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Israeli Prime Minister Urging No Deal on Iran Nukes; White House Wants Diplomatic Deal with Iran; Iran Nuke Talks Accelerate in Switzerland; ISIS Supporters Threaten Twitter; Man Killed Outside Shelter on Skid Row; Police Kill Man Outside Shelter On Skid Row; Democratic Senator Barbara Mikulski To Retire; Russian Government Vows To Find Nemtsov's Killer

Aired March 02, 2015 - 09:00   ET

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

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: NEWSROOM starts now.

And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.

The stakes are high. The political tensions may be higher. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu getting a cold reception in Washington, both from protesters and the White House.

Next hour we'll hear from the leader of Washington's closest ally in the Middle East. He's here to challenge President Obama and rally against the possible deal with Iran over -- over its nuclear program.

Netanyahu says any deal with Israel's bitter enemy is a threat to Jews everywhere. A top Jewish senator slaps down that claim.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: When Netanyahu says he's coming to speak, he says he speaks for all Jews.

Does he speak for you?

SEN. DIANNE FEINSTEIN (D), CALIFORNIA: No, he doesn't speak for me on this. He doesn't at all speak for me.

BASH: Does that bother you when he says he speaks for all Jews?

FEINSTEIN: Yes. I think it's a rather arrogant statement. I think the Jewish community is like any other community. There are different points of view. So I think that arrogance does not befit Israel, candidly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Here's a measure of the passion and venom, though. This full page ad in the "New York Times" attacks top Obama adviser Susan Rice. It accuses her of genocide and of trying to silence Netanyahu ahead of tomorrow's controversial speech to Congress. We're covering all the angles and all of the implications. Our

reporters and experts are fanned out across the world to set the stage for Netanyahu's speech in the next hour and his major address tomorrow.

But we want to turn first to the site of the Netanyahu speech next hour. CNN's global affairs correspondent Elise Labott is at AIPAC. That's a pro Israel lobbying group. She joins us by phone.

Set the mood for us, Elise.

ELISE LABOTT, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS REPORTER: Well, Carol, this is AIPAC's largest conference ever really. Sixteen thousand people here, sold-out crowd waiting to hear Prime Minister Netanyahu and National Security adviser Susan Rice may have the power later in the day. Obviously all attention will be focused on tomorrow's speech. But I think today, I'm told by the prime minister's aid, he's going to try to really lower the temperature.

Obviously this bickering between U.S. and Israel over the Iran speech dilutes his message, he feels. He's going to really to emphasize how important he feels, the relationship is between the U.S. and Israel, try to lower the temperature and say, look, this is not about partisan politics. I respect the U.S., I respect the White House and the president for what they've done for Israel.

I feel I need to talk about Iran. But this is not a partisan issue. The relationship between the U.S. and Israel has always been bipartisan and it should remain so.

Carol, I think a real effort by the prime minister to stick to the substance and try to, what aides call, de-partisanize the Iran issue.

COSTELLO: He's facing -- Netanyahu, I'm talking about. He's facing sort of a tough audience because AIPAC, that pro-Israel lobbying group is largely pro-Obama. And I heard what you just said but Netanyahu is going to criticize the president's policies on Iran.

LABOTT: Well, I think that there's an effort to keep this substance focused on the Iran issue and why he feels that this deal is bad for the U.S., Iran and the world. I feel like today, this is a very pro Israel crowd. It's divided about President Obama. It's divided about -- supporting a lot of Republicans in this crowd. And he'll also try to rally everybody together.

You know, I think one of the things that this has done for AIPAC is put them in a difficult position. Because this has always been a bipartisan group. They try to lobby Congress. One of the things they want to do right now is lobby Congress to pass new sanctions on Iran if this deal doesn't go through.

And by injecting this partisanship into the issue between the U.S. and Israel that kind of dilutes that message and it puts them in an awkward position. And I think the officials here at AIPAC have been a little bit upset about this, but now all eyes focus on the prime minister's speech and they're trying to urge all members of Congress to attend -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Elise Labott, thanks so much.

Elise Labott, reporting live.

Now let's check in with Jim Acosta. He's CNN's senior White House correspondent.

Jim, will the president be listening?

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: You know, I think he'll get the message. And, Carol, what they say over here at the White House is that he's already gotten the message from Prime Minister Netanyahu. The White House is offering an icy welcome to the Israeli prime minister.

Of course he's in Washington to warn the world, as Elise said, that the negotiations over Iran's nuclear program will backfire. Netanyahu will speak to that AIPAC conference later on this morning and will address Congress tomorrow.

But the White House is not remaining silent. As Elise said, these top National Security officials, the National Security adviser Susan Rice, the U.N. ambassador, Samantha Power, they will also address AIPAC later today. And President Obama will weigh in as well, sitting down for an interview with Reuters.

And you'll recall, last week, Carol, it was Rice who said that Netanyahu's speech which was arranged by the House Speaker John Boehner without the knowledge of the White House was, quote, "destructive" but Boehner says it's the White House that's making matters worse.

Here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R), HOUSE SPEAKER: They certainly made it worse over the last five or six weeks. The threat coming from Iran, and the Iranians having a nuclear weapon, is a threat to the region, it's a threat to the United States and it's a threat to the rest of the world.

This is a serious issue. And we're not going to resolve this issue by sticking our heads in the sand. The prime minister can talk about this threat, I believe, better than anyone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: So what's the message over here? Outwardly White House officials insist they want to emphasize the strengths of the U.S.- Israel relationship.

But make no mistake, Carol, there are hard feelings about Netanyahu's visit. One senior administration official complained to me the prime minister is turning this week into something of a circus, that he's putting himself at the center of attention in Washington, and the president again will not be sitting down with Netanyahu, the White House says, because Israeli elections are just around the corner.

But, Carol, get this, one official said the prime minister should not even expect a phone call from the president while he's in town -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Jim Acosta reporting live from the White House, thank you.

Thousands of miles away in Switzerland, the nuclear talks that are the source of conflict between Benjamin Netanyahu and the United States are accelerating. John Kerry back in Geneva trying to hammer out a deal before that March 24th deadline. And while Kerry stresses that no agreement is in place the seven-nation talks are centering around a 10-year timeline that will reduce the number of centrifuges Iran can have in its possession.

But sticking points include the length of the deal along with the enrichment capabilities Iran will be permitted to have. Speaking this morning, Kerry sought to sooth Israel's concerns.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KERRY, SECRETARY OF STATE: Israel's security is absolutely at the forefront of all of our minds. But frankly, so is the security of all the other countries in the region, so is our security in the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: CNN's chief national security correspondent, Jim Sciutto, is in Switzerland this morning.

Jim, could Netanyahu's speech derail these talks?

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: The short answer is no. The administration has decided not accept Netanyahu's counsel. In fact, they are calling him wrong in public, wrong on the details of the deal as he understands them and wrong on this deal decreasing Israel's security rather than improving its security. The White House saying that the interim agreement that's in effect now is the first real progress that the West has made in any way in restricting Iran's nuclear program.

And that you need a negotiated deal to make both Israel safer and the world safer going forward. Now where it could of course have an effect is in Congress because if Congress is moved by him and of course keep in mind Congress is Republicanly controlled now, they could add more sanctions and the administration's carrot in these negotiations is lifting or relaxing the current sanctions against Iran.

So that at a later stage, assuming they make an agreement here, could blow things out. But, you know, that's already still a subject of disagreement between the West and Iran because today you had the Iran foreign minister saying just a short time ago they want all sanctions lifted immediately for any agreement, and that's a position the administration has just said they're not going to accept, they want a gradual lifting of the sanctions because they want to maintain leverage over Iran to make sure they keep in compliance with the program.

COSTELLO: Jim Sciutto, reporting live from Switzerland. Thank you.

Twitter is investigating threats it says were made by ISIS reporters. In an online post, ISIS supporters warned, quote, "You started this lost war. We told you from the beginning that it's not your war but you didn't understand and closed down our accounts. We'll come back but when our lone lions silence your breath, you won't come back."

Scary, right?

Samuel Burke is following that story, of course, from London.

Good morning. Tell us more, Samuel.

SAMUEL BURKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol, whenever we look at these type of threats, we want to know, is this coming from an ISIS official, an ISIS supporter or just some random person online.

Our team has been looking over the language here and, although it doesn't appear like it comes from an ISIS official, an official member or a spokesperson of ISIS that uses social media, the language does make it appear as though it comes from an ISIS supporter.

Now we're not going to show the images that they posted. But I can describe some of them. It actually has a digitally enhanced image of Jack Dorsey even with a crosshair of a weapon aiming at Jack Dorsey.

Twitter is taking this seriously enough that they're looking into it. In a statement, a spokesman told us the following, saying, quote, "Our security team is investigating the veracity of these threats with relevant law enforcement officials." And I reached out to the FBI and we have not heard back from them yet as to whether they're chasing down these threats online -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Samuel Burke, reporting live from London. Thanks so much.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, police opened fire and gunned down a man outside of a homeless shelter on L.A. skid row. Now witnesses are questioning the use of deadly force. We'll talk about that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Another deadly police shooting coming under scrutiny. It was all caught on tape. But I want to warn you might find this video disturbing.

It shows police fighting with a man outside of a homeless shelter on Los Angeles' skid row. He was tasered several times and police say he tried to grab an officer's gun before three officers pulled their guns and started firing. CNN's Sara Sidner is in Los Angeles with more for you.

SARA SIDNER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Carol, the video is very hard to watch. It's intense, it's chaotic and disturbing because ultimately you see the death of a man on the streets of L.A. at the hands of police officers.

We know from police that three officers were involved in that shooting. So three separate officers fired their guns. And of course, the investigation is under way.

From looking at this video, give you a little description of what we saw and what we thought we heard. As you go through it, because the scene is so chaotic, sometimes it's very difficult to discern exactly what was going on. But you can certainly hear what the sound of -- what sounds like a taser going off and you hear officers saying, "drop the gun." You do hear that and then you hear what we think they say again, "drop the gun," a couple more times before you hear the sound of five gunshots.

We did talk to police about what happened. They said that the suspect at some point tried to wrestle with an officer's firearm. He was struggling over that firearm and that is what created the situation in his ultimate demise.

But the investigation does continue. What we haven't been able to see is what happened before that video started rolling. We were able to talk to the witness who took those pictures and he described a bit to us what he saw before he started taking those pictures.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTHONY BLACKBURN, RECORDED VIDEO OF SHOOTING: After the first tase, he shot up -- they snatched the top off, you know what I'm saying, they tased him again, they tased him again. Once they tased him again, he come up out of there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: Now, we asked the Los Angeles Police Department about the criticism that is already out there on social media. That there were four officers on the scene at the time and a couple more showing up afterwards, why they weren't able to subdue the man and ended up shooting him.

Their answer was we are still in the midst of this investigation. We are still looking into how this all came about and whether or not the shooting was proper or not.

That investigation continuing because they're still talking to witnesses and there is more video out the police know of including surveillance video from one of the homeless shelters and some of the officers, we're told, were wearing body cams. They will be going through all that in the course of this investigation -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Sara Sidner, reporting from Los Angeles. Still to come in the NEWSROOM, one of Russia's most outspoken critic shot dead on a Moscow street. We'll have the latest on the death of Boris Nemtsov, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: A bit of breaking news to pass along, a long serving senator is stepping down, Senator Barbara Mikulski. Dana Bash broke the news. Let's hear more from Dana on this. Really, she's retiring?

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I heard you pause. This is a bipartisan disappointment on Capitol Hill. She will not run for re-election, which means she is going to be here for the rest of her term.

But the reason why this is breaking news is because Barbara Mikulski is the longest serving female senator in the history of this country and she is also somebody when we talk a lot about the way women in the Senate work together on a bipartisan basis it's because of her.

She's known as the dean of women senators and has monthly meetings and people say she's the tallest 4'11" person anybody has ever seen. She certainly came up at a time there were almost no women around. She pushed through and she certainly has the rest of her term to serve out. I think she will announce that later in her home city of Baltimore.

COSTELLO: Why did she make this decision, Dana? Do we know?

BASH: We don't. We will see what she says at her announcement at 11:00 Eastern Time. This is a different place from when Mikulski came here. We've been reporting on it through the prism of the Department of Homeland Security funding.

She was in the center of the potential shutdown fight the end of last year because she was chairman of the Appropriations Committee. She has spent the entire year writing bills to fund the entire U.S. government and there she was having fights to make sure this went through.

And by the way, she did so on a bipartisan basis so, you know, she has been here for a long time, for decades and presumably, she is seeing the writing on the wall in terms of how this is going and maybe wants to get out while the getting is good, so to speak.

COSTELLO: All right, Dana Bash reporting live from Capitol Hill this morning.

It is a plot worthy of a Russian novel, an outspoken critic of the government shot dead near the Kremlin and now that same government spearheading the search for his killer.

Many are skeptical about how seriously Russian officials are taking the investigation into Boris Nemtsov's murder including some of the thousands who marched in his name over the weekend. The night he died Nemtsov had been walking with his model girlfriend. We're not quite sure where she is now, but she has spoken to her mother who relayed her story to CNN. We'll hear from the mother in just a moment.

But first just last year Nemtsov spoke with CNN's Anthony Bourdain offering a grim prediction of his own death and outlining the dangers of crossing Vladimir Putin.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BORIS NEMTSOV: A good relationship with Putin and his people around, right? It doesn't matter. While you have a chance to raise money, to be successful, you know, to buy real estate in this south of France or Switzerland, open accounts in Swiss banks, et cetera, but if something happened between you and Putin and you are a governor, you could be in jail.

ANTHONY BOURDAIN, CNN HOST, "PARTS UNKNOWN": And your company is dismantled.

NEMTSOV: Your company will disappear.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: CNN's Matthew Chance is following the story from Moscow, tell us more -- Matthew.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Carol. As you mentioned, thousands of people turned out here in Moscow for the biggest rally we have seen for several years. Ever since Boris Nemtsov was assassinated on this bridge just a short distance from the Kremlin, people have been laying tributes and flowers and messages of shock and sympathy.

This one hear reads in Russian, propaganda (inaudible), which means propaganda kills, a reference to this idea that the opposition is saying the atmosphere in Russia is such if you're an opponent of the Kremlin, if you speak out against the policies of Vladimir Putin, this is what could happen to you.

It's a pivotal moment in many ways in Russia, to see whether this killing will turn political opinion. Remember, Vladimir Putin has a high popularity rating, something like 86 percent according to the latest opinion polls.

Will this killing start to turn the Russian public against him or simply send a message, if you're opposed to the Kremlin, like Boris Nemtsov was, this is what could happen to you so a crucial moment in Russia that we're witnessing -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Matthew, have we learned anything else about the night Nemtsov was shot?

CHANCE: Not a great deal to be fair. Some details released to the investigative committee. There's details released about CCT video put out there showing the actual moment when the killing took place, although it's very grainy and doesn't tell us a great deal.

CNN has spoken to the mother of the woman who was with Boris Nemtsov, his girlfriend, a Ukrainian model, she hasn't spoken to us but her mother has. Take a listen what she has to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

INA DURITSKAYA, MOTHER OF NEMTSOV'S GIRLFRIEND (through translator): She was waiting for Boris in a restaurant. They had dinner and went outside. Anna suggested getting a taxi, but Boris didn't want to. He wanted to walk across the bridge.

When they were walking, she was holding his hand and heard a clapping noise. Boris became soft and fell on the ground. When Anna understood what had happened she was so much in shock that she didn't see how it happened and moreover, they had shot him in the back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHANCE: That's the closest we've got to a witness testimony. For its part the Kremlin has vowed it will get to the bottom of this. Vladimir Putin has written a message to the mother of the Boris Nemtsov, the assassinated political figure saying those responsible for this will be brought to justice -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Matthew Chance, reporting live from Moscow. Thank you.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, the Jewish community split over Netanyahu's visit. Is he fighting for Israel's future or damaging a key relationship? We'll hear from both sides next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)