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Ariel Sharon Honored in Memorial Service; Push for New U.S. Sanctions Could Derail Iran Nuclear Deal; Robert Gates Defends Memoir; Dennis Rodman Leaves North Korea, Apologies for Tirade; Alex Rodriquez Fighting Game Ban; Baby Panda to Make Debut.

Aired January 13, 2014 - 13:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Top Israeli officials and leaders from around the world gathered today to pay their respects to Ariel Sharon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: 10, nine, eight, seven, six --

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BLITZER: Mourners remembered the former Israeli prime minister as a towering military and political figure. The vice president, Joe Biden, led the U.S. delegation. He praised Sharon for his tenacity and described him as a complex man. Sharon died Saturday after spending eight years in a coma. The Israeli president, Shimon Perez, says Sharon contributed, in his words, "an unforgettable chapter to the history of the Jewish state."

The effort to prevent Iran from building a nuclear weapon faces a critical test starting a week from today. Iran says it will begin scaling back its nuclear program January 20th. That date marks the official start of a six-month interim deal. Iranian officials agreed to curb the country's nuclear program in exchange for relief from some worldwide sanctions. But a push to add even more sanctions, the administration believes, could derail the entire agreement.

Our chief national security correspondent, Jim Sciutto, is here watching what's going on.

First of all, what happens a week from today?

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT; Well, those IAEA inspectors go into Iran and verify that Iran is taking steps it promised to do in this deal. One of the steps is to stop enriching uranium to 20 percent, in effect, a step below weapons grade. And they also start converting some uranium they have already enriched to 20 percent down to a lower, safer grade. As well, you also have some of the rewards starting to kick in. So as of February 1st, a payment is going to go to Iran, of $550 million. This is liberating some of those frozen Iranian assets overseas. And some other restrictions are going to be lifted, for instance, on airplane parts, auto parts, going into Iran. Other forms of sanctions relief start right away and they be stretched out over the six-month period.

BLITZER: But as you know, there's a bipartisan effort in the Senate right now, led by a bunch -- not only Republicans, but Democrats, as well. Bob Menendez, for example, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, a Democrat; Chuck Schumer from New York, another Democrat, they want to impose tighter, stricter sanctions against Iran right now. They wouldn't go into effect for six months, but they want to pass the legislation.

SCIUTTO: A big problem for the administration. The administration has been making the argument, no need to do this right now. If you do that, you're going disrupt the diplomatic track. And this is what the Iranians are saying, as well. I corresponded yesterday with the deputy foreign minister, and I asked him, what happens if they pass new sanctions legislation. He said the enactment of sanctions by the Senate will ruin the entire agreement. We hope we will not have to face that. This has been a consistent point of view from the Iranian side. The administration echoes that.

The administration also makes the point, listen, if Iran breaks any part of this deal, Congress could act, in the administration's words, in a nanosecond to enact new legislation, new sanctions. So why do this now? Why disrupt the diplomatic path? They even go further to say, if you do that, you're increasing the chances for war. Trouble is they have been making this argument ever since I was in Geneva a couple months ago, when this agreement was signed. And the -- to this point, the Senate is not listening.

Now, our information, though, is there is no rush to bring this sanctions bill to the floor of the Senate. The trouble is, if you have more Senators signing on -- right now there are 58, 59 -- that puts pressure on Harry Reid. He doesn't want to do it. But if there are more Senators who push him to do it, that might be hard for him to resist.

BLITZER: If the president were to veto legislation, you need two- thirds -- you need 67 to override a presidential veto. And we'll see if that gets that far or if they could cool things down.

SCIUTTO: That's right. That's the nightmare scenario for the administration there. But there are scenarios --

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: -- supporters in the Senate, Democrats and Republicans, they think the Iranians are bluffing. They won't end this deal, because they stand to lose too much in terms of the easing of the sanctions, billions of dollars that would begin pouring into Iran right away.

SCIUTTO: Exactly. No question. There's so many question marks here, both from the administration's reactions and the Iranian's reactions. But we have to watch every day to see how they react. What we do know is that it would -- it would upset the Iranian side. They've made that clear. It would upset the administration. We don't know what they would do in response.

BLITZER: Interesting. To have the influence over a lot of these Democrats he normally would have on a sensitive issue like this.

SCIUTTO: Absolutely.

BLITZER: It says a lot about the president and some of these Democrats on this issue.

SCIUTTO: 16 Democratic Senators.

BLITZER: Jim, thanks very much.

The former defense secretary, Robert Gates, is defending his new book, his blunt criticism of President Obama, but he blames partisanship in Washington for focusing on the negative statements rather than his positive remarks about the president.

Let's bring in our senior White House correspondent, Jim Acosta.

What are the critics saying about Gates, and specifically, Jim, about the timing of this book?

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, as you know, critics have been saying that Robert Gates should have waited to put out this book. And now Gates this morning is saying that his book has been hijacked for political purposes from people across the political spectrum. He's in the middle of this media blitz, as you know, Wolf, talking about his new memoir "Duty." And at the same time, we should mention, he's doing all of this after recently injuring himself. You'll see him in interviews these days wearing a neck brace. And if you think he's holding back in any way in light of the controversy that the excerpts from his book created last week, guess again.

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ACOSTA (voice-over): No regrets from former defense secretary, Robert Gates.

ROBERT GATES, FORMER SECRETARY OF DEFENSE & AUTHOR: The truth is I think the book is very even-handed. I don't vilify anybody.

ACOSTA: Gates fired back at critics of his new memoir, "Duty," on the "Today" show, arguing the juicier excerpts have been taken out of context.

GATES: Not really surprised but, in a way, disappointed that the book has sort of been hijacked by people along the political spectrum to serve their own purposes.

ACOSTA: In his tell-all, Gates revealed he had little confidence in President Obama's support for the war in Afghanistan. And in another interview on CBS's "Sunday Morning," Gates said, while he admired the president, he believed Mr. Obama was only focused on getting out of Afghanistan.

GATES: It's one thing to tell the troops that you support them. It's another to work at making them believe that you believe, as president, that their sacrifice is worth it.

ACOSTA: It doesn't get any better for Vice President Joe Biden, who, according to Gates, planted seeds of doubt in the president's mind about military commanders.

GATES: Where I had a particular problem with the vice president was in his encouragement of suspicion of the military and the senior military with the president.

ACOSTA: Detractors claim Gates put out his book soon, two-and-a-half years after leaving the Pentagon, while President Obama still has three years left in office, and U.S. troops remain in Afghanistan. Even some of Gates' fellow Republicans argue he should have waited to issue his scathing critique.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R), ARIZONA: If I had given him advice, I would have waited.

UNIDENTIFIED SENATOR: My preference would be that people would refrain from writing these sorts of things until the president is out of office.

ACOSTA: As he kicks off a TV tour, Gates doesn't plan on staying quiet, even if it means weighing in on 2016 and whether Hillary Clinton would make a good president.

GATES: Actually, I think she would.

ACOSTA: As for Biden --

GATES: Well, I suppose, to be even-handed, I would have to say I suppose he would.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: Now as for the prospect of returning to government service, Robert Gates is saying, thanks, but no thanks. That's why he was so candid, he says, in his memoir.

At the same time, we should point out, Gates is scheduled to return to the Pentagon later this week. That is to sign some of his books -- Wolf?

BLITZER: When he says to be even-handed, he thinks Biden would be a good president as well, this after writing in the book that the vice president of the United States was basically wrong on virtually every foreign policy and national security decision, major decision, over the past -- not just of the past few years, but over four decades since he was a junior Senator from the state of Delaware. Why does he think he would be a good president if he has been wrong on almost every single national security issue of the day?

ACOSTA: It's a very good question to ask, Wolf. And, you know, it is interesting, because if you look at all of the officials in the Obama administration, he does seem to single out Joe Biden for the harshest criticism. At the same time, he says in the interview, if you look at the fuller interview, Wolf, he seems to be saying, in jest, that Vice President Biden would make a good president. I think this sort of goes into the same category of some of the other contradictory things that Robert Gates seems to be saying about members of the Obama administration. Talks about how the president is not fully committed to the war in Afghanistan but, at the same time, says that he agrees with just about every decision that the president made when it came to the war in Afghanistan.

Robert Gates is not holding back. He says he could have waited until 2017, but didn't want to do that because he wanted some of the lessons that he thinks that the country should learn from Afghanistan to be talked about now. So a lot to discuss coming out of that book -- Wolf?

BLITZER: Yeah. I'm going to have him on in "The Situation Room" on Thursday and we'll talk about these issues and a lot more.

Jim Acosta, thanks very much.

ACOSTA: Thanks.

BLITZER: Alex Rodriguez banned for the season. But he's not going down without another fight. Can he really hope, though, to be back in the field this year? We'll take a closer look.

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BLITZER: Going to update you on what we know involving the evacuation of the school in Katy, Texas, just outside of Houston, Texas. You're looking at pictures courtesy of our affiliate, KPRC, in Houston. Houston FBI is now assisting with the Katy, Texas, high school evacuation. Harris County Sheriff's Office remains the lead agency. They're looking into a suspicious device, potential explosive device, as explained by our affiliate, KPRC. They issued a statement, the school district, a little while ago saying students have been evacuated to an enclosed area on the baseball and football fields. Water is being provided to the students and staff as need. More than 3,000 students, by the way, attend this high school in Katy, Texas. It's the Seven Lakes High School there. So they're on the scene. Authorities are checking out this suspicious package, potentially described as some sort of explosive device. The kids, students, they're all on the baseball field or the football field. We'll stay on top of this story, update you as we get more information.

Dennis Rodman's latest controversial trip to North Korea is now over. He arrived in Beijing earlier today to a swarm of reporters wanting answers. Once again, justifying his trip and his motives behind the trip. After apologizing last week for a drunken tirade on CNN, he's now saying he is sorry.

Here's CNN's Karl Penhaul.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Basketball's bad boy, Dennis Rodman, is back from North Korea, back to face the music. DENNIS RODMAN, FORMER NBA BASKETBALL PLAYER: I'm just very happy for the fact that we are actually trying to do something good for the world. And that's what I'm happy about. And I'm just sad for the fact that everyone is trying to break this down into pressure on me. And I don't know why. I haven't done anything wrong. I mean, literally, nothing wrong. I'm sorry for what's going on in North Korea, about certain situations. I'm not God. I'm not an ambassador. I'm no one.

PENHAUL: When Dennis Rodman comes to the arrival hall, he'll be stepping into a sea of controversy. He's criticized for statements he made about imprisoned American missionary, Kenneth Bae, who has been accused of taking payment from the North Korean authorities. He's been ridiculed for singing happy birthday to Kim Jong-Un.

(SHOUTING)

PENHAUL: Pandemonium with the press, travelers still trying to come out. Press gathered around both doors to see Rodman as he comes through. And now Rodman's security team are worried about the situation here. They're calling on the Chinese to do their job and to push the press back. Right now, there is no sign of that.

RODMAN: I'm sorry about all the people and what's going on. I'm sorry. I'm not the president. I'm not an ambassador. I'm Dennis Rodman, just an individual, just showing the world the fact that we can actually get along and be happy for one day. I would love to see -- I would love to see --

(CROSSTALK)

PENHAUL: As you can see, it's chaos here. More media today than any other day. Chinese police are in the middle there. Rodman's personal security team are in the middle there. He's just on the other side, unsure how he's going to get out right now.

(SHOUTING)

PENHAUL: He's scheduled to fly back to the U.S. sometime later Monday.

Karl Penhaul, CNN, Beijing Airport.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: We'll hear what he has to say once he arrives back here in the United States.

Still ahead, Alex Rodriguez fighting a decision that keeps him out of baseball for an entire season. Stay with us.

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BLITZER: Suspended baseball star, Alex Rodriguez, plans to fight back as early as today with a federal lawsuit aimed at avoiding the 162- game ban that was handed out over the weekend. Baseball's key witness, who said he provided drugs to Rodriguez and told him pass a test. In an interview with "60 Minutes," he explains how he told A- Rod to take a testosterone lozenge.

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ANTHONY BOSCH, MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL'S WITNESS: Put one of these in his mouth about 10 or 15 minutes before game time, or before he went into the field. A player could take it right before game time and by the time they get back into the locker room after the game, and there was any possibility of testing, they would test negative. They would test clean.

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BLITZER: Rodriguez' attorney called the investigation and the suspension a travesty.

Earlier, he spoke to our own Ashleigh Banfield about the lawsuit and what he thinks about the evidence in the case.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE TACOPINA, ATTORNEY FOR ALEX RODRIQUEZ: I'm not afraid of the evidence and the evidence that was brought before that panel. Because any fair and unbiased fact finder, anyone without an agenda or anyone concerned that they would not get fired if they didn't vote for Major League Baseball would look at that evidence and that evidence and say, no way, would I want my brother, my sister, my son, convicted or found liable on that sort of evidence.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Let's go to New York. Our Own Rachel Nichols has been covering this story for us.

What about this lawsuit? What's the main argument here, Rachel?

RACHEL NICHOLS, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: It's going to have to be that there was an issue with the legal process. Because the Supreme Court has ruled several times in fact that any time these two parties in a labor dispute agree to arbitration, that arbitration is binding unless there was some sort of gross misconduct with the legalities. And Alex Rodriguez, whether he likes it or not, did agree to this arbitration as a member of the players union. It's in the deal with Major League Baseball. So the only argument that his lawyers can now make to the federal court is to say there was some gross bias on the part of the arbitrator. This is no longer about PEDs or the evidence in the case that the lawyer was just referring to with Ashleigh. That's out the window. The only argument in federal court is, was there a problem with the legal process, and everyone I have spoken to said they don't have a leg to stand on there.

BLITZER: Does it set a new precedent for discipline, shall we say, in baseball, Rachel? He gets a full season with no positive drug test. That's, what, a $25 million fine, in effect, because he's not going to get paid? NICHOLS: It ushers in a new era in the way that sports leagues in this country are going to go after cheaters. In the past, sports leagues have relied on drug tests and you were penalized. What Major League Baseball did, after realizing there was such a big steroid epidemic in their sport, after being reprimanded by Congress, they decided to go after this much more aggressively. They hired investigators, they hired ex-FBI agents, and they aggressively went after -- they investigated, they interviewed Tony Bosch, they obtained physical evidence. This is what Alex Rodriguez has been convicted on, so to speak, not any drug tests. Alex's lawyer would say, hey, he always tested positive. You have to understand the nature of drug tests in sports. Obviously, sports leagues are behind cheaters when it comes to steroids and PEDs. There's no way you can invent a test until that illegal drug is in use. Testing will always be behind. There will always be an ineffective way of trying to catch people who cheat in sports. Instead, we're seeing Major League Baseball usher in this era of investigations, going more proactively against potential cheaters, and also upping the penalties so that guys who are tempted to cheat will take a step back and say, wow, if I do get caught, maybe I'm out of baseball for a year, maybe even longer, I'm not even going to mess with it. They have found that those are the more effective avenues than just relying on testing.

BLITZER: Rachel Nichols is the host of "Unguarded with Rachel Nichols." That airs on Friday nights here on CNN.

Rachel, thanks very much.

NICHOLS: Thank you.

BLITZER: Let's do a quick check of the markets right now. There you see the Dow, it's down 109 points. Stocks have been pretty tepid. We'll see what happens when the Fed's so-called beige book comes out on Wednesday. That's the report card the Fed uses to measure how the economy is doing.

A very different story coming up. A baby panda about to make her public debut here in Washington at the National Zoo. We're going to meet Boa Boa.

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BLITZER: Boa Boa, the baby panda, is getting ready for the spotlight.

Tom Foreman has the details.

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LAUREN (ph) THOMPSON, NATIONAL ZOO: She's still warm.

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At just 17 pounds, 5- month-old Boa Boa is already a heavyweight in the world of conservation.

THOMPSON: 58 centimeters.

FOREMAN: A rare success in the long fight to preserve the giant panda.

THOMPSON: Pandas are notoriously difficult to breed.

FOREMAN: Lauren (ph) Thompson attends to Boa Boa and says there are many reasons. Pandas are naturally solitary and don't mate well in captivity. Artificial insemination is uncertain. And even when new ones are born, they often don't make it.

THOMPSON: Unfortunately, they're very -- in the first month or so, they're very fragile. And you often don't know that there's anything wrong.

FOREMAN: The panda's American journey has been key to the species' survival.

THOMPSON: This is the crate that Ling Ling was shipped in, in 1972.

FOREMAN (on camera): This first panda?

THOMPSON: Yes.

FOREMAN (voice-over): U.S. scientists have helped the panda along ever since the first bears were sent here from their native China following a visit by President Nixon. Researchers in the National Zoo are now among the top authorities in the world for breeding them, yet births like this remain rare.

THOMPSON: Every year you kind of hope for it, and every year it's been a disappointment since 2005.

FOREMAN: Habitat loss has left only 1,600 pandas in the wild, some 300 in captivity. Small wonder then that this new arrival, this rare bear is being treated with such care.

Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Very cute, little Boa Boa.

That's it for me. Thanks for watching. I'll be back at 5:00 p.m. eastern in "The Situation Room."

NEWSROOM continues right now with Brooke Baldwin.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Wolf, thank you so much.