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THE LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER

Senator Robert Menendez To Be Charged By DOJ; White House Expressed Concern To Clinton Camp; Kasparov On Putin's Culture Of Fear

Aired March 6, 2015 - 16:30   ET

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


(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As things stand today with no tangible evidence, none of you have the right to blame Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah for any wrongdoing. Even adding that as an average student in school, he would not have been able to mastermind such a plot.

Nobody knows why the plane lost contact, but some aviation experts theorize there could have been a massive electrical problem or a cockpit fire, or loss of cabin pressure and oxygen, turning it into a ghost plane.

DAVID SOUCIE, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: Why something hasn't shown up yet, that is the true mystery of it, because of the fact that if it had crashed, in the way that we think it did, which is to run out of fuel and hit the water and break up into pieces, there would be pieces somewhere.

MALVEAUX: Aviation analyst, Jeff Wise, carried on his own investigation into the missing plane, and has another theory, Russian hijackers who took the plane to Kazakhstan for reasons unknown.

None of these theories, of course, can be proven or disproven until some shred of the plane is found and even then, we may never know exactly what happened.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: The families are afraid that if nothing is found by May, and that's the anticipated date of the search in the priority zone that it's actually going to be complete, they are afraid it is actually going to end the search.

Malaysia's transport minister tells us that if this missing plane is not found by then, investigators are going to go back to the drawing board. That's his words.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: The 239 people disappear. Suzanne Malveaux, thank you so much.

The Politics Lead, we have just learned that a top ranking U.S. senator and very high profile powerful Democrat is expected to face criminal charges. He's the same guy who was once under investigation for soliciting prostitutes until the women said that it wasn't true. They changed their story.

So what are the feds going after Senator Bob Menendez for now? That story is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: Welcome back to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper. Some breaking news in our Politics Lead, a top Senate Democrat expected to face federal corruption charges. CNN first to report the Justice Department is preparing to seek an indictment against New Jersey Democratic Senator Robert Menendez.

Let's go to CNN's Evan Perez, who broke the story and has the details. Evan, what do prosecutors allege this Democratic powerhouse did?

EVAN PEREZ, CNN JUSTICE REPORTER: Well, Jake, he had this very apparently lucrative relationship with a friend and prominent Democratic donor, Solomon Melgin, a doctor down in Florida who has had many, many issues with the federal government including being accused of defrauding Medicare.

And according to the Justice Department, according to prosecutors investigating this for nearly five years, he was using his office. The senator was using his office to try to help his friend and donor in exchange for gifts.

TAPPER: When can we expect the charges to be officially unveiled?

PEREZ: We expect it to be announced probably by the next attorney general, Loretta Lynch. Attorney General Eric Holder has already approved the request by prosecutors to go forward on this.

TAPPER: This is not the first allegation of wrongdoing against Senator Menendez, who we should point out has been on the show many times to talk about foreign relations and other issues. Has his office responded to this allegation at all?

PEREZ: They have responded. They have denied this before and we have a statement from the senator's spokesperson. "As we have said before, we believe all the senator's actions have been appropriate and lawful, and the facts will ultimately confirm that.

Any actions taken by Senator Menendez or his office have been to appropriately address public policy issues and not for any other reason." He, as you said, has been looked at for many, many things before, including by then U.S. Attorney Chris Christie back in 2006.

And more recently for allegations that he hired underaged prostitutes and all these things are not going to be part of the federal case when this comes forward.

TAPPER: Be interesting to see what the actual specific charges are, because the world of politics and fundraising and favors --

PEREZ: It's going to be a tough case.

TAPPER: It's often very murky business. Evan Perez, thank you so much. Appreciate that.

In other politics news today, revelations this afternoon at the White House and the office of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton were both aware of the controversy, potential controversy of her use of private e-mails for public business back in August.

A senior administration official telling CNN that the White House was concerned over the private e-mail address she used for official business and they did have conversations with Hillary Clinton's personal staff about the issue.

CNN senior political correspondent Brianna Keilar joins us live with the latest. Brianna, it sounds like there are some tensions between the Obama and Clinton camps over this?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's almost palpable, isn't it, as you hear White House officials talk, but it's interesting to note the timeline here, the White House, certainly some White House officials were told by senior administration official, who talked to our White House correspondent, Michelle Kosinski, that they were aware Secretary Clinton used a personal e-mail account.

They were aware back in 2009. Not too concerned about it because they expected she was turning over that information to the state department recordkeeping system. The White House became concerned about Secretary Clinton's sole use of this personal e-mail address this summer.

Once House Republicans subpoenaed Benghazi documents and it came to light that she wasn't complying with the policy certainly as they understood she would be.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR (voice-over): The firestorm over Hillary Clinton's use of personal e-mail while secretary of state dominated the State Department briefing Friday.

MARIE HARF, STATE DEPARTMENT DEPUTY SPOKESPERSON: I'm not the spokesperson for her office. People may have been confused about that this week.

KEILAR: Reporters asked if Clinton failed to follow the e-mail rules she signed off on, an internal department cable from 2011 said employees should avoid using personal e-mail to conduct government business. But State Department spokeswoman, Marie Harf downplayed the guidelines, calling them --

HARF: Helpful tips when using personal e-mail. This cable is a guidance on best practices. It's certainly not regulations.

KEILAR: In 2012, a scathing inspector general report admonished U.S. ambassador to Kenya for, among other things, using personal e-mail to conduct government business. At the same time, Clinton, his boss, was doing the same. Today, he told CNN he was very surprised at the double standard. At Clinton's request, the State Department will review 55,000 pages of e- mails the Obama administration directed her to turn over last year. A Clinton aide has said she turned over anything having to do with her work at the State Department.

But Harf conceded they are taking Secretary Clinton's word for it when she says she's handing over what's relevant and keeping what's not. Meanwhile, the White House says Clinton abided by the federal records act, even as it touts an e-mail policy Clinton did not follow.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did members of the administration receive e-mails from Hillary Clinton while she was secretary of state?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That, I don't know. I do know that obviously the president has a very firm policy that e-mails should be kept on government systems. He believes in transparency.

KEILAR: Some political observers wonder if the controversy leaves an opening for any other potential Democratic candidates to challenge Clinton's expected run for president. Former Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley is traveling in the coming weeks to the early states of Iowa and New Hampshire -- and passing on a chance to run for the Senate seat that Barbara Mikulski announced Monday she will soon vacate.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are rumors that former Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley may enter the race and challenge Hillary for the Democratic nomination. Hillary's not worried. Who's going to go from being totally unknown to beating her for the presidency? How would that ever happen?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: Pretty funny but a lot of political folks believe there isn't some Obama-like person waiting in the wings, Jake, ready to kind of jump in there. I was talking with one strategist, one Democratic strategist, who said this is really going to be the primary for Hillary Clinton, episodes like this. It seems like maybe she's in a primary against herself. As you can see, the competition is pretty fierce.

TAPPER: Brianna Keilar, thank you so much.

The girlfriend of a murdered Russian opposition activist fears who was killed not far from the Kremlin fears that she could be next. Now Russia's world-famous chess master, who was also a vocal Putin critic, says she has reason to be afraid. We will talk to him live next.

Plus, it's a blanket, it's a robe, it's a scam? The details of a surprising lawsuit against the makers of the Snuggy.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: Welcome back to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper. In world news, she fears she could be next. The Ukrainian girlfriend of the murdered Russian opposition activist, Boris Nemtsov, now has a special security detail after telling police she's received death threats since returning to Ukraine on Monday.

The 23-year-old woman was right next to Nemtsov when the Putin critic was shot dead in the shadow of the Kremlin while a snow plow conveniently blocked the only murky view that there was of the crime from a security camera.

Nemtsov's death has been yet another chilling and lethal attack on anti-Putin activists. This week, one of the most prominent Putin critics still standing, the chess grand master, Gary Kasparov, pressed the U.S. Senate to arm Ukraine in their bloody battle for survival over Russia.

Saying, quote, "You cannot negotiate with cancer. Like a cancer, Putin and his elites must be cut out. He must be isolated and removed for only when Putin is gone can Russia be the free strong and independent country Boris Nemtsov always dreamed it could be."

And Gary Kasparov joins me now live from New York. Sir, thanks so much for being here. My condolences on the loss of your friend. His girlfriend, what kind of danger do you think she's in and who is making these threats?

GARY KASPAROV, RUSSIAN PRO-DEMOCRACY ACTIVIST: I doubt very much she's in any real danger if she is now in Kiev. I would more worry if she was kept in Moscow and now since she left Moscow, I guess, Ukrainian security will find ways to protect her if these threats are real.

TAPPER: Who do you think is behind Nemtsov's death?

KASPAROV: There are only two choices. Either Putin himself gave an order or his closest allies, his inner circle because this murder took place at one of the bridges that led to Kremlin. Those places are the most protected places in Russia, maybe in the world.

There are more video cameras there than Fort Knox. To imagine that these cameras couldn't catch this event is inconceivable. So it's quite suspicious that the only camera that is being used to present this video is the camera of the Moscow City Channel.

Also, there was one more video from the video register on the car passing by, and those videos proved that it was a well-prepared murder and I don't believe that anybody, but Kremlin security could operate in this area.

TAPPER: Is there a reason to do it specifically on the street right near the Kremlin? It seems an area that, a, would point to the obvious at least acquiescence by the Russian government and it would seem to be more difficult to do.

KASPAROV: Actually, to the contrary, if I'm right in assuming that the Russian security service has been involved, this is the safest place for them because they control it completely. And this is probably only place in Moscow where you don't have city police. There are plenty of city police anywhere. No passersby, almost no cars. The bridge, it's quite a long distance where you can spot any car or any stranger who is approaching to the spot so I think from the point of view of those organized and carried this murder, one of the bridges leading to Kremlin is the best place for this atrocity because they control it totally.

TAPPER: Gary, you are a high profile Putin critic. Are you afraid for your life speaking out like this?

KASPAROV: If I was afraid for my life I wouldn't leave my country two years ago. Boris was an optimist, probably the bravest of us all, and he stayed there and kept blasting Putin's regime, publishing his reports and the last report that he was about to release was about Putin and war on Ukraine where Boris collected evidence to prove the presence of regular Russian troops in Eastern Ukraine.

But here in New York City or even traveling abroad in Europe, I feel safer because no one is 100 percent safe, but it's much safer than being on the bridge opposite the Kremlin.

TAPPER: Gary Kasparov, well, we hope you stay safe. Thanks so much for joining us today. Appreciate it.

Up next on THE LEAD, an infomercial misleading? How could that be? What the makers of the Snuggie did not tell you in those ads other than the fact that it's really just a backwards robe.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: Welcome back to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper. Time now for our Money Lead, you know those infomercials that get you hooked right before the Tylenol PM kicks in? Well, it turns out those sweet limited time offers that are not available in any stores may be too good to be true after all.

Imagine that, tough to believe, but wait, there's more. These pitch masters are now off the hook for ripping you off for just two easy payments of $4 million. Operators are standing by.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TAPPER (voice-over): Just admit it. You have been tempted by these ads before. If you're already watching this in your Snuggie while eating out of your perfect bacon bowl, the offer might be getting even better.

ANNOUNCER: But wait. Order right now and get twice the perfect bacon bowls free.

TAPPER: That's because the Federal Trade Commission now says these buy one get one free tactics --

ANNOUNCER: You will get a second Cat's Meow free.

TAPPER: -- are bogus. If you bought in, you may get your money back and then some. All-Star Marketing Group, the behemoth behind products like the Cat's Meow, the perfect brownie pan, and yes, the Snuggie, has agreed to settle charges of deceptive marketing with the FTC for the low, low price of $7.5 million.

But wait, there's more. Just for settling, All-Star Marketing will now incur additional fees from the New York Attorney General's Office totaling $500,000. Together, that's an $8 million payout.

So how does the FTC say the Snuggie maker fleeced us? According to the complaint, All-Star made ordering now easy but made paying for it intentionally confusing. Did you experience misleading prompts for telephone ordering, additional shipping and handling fees?

Were you charged without being able to confirm the price of your order? There's got to be a better way. Introducing the now new rules for All-Star, that's right, the company agreed to disclose the true cost of any goods it sells and get express authorization before billing the customer.

In a statement, All-Star says, "While we have always believed our process has complied with the law we are proud to have successfully worked with the FTC and the New York Attorney General to improve them and set new standards for transparency. Hopefully those new standards are not a limited time offer. Consumers are standing by.

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TAPPER: By the way, $8 million probably will not hurt the company a whole lot. Five years after its first release, the Snuggie has sold more than 30 million units and raked in more than $500 million. We're not sure if that includes shipping and handling probably.

In other money news, there's now a movement for a woman to make an appearance on money. An organization called women on 20s is trying to convince President Obama and Congress to replace the controversial seventh president of the United States with a woman, someone like Rosa Parks or Eleanor Roosevelt.

The group wants it to happen by 2020, the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th amendment which granted women the right to vote. Guess they don't like old hickory.

The Pop Culture Lead, now moving on to today's Pop Culture Lead, which comes with a pretty catchy tune. We have good reason to get this '80s classic stuck in your head today.

The music duo "Hall and Oates" from the great city of Philadelphia wrote this song. Now they are suing the makers of a granola cereal with the name Haulin' Oats. Get it?

Darrell Hall and John Oates say Early Bird Foods and Company is making money off their name. They didn't need to hire private eyes to figure that out. The group claims the cereal maker obviously did a play on words and violated their trademark.

They are asking the court to force the company to stop using the name on its packaging and cough up some profits. Say it isn't so. That's it for THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper. I turn you over to Wolf Blitzer in "THE SITUATION ROOM." Have a great weekend.