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Iran-U.S. Nuclear Talks Enter Crunch Time; Interview with Rep. Mike Turner; Ferguson Shooter Claims Not Aiming for Police; Three Teens Arrested in U.K. for Trying to Join ISIS; Critical Israeli Elections Tomorrow. Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired March 16, 2015 - 11:30   ET

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

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<11:31:58> JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Nuclear talks between the United States and Iran have entered what the State Department is calling crunch time at this point. Secretary of State Kerry is back in Switzerland. He and his Iranian counterpart met for several hours this morning. They're trying to reach some kind of agreement before a deadline for a framework by the end of this month.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Divisions clearly remain there, and they also remain here at home between the Obama administration and congressional Republicans over the issue of Iran negotiations.

Sunday, Secretary Kerry had this to say about that letter that Senate Republicans, 47 of them, sent to Iran's leaders.

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JOHN KERRY, SECRETARY OF STATE: I won't apologize for the -- for an unconstitutional and unthought out action by somebody who's been in the United States Senate for 60-some days. That's just inappropriate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Republican Congressman Mike Turner of Ohio, he's joining us to discuss more on this. He's a member of the House Armed Services Committee. Congressman, it's great to see you. Thanks so much for coming in.

I want to just get your take on what Secretary Kerry says right there. He says an unthought out action by somebody who has been in the United States Senate for some 60 days. He's talking about Senator Cotton. But he's also -- seems to be, obviously, condemning all Republicans who signed onto this letter. What do you think?

REP. MIKE TURNER (R), OHIO: Well, I think this is really a critical issue. When we look to the fact that Iran represents a threat to our national security. Everyone agrees that Iran should not be permitted to get a nuclear weapon. How do we get there? How do we ensure the safety of our country while they pursue a nuclear weapon is of great importance. At the same time, they've been pursuing missile technology, ICBM technology, that would reach the United States. That's not even part of the negotiations.

But beyond the criticism of the letter itself, I think the substance of the letter is very important. And that is the issue that the president has been subject to bipartisan criticism, and that he has said any deal that he reaches with Iran he does not intend to take to the United States Senate, which of course by the Constitution, the president doesn't have the ability to bind our nation unless he takes the aid deal with another nation to the Senate for confirmation.

Now, he announced he was going to do that when even the Democrats were in control of the Senate. So there's bipartisan criticism of the path that the president is currently on.

BERMAN: There's also bipartisan criticism at this point of that letter itself. Senator John McCain, who was one of the signees of this latter, he said probably should have had more discussion about it, given the blowback there is. You kind of skirted around the issue, Congressman, but do you think this letter has now damaged whatever negotiations are going on? Would you have signed it?

TURNER: Well, I think it -- well, I'm not in the Senate. So thank you for having asked that. But the issue that I think is important here is that this letter says, and you're making the negotiations themselves should raise the point, that it is only binding with the respect to this administration. If Obama wants to be bound to this, he certainly can conduct his administration to it. But the moment this administration is gone, the agreement no longer stands.

Now the venue in which that issue was raised is certainly subject to criticism.

<11:34:57> But the point itself is certainly valid and should be part of our debate in this country about the president undertaking negotiations that only bind his administration rather than pursuing long-term security for our country and trying to ensure that Iran does not get a nuclear weapon.

BOLDUAN: But kind of the platform of how this came about is part of the discussion here. The negotiations are ongoing. The White House says that -- and the State Department again even said today -- that this letter is hurting those negotiations, is basically trying to stop any negotiations from happening. And so the platform this is all happening on is important. Do you think that they were wrong to write the letter?

TURNER: Well, I think the issue is not wrong to be brought up. And I think the administration needs to answer it. They are attacking senators and criticizing them for the venue in which they've done it. But the substance of the issue remains and the administration needs to respond to that.

They are undertaking negotiations that only bind their administration, that portend to be a long-term deal. I think the administration needs to raise this issue. Certainly it should have been part of the negotiation and the discussion with the Iranians, that this is a short-term deal, not a long-term deal with the United States. Only binds the Obama administration. That's an important topic.

I also think the administration should be subject to that bipartisan criticism. If they're going to do negotiations with a foreign nation, they should follow the Constitution. That means it has to go to the Senate. Reason why they are bypassing the Senate is because they don't believe the deal would pass through the Senate with confirmation, and I think that certainly hurts their overall negotiation strategy.

BERMAN: Congressman, given where it stands right now, simple yes or no question. Would you just walk away with no deal?

TURNER: Well, I am not party to the negotiations themselves. I think certainly that Secretary of State Kerry has, in his heart, certainly the important aspect of protecting our nation. But I think that as we learn the early details of what may be in this deal, that this deal may be more dangerous for our nation than having no deal. But I think this administration needs to be dedicated to Iran should have no path to get to a nuclear weapon, or our national security is gravely at risk.

BOLDUAN: Congressman Mike Turner, it's always great to have you on, Congressman. Thanks so much for your time.

TURNER: Thank you for having me.

BERMAN: Ahead for us AT THIS HOUR, the latest on the shooting of two police officers in Ferguson, Missouri. We'll speak to a community activist about whether the suspect there was among the protesters as police now claim.

BOLDUAN: Later for us, three British teenagers have been stopped presumably on their way to Syria to join up with ISIS. We're going to go to London for a live report on what happens to them now.

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<11:40:47> BERMAN: New this morning, activists in Ferguson, Missouri, insist the man who admitted shooting two police officers last week, they say he was not one of them. Not a protester. That characterization of 20-year-old Jeffrey Williams came from the St. Louis County prosecutor, who called Williams a frequent protester.

BOLDUAN: And according to a local community organizer, Williams confessed to him that he was never -- had never participated in the protests there in Ferguson, Missouri. Williams is charged with two counts of first-degree assault and is being held on $300,000 bond.

Let's discuss this further. Let's bring in community activist DeRay McKesson. DeRay, it was great to have you on last week. And now we've got new information about who this person is. We now have someone under arrest. And now there's all this question about was this person a protester or not? The prosecutor describes him as a frequent protester, a frequent demonstrator in the city. Have you ever seen Williams there?

DERAY MCKESSON, FERGUSON PROTEST ORGANIZER: I've not seen him before ever.

BOLDUAN: What do you make --

MCKESSON: And, you know, it's interesting.

BOLDUAN: Then what do you think the confusion is, I think, is the question?

MCKESSON: We're not confused at all. We know what's happening. We know that the police department and McCulloch are working really hard to try and discredit the movement at any costs.

It's interesting that immediately following the shooting, and I was there before the police tape had even gone up fully, Belmar was on TV saying that this shooter was embedded in the protest community and that the police are being ambushed. Things we know four days later to be untrue.

So I think, if anything, what the shooting it has reminded us the importance of questioning the police and that we are out here protesting a police department that prejudicially judges people of color, which is what we saw happen in this case.

BERMAN: Let's talk about what we know at this point. We know this guy has confessed to firing the gun that hit two police officers. He says he wasn't aiming necessarily at the police officers. We're told that is still under investigation at this point.

We also know that it happened during or just after a protest here. Let's separate for a moment whether he was a protester or demonstrator. Let's talk about the fact that it happened surrounding or within these protests. Are you concerned about the environment, the safety environment, that exists right now in the protest movement if there was a shooting following a protest, even if he wasn't shooting at the cops, if he was shooting at fellow protesters?

MCKESSON: You know, I'm not concerned. I'm more concerned about being in a place where police have killed seven people since August. Right, that actually concerns me. And I'm more concerned about being in America where the police will watch the life drain out of a 12- year-old boy and just stand there. That actually worries me.

I'm not worried about the safety in the protest community. The community remains as strong as it did in August. And what was true four days ago is true today -- that the police system here in Ferguson and in St. Louis County and St. Louis City has been proven to be a corrupt system that prejudicially employs racist police practices. So I'm not worried about our safety at all.

BOLDUAN: DeRay, how do you ensure your safety then? If what Williams says is fact, that he was not targeting police, that he was actually targeting someone in the crowd, that -- some people would think that would make you feel even less safe when you head out to protest at night. But you're saying you don't feel -- you're not concerned about your safety at all. How do you ensure your safety then if this is happening? MCKESSON: You know, it's a strong protest community. It's

interesting that immediately following his arrest, that there were protesters, a couple people who said that spoke to him that night and there was a connection made there at least in some small way. And the reality is that we've been out for over 200 days and this is an isolated event. This has happened one time. So I won't take -- I won't let one event overshadow all of the good work that's happened and strength of the community that's been built over the past 220 days.

So, yes, this is an unfortunate thing and that night it was precarious, and it was a tense environment, but that's not indicative of the protests. I was just at a protest this morning at Mayor Knowles' house at 7:00 in the morning and wasn't afraid at all, and neither were any of the people I was with.

BOLDUAN: All right, DeRay McKesson, thanks so much for coming on. Good luck.

MCKESSON: Thank you.

BERMAN: All right, coming up for us AT THIS HOUR, teens coming from the United Kingdom traveling to Turkey hoping to join ISIS in Syria.

<11:45:04> This time they were stopped. We'll tell you how that plan was foiled.

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BOLDUAN: New this morning, British counter-terrorism officers have arrested an 18-year-old at his home in Birmingham, England. The teenager is suspected of preparing to travel to Syria to join up with ISIS. Authorities say that the operation was preplanned and that there's no immediate threat though to public safety.

BERMAN: Now, this latest arrest comes after three other young men, two 17 year olds and a 19 year old, from London were stopped in Turkey. They were returned to the U.K. where they now face terrorism charges. The three were believed to be on their way to Syria to join ISIS.

BOLDUAN: Turkish authorities detained the teenagers when they received in Istanbul after receiving a tip from British intelligence officials.

With us now from London is Atika Shubert. So, Atika, a case of better commu -- there was a lot of criticism that communication between the U.K. and Turkey was a problem. This seems to have worked better this time.

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It does seem to have worked better this time. The reason why there was so much criticism, you probably remember a few weeks ago, three teenage school girls, two 15 year olds and a 16 year old, were able to land in Turkey, spend two days there, before they crossed over into Syria. And they are now believed to be in the ISIS stronghold of Raqqa. Now, as a result of that, there's been a lot of criticism. But it

seems in this case of the three teenage boys, better communication. As soon as we went missing, British police contacted Turkey counterparts.

<11:50:02> That's why they were able to quickly arrest them so quickly in Istanbul and deport them back here. They have now been released on bail and they do have to come back in for questioning in about a month's time.

But one of the questions that we'll be looking at is to why these -- if these teenage boys will be treated differently than, say, the teenage girls who are already in ISIS-controlled territory. But the British police say they will not be prosecuted, which is a very interesting difference between them and other cases of returnees.

BERMAN: Interesting in how they treat kids basically is the issue right now. Atika Shubert, thanks so much for being with us. Appreciate it.

Ahead for us AT THIS HOUR, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fighting for his political survival. The eve of crucial Israeli elections. We will get predictions and analysis from a major Israeli politician. That's coming up next.

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BERMAN: All right. Our breaking news from New Orleans. You're looking at a picture there of Robert Durst right there. The heir to be a real estate fortune here in New York City, he has waived his right to extradition. He's agreed to return to Los Angeles to face murder charges.

BOLDUAN: And basically he's going to be facing a murder charge. This comes after the wild, stunning story of Durst being caught on a hot mike -- sounds like confessing to murder.

<11:54:57> To "I killed them all of course" is what he's heard on the hot mike that aired as part of an HBO documentary about his life. Really, amazing, amazing details coming out in that documentary. Why so many people are paying attention to this. And as you see, a development AT THIS HOUR.

We'll have much more on Durst's legal troubles coming up at the top of the hour.

BERMAN: We have a major political story right now. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu locked in what could be the fight for his political life. If the polls are accurate, there could be a major shift in that country's power structure. This of course all comes after that controversial speech before Congress calling for tougher nuclear negotiations between the United States and Iran. Ever since he gave this speech, it does appear as if his numbers have been slipping.

BOLDUAN: The latest polls have shown him trailing the Labor Leader Isaac Hertzog by four seats. This as Israelis are preparing to head to vote tomorrow.

Joining us to discuss is Danny Avalon. He's a former Israeli ambassador to the U.S., who also serve as Deputy Foreign Minister under Benjamin Netanyahu.

Mr. Ambassador, it's great to see you. Thanks so much for coming in.

DANNY AVALON, FORMER ISRAELI AMBASSADOR TO THE U.S.: Thank you, Kate. Good to be with you.

BOLDUAN: So as John well laid out, why a lot of folks are paying attention to this, so closely paying attention to this election because of that controversial speech, when Netanyahu came before Congress. And there was a big assumption by the Netanyahu campaign, as many others, that that speech was going to give him a boost. It clearly hasn't. So did the speech backfire in your view?

AVALON: It could be. Because the agenda today, what concerns most Israeli voters, is the cost of living, housing problems. It's the economy. As they say, the economy, stupid, someone said here many years ago. It could be the same thing over again in Israel. Although there is a great concern -- you see, about Iran, there is a consensus. There is no difference from Labor Party or the Likud or anyone else about the threat from Iran. This is a given.

So I think that the voters look at the speech as trying to divert the attention from the real agenda this that is on the mind of the voters to something which everybody believes in any way. So that could really backfire, as you say. And we will have to wait and see. There are strong undercurrents right now, it seems like, towards a Labor and (INAUDIBLE), but you never know.

BERMAN: You do never know. And obviously we have to see the results of the election. We have to see what coalitions are built. But at a minimum right now, it looks like something of a repudiation of Benjamin Netanyahu in his nine years in office. It seems to be that voters are at least saying we want to consider something different.

AVALON: Well, you know, nine years is a long time. People look at the achievements and there's not too much to talk about, unfortunately. But it seems to me, John, that we have a very convoluted system. So it's not who gets most of the seats, but who can bring the coalition together. Who can get the majority of the members of parliament to vote for him. And here I think that Netanyahu still has the edge over Hertzog. So it won't be inconceivable at all that the two of them will come together after the elections, as much as they speak against each other now, they would come together after the elections to a national unity government where either they rotate or one will serve under the other.

BOLDUAN: That sounds -- that seems so impossible to believe in how much they clearly don't seem to like each other right now, that's for sure.

AVALON: It's happened in the past. BOLDUAN: Well, I guess we can also say it happens here, too. We did have Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, and Hillary Clinton serving as Barack Obama's Secretary of State. So that is the case.

BERMAN: But this would be Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, though, rotating in --

BOLDUAN: That's exactly right.

(CROSSTALK)

AVALON: That's the model.

BOLDUAN: One thing I think was discussed surrounding the speech is what impact does this have on Israeli-U.S. relations? When you see the reception that Benjamin Netanyahu got when he spoke before Congress -- standing ovations, roarous (sic) applause from so many, but also he faced some criticism, obviously. When you see that, if you assume, just for sake of this, that if he loses, what does that to the American-Israeli relationship?

AVALON: Hopefully not too much, Kate. It is true that the relationship at the top are not the best. But this is not the right prism (ph) to jazz (ph) the relationship because they're -- the spectrum of the interests and the values is so intense, so widely- scoped, that the relationship will go together. It's your interest, it's our interest, and this will continue.

However, I think the last thing Israelis want to see is becoming a partisan issue here in the United States. So in that respect, I hope that whoever wins the election, the first thing he should do is man up relationship with the White House and go together. It's critical for our security, it's critical for your security, and it's time for some kind of adult responsibility to get over personal sentiments.

BERMAN: 10 seconds or less. Your prediction?

AVALON: My prediction is a National Unity government with a rotation, Bibi starts and Mr. Hertzog gets Foreign Minister. And then two years later they switch.

BERMAN: And then we'll be here all again.

BOLDUAN: The beauty of the Israeli system right there.

AVALON: Absolutely. I will take your system any time over ours.

BERMAN: Great to have you here with us. I really appreciate it.

BOLDUAN: Thank you so much.

<12:00:00> All right, that's all for us AT THIS HOUR. Thanks for joining us today, guys.

BERMAN: "LEGAL VIEW" with Ashleigh Banfield starts right now.