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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Western Governments At A Loss To Deal With The Effective Recruiting ISIS Does; Veterans Affairs Secretary Called Press Conference To Apologize For Making False Claims About His Military Record; Some Veterans' Advocacy Groups Leery Of Secretary McDonald's Leadership Now; Missionary Taken By Armed Men In Nigeria; Report: Jet- Setting Congressman Used Taxpayer Dollars

Aired February 24, 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: I know White House officials are just confounded. They don't know how to deal -- not just the White House but Western countries -- they don't know how to deal with how good ISIS is at recruiting. But, Pamela, what's so stunning about this story is they're girls, Pamela. In a way, we expect young males to do this sort of thing -- not expect but it's far more common.

What is the deal -- what do intelligence officials think is going on with the ISIS has had in recruiting all these young women?

PAMELA BROWN, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Right, because it is surprising. You wouldn't necessarily think that girls would be a target of this.

But from talking to intelligence officials, Jake, there has been a concerted effort by ISIS leadership to lure over young women to help build their Islamic caliphate. What they're looking for is girls who could be brides, who could start families with ISIS militants, and who could also become foreign fighters.

We know we have seen this in other cases. There were girls here in Denver in the United States who tried to go over there and didn't make it over. And there have been other similar cases where officials have stopped American teens from getting over there, girls from getting over.

But they can't say for sure that some haven't made it over. It's just -- it's a big problem with all of the noise on social media to keep up with it. And it's going to continue to happen.

TAPPER: All right, Pamela Brown, thank you so much.

In other world news, ISIS terrorists ransacked two villages in Northeastern Syria this morning, kidnapping nearly 100 Christians. Among the abducted were women, children and the elderly, according to a local human rights group.

ISIS is threatening to kill these hostages if anyone attacks them. This comes as the terrorist group continues to put out more propaganda, the latest a video of two suicide attackers they claim are responsible for the January bloodshed at the Corinthia Hotel in Libya. You may recall that's where 10 innocent civilians, including American David Berry, were killed.

We're keeping tabs on a big national headline right now from the head of Veterans Affairs, Robert McDonald. He's a military man himself, so why did he lie about his career in the service? McDonald just wrapped up a news conference and responded to that very question, so what he had to say about his embellished record -- next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

In more national news, just minutes ago, the secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs spoke publicly for the first time about a controversy that threatens to derail his efforts to restore trust in that embattled department. Robert McDonald called a press conference to apologize for making a false claim about his military record.

As first reported by The Huffington Post, McDonald claimed to have been a former member of the Army's elite Special Forces at a veterans event last month. In reality, he was never Special Forces. He spent most of his time in the military with the 82nd Airborne Division. That's a division that is highly esteemed in its own right, which makes this special ops claim that much more confusing.

Let's bring in CNN national correspondent Suzanne Malveaux, who is live at VA headquarters, where McDonald just spoke.

Suzanne, what did he have to say?

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: So, Jake, this is a guy who graduated the top two percent of his class at West Point. He was recruited more for his business savvy, as the former head of Procter & Gamble, than for his five years of military experience, the service that he did.

So, I asked him, why he would misrepresent his service? And he said he wanted to be more relatable. He's trying to own this thing, get on top of it. This will be the third apology that he has made since this story broke. Jake, I think the real question here, and the big question is whether or not that is enough to win back the trust of the veterans.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX (voice-over): The embattled Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald just went before cameras for his big mea culpa.

ROBERT MCDONALD, U.S. VETERANS AFFAIRS SECRETARY: I incorrectly stated that I, too, had been in Special Forces. That was wrong, and I have no excuse.

MALVEAUX: McDonald was caught on camera lying about serving in the Special Forces during a CBS News taping of a story about his department's effort to help homeless vets. A homeless veteran told McDonald he served in the Special Forces. And McDonald enthusiastically replied:

MCDONALD: Special Forces? What years? I was in the Special Forces.

MALVEAUX: It turns out McDonald completed Army Ranger training and graduated, but was never assigned to a Ranger battalion, nor a special operations unit. Instead, the West Point graduate was assigned to and served in the 82nd Airborne Division, until his retirement in 1980.

MCDONALD: And with veterans, my common ground is my veteran experience. And so what I was trying to do is find a way to connect with that veteran.

And, as I said, I made a misstatement. I apologize for that.

MALVEAUX: Veterans groups are disappointed. The American Legion says McDonald has a long way to go to repair the damage and rebuild trust.

MICHAEL HELM, AMERICAN LEGION: The secretary has made an apology. The apology, I don't think restores our -- the American Legion's complete trust in him or perhaps veterans that are being served.

MALVEAUX: Others are using McDonald's troubles to pile on more criticism.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: Sometimes, I just don't understand why people would want to do that. I'm much more concerned about his failure to implement the legislation that we have passed.

MALVEAUX: For now, the White House seems to be committed to McDonald.

JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: But there's no reason to think that the mistake that he made should interfere with his ability to continue to lead the fight for our veterans

MALVEAUX: President Obama chose McDonald, a longtime Procter & Gamble executive, to replace former Secretary Eric Shinseki, who resigned in disgrace last May, following CNN's extensive reporting on corruption in the department.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: Jake, as you know, this comes amid particular scrutiny of military reporting and military experience, when you look at the examples of NBC's Brian Williams and FOX's Bill O'Reilly -- Jake.

TAPPER: Suzanne Malveaux, thank you so much.

The White House may be eager to accept McDonald's apology, but at least one veterans' advocacy group is not so willing to necessarily let this slide. The Concerned Veterans for America released a statement today which reads in part -- quote -- "Secretary McDonald, who had promised to restore integrity to the VA, has through his own actions and words reinforced the perception that the VA and its leaders still cannot be trusted to tell the truth."

Harsh words. I'm joined now by the legislative and political director of The Concerned Veterans for America, Dan Caldwell, a Marine who fought in Iraq.

And thank you for that, sir.

So, is this apology enough, or do you want McDonald to go? Should he resign?

DAN CALDWELL, CONCERNED VETERANS FOR AMERICA: No, we don't think Secretary McDonald should resign at this point.

Quite frankly, it wouldn't make any difference. It wouldn't do anything to fix the VA. What we really need is true VA reform. We need to fundamentally reshape the VA. And we hope Secretary McDonald that uses this, has an opportunity to embrace that to reform and to become more open and honest with the American people and the veteran community.

However, we will say this, is that this is unfortunately part of a pattern of behavior on his part of misrepresenting the truth and misrepresenting facts about the VA and about himself.

TAPPER: The pattern, what's a prior incident?

CALDWELL: Well, just last week, he was found by "The Washington Post" to have on "Meet the Press" exaggerated the number of employees fired as a result of the VA wait list scandal.

(CROSSTALK)

TAPPER: He said 900. And it wasn't 900?

CALDWELL: Well, he said it was 60 employees and it was actually a much, much lower number. "The Washington Post" gave him four Pinocchios and completely factual -- in fact, during that press conference, I noticed that when reporters were asking him about that, he was dodging that question. It fits a pattern, unfortunately.

TAPPER: He did indeed dodge that question.

Dan, stay with us for one second because there's something that actually upsets me more about this, about the veterans and how they're treated in this country. I want to turn to this relevant story and get your reaction.

A 41-year-old Iraq veteran named Richard Miles, who reportedly suffered from post-traumatic stress, was found dead and frozen solid in a Des Moines park over the weekend. Miles wasn't wearing a coat or even a pair shoes.

Senator Joni Ernst, Republican of Iowa, says that Miles may not have received the mental health treatment he deserved. And she is calling on the VA inspector general to conduct an immediate and thorough investigation into the mental health programs for the VA in Iowa, also looking into the treatment provided to Richard Miles, as well as any requests for mental health care that he may have received and whether or not he received that care.

These kinds of stories are sadly all too common. As somebody who used to do legislative work for a member of Congress tending to the needs of veteran, now you work with CVA. What needs to happen here, so we stop hearing about these people who were traumatized in war ending up taking their own lives one way or another?

CALDWELL: You know, Jake, I'm -- to be honest with you, I have just become numb to these stories.

I have heard so many of them. I'm from Phoenix, where the scandal began. CNN did a lot of work on the ground in Phoenix reporting on that. I'm frankly numb to them at this point. I'm just not shocked by that. What needs to happen is we need to fundamentally transform how the VA delivers health care to our veterans, need to fundamentally transform the culture of the VA and just completely reshape it.

Quite frankly, this MyVA reform plan that secretary has put out, it is a joke. Making VA employees wear these I CARE pins and that's somehow evidence of reform, it's a joke. We need real reform. And my group, CVA, on Thursday is going to be rolling out a comprehensive VA health care reform plan. We're going to -- hopefully, this is a first step in fundamentally transforming the VA and how we deliver health care to our veterans, so we don't see any more stories like we saw just now.

TAPPER: Dan Caldwell, thank you so much. Appreciate your time and thank you, as always, for your service, and to your wife as well.

(CROSSTALK)

CALDWELL: Thank you. And thank you for all your reporting on it as well.

TAPPER: OK.

She had a mission to educate young children in Nigeria. Now this American woman is missing. We will go live to that region to find out what's being done to find her.

And reports of elaborate spending by the congressman with the "Downton Abbey" decked-out office -- the trail of evidence possibly, possibly posted all over Instagram.

Thank you, sir.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: Welcome back to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper. In other world news today, the search is on for an American missionary, who was snatched from the school in Nigeria where she teaches by five masked gunmen, who are now demanding $300,000 for her safe return.

Reverend Phyllis Sorter of Seattle runs Hope Academy. It is located in southwestern Nigeria in an area not particularly known for any significant militant activity. Leading investigators to believe this is likely the work of a criminal gang as opposed to the work of terrorists.

The U.S. State Department is now working with the FBI to try and find Reverend Sorter. Let's turn to CNN senior international correspondent, Arwa Damon. Arwa, do police know if Sorter was specifically targeted in this raid?

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They haven't put that out definitively at this stage, but that most certainly does seem to be the case, Jake. This was in fact the product of some sort of criminal gang. It was one that was quite capable of carrying out a kidnapping that seems to have been preplanned to a certain degree.

There were five men who were involved. Two of them according to the police commissioner were wearing masks. And, as they whisked her away, they were firing their weapons into the air, disappearing into the nearby mountains.

Now, there is that investigation under way in hopes of trying to locate her at this stage. Again, the police commissioner is saying that they do believe this was a product of criminal activity. This is not an area where Boko Haram or other terrorist networks per se are particularly known to operate.

It's quite surprising that this kind of kidnapping would take place in this part of Nigeria. There has been a demand for ransom, however, slightly upwards of $300,000. And the concern at that stage is that if perhaps that ransom is not paid, she could be sold to the highest bidder.

So a lot of pressure on the Nigerian authorities to try to track her down, bearing in mind, though, the Nigerian security apparatus is stretched quite thin since they are waging very fierce battles against Boko Haram in the north eastern part of the country.

But at this stage, still people believing that this is a product of a criminal gang and not that of Boko Haram or another terrorist group -- Jake.

TAPPER: All right, Arwa Damon, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

Tickets to a sold-out Katy Perry concerts, trips on private jets, is one congressman living a lavish lifestyle at least partly on your dime? The report is digging into his elaborate spending coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: Welcome back to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper. In politics where we're keeping our finger on the pulse of the 2016 race, in a couple of minutes, we expect Hillary Clinton to show up on that very stage you're looking at right now.

Her return to the speaking circuit in California this time at a Silicon Valley Women's Conference hosted by Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, leader of course, of the Lean-In Movement. Clinton has kept a low profile so far on the non-campaign, campaign trail. In 2015, this will be her leaning into it, one assumes. On the other side of the political aisle with the Department of Homeland Security on the verge of a shutdown over this thorny immigration reform issue.

Senator Marco Rubio, Republican of Florida, was quite literally barn storming in New Hampshire where he was pressed on this issue.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When I first heard you, I liked you a lot and then you lost me. But I'm back, here you have another chance. My question for you is, can you commit if elected president to sending home every single person that's violated our country's laws and is here illegally?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think anyone can commit that to you. You have 12 million human beings in America, host of them we don't know who they are and some of them whom are not going tolerate rounding up and sending them back. That's not realistic.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Rubio two years ago was one of the so-called gang of eight senators, who put together a comprehensive immigration reform plan that included a rather long, but direct path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants already in the United States.

Today's Money Lead, he's a Republican congressman whose Instagram page is one-stop shopping for anyone who wants to feel like all you do is sit on your couch eating Cheetos from doing the tango on the streets of Buenos Aires to doing the 80s TV on the glacier, chilling with the stars of a Super Bowl commercial or catching waves in Waikiki, resentful?

Well, if not, maybe you should be, especially since according to a new report you may have paid for some of this. CNN's Athena Jones joins me now.

Athena, it's a big question for Congressman Aron Chuck of Illinois from the Associated Press investigation about whether taxpayer campaign or donor funds were used to support any of this? He certainly drew a lot of attention to himself with his use of social media.

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He certainly has, Jake. Congressman Shock clearly seems to love Instagram. The AP used the location data from his postings on that side along with other records to dig into some of his spending and report that as you mentioned is raising a lot of questions.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JONES (voice-over): Jet-setting Illinois Congressman Aaron Shock has never shied away from publicity. He boasts about his travels online posting pictures on Instagram of meeting the pope at the Vatican, hanging out with Buddhist monks in Myanmar, and parasailing in Argentina.

Telling ABC News he's not your typical member of Congress. If his photos raise eyebrows, well --

You know, as Taylor Swift said haters are going to hate.

JONES: Shock even showed off his toned abs in "Men's Health." But his very public presence may not be causing problems, those very Instagram photos posted by him leading to questions about who's funding his lifestyle.

Shock used taxpayer and campaign money to pay for flights on private jets and even tickets to a sold-out Katy Perry concert according to the Associated Press. The AP said Shock took at least a dozen flights worth more than $40,000 on planes owned by key donors since mid-2011.

The fresh-faced congressman, just 33, has been seen as a rising star in the Republican Party. But stories about his spending and his relationship with donors are now raising questions.

SHEILA KRUMHOLZ, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR RESPONSIVE POLITICS: It comes down to a lot of smoke but repeatedly over and over again, and you know what they say. When there's a lot of smoke, there's often fire.

JONES: Shock isn't commenting on the latest report, which comes after a series of stories on the lavish decorations in his Capitol Hill office, dark red walls, a bouquet of pheasant feathers, nicknamed the "Downton Abbey" office after the popular PBS show.

And it was at least partially funded by taxpayers. The congressman is also facing questions for selling his home in Peoria to a donor for significantly higher than market value. Critics have called for an ethics review in both cases.

And while the Office of Congressional Ethics won't comment on the allegations, Shock is already facing an inquiry over an accusation he broke fundraising rules and federal law by soliciting higher than allowed contributions for a political committee.

Back in Illinois, Shock's thousands of dollars in car mileage reimbursements, 18,000 since 2013, are among the highest in Congress. So how is all of this playing back home in Peoria?

CHRIS KAERGARD, POLITICAL REPORTER, "PEORIA JOURNAL STAR": I think they're more concerned with how he's doing his day-to-day job, but there's a wait and see approach to this in terms of everything that's come out.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JONES: And we'll be waiting to see if the Office of Congressional Ethics gets involved here. So far House leadership isn't commenting. I should note Shock is in a very safe Republican district and has proven himself to be a hugely successful fundraiser. So that could make it hard for anyone to challenge him on the electoral front there at this point.

TAPPER: And we should point out, Athena, that you reached out to his office over and over and over again for this report, and quite unlike them, they didn't get back to you with any sort of cooperative response.

JONES: No response.

TAPPER: All right, Athena Jones, thank you so much. That's it for THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper. I turn you now over to one Mr. Wolf Blitzer, who is right next door in a room that we like to call "THE SITUATION ROOM." Thanks a lot.