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THE LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER

Group of GOP Senators Send Letter Directly To Iranian Leaders, Bypassing White House; Interview With Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas; Clinton Could Address Email Scandal This Week; Apple Unveils Details On New Device

Aired March 9, 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: In other national news today, the incredible story of a baby who survived 14 hours strapped in an SUV that crash into a freezing Utah river. That baby is now in the hospital recovering. A man out fishing spotted the SUV, called for help. Rescuers arrived and quickly flipped the car. They found the mother inside, tragically, dead. But the baby was alive, barely alive, but alive.

This crash scene is an hour south of Salt Lake City. Police say the mom, 25-year-old Lynn Jennifer Groesbeck, was making a nine-mile drive from her parents' home in Salem, Utah, to her house in Springville, Utah. Her SUV somehow ran off the road, hit a cement barrier. Police found no skidmarks at the scene. Another big mystery, four police officers who went in the water all say they heard an adult voice clear as day calling for help. Kind of spooky.

And our politics lead, only a tight circle of people know details of U.S. negotiations happening now to try to stop Iran's nuclear program. But there's a very forceful attempt on Capitol Hill to try to derail any potential bill, a group of Republicans kind of going behind President Obama's back, sending the letter straight to the leaders of Iran -- their warning, plus the president's response, coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: Welcome back to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper.

Time now for the politics lead. It was a move that was stunning, certainly unusual. Democrats say it's unprecedented. With President Obama and his administration working for years with allies such as the U.K. and France and others to negotiate a halt to Iran's nuclear program, a group of Republican senators are now in something like open rebellion.

They sent a letter straight to the ayatollah and Iran's senior leadership to warn them that any deal they sign with President Obama could come off the books the very second he exits the Oval Office.

Late this afternoon, President Obama fired back, arguing that the letter puts Republicans squarely in the camp of the hard-liners in Tehran.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think it's somewhat ironic to see some members of Congress wanting to make common cause with the hard-liners in Iran. It's an unusual coalition.

I think what we're going to focus on right now is actually seeing whether we can get a deal or not.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Let's bring in the senator who organized this very controversial letter that seven Republican senators, including the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, did not sign, but 46 others, including Republican Senator Tom Cotton, who joins us now, did.

Sir, thanks for being here.

Your response to President Obama. He says you're in an unusual coalition with the hard-liners of Tehran.

REP. TOM COTTON (R), ARKANSAS: Jake, there are nothing but hard- liners in Iran, nothing but hard-line Islamic extremists who have been killing Americans around the world for 35 years.

That's why Iran cannot be allowed to get a nuclear weapon. If they have been the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism for 35 years, imagine what they will do if they have a nuclear umbrella.

TAPPER: But, sir, I guess I don't understand. President Obama says he's trying to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon and he's pursuing the diplomatic path to do so.

If you don't support the diplomatic path to do so, then how do you propose stopping Iran from getting a nuclear weapon?

COTTON: I support a good deal that stops Iran from getting a nuclear weapon today, tomorrow, 10 years from now and forever.

The president has already said that a deal could have as little as a 10-year sunset on it. His national security adviser has said that Iran could have uranium enrichment capabilities, the critical component of developing a nuclear bomb.

Whatever else the terms of a future deal might be, those terms make the deal unacceptable to the United States and to the world, because they pave the way for Iran to get a nuclear weapon.

TAPPER: So you don't dispute those who say that you're trying to sabotage this diplomatic effort? You agree with that?

COTTON: We're simply trying -- we're simply saying that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. And Iran's leaders, whom, according to many Iran experts, don't understand America's constitutional system, need to know that a deal not approved by Congress won't be accepted by Congress now or in the future. TAPPER: Well, the foreign minister of Iran, Zarif, speaks fluent

English and studied in the United States.

But, moving beyond that, let's talk about the precedent that your letter creates. Harry Reid, the Senate Democratic leader, said that your letter is a -- quote -- "hard slap in the face of not only the U.S., but also our allies."

Do you worry at all that you are doing something that many people say has not been done before? What happens if president, let's just make it up and say President Tom Cotton finds himself facing 47 Democratic senators trying to undo any peace negotiations you attempt?

COTTON: No, the only thing unprecedented is an American president negotiating a nuclear deal with the world's leading sponsor of state terrorism without submitting it to Congress for approval.

That's why Congress needs to approve this deal, as our Constitution calls for.

TAPPER: I do -- I have to confess, Senator, I am a little confused by some of the messages coming from Senate Republicans, because, more broadly, stepping back from this particular issue, Republicans in the Senate seem to be saying that President Obama and whoever follows him should have open-ended, unlimited powers to conduct war against terrorist groups, such as ISIS, or with the authorization for use of military force against terrorists anywhere in the world, but when it comes to imposing limits on the president's ability to negotiate agreements that can prevent war, you feel the exact opposite way.

How do you reconcile that?

COTTON: We want the president to act to keep America safe.

That means confronting the Islamic State with a strong military strategy, but it also means confronting the Islamic Republic of Iran. In the end, Iran is the greatest threat we face because they're using the most advanced weapons that science can provide, nuclear weapons, if this deal goes ahead.

The Islamic State is using medieval tactics. And in the end, Iran is also the reason that the Islamic State rose to power in the first place, because they helped provide the safe haven by propping up Assad's regime in Syria. They're just two sides of the same coin, the threat that radical Islamic extremism poses to the United States.

TAPPER: Right now, the Obama administration argues that the breakout time, the time that it would take from making the decision to creating a nuclear weapon, would be two to three months for Iran. They say this deal would push that to a year. Israel says it's less than that, maybe six months.

But isn't that still better than two to three months, which is the situation right now?

COTTON: What's better is a permanent, permanent solution that prevents from Iran not just from having a short breakout period, but from ever developing nuclear weapons.

That's what I and so many of my colleagues who joined this letter are trying to do, to send the clear message that Iran cannot be allowed to have nuclear weapons and the Congress will not stand for it.

TAPPER: Senator, did you get or try to get -- I know you didn't succeed in getting -- but did you try to get any Democrats to sign this letter?

COTTON: Yes. We invited many Democrats.

I also would note that we have many of the Republican aspirants on the letter, four senators who are exploring a bid, as well as Rick Perry last week, who said that he also would not accept this kind of deal. I would encourage any Republican or Democrat to join us on this letter. It's still an open letter. Anyone can join at any time.

TAPPER: Senator Tom Cotton from Arkansas, thank you so much for your time, sir. Appreciate it.

COTTON: Thank you.

TAPPER: Coming up next: It's been a week, and still hardly a response from Hillary Clinton over her private e-mails from when she was secretary of state. But sources tell us she wants to address this controversy, but when?

Plus, a huge day for Apple, as Tim Cook officially reveals the Apple Watch. It's the company's first new product in five years. Was it worth the wait?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: Welcome back to THE LEAD. Our Politics Lead today, we could finally hear former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton address this e- mail scandal that she created. Instead of using a government account that could keep tabs of her messages, the former secretary of state seemed to have a secret or at least private system.

The negative attention almost forces Clinton to address the issue if she wants to move forward as a potential presidential candidate. Jeff Zeleny is CNN's new senior Washington correspondent, filing his very first report as a CNN correspondent right here on THE LEAD.

Jeff, how soon could we hear -- welcome. It's great to see you. How soon could we hear Clinton address this?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Well, after a week of silence, we're told that she could address this possibly in the next couple of days, possibly in a press conference. She decided not to take those questions today.

She decided not to take those questions today. She didn't want to overshadow a Clinton foundation event on women's rights. But her efforts to stay on message are becoming more difficult by the day.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: Thank you for joining us as we take on this great unfinished business of the 21st Century.

ZELENY (voice-over): But before Hillary Clinton can get started on that unfinished business and launch a presidential campaign, there's another piece of unfinished business still hanging over her head. Just when will she address the questions surrounding her State Department e-mails?

CLINTON: Based on 20 years of data --

ZELENY: In New York today, Clinton was talking but not about the controversy threatening to consume her for a second straight week. With daughter, Chelsea, at her side, she tried sticking to women's equality.

CLINTON: There has never been a better time in history to be born female.

ZELENY: But the rest of the political world is still asking whether she violated administration policy by using a personal e-mail as secretary of state. As Republicans demand answers, nervous Democrats are urging Clinton to break her silence.

SENATOR DIANNE FEINSTEIN (D), CALIFORNIA: What I would like is for her to come forward and say just what the situation is. The silence is going to hurt her.

SENATOR DICK DURBIN (D), ILLINOIS: I agree with Dianne Feinstein. I think she needs to explain what she did. She's called for the release of information. I think that's a good thing.

ZELENY: Over the weekend, President Obama said he didn't know about her e-mail habits.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: At the same time everybody else learned it through news reports.

ZELENY: But the White House clarified his comments today saying that the president and Secretary Clinton did exchange e-mail.

JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE SPOKESMAN: The point that the president was making is not that he didn't know Secretary Clinton's e-mail address, he did. But he was not aware of the details of how that e-mail address and that server had been set up.

ZELENY: The issue has now snowballed into a new punch line on "Saturday Night Live."

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is not how Hillary Clinton goes down. I mean, what did you think my e-mail said? Hi, it's Hillary. I really screwed up on Benghazi today. Please.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZELENY: Now that's the last thing supporters of Mrs. Clinton want, for her to become a caricature before a presidential campaign even begins. That's why top Democrats tell me tonight she's preparing to talk about this perhaps in the next day or two, perhaps in a press conference -- Jake.

TAPPER: All right, thank you so much. Jeff Zeleny, making this big debut here. Appreciate it.

Look who's here on my other side, Mr. Wolf Blitzer is here with a preview of "THE SITUATION ROOM." I assume you're going to talk a lot about this stunning, perhaps unprecedented letter.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST, "THE SITUATION ROOM": It's amazing what's going on right now, 47 Republicans who just had the sponsor, Senator Cotton of Arkansas talking about it. Ben Rhodes, the White House Deputy National Security Advisor, he's going to be joining me in "THE SITUATION ROOM."

He's angry over this letter coming at the tail-end of these negotiations. They think it is unprecedented. We'll speak to Tim Kaine, the Democratic senator from Virginia as well. He's pretty upset about it. We'll get some reaction to your interview with Senator Cotton.

TAPPER: Yes, no Democrats signed on to that letter even ones who opposed these negotiations with Iran.

BLITZER: About the timing -- Jeff Zeleny is here with us at CNN. That's pretty cool.

TAPPER: Wolf, we'll be watching in 10 minutes "THE SITUATION ROOM." Appreciate it.

When we come back, it's definitely cool, but should you buy one? The brand new Apple Watch revealed. All the details of what it does, how much it costs, when you can get it, all that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: We are back with the Money Lead now. Could Apple's new ventures catapult the company into the $1 trillion status? It's not really that far off the market. Investors already put Apple's value at $700 billion.

Tech gurus packed an auditorium in San Francisco today for today's big announcement. We got details on the company's new Apple Watch. It's the first new product under Apple CEO Tim Cook.

We also learned Apple and our parent company, Time Warner, are teaming up to launch HBO Now, which could begin to change cable TV as we know. The new service lets you stream HBO content on your Apple device for $14.99 a month.

Let's bring in Christina Warren, she is the senior tech analyst at Mashable. Christina, great to see you as always. Apple unveiled three different collections of its new device, the Watch, Watch Sport and Apple Watch edition. Each collection ranges in price from $349 to $10,000. One configuration could go as high as $17,000. Who would want to pay $17,000 for a watch?

CHRISTINA WARREN, SENIOR TECH ANALYST, MASHABLE: People who love their Apple, love their fashion, and have plenty of money to burn so not me, for sure. But there are definitely people in the luxury market out there who love luxury goods and this is who this device is for.

TAPPER: The watch is going to let people check their e-mail, check their text messages, answer calls. But you also need an iPhone 5 or newer model to use the Apple Watch. So does this force the entire tech industry to keep up?

WARREN: You know, it kind of does. Apple has been trying to push people I think to upgrade their devices about every two years or so. That's kind of how they are pushing people. You could use an older device. But we would really like for you to use a newer one.

This is really being sold as t companion to your iPhone. This is not going to replace your iPhone. This is a companion to your iPhone and some of the features are going to require an iPhone 5 or newer like you said.

TAPPER: Tim Cook today emphasized the health benefits of the watch and you agree this could be a great edition in the medical community. How?

WARREN: Well, they've got this new thing that they're going to be calling research kit. It's basically what's called an open API that will let people participate in different medical studies by if they choose to share some of their information with other people in the study so that people can learn more about how people's bodies are working from a variety of types of places and from all kinds of parts of the world.

What's really interesting about the Apple Watch is it's not doing a ton with health out of the box yet. But it has potential with its heart rate sensor and with some of the other monitors built into it to maybe further on down the road really capture more information and if the user is willing, share that information with doctors or with the broader health community.

TAPPER: That must in some ways be alarming to people, who already are concerned about companies like Apple collecting so much personal information if these watches are capable of doing that. Do you think consumers are not as concerned?

WARREN: Well, I think that's what's interesting about Apple's approach is that by default they're not sharing any of this information. And in fact Apple was very, very clear during the presentation that they do not sell or give away consumer's information at all. This is something that people can opt into if they think

they're going to get bigger benefits out of the box with it. But as you said, people do have concerns. I think that Apple's approach is going to be show people why it's great to share their data and what information they could get back from it.

And they would be encouraged to want to share more and want to learn more about themselves. Rather than going into it where it's sharing everything and potentially people get freaked out.

TAPPER: All right, Mashable's Christina Warren, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

In our Pop Culture Lead today, one of the master minds of the hit show "The Simpsons" has died. Not only was Sam Simon a hit comedy producer, he was also a giving philanthropist. He helped "The Simpsons" debut on Fox in 1989. It is now the longest running primetime series in American television history.

In his early years, Simon worked on sitcoms "Taxi" and "Cheers." Simon made millions from "The Simpsons," but he left the show in 1993. He then donated much of his money to charity. He was diagnosed with terminal colon cancer in 2013. Despite his condition, he remained upbeat and kept a sense of humor. He was 59 years old. Rest in peace, Sam Simon.

Make sure to follow me on Twitter @jaketapper and also @theleadcnn. Check out my show page at cnn.com/thelead for video, for blogs, extras. That's it for THE LEAD today. I'm Jake Tapper turning you over now to one Mr. Wolf Blitzer in "THE SITUATION ROOM" -- Wolf.