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New Day

VP Biden's Tough Talk for Putin; Cruz Faults GOP Leaders Democrats for DHS Failure; Suspect Charged with Capital Murder; Drivers Vulnerable to Hackers

Aired February 09, 2015 - 07:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: President Obama weighing options for the Ukrainian crisis this morning with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. She is urging the president not to send weapons to Ukraine fearing Russia could respond by escalating the conflict.

Merkel has given Vladimir Putin until Wednesday to agree to a road map for peace. That's when four-way talks are scheduled between Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Coalition forces are unleashing new airstrikes on ISIS in Syria and Iraq. Officials report at least a dozen strikes over the weekend in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, which is currently controlled by ISIS.

In the meantime the family of American hostage, Kayla Mueller is pleading with the terrorist group to contact them. They believe that Kayla is still alive despite claims by ISIS that she was killed in a Jordanian airstrike.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Listen to this, a 34-old man is in custody in Michigan after he allegedly drove his truck through the gate of a Coast Guard station and broke into the building.

The man allegedly said he would blow up the station with a bomb in his truck. Officials said there was no bomb and there is no link to terrorism and thank God no one was hurt.

CAMEROTA: All right, a lot of politics to talk about. Let's get right to John King on "Inside Politics." Happy Monday, John.

JOHN KING, CNN HOST, "INSIDE POLITICS": Happy Monday, Alisyn, Chris and Michaela. Here's a sentence I never thought I would speak, Ted Cruz hearts Joe Biden. That's where we will start inside politics this morning and with me to share their reporting and their insights are Jackie Kucinich of "The Daily Beast" and Jonathan Martin of the "New York Times."

Let's start, yes, Ted Cruz hearts Joe Biden. I'll get to the point in just a second, but let's start with why. Over the weekend, the vice president was in Munich at a security conference.

The president today will sit down, as Alisyn just noted with Angela Merkel at the White House. They are trying to deal with the crisis in Ukraine among other world problems at the moment. Listen to Joe Biden telling Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, we don't buy much of what you say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Given Russia's recent history, we need to judge it by its deeds not its words. Don't tell us, show us, President Putin. Too many times President Putin promised peace and delivered tanks, troops and weapons.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Tough talk there, direct talk from Joe Biden. Listen to Ted Cruz on the "STATE OF THE UNION" saying the vice president is right but --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SENATOR TED CRUZ (R), TEXAS: The vice president I thought gave an effective speech, but I got to tell you in the room what everyone kept saying is interesting speech. We have no confidence that President Obama is listening to the vice president.

Listen, what we needed here and what we have needed for six years is strong American leadership. The Obama-Clinton-Kerry foreign policy has been consistently wrong.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: The Obama, Clinton -- Joe Biden, the Democrat-Republican suddenly love I guess.

JULIE KUCINICH, "THE DAILY BEAST": It was kind of a backhanded compliment, though, his speech was interesting, but no one was listening to it. They are ineffective, sorry, Joe Biden. There is a lot of what Ted Cruz has been saying and he is using it as a way to hit Hillary Clinton not only Obama.

JONATHAN MARTIN, "THE NEW YORK TIMES": The mention of Kerry and that Obama-Clinton-Kerry reference, perhaps compensating for the fact that John Kerry could be running for president in 2016 too?

KING: We'll get to that in a minute. It is an interesting moment. Joe Biden is off to Iowa this week. A lot of people say wait a minute, isn't Hillary Clinton the far away frontrunner, what are you doing?

He is going to give an official speech on economic policy, but he did reach out to his political network there and I want to show you a new Bloomberg poll. Here's one of my questions about Ted Cruz.

He has been among the most active. He is a Tea Party favorite for the last couple of years, very high profile here in Washington, sometimes in controversial ways, traveling the country. But look at him in this New Hampshire poll, which number one tells you there is no front runner, Jeb Bush at 16 percent, Rand Paul at 13 percent, Scott Walker at 12, but why is Ted Cruz for all his high profile in the party at 3 percent?

KUCINICH: People in New Hampshire don't like the kind of bold, outrageous Ted Cruz type usually. You don't see that. I think that's why that's reflecting that way.

MARTIN: I also think there is something to the fact that people are looking for a president and perhaps the image of him right now is not presidential. It's more as a sort of a combative Washington figure who has been taking it to Obama, which they like but his challenge, John, is to take that image and transform that in some of this more presidential, not easy.

KING: Not easy. He is single digits, you mentioned, New Hampshire doesn't particularly like that -- he's pretty low out in Iowa as well. I mean, Rick Perry went after him implicitly. He was talking about President Obama.

But saying that he thought the country was ready to move away from a freshmen senator, not ready to be a president. Is that part of his problem too?

If are you a Republican voter and you've spent the last six years now saying Obama wasn't ready, a freshman senior wasn't ready to be president, whether it's Marco Rubio, Rand Paul or Ted Cruz, is that a problem for them to try to convince Republican activists who made that about the last freshman senator our current president? Look at me?

KUCINICH: Yes, I think it is especially when have you so many governors, have you high profiles running. I think it's a big hurdle. Not only for them, also for Elizabeth warren on the other side, who is frequently mentioned as a potential challenger to Hillary Clinton.

MARTIN: There is a history in the country of electing the opposite after a two-term president. That's what we tend to do in this country. It's often times stylistic, but it to be structural, too. The fact is that is a looming problem for those the senators that you mentioned.

It will be more pressing when their opponents and this primary bring it up explicitly. Now it's folks like us talking about it. Perry and others started saying that over and over again, especially figures like Rubio and Rand and Cruz start rising in the polls.

KING: We should remember we went from Jack Kennedy to Barack Obama, a sitting senator a government with other credentials. Let's come back to Ted Cruz in his role and the big controversy within the Republican Party right now.

Remember when they passed, when they kept the government running last year, they passed this big spending bill. They were so bad. They said, no, we want to vote separately on homeland security funding. Now there is some threat of the department running out of money.

Can they reverse the president's executive actions? Ted Cruz who has been front and saying we have to stop. The president is saying this fault.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CRUZ: This is a strategy that came from Republican leadership. This is the Cromnibus strategy. If you'll recall, I fought tooth and nail against the Cromnibus in December. Because I said in December, this gives up our leverage.

It puts us into effectively a boxed canyon. So I would say it's now up to leadership to layout their strategy. I told them this was not a winning strategy. They went down the road anyway.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: I love the language -- which puts us in a boxed canyon. It's a great way. They are in a boxed canyon.

You have people like Ted Cruz or Steve King, the Tea Party people in the House saying what the president did. They think it's unconstitutional. They think it's wrong unless they want to take away the money for the department that protects our borders that keeps us safe from terrorism.

KUCINICH: Even then they can't stop it. It will happen. Remember how well the shutdown worked so. We Ted Cruz blaming everyone else, it might be time to look internally.

MARTIN: But he knows what he is doing, that box is poignant. The phrase they used against him on the shutdown they had a memorable exchange in the floor of the Senate. Now the exact analogy, but Cruz is having some fun now with the other side.

KING: Fun politically but let's see if they can get out of this? This is a huge challenge for Republican leadership that said give us the Senate majority in addition to the House majority, we will prove to you we can govern. They've had a hard time getting out the starting blocks.

MARTIN: But instead of addressing in December, they adhered to the maximum, why do today what you can do tomorrow.

KING: I will give you guys a chance. You mentioned at the beginning. I was going to have this conversation with Alisyn, but John Kerry asked by Chuck Todd, you are not going to run, are you? He says.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is it a never say never?

JOHN KERRY, SECRETARY OF STATE: Nobody ever says never, but I'm not never I have no concept of it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: He has no concept of it. Does anyone else have a concept of it?

KUCINICH: Shouldn't be OK to say never?

KING: Yes.

MARTIN: He is ready and rested and ready and has miles under his belt.

KING: You are just noting Alisyn as I get back. Jonathan was noting in New York, we might have a cycle, without a Massachusetts guy running for president. Red Sox nation has to be represented out there somewhere. We usually lose, though.

CAMEROTA: A good point. I'm not sure that you as their sole demographic is good enough to get into race, but OK, you know, never say never.

KING: I didn't say I vote for them. I just said they should be out there running.

CAMEROTA: For your entertainment, I know, I get that. John, thanks, so much. Great to talk to you.

All right, "American Sniper" Chris Kyle's alleged killer is about to go on trial. Does the popularity of the movie color the case? Our legal experts weigh in.

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CUOMO: The trial for the man who killed former Navy SEAL Chris Kyle is set to begin this week. But the popularity of the film "American Sniper" based on Kyle's life raises questions.

Will Eddie Ralph, defendant get a fair trial and if he has PTSD and mental illness problems, problems the movie highlights, what will the verdict be?

Joining us now are Jeffrey Toobin, CNN senior legal analyst and former federal prosecutor and Paul Callan, CNN legal analyst and criminal defense attorney.

Paul, let's start with the first question, which is do you believe that given where they will have this trial and the popularity of the movie, do you think it can be held in a fair way?

PAUL CALLAN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Yes, I do think it will be held in a fair way. It will be very difficult, obviously, with "American Sniper" being the most popular movie in the country. Everybody is intimately familiar with the victim in this case, which is very rare in a murder case.

But in the end you have to say if you choose to shoot a famous person you can't later on say it's unfair to give me a trial because I shot a famous person. He can't go, he's got to be moved someplace else in Texas. Everybody in Texas knows about the case. Everybody in the United States knows about the case.

CAMEROTA: Jeffrey, I was surprised to learn that the judge is not going to automatically disqualify potential jurors who have seen the movie or have read Chris Kyle's auto biography.

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Not automatically, but you can be sure they will be questioned closely about whether they have feelings that would disqualify them? You know, we often have this conversation about high profile cases, can you get a fair jury.

I think those of us in the news media thinks people follow these cases as much as we do. People don't. People in the real world have other lives, other interests. I think it's usually easier to find an unbiased jury that you might think here.

CUOMO: Let's get into it a little bit, though, Paul. Here's what we know. Every show, according to senior producer, John Griffin, every show, every seat that they were having in this area of Texas was sold out. So you know people are watching the movie.

But the question is, what message do you take away from it? This man supposedly has PTSD supposedly is going to defend himself with insanity the movie makes very strongly a case that this is much worse than you people know.

You don't understand what they deal with over there and how it plagues them coming home. Could that ply to his favor and maybe he gets found guilty but insane?

CALLAN: I think that's a great observation. I think in fact the existence of the movie will help him tremendously. It's almost like the movie is an exhibit how veterans returning from Iraq can suffer from conditions, PTSD in particular.

Remember, the defense here isn't I didn't do it. The defense is that this mental illness caused me to do it. It's almost as if Chris Kyle is helping him through the grave through this movie requested American sniper" to send a message to the jury in this case.

CAMEROTA: Although, Jeffrey, there are some claims the defendant here did not see combat in service and he might not actually have been suffering from PTSD, though it is a convenient narrative because of the movie. That said, he could still be found to be insane.

TOOBIN: Absolutely. There are a lot of people who never saw combat. I think it's also worth noting that there is going to be another theme in this trial, which is putting the VA on trial.

The defense is going to claim that the veterans administration, which is not a particularly popular institution didn't give him the care he need, he deserved. It was really the VA's fault, at least, if part, for the untreated illness he had.

CAMEROTA: That might resonate with the jury as well. CUOMO: That's how he came in the first place. Kyle started some bay through his own therapeutic process to work with guys suffering from PTSD.

TOOBIN: I wanted to add. I think that is an enormously important point that maybe we don't focus on enough is that Chad Littlefield was also killed here, which makes this crime so much worse and I feel for his family sometimes this is always referred to as the Chris Kyle case.

CUOMO: A big test of sympathies.

CAMEROTA: You make a great point and yet, Texas not looking for the death penalty.

CALLAN: That's unusual in Texas. They're not shy about seeking the death penalty. I think there is understanding in Texas that in this case because you are dealing with a war veteran and has maybe it doesn't rise to the level of a legitimate insanity defense, there are underlying mental illness issues involved.

TOOBIN: There is a little told story here, too. The death penalty in Texas is way down. Prosecutors are asking for it a lot less. Jurors are imposing a lot less. The death penalty is slowing down everywhere, included in Texas.

CAMEROTA: All right, Jeffrey Toobin and Paul Callan, thanks, so much for your expertise.

And tonight, be sure to watch our CNN special report. It's called "BLOCKBUSTER, THE STORY OF AN AMERICAN SNIPER." We look at this story from every angle at 9:00 p.m. Eastern. Let's go to Michaela.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: All right, you have a new high-tech car of yours may have all sorts of features. Is it vulnerable to hackers? Security experts looked at 20 different smart cars, find out if yours is hackable coming up.

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PEREIRA: All right, it's time for CNN Money now. Business correspondent, Cristina Alesci is in our Money Center, what is shaking as far as the money goes?

CRISTINA ALESCI, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Michaela, I have a new report that gives startling insight into HSBC's practice of hiding money for clients to avoid taxes. Its private Swiss arm had more than $100 billion in assets at one point and criminal customers.

In response, the bank says it has since reformed that business and slashed the number of accounts. Yet another place we're vulnerable to hackers, our cars.

Our report from the office finds there are major security gaps in almost every vehicle that uses wireless technology. That means hackers can take control of the car or collect the driver's personal information.

In another hacking story, Chipotle is apologizing for obscene tweets over the weekend. Hackers took over the Twitter account changing the profile picture to a swastika and tweeting offensive messages about the president.

PEREIRA: Not Chipotle.

ALESCI: And the more serious hacks are those with sensitive customer information.

CUOMO: To be clear, it wasn't Chipotle employees. They're saying they got hacked.

All right, so we've been covering the fighting that is going on in Eastern Ukraine. It is getting worse. That's what it looks like. That is a massive explosion that could change the face of a town. We are on the ground there as world leaders are getting ready to meet and talk strategy. We'll give you both sides of the situation.

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