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Olympic Torch Going Through Dagestan; Not All On Board With Iranian Nuclear Deal; Obama Hopes State of Union Will Help Him Get Back on Track; Weather is Big Super Bowl Concern.

Aired January 27, 2014 - 13:30   ET

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

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Consider it a dry run for security for the upcoming winter Olympic Games. The Olympic torch is getting closer to Sochi. Today, going through Dagestan, which is considered the heart of the anti-Russian insurgency.

Our own Nick Paton Walsh is on the ground for us there. He watched the torch parade that took place inside a secure stadium.

Nick, was all that planned all along, to hold that torch relay inside a stadium? Was that the plan all along?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. And it seems meticulously thought out. I mean, to the point -- in fact, where very few people in the town of Dagestan would have seen the torch at all. It arrived in the airport in secrecy. We weren't allowed to see that. It was whisked to the stadium, a convoy accompanying it. And the first that the thousands of Dagestanees, who had been shipped to attend the ceremony, actually saw of the torch was when it appeared on a tv screen inside the stadium and made its way in for the festivities that occurred in that maximum security environment. A bizarre scene, empty streets, police lockdown, police check points. We were shipped around in a bus. Couldn't move around in our own car. Maximum security, absolutely.

And, Wolf, you know, you've got to bear in mind, this is a symbol. The Kremlin have known for a decade the extent of the insurgency here. Both the insurgents and the outside world, and Russians too, they can do what they want here. They won't be bowed by militants. Measures put in place make you realize how worried they could be -- Wolf?

BLITZER: Because if they would have avoided letting the torch go through Dagestan, Nick, that would have sent a message, in effect, of victory for the insurgents, that the Russian security forces were scared, were frightened, and couldn't even let this torch go through Dagestan.

PATON WALSH: Absolutely. And I think as well they pushed ahead with this, moving west through Gosni, where two separatist wars fought in the past decade, but now life is apparently calmer, and on further west to Sochi.

But this is the epicenter of the threats against the Winter Games. This is where militants daily sometimes clash with police. There are police raids against their hideouts, suicide attacks around the region. And I think the desire to throw it through Gosni was to simply send a message that the Kremlin, this area, which Putin made his name when he first came to power in the second Chechnyan war and faced a battle there. His heavy-handed attack, some say exacerbate the battle. Bringing the torch through is perhaps a final victory over that ahead of the games. Because so much Western criticism of the Putin administration is focused on the human rights violations of their campaign against Muslims here in southern Russia -- Wolf?

BLITZER: And a lot of our American viewers will certainly remember the Dagestan connection to the Boston Marathon bombing incident that unfortunately killed way too many people, as well.

All right, Nick. We'll stay in close touch with you. Nick Paton Walsh in Dagestan.

Meanwhile a suspected militant leader was the target of air strike in southern Somalia last night. That, according to a U.S. military official who describes the target as a senior leader with ties to al Qaeda and al Shabaab. That's Somalia's al-Qaeda affiliate. It's not yet been confirmed whether the target was killed.

Last week, the United States and the European Union eased sanctions on Iran. All this as part of an interim deal aimed at reining in the country's nuclear program. But not everyone is on board with the Obama administration's approach. And it's expected to come up tomorrow night when the president delivers his State of the Union address before a joint session of Congress.

Jim Sciutto has been on the ground for us in Tehran, working his sources there, getting some new information. We're going to be checking in with Jim to get a little sense of what's going on.

Jim, I know our technical connections sometimes are not perfect. But I assume you can hear me, and you can report to our viewers what you are seeing first-hand, your eyewitness account of what you're seeing in Tehran.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: I'll tell you, Wolf, separate from the intricacies of the nuclear agreement, the fiery political rhetoric or even the dollar figures on the sanctions relief. What really concerns Iranians here is how the economic sanctions affect them and their daily lives. Can the airplanes that they fly on get spare parts? Can they get spare parts for the cars they drive? And something we found yesterday when we went to a medical clinic here, can they get the right cancer drugs, chemotherapy drugs. Because one thing a lot of Americans might not know, under the sanctions regime, Iranians can't buy chemotherapy drugs, most of the best of which are made in Europe and the U.S. We went to a cancer clinic yesterday, and the patients there telling us, you know, these -- this nuclear deal, this new diplomacy with Iran is for them a matter of life and death. So they are really rooting for real progress here, because they can feel it every day, the difference between success in these negotiations and failure.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED IRANIAN PATIENT: Those who did sanctions on the country, there was a kind of -- I don't know, participant for killing the people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: Now, one thing that's good out of this interim nuclear agreement, Wolf, is that one of the sanctions that's been lifted is on those medical supplies, humanitarian supplies, drugs like chemotherapy. It's going to take some time, days and weeks to filter through. But once it does, patients like Nala, who we spoke to there, are going to be able it get those drugs. And that makes a difference on the ground here, and that's the kind of thing that really concerns average Iranians when we're speaking about big picture diplomacy.

BLITZER: I don't know what the president is going to say in the State of the Union address when it comes to Iran, that nuclear deal, other related areas. But in your average conversations there in Tehran with folks, what would they like to hear the president of the United States say?

SCIUTTO: I think they want to hear the U.S. is committed to this deal. We talk a lot about whether Iran is committed, of course, on this side. You have skepticism after all these years of distrust that the U.S. really wants to make peace with Iran. They certainly want to hear that more sanctions relief is coming. But they also do not want to hear, I'll tell you, a threat of force. When Secretary Kerry, in an interview last week, said again that the possibility of a military strike against Iran is still on the table if negotiations fail, that got an immediate reaction here, on the front pages of the newspapers. The head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards made a really combative response, saying that Iran is ready for war with the U.S. That's the kind of statement that riles people up here. Now, you know, moderates know that that's really a talking point from the American side, just as the Iranian side has its talking points for domestic consumption. But the hardliners use comments like that as ammunition to try to undermine the deal. So that's something that ears would perk up here for if the threat of force is mentioned.

My understanding is that Iran will be mentioned in the speech. He won't talk about it a long time, but will talk about it as one of his chief -- one of the president's chief foreign policy priorities.

BLITZER: Yeah. And he sees it as not only a priority, but an achievement, this six-month interim deal, but getting a lot of grief from many members of Congress, not just Republicans, but as you know, from a bunch of Democrats, as well. We'll see what he says tomorrow night, if he simply restates what he said on many occasions, quote, "all options are on the table." He hopes it can be resolved diplomatically. But even if he were to say, Jim, all options on the table, even the nuclear option, you're pointing out that would generate really a negative response from the Iranians.

SCIUTTO: It would. But you know, Wolf, as happens on both sides, I think the cooler heads involved in these negotiations, the Foreign Minister Zavad Zarif, President Rouhani, others who support the deal, they know it's a standard talking point, not new in the negotiations. That said, just like in the states, you mentioned the lawmakers in the U.S. who are opposed to this deal, they latch on to comments they hear from Iran. And it is certainly true that the hardliners in the negotiations latch on to comments in the U.S. I don't want to overestimate the -- overemphasize the importance of it. But, listen, this is a political place. They have just as much distrust going in that direction as we have coming in this direction. So it's the kind of thing that the opponents would use as ammunition.

BLITZER: Certainly will.

All right. Jim Sciutto on the ground, one of the few Western reporters there in Iran right now. He'll have more coming up in "The Situation Room," as well.

Meanwhile, President Obama gets ready for that high-stakes address to the nation. He's hoping his State of the Union address will help him get back on track after a very difficult year. More details when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Want to update you on that story we told you about earlier. Earlier, there were reports that there might have been a small explosion at this location, Lexington and 26th Street in Manhattan. Good news. No explosion. NYPD now says it appears to have been a fire that appears to be a tire -- I should say, a tire from a hand truck that exploded. The wheel burst. Pieces landed on a nearby package near the lobby of the building, initially leading people to believe the package was what exploded. But it wasn't. No foul play. All good. No explosion. No even small explosion at Lexington and 26th Street in Manhattan.

President Obama getting a chance to hit the reset button in his State of the Union speech tomorrow night. The speech provides him with a forum unique to the presidency, and a chance to turn the page following a rather difficult 2013.

Our chief political correspondent, Candy Crowley, sets the stage for the president's address.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This year, state of the unite features a second-term president looking to his legacy and supporting cast looking to get re-elected. Advantage to President Obama, who will be immediately elevated by the grandeur of tradition and one of the handiest tools in a presidential arsenal, the power to set the agenda.

PAUL BEGALA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: The most important time to set the agenda is in the State of the Union speech. So it's the most important day we know about coming in 2014. And so he'll use that to revivify his second term.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We can get this done. CROWLEY: The president could use some revivification. There were victories but most of 2013 got away from him. After his convincing re-election, the president thought congressional Republicans would be more amenable to his agenda. They were not. And the early months were consumed by deficit and spending arguments. The Boston Marathon bombing in the spring dominated the headlines, and reawakened that post-9/11 sense of vulnerability. Summer brought the exposure of a secret U.S. government program to collect phone data on most calls in and out of the u. s., an uneven response to a coup in Egypt, public disagreements with Israel, and an on again/off again strike against Syria's chemical weapons. October brought --

REP. JOHN BOEHNER, (R-OH), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: This isn't some damn game --

CROWLEY: -- a government shutdown that hurt Republicans mostly, but everybody a little. And the granddaddy of all agenda busters --

OBAMA: That's on me.

CROWLEY: -- the incompetent rollout of the Affordable Care Act, which hurt the president a lot.

OBAMA: There was a time when I was a young invincible.

(LAUGHTER)

After five years in this office, people don't call me that anymore.

CROWLEY: Politically, 2013 was the cruelest year for the president. He's got the poll numbers to prove it, and an agenda that mostly didn't happen.

OBAMA: That I will faithfully execute --

CROWLEY: Presidential second terms are so often downhill trips, there's a name for it, second-term curse. To shake it off, this president is in dire need of a better economy and a clean run for his health care law to bolster his poll numbers. And then he needs a change-up. In politics, that means either double-down on your efforts or pivot. Sounds like the president will choose both, work with Congress to get what he can, go around them with executive power to get what he wants.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He is going to look in every way he can with his pen and his phone to try to move the ball forward.

CROWLEY: Tuesday night, President Obama walks up to the House podium and into American living rooms to outline his agenda under the shadow of weak approval ratings and a ticking clock. Seated in the House chamber will be progressives, previously known as liberals, disappointed in the president for not being more aggressive with Republicans; and moderate Democrats, facing their own tough re- election battles in conservative states the president lost; and Republicans who might just win a Senate majority this year. And all of that would mean, during the last two years of his tenure, President Obama would be dealing with a Republican-controlled capitol hill. No pressure.

Candy Crowley, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: And don't miss special coverage of the State of the Union address tomorrow night, 7:00 p.m. eastern, right after "Crossfire" and "The Situation Room."

The countdown to the Super Bowl certainly is on. The teams have arrived. Most of the talk right now, at least, is about the weather. We're going to find out what's going on.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Consider the Super Bowl hype official under way. The Seahawks and the Broncos have just arrived in New Jersey for Sunday's game. For the first time in many years, the weather is one of the big stories ahead of the game.

Our Laura Baldesarra is outside MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

Laura, they're playing football in February in New York. It's cold right now. I'm sure they're really worried about the snow and other factors.

LAURA BALDESARRA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They absolutely are, Wolf. It is very, very cold here. But the biggest concern is about that snow. Now, the cold, it will be cold, but it's not exactly that frostbite on your lungs type of cold weather that's going to impact the game. The snow, on the other hand, it actually has the potential of moving this game up by a day or two, or even causing it to be postponed by a day or two.

Now, it was just last week that we saw a massive 13 inches of snow absolutely blanket the stadium here. And there were massive undertaking -- massive efforts of undertaking -- underway to clear the snow out. There were jet engine-powered vaporizers being used in the stadium to get rid of all of the snow.

You know, and it's not just the stadium that's a concern when it comes to snow. It's the parking lot, as well, of course. There's going to be a ton of fans driving in. They want to be able to get here and park and maybe to some tailgating.

Now, if there is a lot of snow, it has to be cleared. The league has plows on hand. They have front-end loaders on hand and a number of haul trucks on hand as well to get the snow out of here as quickly as possible.

But then there's the other question of if it is very cold. Are we going to see the same sort of turnout and the same type of fans that we're used to seeing at Super Bowl? They're not necessarily the hard- core fans that will camp out in the frigid temperatures and try to stay warm to watch their team win. These are games that bring out celebrities. Are we going to see Cameron Diaz feeding A-Rod popcorn? Maybe not. And other times certain players like Peyton Manning may struggle in cold weather games. He has been criticized for doing that in the past -- Wolf?

BLITZER: Well, it's going to be exciting no matter what, especially those of us who love football, love Super Bowls, especially.

Laura, don't get too cold out there. We'll check in with you in the days to come.

Thanks very much.

A former teacher facing the end of his life decides not to feel sorry for himself but instead to embark on an adventure that would give him a reason to live. You don't want to miss this story coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: A retired teacher was diagnosed with a terminal illness and came up with a final project to make most of the rest of his life.

Here's CNN's Tom Foreman.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the city that care forgot, it's hard to find anyone with fewer worries than David Menasche.

DAVID MENASCHE, RETIRED TEACHER: At times, I felt a lot like Huck Finn, floating down the river, free.

FOREMAN: Odd because for seven years, he had an inoperable brain tumor. Why is he happy? Because his terminal illness led to the adventure of a lifetime.

MENASCHE: That's one of the perks of being told you're going to die. You have a lot left to be afraid of.

FOREMAN: He was a teacher who loved literature and poetry and shaping young lives. The illness made him wonder if they made any difference. So he set out to visit as many former students as he could through 8,000 miles of buses, trains and hitch hiking.

MENASCHE: Some were amazed. I got the question, what are you doing in Seattle? How did you get to San Francisco? Oregon, Illinois, New York, Pennsylvania, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Alabama.

FOREMAN (on camera): A lot.

MENASCHE: A lot.

(LAUGHTER)

Ladies and gentlemen, the Pacific.

FOREMAN (voice-over): The adventure became a book, "The Priority List." Friendships became a new reason to live.

MENASCHE: Even in this state, mostly blind and crippled, I'm alive and doing things with my life. I'm very happy about that.

FOREMAN (on camera): What did you like?

MENASCHE: I can make a difference and I'm very proud of that difference and the people that they have become.

JENNIFER BREWER, FORMER STUDENT: There was no cap to the shampoo bottle.

FOREMAN (voice-over): Some of his old students now help him get to the doctor and run errands and read books.

BREWER: There was a time in high school where I didn't know if he would see me get into college and graduate.

FOREMAN (on camera): This is more than you expected?

BREWER: Oh, absolutely. Absolutely.

MENASCHE: We are all going to die. We both know this. It is an inevitability. If you spend your time dreading and mourning, you miss out on the good stuff that happens before then. I'm very much about living.

FOREMAN (voice-over): Still he pushes on, not to the end, but to whatever comes next.

Tom Foreman, CNN, New Orleans.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Good luck to David. We hope the best for him.

A very, very different story and one of the highlights of last night's Grammy Awards, Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney together again.

Our Nischelle Turner caught up with Ringo. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RINGO STARR, MUSICIAN & FORMER BEATLE: I'm doing great.

(CROSSTALK)

NISCHELLE TURNER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Thank you for joining me.

STARR: On CNN, what could be better?

TURNER: Not much. It's a good day.

(CROSSTALK)

STARR: My love to Wolf.

TURNER: He will love that. You want to give him a message?

STARR: Hey, Wolf!

TURNER: Ringo Starr giving you love, Wolf Blitzer. That's pretty darn cool.

STARR: Yeah, that's very cool.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Very cool, indeed. And, Ringo. Love to Ringo as well. Very, very cool. Thank you.

Nischelle, I couldn't be happier. I made it. Ringo Starr. How cool is that?

That's it for me. Thanks very much for watching. I'll be back 5:00 p.m. eastern in "The Situation Room."

NEWSROOM continues right now with Brooke Baldwin.