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The Lead with Jake Tapper
Space Probe Trying to Land Comet 67 P; Jon Stewart's Directed Movie "Rosewater"; Social Media's Major Role In Joining Jihad; Eminem's Concert Potty Mouth Slammed
Aired November 12, 2014 - 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: In other world news or should I say out of this world news -- here's the sentence I've never said before: a space probe was able to dock on a comet today. Spacecraft has its own Twitter account. Its message today, "Finally, I'm stretching my legs after 10 years. Landing gear deployed. #comet landing."
That probe the size of your washing machine at home had to travel at just the right speed to land on the comet and you can imagine the relief for mission managers in Europe when they got confirmation of today's landing.
Let's bring in CNN correspondent Tom Foreman. Tom, nerve-racking stuff and for a mission like this you don't really get a practice run, right?
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No, no, no, this is pure science and it's magnificent. Think about that, ten years for a 41,000 mile an hour speed date. If you could travel that fast you could go from New York to L.A. in four minutes. All, of course, the first two if you're just getting out of Jersey. Let's talk about what's happened here. This thing was flying through space to try to meet up with this comet out here, 67 P.
Now, remember, the comet is not sitting still. It's in this great big orbit here, which we'll show you in blue whipping around the sun. And we'll show our space probe taking off in red, trying to catch up with it, and they did rendezvous about 113 million miles from Earth way out here, cosmically kind of near Jupiter and take a look at this thing. This is remarkable. This was launched back when Facebook was a new idea and so the mother ship is called the Rosetta and when it gets close enough after all of that travel it launches the Philae which is the landing probe here and for seven heart-stopping hours they had to wait while it went into freefall down to this comet that's only two and a half miles wide.
After all that amazing trip out there, still 41,000 miles an hour and then they get touchdown, Jake. Absolutely amazing.
TAPPER: And how does this probe exactly work?
FOREMAN: Well, you know, this is what's interesting. You mentioned that it's about the size of a washing machine. That is correct. It weighs about 220 pounds here on earth, but not up there. Up there it is so light on such a small body that when it landed it actually had to fire out of these legs and it had these harpoons to fire into the surface of this comet to anchor it down. Those did not function properly, but they had back-up systems involved so the scientists seemed convinced now that this thing is secure there. And on board also to the instrumentation to measure the temperature, the gas levels there and how it behaves as it gets closer to the sun. There's even a drill, Jake, that will push down about a foot into the surface and take a core sample that will then be heated in a robotic oven here so they can tell what material is inside this comet, Jake. It's really amazing.
TAPPER: All right. Tom Foreman, thanks. Call me when the shuttle lands.
Now, for our pop culture lead. He loves making CNN the butt of the jokes on "The Daily Show." So, when I sat down with Jon Stewart, I could not help, but ask him about his use of CNN's reporting and CNN's video and CNN's anchors and his brand new movie.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: I will say for somebody who craps on CNN a lot ...
JON STEWART, "THE DAILY SHOW": Yes.
TAPPER: You use a lot of our footage in this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: How Jon Stewart responded coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TAPPER: Welcome back to the LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper in our pop culture lead. Every night millions tune in to "The Daily Show" with Jon Stewart to get a comedic take on the day's news. Here he is last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEWART: The host countries of economic summits usually choose a fanciful outfit for all the world leaders to wear. It's why I'm glad they're not holding them in France again. Because that ...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: The show has earned its host and its staff 19 Emmy awards, two peabodies and a Grammy, but there is nothing funny about Stewart's latest project. A film called "Rosewater." He and I spoke earlier this week at the Newseum here in Washington about the goal of the film and how difficult it was for him to get it made.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STEWART: On the "Daily Show!"
TAPPER: His job for decades has been to make you laugh. STEWART: R-r-r-r.
TAPPER: For more than 15 years Jon Stewart has been mocking politicians and the media.
STEWART: It's shuffled off this motor coil and join the choir invisible.
(LAUGHTER)
TAPPER: As host of Comedy Central's "The Daily Show".
STEWART: And just do - that way.
TAPPER: So the first film Stewart has written and directed might be something of a surprise for his fans.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am a journalist.
TAPPER: "Rosewater" is a very serious drama about a Canadian-Iranian journalist thrown in an Iranian prison for reporting on 2009 Green revolution.
(on camera): When you told the people you wanted to do it, the people around you, your manager and your writers ...
STEWART: Right, right, right.
TAPPER: Did they think it was a little crazy?
STEWART: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. They might have.
TAPPER (voice over): Maziar Bahari, the real-life journalist portrayed in the film by Gael Garcia-Bernal appeared on "The Daily Show" just days before his arrest.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The first thing to know about Iran is that it's not evil.
TAPPER: What followed was 118 days of interrogation and torture.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I did what you told me to do!
TAPPER (on camera): Do you think it played a role?
STEWART: In him being picked up?
MAZIAR BAHARI, INSPIRATION FOR ROSEWATER: No.
STEWART: No. I mean I think you have to view it in the context of what was happening in the country at the time. Maziar stood in as a perfect hub because he's someone who has connections to many of the reformists within the country.
TAPPER (voice over): And that's the story the film tells.
BAHARI: We approached different writers, different directors. They were not interested or they were doing "Fast and Furious 76."
TAPPER: That's a good one.
BAHARI: That's a good one. Yes. It's better than 75. But ...
TAPPER: Although you don't understand it. It must be you've seen 74 ...
BAHARI: The 74, yes, exactly. So, after a year and a half of talking to different people Jon said let's just do it ourselves.
STEWART: We told it as a current story, it was the kind of thing that felt like if we wanted it to be told in our lifetimes.
JOHN OLIVER: Ha-ha-ha! It's my show now!
TAPPER (voice over): With John Oliver as his substitute, Stewart took three months off "The Daily Show" last summer to film "Rosewater", a screenplay Stewart adapted from Bahari's memoir.
(on camera): What was it like shooting in Jordan during Ramadan, right?
STEWART: Yes. Well, I hadn't shot there when it wasn't Ramadan so I couldn't - I can't give you a comparative analysis.
(LAUGHTER)
STEWART: As it is so much easier when it's not Ramadan.
He's got to pick it up!
Six days a week for five weeks. And we had to remain agile because conditions changed very rapidly.
TAPPER: I've done a lot of foreign coverage and I have to say it looks as though you shot some scenes in ...
STEWART: (INAUDIBLE).
BAHARI: In Tehran.
TAPPER: In Tehran.
TAPPER: It looks as though ...
STEWART: There is some good shots.
TAPPER: You have some good friends in Tehran.
BAHARI: A lot of my friends work - still work for the Iranian government. They have film - and they used it and they sent us the footage from ...
STEWART: We wanted it to look nice. We wanted it to look like Tehran. TAPPER: I will say for somebody who craps on CNN a lot ...
STEWART: Yes.
TAPPER: You use a lot of our footage in this and Fareed Zakaria interview with a pit little moments.
STEWART: You're the best.
(LAUGHTER)
TAPPER: There it is.
(LAUGHTER)
TAPPER: On camera. On camera. Would you do a show from Iran if they allowed you to?
STEWART: Do a show?
TAPPER: Do a "Daily Show."
STEWART: From there?
TAPPER: From Tehran.
STEWART: Yeah. I think that would be fun. Would they allow me to leave?
(LAUGHTER)
TAPPER: I don't speak for them.
STEWART: All right.
BAHARI: I would see to it - right (ph) here.
TAPPER (voice over): Stewart refrains in the film from portraying too much of Bahari's physical torture, focusing instead on the isolation.
STEWART: We can't be excused as the transgressions of a single eccentric regime where there are journalists, citizen activists, bloggers all over the world that are held under these kinds of conditions for nothing more than recording an event and posting it.
TAPPER (voice over): In fact, we're in front of -- we're at the Newseum. This is the world press freedom map ...
STEWART: Yes.
TAPPER: And the red countries are ones where there is not press freedom. Iran, obviously in there. There is in fact a "Washington Post" reporter being held. He's about to approach his 118th day. What would you tell him?
BAHARI: I really don't know what to say. I'm sure that he's faced many absurd accusations that I faced.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So can you tell me why American pretended to be a spy?
TAPPER (voice over): After achieving such success as a comedian Stewart says he's not worried about what possible criticisms might come his way as a new screenwriter and director.
STEWART: Criticism is criticism. Some of it is constructive. I think you always have to remain open as best you can to criticism without allowing it to steer your decisions.
TAPPER: Stewart's contract at "The Daily Show" runs out next year and it is unclear if he wants to do more films. Bahari remains committed to journalism and fighting for the rights of his peers who are subjected to the same plight he was.
BAHARI: And unfortunately, the Iranian government is providing us with a lot of material to work on.
TAPPER: As are many other governments around the world, including our own.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TAPPER: "Rosewater" opens in theaters on Friday.
Coming up next, three Denver teenagers stopped as they try to make their way to Syria. Now, we're learning new details on how these teenage girls were recruited by ISIS terrorist and how easy it was for them to be sucked in. Plus, it was a star-studded concerts on our veterans. Some performers, however, are now facing something of a backlash today, not for their acts, but for something they might have said. That's coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TAPPER: Hello there. I'm Jake Tapper. Welcome back to THE LEAD. In more world news, intelligence officials have long worried about ISIS and other terrorist groups recruiting and luring Americans or those with western passports to the battlefield of the Middle East to wage jihad.
It is no secret from the slickly produced videos and from intelligence reports that westerners are among the ranks of ISIS fighters including Americans, the man who talks to the camera in those horrific videos showing the murders of journalists, Steven Sotloff and James Foley.
He spoke with what sounds like a British accent. Today, new information about three Denver teenage girls, who are believed to have communicated with ISIS, and who were stopped by authorities in Germany last month while allegedly trying to join the fight in Syria.
CNN's justice correspondent, Pamela Brown, joins us now with details on how these American teenage girls from Denver became radicalized -- Pamela. PAMELA BROWN, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jake, U.S. law enforcement officials I've been speaking with say this case is particularly alarming. We are now learning the Denver teams were interacting online with other westerners, who had already made it to Syria and were trying to convince the teens to do the same.
And officials say this case yielded a wealth of information that shows just how ISIS is using westerners already in its ranks to recruit others through social media.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN (voice-over): CNN has learned hardened jihadists currently fighting with ISIS overseas had direct contact with three Denver teens, 15 and 17-year-old sisters and their 16-year-old friend, using social media to lure them to jihad.
DAVEED GARTENSTEIN-ROSS, FOUNDATION FOR DEFENSE OF DEMOCRACIES: These were role models to them and people they could be in contact with and social media who was more immediate and allows you to immerse yourself in an extremist environment being used as a recruiting platform.
BROWN: A law enforcement official says some of the jihadist recruiters were westerners fighting in Syria. They were encouraging the girls to join ISIS even giving them a road map of how to go from Denver all the way to Syria and eventually link up with the brutal terrorist group.
GARTENSTEIN-ROSS: If their interest is extremism rather than simply reading an article or posted a message board they can interact in real time with other people through tweets and this is very immersive to them.
BROWN: In October the teens made it half way to Syria before they were stopped by authorities in Frankfurt, Germany. After the teens didn't show up for school their parents alerted authorities, who found a treasure trove of information on the teen's social media profiles.
RITA KATZ, SITE INTELLIGENCE GROUP: The recruitment was done online. We were able to compare social media postings of the same girls before they became radicalized and after they were radicalized.
BROWN: The SITE Intelligence Group tracks international terrorists and analyzed the teen's online activity.
KATZ: The same girl that was asked one day how many hours of music do you listen to on a daily basis and she used to say, I don't know. I can't count, but I dance and I listen to music hours and hours and then a few months later she was asked how many hours of music you listen to she said music is forbidden.
BROWN: U.S. officials say this case is a unique opportunity to track efforts by terrorist groups to recruit westerners. ISIS members have successfully played a role of recruiting several Americans online including Minnesota native, Douglas McCain, who was killed in Syria in August. SITE Intelligence says the Denver teens were communicating with both men and women recruiters.
KATZ: The girls were in communication with ISIS sisters online, women that are dedicated to recruit women.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN: And this case reflects a relatively new phenomenon of American teens being lured through social media to fight in Syria. Jake, at this point the girls have not face any charges and the case is ongoing -- Jake.
TAPPER: Pamela, why haven't they faced any charges?
BROWN: I've been asking officials that question for the past several weeks as I've continued to focus on this story, Jake, and essentially the federal system is just not equipped to bring federal charges, terrorism charges in particular against juveniles.
And I think that is sort of inhibiting authorities from being able to bring federal charges against the teens. They don't want to send the wrong message. In this case it was the parent, who went to authorities and I think they don't want to deter parents from doing that.
Worried that their child might be arrested and it's really interesting because in talking to authorities, Jake, there are other similar cases with American teens, who have been radicalized, and we don't even know about them yet because they weren't charged -- Jake.
TAPPER: Interesting. Pamela Brown, thank you so much.
An Israeli border police officer is now in custody arrested for the death of a Palestinian teen. A warning that the video we're about to show might be disturbing to some videos.
That 16 year-old Palestinian teen was killed back in May along with another teen. Surveillance video from today shows a crowd ducking from gun fire and then you see a teen fall to the ground. The same thing happened about an hour later when the second teen passed the area.
Only CNN cameras were rolling that day, capturing the gun fire on film. Israeli police initially said only rubber bullets were fired, but now autopsy results show one teen was hit by live ammunition.
The situation on the ground in Israel in the Palestinian territories has remained tense. Earlier this week, an Israeli soldier was stabbed to death in Tel Aviv and three Israelis were stabbed in a hitchhiking post in the west bank.
Wolf Blitzer is now here with a preview of "THE SITUATION ROOM." You are going to be talking foreign policy with some key members of Congress today.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST, "THE SITUATION ROOM": We have Ed Royce, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. He is going to be joining us. It's very disturbing you showed it. We'll go in depth a little bit on this video.
These three American sailors, they get off a U.S. warship, the USS Ross. They're in Istanbul and all of a sudden they're mugged by this crowd of young Turks.
You saw them putting their bags on their heads and shouting death to Yankees and down with Americans and all of that. It's pretty disturbing remember Turkey is a NATO ally. We're going to speak with Chairman Royce and see what's going on.
TAPPER: Eight hundred thousand American tourists visit Turkey every year. Wolf Blitzer, we'll be watching in 7 minutes on "THE SITUATION ROOM."
Coming up next, an all-star line up to honor troops and veterans, but some performers are being criticized today for going too far. What they say that has some people upset next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TAPPER: Welcome back to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper. In our Money Lead, game over, it is now time for six banks to pay up. Regulators just revealed accusations of an intricate system that small group of traders used to manipulate the world markets.
This system involved secret online chat rooms and code names like the three musketeers and the A Team. They're accused of using that system to change currency prices.
In one case regulator say, a trader pushed down the price of the British pound and turned a profit worth more than $160,000. The traders worked at places such as J.P. Morgan Chase and Citibank and HBSC. The banks have been slapped with fines totaling more than $4 billion.
The Pop Culture Lead now, the rap star, Eminem, and the words family friendly have never really gone together and yet there has been some media outrage to some, shall we call them, colorful language that the rapper used during an appearance at last night's concert for valor in honor of Veterans Day.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EMINEM: D.C., happy -- Veterans Day!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: Yes. Because nothing says thank you for your service like an f-bomb. The rapper's potty mouth instantly sparked criticism on Twitter and some people questioned the decision to include Eminem in the lineup to begin with.
Others chimed in what better place to show case freedom of speech in a tribute for those who fight and die for those very freedoms. And Eminem we shouldn't point out wasn't the only artist raising eyebrows. The Boss, Bruce Springsteen, who has had over a billion songs in his music catalog, he's been widely criticized especially among conservatives for choosing to team with Zach Brown in the Foo Fighters for the anti-war song "Fortunate Son."
(VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: Of course, that is want an anti-military song in any way, that's a song about fat cats, connected people sending other people's sons to die in war. Is that really inappropriate?
And finally, a performance that's getting attention for the right reasons, pop star, Rihanna, dazzled the crowd with her song "Diamonds" and "Say." The concert which was broadcast live in HBO also included appearances by Jamie Foxx, George Lopez and the biggest crowd pleaser of all, Metallica.
Lopez also took some heat today for his use of foul language during the show.
That's it for THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper. I now turn you over to Wolf Blitzer. He is in "THE SITUATION ROOM".
