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Spilling Top Secret Intelligence; Act Now Or Expect Civil War; Adultery Billboard Uses Presidential Candidate; Adultery Billboard Uses Presidential Candidate; Children Experiencing Domestic Violence; U.S. Losing Patience With Pakistan; Greek Politician Slaps Opponent; Michael Jackson's Daughter Opens Up; Pollution Killing Chesapeake Bay

Aired June 07, 2012 - 14:00   ET

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

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: In for Brooke Baldwin today. Thanks for joining me.

As I speak, our Wolf Blitzer is sitting down with Bill Clinton, as the former president takes -- has been taking quite a bit of heat for comments he's made about Mitt Romney and the economy. First, as you'll remember, Clinton complimented Romney's business experience, then he seemed to contradict President Obama's position about the extension of the Bush era tax cuts. So, is one of the president's biggest surrogates hurting his re-election chances? We'll get Wolf up live as soon as the interview ends. It will be very interesting to hear what he has to say.

But first, loose lips spilling highly classified intelligence. Who is leaking top secret details about covert U.S. actions and why? The FBI is investigating as some lawmakers are charging that it's coming from the White House.

There are three glaring examples in just really the past month. On Friday, "The New York Times" reported President Obama ordered cyber attacks against Iran's nuclear facilities. Days before that, "The Times" broke the news the president personally oversees a quote, unquote "kill list" for expanded drone attacks. And on May 7th, word got out that a U.S. double agent helped foil another kind of underwear bomb plot coming out of Yemen.

CNN has learned that the man in charge of our nation's secrets is proposing more lie detector tests at the highest security level. That is new information coming out just in the last hour. And James Clapper is the man we're talking about, the director of National Intelligence. He wants to subject more government employees to counter intelligence polygraphs. Today, Clapper briefed the top four leaders of the intelligence committees in Congress on these recent intelligence leaks. You're seeing video of them right now. We'll be joined by one of those top leaders in Congress in just a moment. His name, obviously, Congressman Mike Rogers, the House Intelligence Committee chairman.

But first, I want to bring in my colleagues, senior congressional correspondent Dana Bash.

Dana, you're on the phone with me. You just got out of this press conference. A pretty unusual press conference to have all four of these top intel leaders in Congress there together. What did you think was the highlight?

DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Well, the highlight, as you said, I think was just the fact that they had this press conference and each of them, Democrat and Republican, was so strong and tried to get the idea across that this is really, really serious in terms of how they see the danger to people's lives, not to mention the whole concept of the very sensitive intelligence materials.

What Chairman Rogers, who I know you're going to speak to soon, one thing that he said was really extraordinary, that he had uncovered, as part of his own investigation, is that agencies he said were directed to expand the scope of classified information they gave to the press. And not just that, Kate, he said they found out in some cases someone from what he calls a segment of the media was present in a classified setting, which, you know, you and I know as members of the media, you know, nobody coming out of a briefing will talk to us, never mind being invited in.

BOLDUAN: Right.

BASH: Afterwards I was told that what he's referring to is a film being made on the raid of Osama bin Laden and that perhaps a filmmaker was invited in to get exclusive access and it was a classified setting.

The fact is that what they want to do, all four of them, they say, is to somehow come up with some new law, new legislation, that makes it more difficult and makes the penalties higher for leaking classified information, because they say that there's been a, quote, cascade of leaks, which you just laid out very well at the beginning there.

BOLDUAN: And, Dana, I also saw you ask a very important question. One that's getting a lot of attention and was kind of spearheaded by Senator John McCain, this question of, is there a political motivation behind these leaks? What did they tell you?

BASH: Well, the Democratic chair woman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Dianne Feinstein, she was adamant that this is not finger pointing and that they really simply feel that it is so bad and it has been so detrimental to the intelligence community, all these leaks, that they just want to find out where it has come from and it's not political. Look, you know Dianne Feinstein. She is somebody who is impervious to political issues.

BOLDUAN: Uh-huh.

BASH: And she clearly, though, understands politics very well. That this is going to be perceived as potentially hurtful to the administration, especially when, in conjunction with this, as you said, you have somebody like John McCain really saying that he believes that these leaks are politically motivated to help President Obama. The senior Republican, though, on this committee, on the Intelligence Committee, I asked him the same question and he said he is not going to prejudge. He said we're going to look into it just like we did when they were released in the Bush administration. And wherever the responsibility falls, that's where they're going -- that's what they're going to try to prosecute.

BOLDUAN: That's so interesting. And the more they talk about it, honestly, the more questions we end up having for how they're going to legislate, how they're going to prove it, how they're going to -- how they propose punishing people who are caught to be leaking this information. We'll get to a lot more of these questions with the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Mike Rogers, coming up next.

Dana Bash, senior congressional correspondent. Thanks so much, Dana.

BASH: Thanks, Kate.

First, some other news that we are watching. No hints of new economic stimulus from the chairman of the Federal Reserve, but the stock market is rallying for a second day without it. Right now the Dow is up just 102 points what we're seeing right now. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke testified before Congress just this morning. A lot of eyes were on him. He says the economy looks like it will grow at a moderate clip. But the Fed is still deciding if that growth will be fast enough to create the number of jobs needed to bring down the unemployment rate.

As you can see, we've got a lot more to cover in the next two hours. Take a look.

As more innocent people die in Syria, Americans reveal whether they think the U.S. should step in. Live during this show, a big moment at the U.N.

Plus, the face of a presidential front-runner ends up on a billboard about sex. The company's motto, life is short, have an affair.

And a scare in the sky. A guy proposes in a hot air balloon, but moments later the pilot blacks out.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: We were just telling you just before the break about the FBI is now investigating these recent very high profile leaks of sensitive intelligence matters that have really been all over the media. And just earlier today the director of National Intelligence, James Clapper, briefed the top members of the intelligence committees in Congress. Joining me now is one of those members, Congressman Mike Rogers, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.

I know you're dealing with some votes over there on the House, Chairman Rogers, so thank you so much for making it over to speak with me.

REP. MIKE ROGERS (R), INTELLIGENCE CHAIRMAN: Yes. Thanks, Kate.

BOLDUAN: You got out of this briefing a short time ago. You did hold a press availability. And I know this is classified, but what can you tell us? What did you learn about these leaks?

ROGERS: Well, just the very serious nature of them. And really the meeting was about how -- two things, how we go forward between the House and the Senate as both the leadership, Dianne Feinstein and myself, who, by the way, we work exceptionally well together, and in a very big bold statement of having all of us do a press availability at the same time I hope reinforces how serious these leaks are to our national security. And so it was a two-pronged approach here, Kate. One is to say, how do we move forward? How do we give the intelligence community the tools they need to go after leakers of this caliber, number one. And, number two, we do have to get to the bottom of these leaks. And it wasn't just a leak. It was a pattern of leaks over a period of time that led all of us in a bipartisan way to come to the conclusion that this is serious, it's dangerous, and we've got to break that culture if we're going to change people's attitude about leaking this very sensitive information.

BOLDUAN: And, Mr. Chairman, I want to get to those tools shortly, but I want to also get to first something that you said in the press conference a short time ago that a quote, unquote "segment of the media" was present in a classified setting. I was talking to our Dana Bash just a few minutes ago who agrees that's highly unusual. Dana tells me that had to do with a film that's being made about Osama bin Laden and the raid to kill Osama bin Laden. But can you tell me, what did you mean by that and what agencies are you talking about?

ROGERS: Well, it was found out in a preliminary review of a whole bunch of questions to the intelligence community and other things and it was certainly a serious event. And I think it just was part of a larger, broader understanding that there is lots of this kind of thing happening and the level of these leaks just kept getting ratcheted up. So it was part of a pattern of activity that led us to believe, at least me as chairman, that the preliminary review of the investigation should lead to a full investigation. There's enough information there about this culture that we have to somehow break. And I'm really not at liberty to discuss, you know, the agency at this point or the type of medium or media organization.

BOLDUAN: OK. I want to get to, well, a big part of this now, which seems to be the politics. Senator John McCain, you, of course, know this, has made it pretty clear that he believes these leaks are -- have been politically motivated. Quick, let's listen to something Senator McCain has said and then I'll ask you a question afterward.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: The really disturbing aspect of this is that one could draw the conclusion from reading these articles that it is an attempt to further the president's political ambitions for the sake of his re-election at the expense of our national security.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: That's a serious accusation. Point-blank, Mr. Chairman, do you believe the White House and politics is behind these leaks?

ROGERS: Well, I'm the chairman of the Intelligence Committee. And I can tell you, as a former FBI agent, I think it's dangerous to walk down the political route here. This is very serious. There's a pattern. There's a culture here that's a problem. We need to figure out in a non-partisan way, we need a complete investigation that is fair and thorough and that has access to every element that had had this particular information. And that in and of itself, in a bipartisan way, by the way, is serious. So it's really not my role to do that. I hope this doesn't become a partisan issue because this is so serious and the leaks are so damaging, we need to take it where this investigation goes.

BOLDUAN: And, of course, everyone wants to see this investigation -- this issue fully investigated and you don't want to speak out too early. But you will recall you told my colleague, Wolf Blitzer, back in May, after this came out, that you kind of called it funny season in this town when, with the timing of the press conferences after the foiled bomb plot leak came out. Do you still think it's funny season? Do you still think that, you know, all of this stuff leads to a lot of questions, you told Wolf? Do you still have that opinion?

ROGERS: Well, yes. Well, it is clearly still funny season in Washington, D.C. Any time you have an election. But that relates to a whole bunch of topics. In this particular case, and, again, in a preliminary review by my committee, I have asked my investigators to pull some things together, I believe this warrants a fair and complete investigation. And what I mean by complete is someone that would be able to have access to all elements, not just the intelligence community, not just Department of Defense, but all of the elements who had access to this information. And the reason we -- some call for a special prosecutor is because in order to do that, you're going to -- you may, in that chain of investigation, find someone who is in your chain of command, including the political environment.

So, I don't know. We shouldn't speculate one way or another. But what we should do is find the right forum to have a fair, complete and balanced investigation.

BOLDUAN: Say you could prove that politics is behind this. What do you think should be the punishment?

ROGERS: Well, I think politics is irrespective of the fact that someone who had access to information that is very narrowly protected found that they, for whatever reason, leaked it, which is a crime. And they should be punished with a crime to the severest extent of the law. This is damaging not just to the men and women who, by the way, are putting themselves in harm's way today, and they will tell you this has made their job exponentially harder, that's pretty serious in and of itself. It's hurt our liaison partners. But it's also a hurt over this whole pattern of leaks and public discussion about things that should be kept classified has hurt our ability to do creative and innovative things to protect the United States of America. That's what this needs to be about. And when they found the person who clearly had very high level access of information, that person should be, I think, punished under the full extent of the law.

BOLDUAN: And I know, Mr. Chairman, that you, along with your colleagues in the Senate, are also now thinking, trying to find new tools and new ways to bottom line try to make it harder for leaks to happen, or, if they do, easier to track these people down, is that right?

ROGERS: Yes. We're reviewing a package. I brought some ideas. Senator Feinstein and Saxby Chambliss have some ideas. Dutch Ruppersberger has some ideas. These are all four of the both Republicans and Democrats of the intelligence committees. And so we're in the process right now of trying to work through those so that we can find consensus in a pretty quick way and get these tools to the intelligence community. So for prospect cases, we send a very clear signal that we will not tolerate leaks of this nature as we move forward.

BOLDUAN: And finally, Mr. Chairman, you know leaks span administrations. Leaks are not new. What was the final straw on this one? What is different about these leaks that has you speaking out so forcefully, as well as your other intelligence colleagues?

ROGERS: Well, and, again, this is a bipartisan --

BOLDUAN: Right.

ROGERS: It was a bipartisan meeting and a bipartisan (INAUDIBLE). That says a lot. So the severity of the leaks over time, not any particular leak that I'm talking about today, but over the period of time, details have caused serious damage to our national security and our partnerships overseas. So it just got to the point where it was getting so ridiculous, more brazen, more broad, and so concerning for the future of our ability to protect ourselves, that we all believe Republicans and Democrats on these two committees had to do something about it.

BOLDUAN: All right. Well, as you can tell, many more questions as this investigation is just getting underway. And we all have so many questions we want answers for.

Chairman Mike Rogers, thank you so much for hustling out and speaking with me right now.

ROBERTS: Thanks, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Just a short time ago, the U.N. special envoy to Syria stood before the United Nations outraged by a report of another massacre in that country. And in a blunt warning, Kofi Annan warned, expect an all-out civil war if action is not taken to stop the Syrian government from killing its people. Listen as he says his peace plan is being blown off.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) KOFI ANNAN, JOINT SPECIAL ENVOY OF THE UNITED NATIONS: I must refract and confirm that the plan is not being implemented. If things do not change, the future is likely to be one of brutal repression, massacres, sectarian violence and even all-out civil war. But for the sake of the people of Syria, who are living through this nightmare, the international community must come together and act as one.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Pictures of the latest massacre, where 78 people are believed to be dead, have been posted online. But it is extremely difficult to watch, we must say. There are the -- these are the homes allegedly torched by Syrian troops. Opposition activists say the forces on the ground moved village to village killing residents with knives and even AK-47s. I want to bring in Arwa Damon, who is in Beirut right now.

Arwa, these are really difficult pictures to watch. At the same time, we have world leaders continuing to try and apply pressure on the Assad regime. And then we're learning about this massacre there in Syria just yesterday. What more do you know?

ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, according to opposition activists, the target of this -- or the site of this alleged massacre was the small village of Kobear (ph). And it's really not more than just a cluster of homes. And opposition activists are saying that it was initially shelled by government tanks. And then government forces, accompanied by this shadowy entity that it's called the Shabiha (ph), effectively pro-government armed thugs, went through and massacred anyone who stood in their way.

A lot of the victims were women and children. And in these videos that are, as you were saying, incredibly difficult to watch, you see their small bodies wrapped in blankets, others are shrouded in the white burial cloth, some are named. In one case you have four small children from one family, their mother also and their uncle said to have been killed as well.

And then there are, of course, the images that we are not showing our viewers. And that is of the various bodies that have been charred. One of these bodies, apparently a mother cradling her two children.

Now, the government is denying that it was the one that carried out this massacre. Instead it is saying that it was responding to a cry for help from these villagers and that it went in and raided and saved them from this terrorist cell.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: And, Arwa, what are we -- what are you learning about U.N. observers being shot at?

DAMON: Well, we heard it at the United Nations. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon saying that the U.N. monitors that were trying to reach this area to conduct their own investigation, their own fact finding mission, were prevented from doing so. They were either stopped or turned back at checkpoints. And at one stage they were shot at -- it was not specified by whom -- on the road.

And it just underscores how difficult it is for these observers to even begin to carry out their mission when it comes to trying to implement something of a cease-fire. And at this point in time, as we heard Kofi Annan saying, the peace plant is not being implemented. But when it comes to much of what he said that you were playing earlier, a lot of people inside Syria, a lot of Syria analysts, experts will tell you that he was just simply stating the obvious.

BOLDUAN: That's an excellent point.

I don't know if you can see it, but I want to show our viewers this latest poll from CNN/ORC poll, where it show that Americans still don't think the U.S. has -- a majority of Americans still don't think the U.S. has a responsibility to intervene in the fighting in Syria. When I see that, it begs the question, what do the people that you're talking to on the ground there say, though? Is it -- it's been going on for more than a year. What do they think will end the violence?

DAMON: Well, Kate, it will be no surprise when I tell you that when it comes to the U.S. and its policies towards the Middle East, they are most certainly viewed by the majority of Arabs as being skewed. And a lot of opposition activists will tell you that if the U.S. really wanted to, it could, in fact, have taken action that would have brought down the Assad regime by now. Many people point to the war in Iraq and saying that the U.S. effectively went in there unilaterally without a U.N. resolution and with this loosely brought together coalition.

People want to see the U.S. on their side. They want to see western nations behind them, especially when it comes to the fact that they want that to counter balance what they're saying is influence amongst the opposition of nations like Qatar and Saudi Arabia. The opposition does not want to have to turn to those gulf nations that are no example of democracy themselves for any sort of major support.

And the other thing that opposition activists are warning about, and this is something that America is going to have to pay attention to, is that the vacuum that is being created in Syria by this uprising is the exact type of vacuum that extremist organizations like al Qaeda thrive in. and there are grave concerns that that is going to begin taking even greater hold in Syria.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: All the while the violence and innocent civilians are continuing to die. All right, Arwa Damon in Beirut. Thank you so much.

The face of a presidential front-runner ends up on a billboard about sex. The company's motto, life is short, have an affair, if you can believe it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: A favorite for Mexico's presidency has literally become the poster boy for a website dedicated to adulators. Ashleymadison.com, that's the name of the website, it links married people to interested singles, if you can believe it. It now has a billboard in Mexico City showing the face of Enrique Pena Nieto, with lipstick on his collar, you can probably see it, and the caption in Spanish that says unfaithful to his family, faithful and committed to his country. The company did not ask permission from Pena Nieto. He's predicted to win the presidential election on July 1st by many. So, to get some perspective on this very interesting story, I want to turn to CNN Espanol's anchor, Fernando Del Rincon.

This is going to be news to a lot of our viewers, obviously. Fernando, first, why Pena Nieto? Did he cheat on his wife? Bring everyone up to speed here.

FERNANDO DEL RINCON, ANCHOR CNN EN ESPANOL: Yes, yes, Kate. Hi, how are you?

Yes, actually Pena Nieto has been outspoken, has been honest about this issue. Hinted about it in several interviews. He had two children when he was married to his first wife. So it's not a secret. It's been out there for a while.

Now, the thing -- the important thing about Pena Nieto is that the biggest number of the potential voters for him are women. So, I don't think this is going to help him in terms of perception when you're talking about women being the force in terms of votes for him.

BOLDUAN: So he acknowledges he has had an affair in his past. He has been open about it. But when you look at now, this billboard, as well as the fact that the election is coming up in less than a month --

DEL RINCON: Yes.

BOLDUAN: This can't be good, though, for him. Do you think it's not a deal breaker, though, you're saying in terms of his chances?

DEL RINCON: I don't think it's a deal breaker, but we have to think about this month (ph) for Pena Nieto. The thing is that he has been under attack because of a movement of students over there in Mexico called "I am 132." This will be the second hint for him in just one month. And he actually hasn't said anything about this advertisement, this (INAUDIBLE). Neither is his campaign team. And it seems like they're not going to talk. It's been four days --

BOLDUAN: Right.

DEL RINCON: With this ad and nobody has said anything.

BOLDUAN: I want to make sure our viewers know that we did reach out to ashleymadison.com spokesman and they readily acknowledge that they're doing this to simply get people talking about adultery and talking about their billboard. And here's a quote from them saying, quote, "people have a problem with infidelity. It really outlines the hypocrisy that we live. Everyone does do it. Even the people you choose to lead your country." This company has, we're now learning, pulled this stunt before in other countries.

DEL RINCON: Yes.

BOLDUAN: But as you said, it has been four days this has been up. It is not like it is a secret. But the campaign is not saying anything about it, but if they --

DEL RINCON: Not yet.

BOLDUAN: If they wanted -- when you talk about being up in Mexico, if they wanted it to be taken down, they would have to take down the billboard, right?

DEL RINCON: I don't think so. I think there will be some sort of legal enforcement or he cannot just ask for it and the company will bring it down.

They have to go through maybe the electoral institute or to some sort of institution that can legally force the company to bring it down. It is not just about asking to bring it down, though.

Let me tell you something. The company is also saying that he is not going to be the only one. They're talking about some other possibility of some other ads with other candidates, so we have to wait and see.

BOLDUAN: That's very interesting. I am very interested to hear what the campaign has to say and if this whole kind of messy controversy is going to just lead all the way up to Election Day. We'll have to see if women voters turn out and what they have to say about it.

DEL RINCON: It is the point.

BOLDUAN: It's very interesting. Fernando, thank you so much for joining me. It's nice to meet you.

DEL RINCON: It's nice to meet you, too.

BOLDUAN: Very interesting story. Another interesting story, Joe Torre, he is a huge success on and off the baseball field. Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta talks with him about the violence he saw as child and how he is now making sure children have a safe place.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: Some 3 million children suffer domestic violence every year in the United States and in this week's "Human Factor," chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, introduces us to one of them, a kid from Brooklyn who became a famous baseball player and future hall of fame manager.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP) DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Joe Torre, he is one of the most successful baseball managers in the past 40 years.

JOSE TORRE, 4-TIME WORLD SERIES CHAMPION MANAGER: I can't tell you what the emotions are. They're just running all into each other, and I can't tell you how happy I am. I have never been this happy in my life.

GUPTA: Just as he was reaching the pinnacle of his career winning four World Series titles in five years, he began opening up about his childhood and growing up with an abusive father.

TORRE: My older sister, Rae came from the kitchen into the ding room, which she had a knife protecting my mom and my dad was going into the drawer in the dining room to get his revolver. And I did witness that, and I still remember vividly going over to my sister and grabbing the knife and putting it on the table.

GUPTA: For young Torre who grew up to be an all-star player and is expected to be inducted into the hall of fame, baseball became his sanctuary.

TORRE: I had low self-esteem, and I was lucky I played baseball. I had an opportunity to go some place to hide. So what time do you guys have to be in class?

GUPTA: Today, he is giving back by providing a real sanctuary for other abused children.

TORRE: The perpetrator, you know, we do them favors when we don't talk about things like this. Awareness is so important in this.

GUPTA: Torre and his wife, Ali, have started the Safe At Home Foundation, which funds dedicated spaces inside schools where kids can speak openly and get counseling about domestic violence.

ALI TORRE, JOE TORRE'S WIFE: It is very serious what's happening to kids and the abuse and the people that are abused, and they don't have advocates for them and we're trying to be those advocates.

GUPTA: Torre names each site Margaret's Place in honor of his mother who was physically abused by his father.

TORRE: Youngsters are strong. They bounce back a lot, but I don't think they realize that it hurts them. I get choked up when I talk about that.

GUPTA: Retired from managing teams, Torre is still in the game overseeing operations for Major League baseball and also giving his time to end violence. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BOLDUAN: That's our "Human Factor." Defense Secretary Leon Panetta arrives in Afghanistan with some pretty harsh words for Pakistan. The country with the stock piled nuclear weapons and terrorists who might do anything to get their hands on them.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: The relationship between the United States and Pakistan is growing more tense. Militants use Pakistan as a base to attack U.S. troops in Afghanistan and the U.S. wants it to stop.

Listen to the tough warning Defense Secretary Leon Panetta delivered today while in Kabul.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEON PANETTA, DEFENSE SECRETARY: We are reaching the limits of our patience here. For that reason it is extremely important that Pakistan take action to prevent this kind of safe haven from taking place.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: I want to go to the Pentagon correspondent Chris Lawrence who is at the Pentagon. Chris, so Panetta has been in the region and he seems to be taking on Pakistan really, every opportunity, what's going on? What do you think is behind this?

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, the fact that the U.S. and Pakistan are in a really bad spot right now and when you're in a bad relationship, you often have a lot of things to talk about and try to work out.

That's what's happening right here. Secretary Panetta is very upset at the increased attacks by the Haqqani network, that's terrorist group that is based in the tribal areas of Pakistan, but launches attacks on U.S. troops over the border in Afghanistan.

He wants Pakistan to step up some of their control or some of their crackdown on the Haqqani network, but he went way beyond that. Secretary Panetta during this trip said that the U.S. is at war in the tribal areas of Pakistan and before he got to Afghanistan when he was in India, he laughed at the Pakistanis, how they were duped on that Osama Bin Laden mission and didn't know anything about it.

To laugh at the Pakistanis while in India is a dicey proposition. He also compared the U.S. relationship to Pakistan to India's relationship with Pakistan.

India has fought three wars with Pakistan and still has disputed territory they're fighting over, so some very, very provocative comments and we just spoke with our colleague Reza Sayah, CNN correspondent in Islamabad.

He says the Pakistanis were not pleased. They said we do not deserve to be laughed at. We deserve to be respected and he thinks this is -- the Pakistanis think this is Washington's way of deflecting from some of their failures in Afghanistan.

BOLDUAN: Tough words on their side as well. Let's talk about the timing here. That seems to be pretty interesting. Aren't there still in negotiations on the way over the supply routes in which the U.S. needs Pakistan's cooperation?

LAWRENCE: Yes. In fact, I spoke with the senior defense official who says there are U.S. representatives that have been in Pakistan this week trying to make some progress on that very thing. Those are the most expedient routes to get supplies into Afghanistan.

They have been shut down since November. Now the U.S. used to pay about $250 a truck to use that border crossing. Recently the Pakistanis have been asking $5,000 a truck.

The defense official said there is no way the U.S. is going to pay anywhere close to that. So we'll have to see if they're able to come to some compromise.

BOLDUAN: And if these latest remarks have any impact on those negotiations. Chris Lawrence at the Pentagon, thanks so much, Chris.

Very different story. You see political round tables every day on just about every network, but nothing like this one. This is in Greece. Right versus left and now take a look, there you go, and now there is an arrest warrant.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: Trending today, Greek politics getting downright nasty. A morning show round table debate turns into an all-out slapping fight in front of the cameras. There you go.

I think that was some water and just watch out it unfolds and starts when a spokesman for Greece's far right party throws a glass of water at a female politician from the far left party.

Another woman tried to intervene and you see what happens next. The man who started it all was actually locked in a room at the TV studio. He broke down the door and escaped. Police have been searching and no arrest has yet been reported.

That's some tough politics. Another story that we're watching, she once will to wear a face mask to go out in public. Now Michael Jackson's daughter is talking about moving from the family estate and her new movie role.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: In a revealing interview Michael Jackson's only daughter Paris is opening up about her dad and her childhood. The 14-year-old Paris Jackson sat down with Oprah Winfrey three years after the king of pop's death.

Here is what she says about Michael Jackson as a dad and living in the public eye.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OPRAH WINFREY, TV HOST: Did you feel that he wanted you to have a, quote, "normal life?"

PARIS JACKSON, MICHAEL JACKSON'S DAUGHTER: Yes, he did.

WINFREY: Do you feel that he thought that that was possible with him being who he was?

JACKSON: He had his doubts. I remember he told us that when he was younger he didn't really have a childhood. He would always be stuck in a studio singing while other kids were outplaying and he wanted us to have that. So we would a lot of times go to chuck e cheese and everything and that was one of our favorite places to go.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Paris also talks about her father's death. She told Oprah, quote, "It never gets easier." The rest of Paris' interview airs Sunday on OWN, the Oprah Winfrey Network.

So coming up it is a body of water that supplies six states and the District of Columbia. The Chesapeake Bay has dead zones caused by pollution and conservationists say it is a critical situation.

Also, Bill Clinton had some praise for Mitt Romney. Was he misunderstood? Did it hurt the Obama campaign? The former president sits down one-on-one with our own Wolf Blitzer. Wolf will join me live in a just few minutes.

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BOLDUAN: Pollution is threatening to kill the Chesapeake Bay watershed and at stake is really the livelihood of some 17 million people and thousands of species of wildlife that are already affected.

It has been a problem for years. But now the government is enforcing a cleanup policy, but some counties there are refusing the plan. CNN Athena Jones explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Chesapeake Bay, the largest (inaudible) in North America fed by 100,000 creeks, streams and rivers. It is home to more than 3,700 species of plants and animals including crabs and oysters and it is in trouble.

Conservationists say pollution from farms to wastewater treatment facilities, storm water runoff and power plants in the 64,000-square mile water shed, which includes parts of six states and the nation's capital is slowly killing the bay.

WILL BAKER, PRESIDENT, CHESAPEAKE BAY FOUNDATION: What happens is too much pollution causes an explosion of algae. When the algae die they decompose and use up oxygen in the water. When you have no dissolved objection, you have dead zones. Dead zones kill fish and kill oysters and kill crabs.

JONES: Warm waters fuel the growth of the dead zones during the summer threatening an important economic engine for the region.

BAKER: A dead Chesapeake Bay means much reduced tourism. It means unhealthy seafood and unhealthy water to swim in. It means the lack of revenues from all of the areas that the bay generates.

JONES: We rode out to take a closer look.

BAKER: We're going to head where the water is about 30 feet deep and that's where I was seeing a lot of really bad water the other day.

JONES: And measured oxygen levels in the water.

BAKER: Most critters like 5 parts per million or greater. So we're hoping for a number of 5.0 or greater. Getting close to the bottom. This in it of itself is not a good reading. So odds are good there are not a whole lot of fish on the bottom.

JONES (on camera): So can anything survive down there?

BAKER: Not well, no.

JONES (voice-over): In fact, the readings were poor all the way up to the surface. In an effort to improve the bay's condition, the Environmental Protections Agency set limits on the amount of nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment allowed in the water.

A so-called "pollution diet" that's been agreed to by the six states and the District of Columbia. The goal is to cut pollution to the levels by 2025 with the hope of getting more than halfway there by 2017.

The program has borne fruit according to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson who we spoke with along the river in Washington, one of the most polluted rivers running into the Chesapeake.

LISA JACKSON, EPA ADMINISTRATOR: The progress has been steady, but not fast enough. I keep saying now is not the time to quit. We are so close to actually turning that corner, but it is going to require all of us. The federal government, the state partners, local and county government and municipalities and all alike to keep putting in our share.

JONES: Meeting the EPA's goals will cost billions of dollars and while some federal help is available, those funds won't cover the whole bill.

Failure to meet the targets can result in fewer federal grants, tougher factory permit regulations and stricter regulations for farmers who the EPA says are the biggest contributors to bay pollution.

Opponents like the American Farm Bureau question the EPA's data and say the plan will kill jobs. They filed suit to block it.

DON PARRISH, AMERICAN FARM BUREAU: This approach by the EPA is too heavy handed and it will cost people in this watershed significantly.

JONES: Don Parrish says farmers have already cut back on fertilizers and created buffer zones to reduce run off.

PARRISH: Farmers want that cleaner bay. From their standpoint, they're already on a razor edge and if you push this envelope, it could really have a significant impact on the ability for farms to operate.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JONES: And now, Kate, I mentioned that we're here in the Chesapeake Bay. The stakes here are high. This is a bay, a body of water, that contributes billions of dollars each year into the local economies in the region.

For Maryland a lot of that is seafood. Of course, a lot of us heard about the Maryland crab and that is actually one bright spot in all of this. The crab populations are beginning to rebound according to the state.

Now oysters are a different story. They're also beginning to recover, but they have a lot further to go and of course, healthy oyster beds are important because they attract a lot of fish -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: That is very interesting, Athena. So in regard to your story, tell me why there is a lawsuit against the government when really all they're trying to do is just clean the water?

JONES: Well, exactly. The American Farm Bureau has brought this in federal court. They've been joined by the National Home Builders Association. They believe that the EPA is over reaching and they're trying to monitor the activities of states as well as farmers, home owners and businesses.

And they say that the plan doesn't take into consideration the immense costs of cleaning up the bay, the costs of these pollution reduction efforts. Now supporters say that, you know, the EPA plan does give the states a chance to come up with their own ways of reducing this pollution and meeting these targets.

And so they say that these suits have no merit. Either way you can bet that whatever happens with this lawsuit both sides are going to keep fighting because the EPA says they're in it for the long haul.

BOLDUAN: All right, Athena Jones on the Chesapeake Bay for us. Thanks so much, Athena.