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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Perspective Of Obama Interacting with Republican Senate; Interview With Senator-Elect Cory Gardner; The 2016 Campaign Starts Now; Exploding Airbags Linked To Three Deaths; "Terror" Attack In Jerusalem

Aired November 05, 2014 - 16:30   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Some folks still don't think I spend enough time with Congress. Why don't you get a drink with Mitch McConnell, they ask. Really?

(LAUGHTER)

OBAMA: Why don't you get a drink with Mitch McConnell?

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: So will the potential bourbon summit lead to the government doing more or is all this more pageantry than practice? Let's go to Dana Bash, she's on Capitol Hill. Dana, drinks aside, this still promises to be a testy relationship. Tell me what you heard out of these dueling press conferences today.

DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It does promise to be a test of relationship, but it also is when it comes to somebody like Mitch McConnell a relationship with the senator who is an institutionalist and knows how to legislate and cut deals. He has proven that mostly by dealing with Joe Biden who is a former Senator, he has a relationship with, but he also is somebody who gets that they have to prove on the Republican side that they - it's not just about winning elections, they have to show that they can govern. This is their chance and it is fleeting. They have to prove it. They're already planning to have a series of bills that they're going to try to push through, but the question, though, is whether or not Mitch McConnell is going to suffer the same fate as John Boehner in that his caucus will not trust the president and that is why when Mitch McConnell said today that he's concerned the president planning an immigration executive order will hurt his caucus, that's what he meant. Just listen to both sound bites and we'll talk about it on the other side.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R) KENTUCKY: I think the president choosing to do a lot of things unilaterally on immigration would be a big mistake. It's an issue that most of my members want to address legislatively and it's like waving a red flag in front of a bull.

OBAMA: Congress will pass some bills I cannot sign. I'm pretty sure I'll take some actions that some in Congress will not like. That's natural. That's how our democracy works.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: So, part of the problem has been that these two sides simply don't trust each other. Walking around the halls over the past couple of years, a Republican rank and file members in the House and the Senate have said that they just don't want to go along with their leaders' attempts to compromise in anything especially immigration because they don't trust the president. The problem is you have a White House that doesn't trust Congress to do its job and it's understandable because particularly on an issue like immigration it hasn't happened. What these two have to get over with John Boehner as well and the Democratic leaders, is that trust deficit. It is huge. It is real, and if they can figure out how to legislate, how to compromise and convince they are reconciling both sides to have that trust. Then this talk that we've heard so many times after every election, when one side out or the other gets the dropping could actually come to some governing.

TAPPER: Yeah. We'll see. Dana Bash. Thank you so much.

Coming up, in case you are having election withdrawal this afternoon, do not worry, because the race for the White House in 2016 started about a week ago. Who will be the first official contender? That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: Welcome back to "THE LEAD." I'm Jake Tapper. More on our politics "LEAD." Republicans were able to sweep across the nation in part by running against their opponents and also President Obama and Harry Reid, but at the same time in this strange paradoxical world of Washington politics, they're also promising to end the paralysis on Capitol Hill. Here now to react to both the president's speech and Senator Mitch McConnell's news conference, the senator-elect from Colorado, Republican Cory Gardner. Sir, first of all, Senator Elect Gardner, congratulations on your win last night. A hard-fought campaign. How did you do it?

REP. CORY GARDNER (R) COLORADO SENATOR-ELECT: Thank you. You know, we went around the state over the last eight months talking about our vision. And one of the things that people have to understand about Colorado is they vote for people who they believe are going to put solutions first. They are going to wear well with the state and I think over the past several months we proved that to the people of Colorado.

TAPPER: What is your reaction to President Obama's remarks? Were you expecting him to say that he still was possibly going to do this immigration executive order?

GARDNER: Again, I think that's a tremendous pressure from him from a lot of the people on his side of the aisle to do that, but the fact is, I think we have to again, focus on what the message of last night was and that is that the people of Colorado in this country want people to work together and so I hope that that's the message that we can continue to drive to the president and let's work together to the House of the Senate, and the White House on solutions to big issues, including big issues like immigration reform.

TAPPER: The Senate voted on -and passed an immigration reform bill. The House failed to do so. President Obama said that he wants Congress to do it, but the House hasn't done it. Is that not a measure of a House Republican failure?

GARDNER: Well, look our founding fathers - the Constitution wasn't designed for people just to pick up their sticks and go home. The fact is we have to work with people. That's negotiation. That's finding that common ground, and I hope that's what the president will continue to do. That's what I hope the house will do. Speaker Boehner, I'm going to continue to work with the speaker on making sure that we'll put policies forward that the conference will support, that the Senate will support and that ultimately the White House can support. I spoke with the speaker earlier today, and I look forward to working to bridge the gap between the House and the Senate on policies that we know are important to this country that we can actually put forward to the president.

TAPPER: I guess my question is if the House isn't willing to act then how can people in the House get mad at President Obama for doing so?

GARDNER: Well, I think the House is willing to act and we have to find those grounds where they will act. That's why I hope the Senate will continue to, and particularly the new majority in the Senate will continue to work with the House on ideas that we can put forward. You know, the House Judiciary Committee had passed five pieces of immigration reform legislation out of committee. Those haven't moved on the floor and I hope that they will and I hope the speaker will use his new majority with greater numbers to continue to pursue these policies that we know are important for the American people. So, just because the president didn't get his way, or the Senate didn't get his way on this or that issue, it doesn't mean that you try to do something by running around Congress. We have to work together to achieve these solutions.

TAPPER: Are you going to back Senator Mitch McConnell for majority leader of the Senate?

GARDNER: Well, I'm unaware of anybody else running against Mitch McConnell, but I will be, yes.

TAPPER: OK, Senator McConnell.

GARDNER: Or vacuum.

TAPPER: He said in terms of the immigration, actually, he said it would be like waving a red flag in front of a bull. Do you think that if Obama does it then nothing else will be able to be accomplished? Is it that serious an issue? GARDNER: Well, again, I think it does come down to trust. It comes

down to the trust between the House and the Senate and the trust between the White House and the Senate and the House and we need to find those ways to work together instead of just trying to take politically divisive actions. You know, the president two years ago said that he didn't have the legal authority to do this. Let's find a way to work together. Then there's no question about what should be done. There's no question about how it could be done at that point and it avoids the political divisiveness of this particular direction.

TAPPER: What are you, specifically, willing to compromise with Democrats on in terms of achieving something for this country? Where can you find common ground?

GARDNER: Well, on a variety of issues I have in the House, you know, I voted - I was one of 33 Republicans in the House to vote against the House version of the Violence against Women Act and support the Senate version of the Violence against Women Act. Because I believe the House had watered it down and the Senate was the right direction to go. I've worked with Peter Welch, Gary Peters. Gary Peters, of course, who was just elected to the Senate last night from Michigan on a variety of issues, whether it's spending issues and reducing duplication in government or energy efficiency, renewable energy. Those are things that we have to be willing to pursue and I'll continue to buck my party to do just that.

TAPPER: One of the reasons that you won according to experts and pollsters and pundits is that your opponent soon to be former senator Mark Udall spoke too much about women's reproductive rights and while you won male voters in Colorado by double digits he only won women voters in Colorado by single digits. Do you think that that was his biggest mistake?

GARDNER: I think that the senator made a mistake of not addressing more issues in his campaign. The fact is we spent a lot of time talking to voters about a lot of issues. In fact, we ran a TV commercial saying that our campaign, this campaign should aim higher. We talked about growing our economy. We talked about energy and we talked about the environment and education and "The Denver Post" described Senator Udall's campaign as obnoxious, focused on a single issue and it was clear that he wanted to run a social issues-based campaign while the people of Colorado wanted something much broader, a discussion really about the entire direction of this country.

TAPPER: All right, Senator-elect Cory Gardner, Republican of Colorado, thank you for talking to us and congratulations again. Your campaign is heralded by people in Washington as a near-perfect campaign.

GARDNER: We had a great team around us. Thank you very much.

TAPPER: Thank you, Senator Elect, congratulations again. When we come back the end of 2014 means the mad scramble for potential 2016 contenders and it's already begun for politicos across the country. But does last night's red victory mean the map has changed for Hillary Clinton? That's next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: Welcome back to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper. Continuing with our "Politics Lead," it may have been hard to hear overall that CNN jazz the election music last night, but that loud bang, the one that echoed throughout the country as polls closed and midterms were called, it was the starting shot at 2016.

Presidential hopefuls gearing up for the long road ahead while Republicans swept the Senate last night and cleaned up in the governor's races. Are they poised for a presidential takeover next?

Joining me now CNN senior political correspondent, Brianna Keilar -- Brianna.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: When politician campaigns for a winning candidate that's really like a badge of honor they get to wear and a politician attaches his or her name to a candidate and that candidate loses.

Candidates considering a presidential run were all over the country stumping for these vulnerable lawmakers and some fared much better than others last night.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR (voice-over): The race for the White House begins after a huge night for Republicans including those eyeing a presidential bid. Like New Jersey Governor Chris Christie who is stumping and winning GOP contests across the country has earned him more 2016 speculation.

GOVERNOR CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), NEW JERSEY: I'm incredibly flattered, but this morning what I feel is incredible pride in really great candidates across the country.

KEILAR: Ohio governor, John Kasich, another possible contender cruised to reelection and Governor Scott Walker won a close race in Wisconsin hinting he might run for the presidency as a Washington outsider.

GOVERNOR SCOTT WALKER (R), WISCONSIN: That's the difference between Washington and Wisconsin. They're all against something. We are for something.

KEILAR: But the intra-party scuffles are already under way. Walker ticked off at Christie who chairs the Republican Governor's Association for not sending more money his way, Christie scuffling with Kentucky Senator Rand Paul on foreign policy.

And Paul taking shots across the aisle, too, asked about the new Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's win in his home state, he quickly turned the conversation to the Democratic frontrunner.

SEN. RAND PAUL (R), KENTUCKY: I think in Kentucky, it's really a repudiation of the president's policies and also of Hillary Clinton. Hillary Clinton was very active in Kentucky and the interesting thing is she was going to run as a Clinton Democrat. KEILAR: Now on Paul's Facebook page a photo album called Hillary

losers including Alison Lundergan Grimes. Clinton campaigned for her twice and she lost big, by 16 points. And Democrat Bruce Braley in the important first in the nation caucus state of Iowa. He lost by nine points. While Clinton campaigned for a key Democratic winner, New Hampshire Senator Jeanne Shaheen, overall, the losses outweighed the successes.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: Maybe it doesn't matter all that much though. Exit polls show Clinton is by far the favorite in the key early states of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina where she polled in the mid-60s, well above the rest of the possible Democratic field that she's been doing, Jake.

But it's really interesting for someone who was so involved in these races she's been very mum on them. We haven't heard from her about the results of them.

TAPPER: JFK said that success has a thousand failures. Brianna Keilar, thank you so much.

When we come back, air bags that not only deploy, they explode. Did one of the more popular car company know that the safety measure was actually killing people and do nothing about it for four years?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: Welcome back to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper. The "Money Lead" now, could several deaths and dozens of injuries from exploding air bags have been prevented? New details in the recall of millions of cars equipped with faulty safety gear.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has expanded an investigation into Honda this week. Government officials say the car company was made aware of the deadly malfunction as early as 2004, but did not issue recalls for four years.

Joining me now with the details in the investigation, CNN correspondent, Rene Marsh -- Rene.

RENE MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jake, this is an air bag from one of the vehicles on the recall list and we know the federal agency responsible for making sure vehicles we drive are safe says it received information Honda failed to report incidents involving faulty Tekada air bags.

The agency is concerned Honda may not have reported deaths or injuries. Today NHTSA demanded documents from the automaker. It is the second demand for documents this week. This centers all around these exploding air bags that are capable of shooting metal shrapnel at drivers and passengers.

Nearly $8 million by ten different automakers are affected here. The majority of the vehicles, though, they are Hondas and NHTSA wants to know from the automaker Honda under oath. They want to know about the procedures for collecting and reporting injuries or deaths caused by a defect.

By law, automakers must essentially let NHTSA know if there is a defect that led to an injury or death. If they do not, Jake, they could be fined some $35 million.

TAPPER: Thirty five million dollars. All right, Rene Marsh, thank you so much.

Turning now to our World Lead, breaking news out of Jerusalem and we should warn our viewers these next two clips are graphic so change the channel or mute it if you're around kids, an IDF spokesman, Israel Defense Force spokesman said an attacker targeted an Israeli military post with his car injuring three Israeli soldiers.

One is in critical condition. This dramatic incident, the second of what Israeli police are calling terrorist attacks today. The first happened at a train station, a Palestinian man turning his van into a blunt force object slamming into and killing an Israeli police officer and injuring 13 others.

CNN's Erin McLaughlin is live in Jerusalem. Erin, what are police forces telling you about these attacks?

ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jake, Israeli police are telling me that this kind of attack is difficult to prevent. As you mentioned a Palestinian man driving his van into a light rail station. He hit a group of people before continuing on, crashing his car at which point he got out and continued with his attack on foot.

He was eventually surrounded by Israeli forces and shot dead. He injured one member of the border police and 13 others. Now that was followed by an attack in the west bank later this evening in which Israeli police say that an individual driving a Palestinian car drove into a checkpoint striking three IDF soldiers, injuring them before escaping.

At this point, they say that they're looking for that man as well. This is all part of a wave of violence in Jerusalem and now the west bank over the past few months. It was really triggered by the kidnapping of the three Israeli teenagers, the kidnapping and killing of teenagers and the kidnapping and killing of a Palestinian teenager.

The events that led up to the Gaza war and over 2,000 Palestinians killed during that war as well as 70 Israeli soldiers and the tensions we saw today continue in Jerusalem and in the west bank -- Jake.

TAPPER: Erin McLaughlin in Jerusalem. Many now concerned about a third intifada in that part of the world. Make sure to follow me on Twitter @jaketapper and check out at cnn.com/the lead. We have videos, blogs, and extras.

That's it for THE LEAD. I am Jake Tapper. I now turn you over to Wolf Blitzer. He is in "THE SITUATION ROOM" right next door. Mr. Blitzer.