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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Israeli-U.S. Relations Very Cold; NFL Confirms Patriots Game Balls Improperly Inflated; How Nasty Will 2016 Primary Fight Get?; Messy Weekend Winter Storm

Aired January 23, 2015 - 16:30   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELISE LABOTT, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): -- used an expletive to describe Netanyahu, saying in an interview with "Atlantic" magazine he had quote, "no guts to make peace with the Palestinians."

U.S. officials say Secretary Kerry, who in the last month made more than 50 phone calls to allies on behalf of Israel to stop action in the U.N. Security Council and International Criminal Court, is running out of patience.

AARON DAVID MILLER, WILSON CENTER: If the administration wants to get anywhere on the Israeli-Palestinian issue, on dealing with Iran, on stabilizing the region, they are going to have to find a way to manage their relationship with Israel.

LABOTT: U.S. officials insist Washington support for Israel security will remain despite political tensions. But the timing couldn't be worse, as the Middle East itself teeters on the brink.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LABOTT: Jake, officials say that you know, this is an issue where Prime Minister Netanyahu is really using his visit to Congress as a campaign stop just weeks before the election, but they warned that could backfire on him if Israelis about to go to the polls see that he is doing such damage to this critical relationship -- Jake.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Elise Labott live in Jerusalem, thanks.

In our Sports Lead today, the NFL finally responded to deflate- gate, acknowledging that footballs used in last Sunday's Patriots/Colts game were not in compliance with league rules, and saying that nearly 40 people have been questioned so far. So why hasn't the NFL gotten to the bottom of this yet? That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: Welcome back to THE LEAD. The Sports Lead, we are now just days away from Super Bowl XLIX in Glendale, Arizona, the biggest television event of the year, one of the biggest events of the year.

And yet, it remains unclear whether one of the star players in the game will get to take the field. New England Patriots quarterback, Tom Brady, is at the center of a growing controversy over whether his team broke the rules and cheated and used underinflated footballs in a rout of the Indianapolis Colts last week.

Today, as it acknowledged an official investigation, the NFL confirmed that evidence points to footballs that did not have enough air in them. Many quarterbacks including Brady find it easier to throw slightly squishier footballs.

But what the league has not said is whether the Patriots will face any punishments that could impact the Super Bowl, the upcoming draft or next season in this multi-billion dollar sport and business.

In fact, during a news conference yesterday, Tom Brady said he had not even been contacted yet by anyone from the league. He also of course denied having anything to do with deflated footballs being used.

Patriots Head Coach Bill Belichick said he didn't even know there was an issue until the Monday after the game. Yes, of course, this is the same Bill Belichick who can probably tell you what the ball boys and his staff had for breakfast.

Still, it's not the head coach taking the bulk of the scrutiny. Many former players are coming forward saying they simply don't buy Brady's story.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Those balls were deflated, somebody had to do it and I don't believe there's an equipment manager in the NFL that would on his own initiative deflate a ball without the starting quarterback's approval. I just -- I just didn't believe what Tom Brady had to say.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's obvious that Tom Brady had something to do with this or the balls that had been deflated, that doesn't happen unless the quarterback wants that to happen. I can assure you of that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Strong words. I'm joined by Donte Stallworth, a former NFL wide receiver, who last played for the New England Patriots. Also joining me is Marty Hurney, a former general manager of the Carolina Panthers. So gentlemen, thanks for being with me.

A big question is whether or not the Patriots cheated is how hard is it to tell the difference when it comes to air pressure in a football? So we did an unscientific test. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Here's the great CNN THE LEAD squishiness test. This football 10.5 pounds per square inch of air, 11.5, 12.5, 13.5, these two acceptable by NFL standards, these two, unacceptable. I cannot tell the difference, but my producer, Jason, plays a lot of football. We will see if he can.

Put your blindfold on. I will give you two footballs. One of them is acceptable for NFL use, the other one is unacceptable. Tell me which one is the deflated one. Which one is more deflated? Good job. That's right. OK.

Let's try the other two which are actually even closer, 11.5 and 12.5, again, one acceptable, one not acceptable. Tell me which one is the less inflated one. Which is the less inflated? That is correct. Tom Brady can't tell the difference, though, but Jason can.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Donte, first of all, I know you have wanted to do this. That's 11.5. That's not acceptable. This is 12.5. This is acceptable. Can you tell the difference?

DONTE STALLWORTH, FORMER NFL WIDE RECEIVER: Yes. If you're squeezing the ball like this, I think you can probably tell the difference.

TAPPER: So do you buy what Tom Brady said?

STALLWORTH: Yes. I do, because it's easy for me to sit here in the studio and do this, but if you have 300 pound guys coming after you that probably would be the last thing on your mind is being able to be able to tell the difference between those two footballs as far as the psi goes.

TAPPER: Is that right? I do want to ask before I go to Marty, you played for the Patriots in 2007 during the cheating scandal about filming the other teams and then 2012 you played, any word of this, anything you ever heard about deflating the balls?

STALLWORTH: Never. And it was interesting to me because I didn't even know the referees checked the balls before the games, like Bill said, he was just finding out that they are, that the stuff he learned over the last three days was things that he didn't know within the last 40 years.

TAPPER: Marty, what do you think? I have to say like when Jason, my staffer, was able to tell the difference between an 11.5 and 12.5 psi inflated football, I started to wonder about how honest Tom Brady was being.

MARTY HURNEY, RADIO HOST, ESPN 730 RADIO: Well, I think that there have been several quarterbacks that have tried this and I know the other day, I was there when Mark Brunell did and they had three different balls, regular inflated ball, underinflated ball and overinflated ball and did not tell him which ones they were.

He threw three of them to Jerome Bettis. Neither one knew which ball was which and both players got all three right as far as the standard one, the underinflated ball, and the overinflated ball.

TAPPER: There were rumors swirling that a Colts player had tipped off the refs about the deflated footballs after he intercepted the ball during the game but today, he spoke about what really happened. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

D'OWELL JACKSON, INDIANAPOLIS COLTS LINEBACKER: I made a great play on a great player and I wanted to keep it as a souvenir so I handed it off. Next thing I know, I'm in the middle of deflate-gate. I don't know how that happened.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: So according to him, Donte, he couldn't tell either and he was like you, a receiver. He caught the ball.

STALLWORTH: He is actually a linebacker. He was the one that intercepted the pass and so, you know --

TAPPER: I just mean like he's the one -- I know that's not his position. He received the ball.

STALLWORTH: Yes, he did. But the thing is he's not used to handling the balls and I can honestly tell you just from picking up those balls, I couldn't tell the difference. If you squeeze them, if you really focus on squeezing them and trying to figure out which one has different air pressure, I think you could. In the course of a game, I don't think guys would recognize that.

TAPPER: But Marty, you know, as Bill Clinton used to say if you come across a turtle on a fence post it didn't get there by accident. There were 11 out of 12 balls deflated.

HURNEY: Yes. I think the twelfth one was given to a fan in the stands so I think that that's why they didn't know whether that was deflated or not. I don't think they tested that ball.

TAPPER: Marty, I want to ask you in a statement today the NFL acknowledged that footballs used last Sunday were not in compliance with league rules. They also said they are conducting interviews, reviewing evidence, although Brady, of course, said yesterday that no one from the NFL had contacted him. Do you think this NFL investigation will be credible?

HURNEY: I think it will be credible. I think it might take some time. They are going to try to be very thorough. I think they have to be. They see this as a very serious issue as far as any time there's allegations of un-level playing field.

I think the league takes it very seriously. I think they are going to take their time. I'm not sure we are going to get any ruling or any decisions before the Super Bowl. It could very well be after the Super Bowl is played.

TAPPER: Donte, Tom Brady, Bill Belichick, both of them are kind of known for being control freaks. I mean that actually as a compliment. Do you believe that they could have been completely out of the loop and in fact, Belichick saying he didn't even know there was an issue about air in balls and how inflated they were? STALLWORTH: Yes. I don't think bill knew from the beginning. I think when he explained the difference of him in the last three days of knowing more about footballs and air pressure than he had ever basically cared to learn in the last 40 years, he's not worried about that before kickoff and really, the quarterbacks are the ones that do control the ball.

So each quarterback has their own preference on how they want their balls tailored, whether they want it a little lighter or a little heavier, like Aaron Rodgers. It's a very meticulous process that they go through to get those balls tailored specifically to what the quarterbacks want.

Now, with Brady's situation, I do believe at the end of the day, you know, you're looking at Tom Brady and the character that he is and the character person that he is and the integrity that he has, me knowing him personally, I'm inclined to believe what he says in this case.

TAPPER: All right, Donte Stallworth, Marty Hurney, thank you so much for joining me. Appreciate it.

Coming up, Sarah Palin just hours ago saying of course she's interested in 2016. But if she decides to jump in the race she'll have plenty of competition, including likely candidate, former governor, Mike Huckabee and I'll speak to him next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: Welcome back to THE LEAD. It's time for the Politics Lead now, at least for one weekend he gets to play king maker. Iowa Congressman Steve King plays host tomorrow, get it, to a passel of potential 2016 players all looking to make early inroads into Iowa, including, that's right, Sarah Palin.

She told ABC News today, of course, she's interested in running for president, adding that America has had enough of seeing that sign on the oval office door saying no girls allowed.

To men who would like to occupy the oval office, Mitt Romney and Jeb Bush, are not scheduled to go to King's gathering but they did meet up for a secret meeting yesterday. Not so secret, really, anymore.

What was on the agenda? Well, I asked one of their possible rivals. I want to bring in former Governor Mike Huckabee of Arkansas. He ran for the Republican nomination for president in 2008, came in second on the delegate count. He's flirting with running again in 2016.

He is also author of "God, Guns, Grits and Gravy." Sir, thanks for being here. Good to see you again. People out there might not know I was the Huckabee campaign reporter in 2008.

MIKE HUCKABEE (R), FORMER ARKANSAS GOVERNOR: And you lived to tell about it, Jake. That's what's remarkable about it. Yes. It's great to be with you. Thanks so much for having me.

TAPPER: Jeb Bush and Mitt Romney, both of them teasing possible presidential runs, as you are. But Bush and Romney are having this covert meeting in Utah. What do you make of that?

HUCKABEE: First of all, it's not too covert. It's on the front page of the "New York Times." But here's what inside sources have told me about that meeting.

They are actually meeting and they are going to make a joint announcement they will both drop out so that they can support me. That will be the news story you will be following soon. I'm pretty sure that's going to happen.

TAPPER: I would get a second source on that. That's an interesting theory. You might be running against one or both of these gentlemen. What's going to be your campaign pitch?

HUCKABEE: It won't be that there's something wrong with the other guys. There are a lot of people on the Republican side, all of whom are quality people. We have a stable full of people who would be good presidents. I think it's a very unfortunate approach when one of the Republicans goes out and beats up the other Republicans.

TAPPER: It's interesting you say that because I recall, it was nasty between Governor Romney and you in 2008, the Romney campaign launching a lot of attacks against you.

"Buzzfeed" published this unaired TV ad against you that the Romney campaign produced, but never aired, reportedly the candidate himself, Romney, thought it would make him look too desperate. I want to play just a little bit of it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY: I'm Mitt Romney and I approved this message.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is my daughter. She was pregnant with her first child. She was murdered by a serial rapist, released early from prison in Arkansas. It was Mike Huckabee's intent that Wayne Damond be released from prison.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: If you do ultimately decide to run, you are going to face ads like that. How are you going to defend yourself and what do you make of the fact the Romney team released this?

HUCKABEE: You know, I think the good thing about that ad for me is that it's not true. Here's why. The only action I had in the case was to deny clemency.

He was commuted by my predecessor when he was the lieutenant governor, acting as the acting governor when Bill Clinton was out of state, which means that Bill Clinton approved that because he was governor at the time, his staff would have had to have done the paperwork.

If that ad had aired, I think it would have been an ad that would have blown up in the Romney's face because it would have been fact-checked and people would realize that the action that I took in that case was to actually deny --

TAPPER: OK, fair enough. So the facts are wrong, but the politics, still nasty. What do you make of the fact that this is possibly your future, incoming like this?

HUCKABEE: One of the things that is different, nobody knew who I was in 2008. People would often get an opinion formed about me because my opponents were framing me in the light they wanted to. What's different is that I have been on television now for six and a half years.

I have been on 600 radio stations, three times a day for six and a half years. As a result, what I find is that people feel like I know Mike Huckabee and I don't think that's true, and I believe this, that if I run this time I'll have a lot more resources.

And I won't have to just stand there in the corner taking punches to the face. I will be able to defend and correct the record which is something that I just didn't have the resources to do when Romney and McCain had a dollar to every dime I had.

TAPPER: All right, Governor Mike Huckabee, we look forward to now that you are out of your contract with that other cable news network, you coming back on the show, you talking to us about the issues of the day. We really appreciate it. Good luck to you.

HUCKABEE: Thank you.

TAPPER: The Money Lead now. If there were ever a catalog that defines browse, not buy, it was the Skymall catalog. That might be why the company that kept your mind distracted on cross country flights before you had cell phones and tablets filed for bankruptcy protection today.

That's right, no more Skymall. With Valentine's Day just around the corner, so if you were planning on getting your sweetie something like say a Siamese slanket or a custom pet portrait canvas or maybe your living room is missing something like Basho, the sumo wrestling table, you may now be out of luck.

Coming up, a winter storm that pummeled Texas with more than a foot of snow is heading east. Cities and towns on the east coast will be dealing with snow, sleet, freezing rain. That forecast is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: Welcome back to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper. In our National Lead, east coast, hold off on making big Friday night plans. A messy winter storm is moving up the coast, well, right about now. The same system dumped up to a foot of snow as it moved through Texas. Whether you get snow or just rain all depends on where you live

but one thing is for sure. You will have the cold temperatures to go along with it? How about this for a bonus?

Once this system moves out, another one is right behind it just as you head back to work Monday. Meteorologist Chad Myers has the storm track from the CNN Severe Weather Center.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: This storm started on Wednesday in Texas. Amarillo picked up over a foot of snow there and now it's finally moving off to the east and turning left, up to the northeast. So by midnight tonight, the snow is into Philadelphia, into Bethlehem, into Harrisburg.

Snowing in D.C. but really, I think the heaviest snow in D.C. is west of Vienna, west of Dulles Airport into Northern Virginia. If you get into Annapolis, to the east of Washington, D.C., it will be a rain event. Going to be just on that line like it always is.

I-95 separating heavy snow from just heavy rain even for tomorrow morning, this is 8:00 a.m. tomorrow morning, notice this mix line, this pink line all the way from New York City through northern Philadelphia right on down even into D.C., maybe Baltimore.

To the west, all snow. To the east, all rain. Then there it goes. It's a quick storm. I think the most anyone will see will probably be six to eight inches of snow. That will be the max amount we see anywhere. The closer you are to the coast or the farther east you are, the less snow you are going to get.

But the more mixing you are going to get. It will still snow, but it will mix in with rain and the piling up won't happen because it will be just a sloppy, slushy mess.

Also, something else other than this snow in the mountains, there could be ice around, too, especially tomorrow morning, could see rain and 31 and that would be a problem. You don't need very much of that to cause a lot of problems with the forecast there.

Then for Monday, the next storm system comes swinging on by and crisscrosses right over Philadelphia, another one to three inches for the city there probably a bigger deal on Monday because it is a Monday and not a Saturday, but certainly a smaller storm -- Jake.

TAPPER: Chad, thanks so much. That's it for THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper. I turn you over to Wolf Blitzer in "THE SITUATION ROOM." Have a great weekend.