwhile, the White House showed what the president was up to during Netanyahu's speech. They offered up this picture of the president, holding a video conference with other European leaders, talking about the situation in Ukraine in the situation room.

So guys, that the president did have something else on his books besides watching Netanyahu's speech. But getting back to the prime minister from Israel. If his -- if his goal was to get Congress to jam up the works up on Capitol Hill, it may be mission accomplished.

Alisyn, back to you.

CAMEROTA: All right. Jim Acosta, thanks so much for all that background. Prime Minister Netanyahu's speech was delivered to U.S. lawmakers, but many believe his real target audience was 6,000 miles away in Israel. Voters decide in less than two weeks whether he gets to serve another term in Israel. CNN's Oren Lieberman joins us from Jerusalem with more. What's the

latest, Oren?

OREN LIEBERMAN, CNN REPORTER: Well, good morning, Alisyn.

Netanyahu, not once did he mention his political party or his rival political parties or any of his rival candidates, but of course, that is the hot topic here, with those elections so close. He talked about his No. 1 issue, which is security and Iran, leaving all other issues out of his speech. And that is the focus here now. How is this viewed politically in Israel?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LIEBERMAN (voice-over): A split reaction in Israel over Prime Minister Netanyahu's impassioned speech to Congress on the dangers of a nuclear deal with Iran.

NETANYAHU: We've been told that no deal is better than a bad deal. Well, this is a bad deal. It's a very bad deal. We're better off without it.

LIEBERMAN: Critics of the speech calling it political theater, a nonstarter, offering no new viable alternative to a U.S.-Iran deal still being negotiated, but rather an attempt to woo Israeli voters in the crucial upcoming Israeli elections, projected to be very close. Netanyahu's main rival slamming the speech as deepening the rift in already strained U.S.-Israeli relations.

ISAAC HERZOG, HEAD OF THE ZIONIST UNION PARTY (through translator): the painful truth is that after the applause, Netanyahu remained alone. This speech therefore greatly undermined the relationship between Israel and the United States.

LIEBERMAN: While supporters of the speech, which garnered dozens of standing ovations throughout, called it one of the best of the prime minister's career.

YUVAL STEINITZ, ISRAELI INTELLIGENCE MINISTER: I think it was an important speech, historic speech; and it's very important that Israeli speak up about its national security and what might affect its very existence.

LIEBERMAN: The divide in Israel mirrored in U.S. Congress, the GOP welcoming Netanyahu while some 50 Democrats boycotted the speech altogether.

NETANYAHU: Even if Israel has to stand alone, Israel will stand.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIEBERMAN: Netanyahu landed in Israel a short time ago, and his office almost immediately put out a statement. That statement reads, "In part, I presented a practical alternative which would impose tougher restrictions on Iran's nuclear program, extending Iran's break-out time by years." Chris, the phrasing there certainly no coincidence. A practical

alternative comes across as a direct response to what President Obama said about Netanyahu offering no alternative.

CUOMO: Oren, key point. Thank you very much for the reporting. Let's play what President Obama said in response, because it will explain why he doesn't see it as an alternative.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: As far as I can tell, there was nothing new on the core issue, which is how do we prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, which would make it far more dangerous and would give it scope for even greater action in the region, the prime minister didn't offer any viable alternatives.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: The president saw it as a big nonevent. Let's get perspective on whether he made the case and what happens now.

Peter Beinart, CNN political commentator, contributing editor of Atlantic Media and a senior fellow for the New America Foundation. And Mr. David Frum, senior editor at "The Atlantic" and a former member of the Republican Jewish coalition. Gentlemen, thank you.

First question, Mr. Beinart, do you believe that the Israeli prime minister made a compelling case to Congress to change course?

PETER BEINART, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: No. What they said was, if we believe these negotiations and continue sanctions, Iran will capitulate. I don't know a single serious Iran expert who believes that.

Iran has domestic politics in which the Rouhani government is under threat from more hardline elements. Coming -- pushing away from the deal and saying Iran has to give up on everything would empower those many people in Iran who don't want any deal at all.

It would also probably destroy the international coalition that we have imposing sanctions in the first place. Again I don't know a serious person who really knows Iran well who believes that that strategy would work.

CUOMO: There are a lot of serious people in that room, Mr. Frum, and they left after that speech, wanting more say in the deal. So what happens now?

DAVID FRUM, SENIOR EDITOR, "THE ATLANTIC": That's exactly right. President Obama has been very insistent that he would handle this alone without Congress. Congress invited Prime Minister Netanyahu as a way of serving notice on the administration. You have to listen not just to this guy, the prime minister of Israel, but more importantly, you have to listen to us; and the idea that you're going to package this as an executive agreement with no say for Congress, is not going to work. CUOMO: Now I could be completely off. Please feel free to say so.

But in a way is Benjamin Netanyahu a stalking horse? Or you know, somewhat of a diversion here from what Congress's real issue is, which is not having a say in this deal that the president is working up?

FRUM: I think that's right.

CUOMO: Let David go, and then I'll come to you. Yes, sir.

FRUM: I don't think a diversion exactly, but a voice for a disunited, a very large and disunited body. But Congress has been serving notice on this administration for years. That they have strong views about what is a good deal.

And by the way, from even from -- even from the administration's own point of view, if they want this deal to endure beyond the administration of this president, which expires in 2017, they need congressional buy-in. Otherwise, the next president is not bound.

CUOMO: Even though the White House, Peter, didn't embrace this invitation and maybe added some fuel to the media fire, you know, covering the hype surrounding it, the potential upside was that the Iranians may have seen it as a reach of good faith by the United States, that they're not completely tied to Israel all the way down the line. What do you think the practical impact of this is when they get back to the table?

BEINART: Well, you know, President Obama still has been saying that he thinks the chances of a deal are less than 50/50, so it's really hard to know. But it has to do with what kind of concessions the Iranians are willing to make. But I do think the most significant legacy of this speech is probably that it makes this issue so partisan. And it's made this issue so partisan that I think it does make it harder for Democrats to defy President Obama on Iran now.

CUOMO: So, if it makes it harder for them to defy, if it's partisan, then you're going to have the same type of split down the line that you've had all along. Yet, doesn't this transcend partisanship? Does anyone believe that Iran is not a nuclear threat, just a question of when, not if? Mr. Frum.

FRUM: Well, the president is -- when the president makes this partisan, I think he really has, he's splitting this cookie with himself taking the much smaller piece. Democrats may be more loyal, but the Republicans have the majority in both houses of Congress.

And he, what is not happening is the president is not recruiting Republicans who would have some clout with this Congress and sending people like Steve Hadley, the former national security adviser to President Bush, and persuading them this is a good deal and setting them to ground to work on the Republicans.

On the contrary, what we're seeing is the Republican Party uniting around a belief that the Obama administration negotiated badly, gave away too much, failed to get permanent guarantees, and so the spectrum of Republican opinion is coalescing against the administration and against the deal they seem to have in mind.

CUOMO: So what's the relationship that's really injured here, Peter? The U.S.-Israeli relationship? Or once again evidence of the president's problems working with Congress?

BEINART: I think the U.S.-Israel relationship has a very strong structural foundation and continues. The reality of U.S.-Israel relations, if you look at the history of U.S.-Israel relations, that American presidents have been willing to defer to Israel on the Palestinians, for better or for worse, but they have never been willing to defer to Israel when it comes to matters of war and peace for the United States.

Barack Obama is entirely in that tradition. Israel does not have veto power over the American decision of this magnitude, vis-a-vis Iran. It wouldn't have had under another president.

CUOMO: So the third leg on this unstable table is Iran, and we will have to see what comes out of those Switzerland talks in terms of how they reacted to the speech and the president's reactions towards Netanyahu and see if that did anything to increase negotiations and leverage there. We'll wait. That's the next segments on this story.

Mr. Frum, thank you very much.

Professor Beinart, always a pleasure.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Chris. A Justice Department investigation of police practices in Ferguson, Missouri, confirm what many in the town say they already knew: a pattern and practice of discrimination by police against African-Americans. The Fed's scathing report is being released this morning.

Our Sara Sidner is live in Ferguson. Everybody is anxious to see what the report says specifically. But as I said, not a lot of surprises to the African-American people in that community.

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No, that's absolutely true. You know, the DOJ report is expected to highlight patterns and practices of racial bias against African-Americans here in Ferguson.

I want to give you an idea of some of the numbers that are expected to be in this final report. Some of these numbers we've heard before in the very beginning as we looked at some of the issues that created a very tense situation here before Michael Brown was shot and killed.

Let me let you see these numbers full screen, so you can understand where the DOJ is coming from. They're saying that from 2012 to 2014, 67 percent of the population was African-American, but 85 percent of all the people that were stopped and subject to vehicle stops were black. And 90 percent of those who were stopped that were black received citations.

So we're talking about, you know, 90 percent of the population being stopped, and getting a citation, and that was all black folks. So only 10 percent were white. And then the DOJ says, even though that black folks were twice as

likely to be searched, they were actually less likely than the white population to actually have illegal contraband on them.

And then there was something else that has really sparked a lot of anger in the community. And that is an e-mail between either the courts or inside the Ferguson Police Department, that made racially biased jokes. Racially-charged jokes. One of which was about President Obama, saying he won't be in office long, because, you know, what black man has a job that lasts four years?

And so, that has really sparked a lot of anger. Folks from the Ferguson commission very angry about that, saying these are the kinds of things -- they're making a joke about the president? What are they saying about the regular folks who live and work in this community who are black -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Such a revealing report. Sara, thank you for all that.

Well, federal authorities say they have a suspect in custody in connection to a series of shootings in Maryland. On Tuesday, gunfire damaged a building near NSA headquarters in Fort Meade. Earlier in the day, a landscaping truck came under fire. No one seriously hurt in either incident. Investigators say the suspect may be linked to three other shootings in the past eight days.

CUOMO: Breaking news out of eastern Ukraine, an explosion at a coal mine in Donetsk leaving at least one worker dead, 32 more trapped or killed. Conflicting reports; it's hard to get in there. We still don't know what's going on. An emergency services official does tell CNN the ongoing conflict, not the cause of this explosion. They believe it was methane gas.

PEREIRA: A stunning admission from former CIA Chief David Petraeus. He has agreed to plead guilty for sharing classified material with his biographer and former mistress, Paula Broadwell. That material includes sensitive information on war strategy. It identifies the identities of covert operatives. Prosecutors are recommending probation and a $40,000 fine. Now, the judge is not bound by that recommendation and could sentence the disgraced general to a year in prison.

CAMEROTA: I'm in such denial about this next story. Snow and ice, sure to make a mess this morning for millions of people from the Midwest to the northeast. And another winter storm is on its way.

Let's get to meteorologist Chad Myers with the latest details. I don't even know what to say any more, Chad.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I know. I just throw my hands up and just keep talking. Because -- I'm going to rewind yesterday's forecast and put it back on today.

We're getting close to that Boston record, and another snowstorm is coming, although the word "storm" for Boston is really a stretch. Maybe one, two inches. Probably like one. But still, only -- less than two inches away, breaking the old record.

Here's the storm now. It's a rain-maker, but the cold front is going to push the rain away, to change it over to ice for a while, and then change it over to snow. And the big cities in New York, by late tonight, midnight tonight, start to see snow.

Not a major snowstorm, because this isn't how a major storm works. The low isn't strong enough to push the air on top of the cold air to make that ice storm, to make that snowstorm.

But still, for Boston, one. New York City, four. Philadelphia, six. D.C., four. Those are all inches of snow. Those are pretty significant snows this late in the year, enough to at least cancel some schools. So you may want to wake up early tomorrow and even again on Friday. We'll see what happens here.

Two to four inches of snow later on tonight. Eventually we'll pile this in. I think Kentucky takes the worst of it, back down here from Lexington all the way back over toward Louisville, with eight to ten inches of snow, and then just south of there is where the ice could be. And I hate driving on ice. I can drive on snow. I can get at least some traction. But it's the ice storm that we're worried about, with winter storm warnings in about, I'd say, 13 or 14 states.

PEREIRA; Take it slow and easy, folks.

CAMEROTA: All right. Chad, thank you.

Well, the Republicans' field for president is taking shape. Retired neurosurgeon and Tea Party favorite Ben Carson announcing that he is forming an exploratory committee for a run at the White House. Stick around for our revealing one-on-one interview with Dr. Carson. That's next.

CUOMO: Opening statements begin in just a few hours in the case against the Boston Marathon bomber. The situation is obvious. The case may not be. We'll tell you why, ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO: So the Republican field is starting to take shape in the race to be president, and we have a major development. Dr. Ben Carson taking a big step, forming an exploratory committee.

Now you may know that Dr. Ben Carson came in fourth in last week's conservative conference, the CPAC straw poll. That means something. That gains momentum behind Rand Paul, Scott Walker and Ted Cruz. As you see, those are big names, and now he is among them. We're joined now by Dr. Ben Carson. Congratulations on taking the step.

CARSON: Thank you.

CUOMO: Let's look at the issues of the day and if you were president, what would you do? We heard the Israeli prime minister very hard coming at any idea of working with Iran. What would you do if you were president?

CARSON: Well, I think it's very important that we listen to what he had to say.

CUOMO: So do you sit at the table with Iran or do you do something else?

CARSON: I will always talk with them. But it wouldn't be just a matter of talking. There would have to have to be immediate results. If we don't have the kind of inspections that we demand, I would ratchet up the sanctions in a very severe way.

CUOMO: ISIS: would you put U.S. troops on the ground? You see what's happening with the military affairs there. The bombings are only doing so much. It's all about what happens on the ground. The best fighters, the men and women who do it best in the world, are not engaged; and those are U.S. fighters. Would you make that commitment?

CARSON: Well, one of the things you have to understand about the radical Islamic terrorist mindset is that for them, land is a prize. And you know, they've managed to acquire quite a bit of land, including land that we had taken that was under our control. They don't care if you bomb the land, as long as they possess it.

In order to possess land, you have to have troops. You have to put troops on the ground. That's what's going to really affect them. So, yes, if I needed to put troops on the ground, I would put them there.

CUOMO: American people don't want it, Doctor. They say we're war- weary. It's not our fight; it's that region's fight. It's that religion's fight.

CARSON: But I think a lot of that is because no one has really spent the time to explain to the American people that this is very different than al Qaeda ten or 15 years ago. What we're dealing with here is something that, if allowed to grow and to spread, will be a threat not only to Israel, not only to America, but to the entire world.

I don't think we've had that conversation with the American people at the level where it should be had.

CUOMO: You've had your missteps politically. You say things that wind up getting people upset. Sometimes you say, "Well, that's the P.C. police," but politics can be very tricky. Do you think that you can speak your mind and be successful?

CARSON: Well I've had a great deal of experience with that in the last year or so. And you probably noticed that I have toned it down a bit. Recognizing, not that what I was saying was necessarily incorrect, but that it was said in a way that would cause people to focus on the words and not on what you're saying.

CUOMO: Well, that's how it goes, though, right? It's how you say it, not just what you mean.

CARSON: And there is a learning process. And I think I've, I feel pretty confident about that now.

CUOMO: So we look at the domestic landscape. A big issue that you understand very well from the practitioner side is health care. When you talk about the ACA now, when you talk about Obamacare, you say it's the worst thing since slavery. Very hyperbolic, right? You want to be as negative as possible.

Is it that different from what you wrote a paper about so long ago in the '90s, where you should we shouldn't even need medical insurance companies any more, that we should have a fund so that the poor people can get what they need? It sounded a lot like the ideas that are at the foundation of the Affordable Care Act.

CARSON: It was certainly more similar to it, and I've abandoned those ideals. I've learned; I've talked to a lot of people, read a lot of material, and I recognize that the medical system that will work the best is one in which the care is in the hands of the patient and the healthcare provider.

CUOMO: One issue, same-sex marriage. You have equal protection. It's working its way through the courts. The decisions are getting more and more uniform. But then you have people of faith who say marriage is ours. God says it is a man and a woman. The Bible says my faith says -- which one wins with Dr. Carson?

CARSON: Here's what I would do. I would do what the Constitution says. The Constitution says civil issues of that nature should be determined at the state level. Why does it say that? Because the judicial system at the state level has to answer to the people.

CUOMO: What if people of the state vote for a law 100-0 that winds up infringing on the rights of a minority, like happened very often with slavery? Like many would argue is happening now with people who are gay?

CARSON: And our Constitution was followed, and we corrected those things.

CUOMO: And isn't that what's happening right now with same-sex marriage? It's being corrected as a form of violation of equal protection.

CARSON: No. You can't just say because it happened that way this time. This is the same situation. It's not the same situation.

CUOMO: Why not?

CARSON: Because people have no control over their race, for instance.

CUOMO: You think they have control over their sexuality?

CARSON: Absolutely.

CUOMO: You think being gay is a choice?

CARSON: Absolutely. CUOMO: Why do you say that?

CARSON: Because a lot of people who go into prison, go into prison straight, and when they come out they're gay. So did something happen while they were in there?

CUOMO: Most gays never go to prison. And you know there's a whole theory of dominance.

CARSON: Wait a minute. I said a lot of people who go in come out -- are you denying that that's true?

CUOMO: I am not denying that that's true, but I am denying that that's a basis of understanding homosexuality.

CARSON: If, in fact, that is the case, then it obviously thwarts what you just said.

CUOMO: A lot of people go into jail as a drug addict, and they come as out a criminal. Does that mean that all drug addicts are criminals?

CARSON: Why do gay people want to get married? Because they want to have various rights, property rights, visitation rights.

CUOMO: They want their commitment to count just like mine and my wife's?

CARLSON: Why can't any two human beings, I don't care what their sexual orientation is -- why can't they have the legal right to do those things?

CUOMO: That's what they're fighting for.

CARSON: OK. That does not require changing the definition of marriage.

CUOMO: But it would require covering that union as you do others, which is called -- which is called marriage in our society.

CARSON: I don't think so.

CUOMO: Well, that's what's working its way through the courts right now. Dr. Ben Carson, good luck to you going forward and thank you for answering the questions about the issues of the day.

CARSON: Thank you. A pleasure.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO: We test the candidate so you can evaluate them for yourself. That's what we just did. What do you think about Dr. Ben Carson and what he said on the issues of the day? Tweet us individually or all together @NewDay, or go to Facebook.com/NewDay and discuss.

Reactions, friends? PEREIRA: Well, it's interesting, because he talked about toning it

down. He, you know, talked about the learning curve of being out front and speaking your mind.

But you have to wonder if the comments that he made about becoming gay in prison, if that is toning it down and how people are going to react. Granted, because I understand that he's speaking to his base, and his base aligns with a lot of his beliefs. But still...

CAMEROTA: Certainly provocative. I mean, certainly provocative, and I'm interested. I'm curious, as to why the doctor went in that direction rather than in the scientific direction, because there are recent scientific studies. Some released just three weeks ago from Northwestern, talking about how they're -- they have found a genetic link for homosexuality.

CUOMO: Well, he is an unusually effective advocate for whether it's evolution or global warming or sexuality, if you want, that science may not be as strong as people think it is on the left. Is the implicit thing, because he is known as such a clinician and a scientist.

CAMEROTA: Right.

CUOMO: So it emboldens, that he is not alone in his beliefs. The question is are those beliefs that will be accepted in the main by you as your leader?

PEREIRA: Well, the tide seems to be changing, certainly on the issue of marriage equality. So...

CAMEROTA: We'd love to hear from you. We will read those comments later.

Meanwhile, there was a frightening moment in the sky. A passenger plane with more than 200 people on board skidding off the runway, trying to land in dense fog, as you can see here. We have the dramatic pictures and how it all turned out, ahead.

CUOMO: And a day after the big speech from the Israeli prime minister, President Obama reacting, and he ain't happy. Is this just the beginning of an even lower low for U.S.-Israeli relations? We'll tell you what the president is saying now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)