man alive who's hosted "the tonight show" and "late night," i want to congratulate jimmy fallon. that's it for "the lead." i'm jake tapper. i now turn you over to wolf blitzer. mr. blitzer? >> jake, thanks very much. crimes against humanity. the united nations issuing a truly shocking report about abuses by north korea's leaders. a group in syria that is even too brutal for al qaeda. and fake websites groups after a republican decoy tricked people giving money to the gop. and george zimmerman speaks out. chris cuomo talks about is had interview with the man who thought trayvon martin. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room."

we begin with a horrifying report issued about north korea's regime. the report, based on testimony from hundreds of witnesses, says north korea's leaders use murder, torture, slavery, and mass starvation to keep themselves in power. it says the brutal regime has no parallel, no parallel in today's world. brian todd has been going through the report getting reaction. he's here to report on what he found. brian? >> wolf , it is the detail and some of the imagery. we have to warn viewers, some people might find the drawings at the top of our story disturbing. images of skeletal, starving people eating snakes and rats, emaciated human remains left for rats to eat, prisoners being

accused and tortured. they are part of disturbing and exhaustive report of human rights in north korea. hundreds of former prisoners and other witnesses were interviewed. a survivor tells of a starving woman who gave birth in a camp. a prison official repeatedly beat the mother, she said, eventually forcing the mother to drown the child. with her shaking hands, she picked up the baby and put the baby face-down in the water. >> there's no other place on earth today that has the level of abuse of human rights that north korea does. >> reporter: prison camps with systematic starvation and rape is common places. officials describe grotesque methods. guards would force them to dig their own graves, they said, and then hit them over the head with a hammer.

an anonymous former prison official says another method was to have an inmate come to an office and sit down. two people would be waiting with a rubber rope. >> translator: if you strike someone with it, it will wrap around their neck and then kill them by pulling on the rope. >> reporter: a defector who selfed for the u.n. told cnn's paula hancocks how guards presumably killed her brother. >> they tied him to a truck and drag him for 45 kilometers. when he fell down, they kept on driving. >> reporter: kenneth bae is reported to be held at one of those camps. >> too many times in this building there are report ts and no action. now is time for action. >> the north korean government wants to be recognized in every venue where north korean

officials walk internationally. this is going to stalk them. >> reporter: they call it a political plot and say, quote, the human rights' violations mentioned in the so-called report do not exist in our country. but this really could be the most detailed account ever released of human rights' abuses inside that country. still, there's a lot of uncertainty over whether this is really going to force international pressure from the chinese, the russians, or really from anyone else. >> according to this u.n. report, if you run a follow of the north korean regime, they don't just come after you. >> that's right. not just you. they will target your entire family. one woman testified that she was in prison for gossiping about their late leader kim jong-il. they put her in a prison camp, her elderly parents in a prison camp and four of her children ages 1 to 9. all of them died except for her and she says she and other witnesses say that north koreans have this plan in place to

basically ex terminate three generations of a family if they run afoul of the regime. >> thanks for the report. joining us now, one of the america's most senior dim employee mats. wendy was the clinton's administration point per for dealing with north korea's nuclear program. at the time, she helped negotiate that nuclear deal with north korea. now she's been deeply involved in negotiating the nuclear deal with iran. ambassador sherman, thanks so much for joining us. i want to get to iran in a moment but there's a disturbing report, as we just heard, that came out from the united nations that north korea, a country you know well, is engaged in effectively crimes against humanity against its own people. i wonder if you want to react to that. >> well, there can't be any reaction except one of horror. we have known for some time that there are horrible prison camps, some call them guolags in north

korea, that many people really live on twigs and plants because there is a tremendous food shortage. we know a whole generation of children are growing up with stunted growth and intellect. as i have always said, north korea is not a place that any of us would want to live in and i give the united nations credit for highlighting the horrible human rights abuses going on drawing the attention to it and the need to do something about it. i'd also note that north korea still holds kenneth bae, an american citizen who is not well and ought to be released and released without conditions now. >> is there any progress, any talks, any behind the scenes efforts under way to get mr. bae out of there? >> i think there have been constant efforts to get mr. bae home and we will continue to do everything we possibly can to get him home as soon as we can to his family.

>> let's hope he's released. >> secretary kerry was just in china. absolutely. absolutely. >> you were going to say secretary kerry was just in china. he raised the issue of kenneth bae? is that what you're saying? >> he was just in china and he discussed the whole situation in north korea, the need for them to really make progress and show the world that they are going to be serious if the six-party talks are reconvened to deal with the human rights abuses in north korea and, of course, concern about ken bae still in north korea. >> what's your reaction to these reports that russia might be willing to build a nuclear reactor in iran in exchange for oil shipments from iran? is that something that the u.s. would welcome? >> well, i think i saw that news report. it was from iranians speaking about an oil deal with russia, possibly with russian exchange building them a second reactor. i think that we will see where

we get with these negotiations on a comprehensive agreement which begin tomorrow with iran. as you noted, we had a very good first step in the joint plan of action where iran made very serious commitments to stop the advance of their nuclear program and, in fact, rolled it back in some regards and for that they got very limited and targeted sanctions relief from the united states, the european union. everybody is needing their commitments and tomorrow we're going to build on that first step because we don't want it to be the only step and we don't want it to be the last step because the international community has a lot of concerns about iran's nuclear program and the president is absolutely committed to making sure that iran does not obtain a nuclear weapon. >> and so far everything that they are supposed to do, according to this interim agreement that they have done, is that right? >> so far, everything that they are supposed to do in the interim agreement, it's a first step agreement because it's meant to build towards the comprehensive agreement and the

joint plan of action even lays out some of the issues that must be addressed in a comprehensive agreement. so far everyone and the rest of us pro wvided relief have kept their commitments. that's a good sign as we begin this comprehensive negotiation but we go into this negotiation very clear-eyed, very sober. it's going to be very tough, it's going to be a difficult process and it's going to be tough to make the progress we feed to. we're going to do everything we can because it's important to the united states, it's important to our security and to the security of the world. >> let me get your reaction to the ayatollah's latest comments on this deal that's been worked out, the supreme leader ayatollah. he said this and i'll put it up on the screen for our viewers. "what our officials started will continue. we will not renege.

there is no use, it will not lead anywhere. he's saying that the program as has been built up will continue and is not going to move away. what is reaction to what i would regard as pretty tense, tough words? >> i think there are a lot of tough words about iran and about its nuclear program. what i care about is what iran does. much more than what iran says. we're at the beginning of a negotiation. everybody is setting out their positions. everybody is setting the table for this tough negotiation. so i'm not surprised by the rhetoric that is coming out of iran. they were probably not surprised about what the united states is saying as well. what really matters is when we sit down at the negotiating table, that iran take the concrete verifiable steps, transparent and very real to give the international community confidence that they will not obtain a nuclear weapon and if they have a civil, peaceful nuclear program, it will truly

be exactly that. >> ambassador sherman, thank you so much for joining us. >> thank you, wolf. up next, a 4-year-old is left to make his way through the desert alone as refugees flee the horrors of syrian's civil war. and you saw it first right here. the gop's fake websites that tricked democrats into voting for republicans. now you're going to see the changes that our cnn investigation has led to. [announcer] word is getting out. purina dog chow light & healthy is a deliciously tender and crunchy kibble blend. with 20% fewer calories than purina dog chow. isn't it time you discovered the lighter side of dog chow. purina dog chow light & healthy. instead of paying too much for an ipad, i got the surface 2. first of all, it comes with office and outlook. then, with free skype calls to phones in over 60 countries,

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cnn has obtained a

remarkable collection of video, evidence of the brutally harsh tactics used by the radicalist islamist groups isis to control syria. it's a group so radical that even al qaeda has distanced itself from the group. in the videos recorded by the group itself, isis is seen interrogating and conducting executions. the video is quite graphic. ben wedeman talks about what can be learned about the recordings. >> reporter: he is asked, how old are you? i was born in 1980. he responds i have two children. do you want to see them again? god knows i do. i have nothing to hide. a man who calls himself a doctor pauses collecting his thoughts. so talk, answer quickly. are you cooking up lies, shouts the other. this video is one of eight

obtained by syrian by activists. there is distinct iraqi accents asking about what is going on north of aleppo. it's clear that the interrogators are not with bashar al assad but rather with isis, the islamic state of iraq and syria. it's not clear what happened to these men but another chilling video we'll show you later may be a clue. early last year isis emerged as a major power in opposition-controlled areas in syria. since then, the ultra extremist group has imposed strict islamic law holding executions and opposition groups well over 2,000 dead. even al qaeda's leader has demanded isis leave syria. missing in the interrogation is any mention whatsoever of the

assad regime. the only concern is the challenge posed by other opposition factions. who is erasing the slogans and symbols of isis on the walls, demanded the interrogator? i swear, i don't know as god as my witness who responds to this man. another interrogation, what were they saying about the islamic state? say the truth. save yourself. i'll speak the truth even if i lose my head, responds this man, who says he's called mustafa. all of these were found in the room of this man. activists describe him as an isis commander and intelligence officer. they found the abandoned video in january after he fled fighting between isis and other

factions some of the clips and still shots show a young woman in the company of the man holding an ak-47 assault rifle. steady, he tells her, steady. clearly this was for this man and woman a private moment. so what happened to the interrogated man? it's not clear from the videos but one of the last recordings documents in detail ruthless-style execution by flashlight. ready? asks a voice off camera? 14 men, some apparently quite young are shot one after the other. the scenes are too graphic for us to show. some fall into the mass grave already dug. the new boss in this part of

syria, none like the old boss. ben wedeman, turkey. >> that shows you the utter brutality of what is going on in syria right now. at the same time, listen to this. a 4-year-old left to make his way through the desert alone as refugees frantically escape the violence. it's one of the searing images of this brutal civil war which rages on and on and on as the latest efforts to stop it get bogged down. let's bring in our chief national security correspondent. how is this going on? >> we're really getting a vision inside the country as it disintegrates and it seems the most vulnerable, the ones that suffer the most. as a father, i think we are all having the same reaction and the sad fact is that int international efforts are failing. the two countries with arguably the most power to influence the

situation on the ground, the u.s. and russia are pointing n fingers at each other. it gives the bleakest picture of the suffering. this is one victim on one day of syria's brutal civil war. a child crying, they died. my siblings died. my sisters. after his home was destroyed by a barrel bomb dropped by regime forces. this is another victim, a 4-year-old separated from his family as they fled the fighting. and now diplomatic efforts already crippled after peace talks in geneva broke up with no progress is resending recriminations. today, secretary of state john kerry blamed russia, until now a partner on the peace talks and the deal to destroy syria's chemical weapons. >> russia needs to be a part of

the solution and not be distributing so many weapons and so much more aid that they are in fact enabling assad to double down. >> reporter: his russian counterpart sergey lavrov level d right back, saying it's the u.s. betting everything on a military solution. the obama administration largely dependent on geneva talks is looking for other options. >> none of us want boots on the ground but to visit other options that are viable then i think is the only thing that we can do. this is shameful. >> reporter: that leaves a broad range of alternatives which the white house is so far rejected from arming and training the opposition to covert operations to targeting regime forces with air strikes. >> if you are not willing to put any lives at risk under any circumstances or risk, then

people simply think you don't care and since so many are willing to put lives at risk, they are going to determine the outcome of the battles that unfold in syria. >> reporter: the lost refugee was eventually reunited with this family, one small dose of relief for a country desperate for peace. senior administration officials tell cnn that the u.s. is now pushing for a new u.n. security council resolution condemning the atrocities and also improving the human humanitarian situation on the ground, in part to help syrians but that resolution will not likely include the threat of sanctions or force. it's not clear whether the russians would consider even a resolution without the threat of sanctions or force. this is really the situation we're in right now. and you see the folks on the ground. they are suffering and really reaching out for a sense of who is going to help them, who is going to ride to their rescue and we don't see that at this point. >> as is the case on other issues, there's a real slip between the u.s. and russia when

it comes to russia. >> that's right. and we need them on this. >> jim sciutto, thanks very much. as a result of our own cnn investigation, there are changes to decoy websites that tricked democrats to donating to the gop. cnn's chris cuomo will discuss this extraordinary interview with george zimmerman about the night that he killed trayvon martin. stay with us. you're in "the situation room." ] nearly 7 million clients. how did edward jones get so big? let me just put this away. ♪ could you teach our kids that trick? [ male announcer ] by not acting that way. it's how edward jones makes sense of investing.

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as a result of a cnn investigation which you saw first right here in "the situation room," a gop group has now changed its bogus websites. they look like the sites of democratic candidates that people who thought they were donating to democrats actually gave money to republicans. here's drew griffeth of cnn investigation. >> wolf, you could still get tricked and following our report you will no longer be so easily fooled to giving money to the wrong party. we first reported the story earlier this month.

it looked like websites of democratic candidates running for congress. but if you look closer, read the fine print. they are actually attack sites built by the national republican congressional committee. it's part of a strategy that the republicans came up with, buying up internet domain names for what they consider weak democrat opponents and then creating the fake websites to fool people who are looking for info on democrats. the problem is, the sites can also fool you into giving money to the wrong person. randy, an attorney in augusta, georgia, wanted to give $1,000 to his democratic congressman john barrow. he clicked on the big donate button -- >> all i see is the blue. donate. and george bush's picture pops up, congratulations that you helped to defeat john barrow. and i tell my wife, oh, my gosh,

i just donated to the wrong website. >> he got his money back but the commission led to investigation about whether this was even legal and now it's changing the way that the republicans are doing business on these websites. the websites aren't going away but when you hit that big donate button, you won't be fooled. the donate button will redirect you to what is a very obvious republican donor page telling you exactly what you are donating to. the spokesman for the republican says it's not really a change, just an update. we recently updated our contribution pages as we frequently do, he told us, to highlight our efforts to defeat house democrats in 2014. in any event, wolf, these fake websites aren't going away and you could still be fooled into reading them. republicans say after our report you just won't be fooled into giving to them. wolf? >> drew, thanks very much for that report. let's discuss what is going on

with our chief congressional correspondent dana bash and cnn political commentator ryan lizza, washington correspondent for "the new yorker" magazine. this is why so many people hate politicians. >> this took me by surprise. you see campaigns stealing the urls so when you search a term -- >> in other words, if it says john smith for congress, you think that's a democratic candidate and you think you are giving money to john smith for congress. >> they are foiling people into a donation page and trying, it seems to me, to get them to give money to someone they don't want to give the money to. traditionally the page shows you a bunch of negative information about the person. that's par for the course. that's what is wrong with politics, too, but this took it a step further by tricking people into candidates that they don't want. >> dana, at least based on the reaction from drew griffin's report which we aired here, at

least they are making a change. >> yes, they are making a change. let's face it, they got caught. they are making a change because they got caught. look, i think it's pretty hard to imagine that people out there would be surprised by anything in washington because the view of washington is not very high. but this isn't the kind of thing that you think happens in real life. i just finished "house of cards" and that is something that -- that's washington at its worse. people think -- >> it's the second season. >> it's the second season. that's how people think washington really is, which nobody is out offing people here. >> if cnn hadn't done this, they wouldn't have done anything about it. they say they got beat on the web and on our online strategy by the democrats in 2012 so we're proud of this because now we think we get it. i think they took the wrong lessons for why the obama campaign was successful.

it wasn't about tricking people to donate to them. >> at least they've made changes, glad we made that report. look at these job approval numbers for the president of the united states. right now his approval number is at 42% approval. 53% disapproval. a year ago exactly he was at 43% disapprove and 52% approved. if you look at the key states where vulnerable democrats are up for re-election, whether it's louisiana, north carolina, alaska, the president's approval numbers are even lower than nationwide and that does not bode well for these democrats if midterm elections are a referendum as they usually are. >> it doesn't. the flip side, maybe the good news is they were never planning on running on barack obama's coat tails. most of the states he lost to mitt romney even though he went on to win the white house.

they have been planning for years to run as their own people, as you hear over and over again and to not, in many cases, run against the white house even though they are democrat. they are planning for that and they know that he is going to potentially be a drag, not necessarily because of his poll numbers now but because he was never popular in those states. >> running for re-election in arkansas, a democrat, i'm sure his approval ratings in arkansas are lower than they are nationally. >> yeah. but look, there's a tight correlation between national approval and how many members of their own party in the house and senate you lose. if you look at the graphics, almost a perfect correlation. so it's in every democrat's interest to have an approval higher. >> how do they do that? they've got until november, obviously, so how do you do that? >> that's a great question for the white house. how do they do that when they don't want him there? they just want him to be quiet.

they don't want him to be out in public at all. >> one thing i would say, going back last month to the state of the union address, one thing that democrats who i talked to who are in charge of getting their fellow democrats elected were happy that the president didn't have a partisan approach. he gave the kind of speech that they hope eventually will change those numbers because it will remind people at least that they like him, which is half the battle for a lot of these democrats running up against the president. >> part of is out of hits control and part of the presidential approval is based on how people are feeling about the economy. >> and what's going on in the world at that particular moment. guys, thank very much. dana and ryan, thank you. good discussion. up next, george zimmerman said he hoped his life would go back to normal after the trial that captured the nation. but seven months after it ended, he's still getting death threats. i'll speak to chris cuomo about

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george zimmerman says he's still getting death threats seven months after he was acquitted in the death of 17-year-old trayvon martin. the former neighborhood watchman spoke to chris cuomo. there was a subject of race and plus the controversial law in florida such as stand your ground into the national spotlight. >> reporter: do you regret that

you killed trayvon martin? it's a simple question but one george zimmerman can't seem to answer. >> unfortunately, the department of justice is conducting a civil rights investigation so those are the types of questions that because of the investigation i have to tread lightly and i can't answer them. >> reporter: we checked, the department of justice is investigating but charges are not expected. still, zimmerman's reluctance seems to be more than about legalities. do you have regrets? >> certainly i think about that night and my life would be tremendously easier if i had stayed home. >> reporter: if you could go back, you would have stayed home? >> certainly in hindsight, absolutely. >> reporter: as a point of clarification, you said my life would be so much easier. when you say i wish i had stayed home that night, are you thinking about you and also tray john martin? >> certainly i think about him. i think about my family. all the families that have been

put in any type of a dangerous situation. so, yes, i think about everybody involved. >> but it's safe to say, if you could change how that night came out, you would both be alive today? >> i think that's just a different way of rephrasing that. >> reporter: if you could go back and do it again, you would have stayed home that night? >> i would have stayed home. >> reporter: so both of you would be alive today? >> that's a presumption i can't make. i could have gotten in a car accident when i left, so. >> reporter: but you wouldn't have wound up killing trayvon martin had you had it your way? >> he probably wouldn't have ended up attacking me if i had stayed home. >> and chris cuomo is joining us now. great work, as usual. george zimmerman wouldn't say he actually regretted killing trayvon martin. he says he's not haunted by the memories of that night. what do you make of that? >> i think he doesn't regret killing trayvon martin.

i'm not being simplistic. i think he feels he was a victim. he had to do this to save his life and it's almost impossible for him to do what even seems appropriate, which is to at least express remorse that you had to take a life to save your own. >> you don't think it was about the law? >> i know it wasn't. yes. >> and what does that make you? >> like a scapegoat. >> a scapegoat for -- >> the government, the president, the attorney general. >> they would be scapegoating you why? just to show that they are taking a position on something that matters to a lot of people? >> i don't know what they are thinking or why they are thinking it. all i know is that they are doing it. i don't know what agenda they have. >> he said he was a scapegoat for president obama and the attorney general eric holder. why do you think he feels that way? >> because they are two very distinct narratives here. there is the more obvious one which is this guy killed a black kid and got away with it. there are people who are angry.

it shows a miscarriage of justice, it shows that there is not equality for blacks under law. but there is a parallel narrative, which is, well, the police and a state investigative authority both thought there wasn't a crime, that he only got prosecuted because of politics, he was made a scapegoat by politicians and still beat the case. this is about the righteousness of stand your ground. there are two narratives. he buys into the second one and that is what his reality is, that he's a victim, he did the right thing and did the right thing under the law and that's why he was acquitted. >> and he says he's still accused of being a racist, says he still gets death threats. i guess his life will never be the same. >> well, and it gets tricky, right? i think there's a substantial basis to the threats. he does wear bulletproof vests. he has a lot of security. what's the balance? he's alive. trayvon martin lost his life. and george zimmerman, if he were in any other state, maybe he's

be rotting away in jail. i say maybe because his case, the facts of his case, to me, wolf, i wasn't surprised that he was acquitted during the trial. i think in just about any state the facts of his case may have made self-defense an option for him with a jury anywhere. >> so the interview has created a lot of reaction, a lot of buzz out there and i'm anxious to get your sense to this reaction since the interview aired this morning on "new day." >> look, how can you not feel outraged if you're sympathetic or a member of the african-american community when it seems that at least in florida, if not other places in the country, kids keep getting killed and there is no punishment. on stand your ground, it's no question a problem. it's not something that grew out of the natural defense of self-defense did. it was political. it was passed in the mid-2000s, 2005. and it's a problem. here's why i thought

interviewing george zimmerman was important, wolf. you don't do it to hype him. you don't do it to celebrate i am had. you do it for the counter of those things. he's given credit for being this calculated zealot who knew how to work the system and got away with killing trayvon martin because he knew the law and how it worked. i don't think it's true. i think he's much less sophisticated when it comes to the law and how it works because i know that because he knew nothing. he didn't even watch the michael dunn trial. it's not that he's this calculating person. it's that, this is what happens when you have such a low bar for self-defense as you have in florida, that somebody can make a string of bad decisions and literally get away with murder, literally get bailed out of a killing. that's why it's a low bar and it has to be addressed. >> thanks for doing it, chris. we really appreciate it. >> thank you, wolf. appreciate the time and the

attention. >> be sure to catch chris along with kate bolduan on "new day" every weekday at 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. the most news only here on cnn. just ahead, charles barkley goes one-on-one with the president of the united states. the former nba star will take his turn in the hot seat. he's getting ready to join me live here in "the situation room." we'll discuss the president and a lot more. but first, a u.s. olympian who is making a difference on and off the slopes. we're going to tell you how he is saving stray dogs in sochi, russia. it's a story you don't want to miss. no matter how busy your morning you can always do something better for yourself.

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let's get to some other stories coming to "the situation room." a co-pilot for ethiopian airlines is in custody after hijacking a plane to switzerland looking for asylum. the man was arrested when the plane landed in geneva. police took control of the plane when the pilot went to the rest room. people on board were not marmed. a school closed early today due to odor in the water. last week there were reports the water near charleston smelled like licorice while others have complained of dizziness and nausea. it's been over a month since chemicals leaked into the area's water supply. turning now to the winter olympic games where an american snowboarder is making the united states proud with both his hardware and his heart.

cnn's rachel nichols spoke with gus kenworthy who won silver in the men's freestyle skiing and is now grabbing headlines for what he's doing off the slopes. >> reporter: wolf, you've heard, of course, about the stray dog problem here in sochi, how the police have been authorized to shoot the dogs with poison darts as opposed to more humane animal control measures. that has upset a lot of people including gus kenworthy. when he heard about a family of dogs living a tent at the athletes village, he decide instead of just leaving them to the powers that be, he was going to try to make arrangements to bring them back to the united states and adopt them. gus took me to visit the puppies. and of course talking about the silver medal he wob here as part of the historic american one, two, three sweep of the podium just a few days ago. how much has your life changed

since you stepped off that medal stand? >> i don't even know if i know how much it's changed, but it's just been insane. a whirlwind of excitement. just so much going on. >> reporter: you tweeted a picture of yourself on a corn flakes box. >> 12 hours later we were on a cereal box, it was crazy. but a huge dream come true. one of the biggest sports icons in the world have been featured on cereal boxes. to get to be one of those, that's insane. >> reporter: we want to see the dogs. can we go see the dogs? >> yeah. appreciate it. >> reporter: hi, mom. do you want sausage? >>. >> reporter: you heard there were stray dogs around here. what was that like when you start to hear the stories? >> it just kind of sucks for sure. i heard about the animals and they were grounding them inini

them up and exterminating them. i didn't come here to be a spokesperson for humanity for the dogs. this particular family just really kind of touched me. i just think they're so cute and they need some help. so i'm just going to try to bring this family home. hi, you're okay. look, come here. >> you're going to have to give this one a russian name. >> i was think like sochi was kind of night or khutor, or rosa, silver. >> reporter: are you going to show her your medal here? does she like it? gus has a bunch of family and friends lined up to adopt those dogs. he's getting some help from a local russian billionaire of all people with the paperwork necessary to get them out of the country. this guy is a dog lover who heard what gus was doing and like so many people who have heard gus's story, he got

inspired. wolf, i guess a love of dogs transcends all nationalities, politics income brackets, all of it. >> rachel nichols, absolutely right as usual. thank you very much. coming up, he's an 11-time all star and won an him pick gold medal and beat out michael jordan for most valuable player award. but charles barkley says interviewing the president of the united states was probably the coolest thing he's ever done. sir charles, there he is. he's standing by live. we'll talk about the interview at the white house and a lot more that's coming up next. honestly? this deal was way too good to believe. instead of paying too much for an ipad, i got the surface 2. first of all, it comes with office and outlook. then, with free skype calls to phones in over 60 countries, i can talk to my cousins any time. and then, i got 200 gigs of cloud storage -- free -- so i can get my photos and stuff almost anywhere. others charge for that. surface is such a great deal. i feel like i should tell somebody. hey! ♪ honestly ♪ i want to see you be brave

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from td ameritrade. that's my end goal, that's my end destination. for me, even a quick weekend trip to kind of reset makes me a better athlete. [ male announcer ] be a weekender like ashley wagner at hotels like hilton and hampton. book now at hiltonweekends.com. happening now, president obama one on one. it's not your typical interview. when the president of the united states sits down with basketball great charles barkley and talks about hoop, health care and a whole lot more. stand by. race and sexual orientation in sports. and whether he still has game at

age 52. >> do you wake up -- this ever happened to you, chuck, and you wake up and something hurts and you don't know exactly what happened? right? >> charles barkley joins us live to share his impressions of the president and their rare interview. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." president obama doesn't do many one on one interviews, and when he does he usually gets questions about policy and politics, so it's really interesting to hear him open up about his personal passion among other things being basketball. one that i admit i always share. the president sat down with the nba hall of famer charles barkley as part of the all-star game coverage on our sister network tnt. the interview hit some very serious topics including two sports stars who have revealed they're gay. the washington wizards jason collins, nfl draft pick candidate michael sam who came out just last week.

>> what do you think about that? >> i really like the fact that michael did it before the draft because his attitude was, you know what? i know who i am. i know i can play great football. and judge me on the merits. >> speaking about attorney general holder announced the same-sex benefits package last week. >> think about basketball. you know, you think about what the nba was before african-americans were allowed to play on an equal footing. you think about some of the stories that even folks like oscar robertson, you know, tell of what they went through. you thing about what jackie robinson ended up meaning not just to baseball but to the entire society. i wouldn't be sitting here if it weren't for him. i think america's stronger where everybody is being treated with respect and dignity. >> what do you think of the term

"obama care"? >> i like it. i don't mind. i tell you five years from now when everybody is saying, man, i'm sure glad we got health care, there will be a bunch of people who won't call it obama care any more because they don't want me to get the credit. you don't know what life will throw at you. people don't recognize, particularly young people, how important it is to get health care until you are sick and you may lose everything you have or your parents may lose everything they have trying to make you well. wee encouraging people to sign up. they've got until march 31st to sign up for this year. >> if you speak to a specific group, you really talk about young adults. >> folks our age -- i won't call us old yet. >> we're knocking on the door. >> we're knocking on the door. once you're 50, you wake up sometimes -- this ever happen to you, chuck? you wake up and something hurts and you don't know exactly what happened? >> everything hurts when i wake up. >> when you were young, you know, you had to actually have an injury before something

hurts. we'd like to encourage more young people to sign up partly because since they're healthier, their premiums are actually generally going to be fairly cheap. they can find good options for less than their cable bill, less than their cell phone bill. it's just part of growing up is making sure you're taking care of your body, taking care of your health. if you've got a young family, you have to make sure your family's protected with health insurance as well and this allows you to do it. >> you have an exciting initiative coming up called my brother's keeper. explain it. because when somebody explains it to me, it sounds amazing, but i want to hear it from you. >> we want to pull together private foundations, working with mayor, churches, nonprofits and focus on young men of color and find ways in which we can create more pathways to success for them. we're not going to create some big new government program, but

we're going to work with communities, businesses so that whether it's helping to set up early childhood education so young people can read early or it is creating mentorship programs and apprenticeship programs so that a young person can get exposed to what a career is like in, you know, a factory as a machinist where you're getting paid 30 to $35 an hour but you might not even know that that option is available. across the board from the time they're young all the way through their first job, we want to help more young african-american men, latino men, succeed. >> we've got more on the interview in a few moments. bring in the nba superstar, tnt sports analyst and my friend, charles barkley. thanks very much for joining us. >> thanks for having me. >> so what was it like? tell us how you felt. you're in the white house, you're interviewing the president of the united states. >> i was very nervous.

i didn't get a lot of sleep the night before. i got up early in the morning because the interview didn't take place until like 3:00 in the afternoon. and it was a long day, wolf, to be honest with you. i was just very nervous. and i never get nervous, but i was really nervous going to the white house. >> why? why were you so nervous? >> well, i think any time you meet the president of the united states, it's got to be exciting, whether you're a democrat, republican or independent. i met president bush sr., i met president clinton before. and i've actually met president obama before. but it's still exciting. it's obviously just a wonderful tonight, but to meet the president, you've got to be somewhat nervous and also excited. >> and emotional, too, because you described this as being a very emotional experience. look, you grew up in alabama. did you ever in your life expect that you would be sitting down one on one with the president in

the white house? >> never in my wildest dream. you know, wolf, i grew up in the projects of alabama. i've got to tell you the coolest thing about the whole day. after we had finished doing the interview, we bump into each other again. he says, chuck, have you ever been to the oval office? i said, yeah, we do that in alabama all the time. and we both kind of giggled. and he gave me a little kind of quick tour. and it was one of the highlights. hnd he tweeted a picture of me standing next to the president in the oval office. it was just one of the coolest if not the coolest experience of my life. >> it's not just the president of the united states, he's our first african-american president of the united states. and so that must have been an especially powerful moment for you. >> that's what made it even more. like i said before, i had met president bush sr., president clinton, and that was cool, but to be in the white house with the first black president and stand in the oval office, i've

had such an amazing life. and that was just like icing on the cake, to be honest with you. >> it really is. even just walking into the white house -- and i was a white house correspondent for many years. every day you do it, you pinch yourself. you say, boy, what a country we have that something like this can happen. but talk about what he reflected on. we heard him in that excerpt from the interview talking about some of the earlier pioneers, jackie robinson, oscar robertson who paved the way for him and, in fact, paved the way for you. >> being at the all-star game this weekend, i got to see the great bill russell who is probably one of the great mentors i ever had in my life. guys like oscar robertson, wilt chamberlain, dr. j, moses malone, and i know those guys played a little bit later, but you think about it, i never had to do any heavy lifting. all the older black players and white players -- i think

sometimes when we talk about civil rights and you go back to medgar evers and guys like that, those young black men that were killed in mississippi, there's always been a lot of white people who have never gotten the credit. i know the black people deserve most of the credit like rosa parks, but to go back to civil rights, there's always been great white people who marched with those great black leaders. >> why did you decide to raise the issue of gay rights, especially among athletes in the locker room or whatever with this president? >> well, i think it's important as a black man to always be inclusive. i'm always against any form of discrimination. i learned that in bill russell. as a black player, we always want to be inclusive. and we've all played with gay players. listen, we should not discriminate against anybody. and i think it's an insult to gay people to think that they're going to be looking at their teammates in a sexual way. that's an insult to all gay men.

and we welcome them to the locker room. and i wish mr. sam the best. and i'm glad attorney general holder announced same-sex benefits because they deserve the same-sex benefits as other men and women couples. >> charles, i'm going to have you stick around. i have a lot more questions for you. we'll show more of your interview with the president of the united states. he's revealing why he doesn't shoot hoops as much as he'd like to. also, later this -- you're going to find out why the former president bill clinton is on the sidelines and he's cheering. clinton 42. [ park sounds, sound of spray paint ]

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we're back with more of the one on one interview with president obama. charles barkley did the interview live. listen to his conversation about the game they both love. >> so i know you're a big basketball fan. >> right. >> i never thought i'd say this. watching lebron james play at the peak of his superpowers is an amazing debate. i never thought i would say somebody like, this guy might be as good as a michael jordan. >> you know lebron, i know he probl -- lebron. when you're standing next to him and then you watch him close up, i've never seen somebody that size that fast who can jump that high who is that strong whos that that much basketball savvy all in one package. so we don't yet know where he's going to be. now i'm a chicago guy. and mike will always be the guy

for me just because that was a magical moment for the city. and you know, he was a champion. but mike's now retired. lebron, when you look at him, you think he might be able to play high level for another seven, eight, ten years. he's 29 years old. in terms of every aspect of the game, lebron has a chance to be as good as anybody. >> you played basketball, obviously. how often do you get to play basketball now? >> you know, these days it's probably once a month. things happen. one is you just get a little older and creepier. the second thing is you got to start thinking about elbows and you break your nose right before a state of the union address. what's been fun is watching sasha who has been playing basketball now. he's in seventh grade. >> i had ra struggle watching my daughter play basketball. because i wanted her to be really, really good. where are you on that parent fan

meter? >> i think it's a difference if you're a hall of famer. you probably have a higher standard than somebody who was a good high school player. >> retired nba superstar and tnt sports analyst charles barkley is still with us. you love basketball, he loves basketball. let me get back to that other subject you raised for a moment. gay rights. and gay basketball players. right now, as far as i know -- you tell me -- there are no openly gay players in the nba. i assume there are several gays who are playing in the nba, but they're not open about it. when they start coming out and playing on active rosters, how will they be received by their teammates, charles? >> well, i think they're going to be safe with their teammates. i think the public in large is more homophobic than guys in the locker room. i think we as players get a bad rap. if you go back and look at that michael sam interview, he told his team over the summer.

he never had an issue. none of those players outted him on instagram or twitter or other all that social crap. and that was another college player who came out on his team. and he said he was treated great. i think players are going to respect each other. and we should respect each other. when you're part of a team, there's going to be agreements and disagreements. but you should always have respect for each other. that's one of the things that really surprised me, wolf, about that miami dolphins situation. i was blessed to play in the nba for 16 years. i cannot believe other teammates would let some of that stuff go on because when you're part of a team, like every now and then you might cross the line and say something, but i was very surprised and disappointed that other players on that miami dolphins team let some of that stuff go on. that's what disappointed me the

most. >> yeah, disappointed a lot of us. let me quickly get your thoughts on a subject we spend a lot of time here in "the situation room" reporting on the past several weeks and months. dennis rodman and north korea. what's going on here? you know dennis rodman. >> i like dennis a lot. i think he made a mistake trying to think he could go to north korea and keep everything just about basketball. it's obviously a very tricky situation. i can't tell dennis what to do. he's a grown man. i wish he would not have went because i hated all the scrutiny he was going through. but you can't go to a country like that and say, i'm just going to stick to basketball. it's not that simple. >> is there a question when you walked out of the white house and you've been thinking about that interview you had with the president the other day and he took you around to the oval office, is there a question you now wish you would have asked the president that you didn't

ask him during the course of that on-camera interview? >> not really. you know, i felt i wanted to -- i got everything i wanted to say, but the main thing, once i got over my initial nervousness, i wanted to savor the moment. when you're growing up and you leave alabama, you never, number one, thing that you're going to meet the president, you obviously never think you're going to get a chance to do a sitdown interview. i'll never forget it. i thought the coolest thing in my life i'd ever done was when you stand on the podium and they play the national anthem when you get your gold medal, i was able to do that twice, and that was the coolest thing i'd ever done in my life. and this surpassed that by far. >> i'm sure it did. and you had a lot of cool things in your life. i saw you this weekend at the nba all-star game. every year, love doing it. there we are.

we were at the tnt party. you saw kid rock performing there. it's a great moment. the whole weekend, isn't it? what's your favorite part of the nba all-star weekend? >> well, just the celebration of what we do. i thought the coolest moment of the weekend was when bill russell had his 80th birthday. kenny has a great saying, when you walk around the nba all-star weekend it's like a bunch of trading cards come to life. we do the best job out of all the all-star games. kid rock was amazing. the city of new orleans was amazing. but i take my hat off to the nba and the new commissioner adam silver. they just do a great job of celebrating the entire nba heritage. and it was awesome, as usual. >> i take my hat off to the new commissioner adam silver, as well. remember back in 2008 the former

commissioner david stern, he took the nba all-star game to new orleans right not that long after katrina, and that city of new orleans, including the mayor, mary landrieu, everybody in new orleans was grateful to the nba going to new orleans showing their support and the folks of new orleans did an amazing job. you did a very good job yourself. maybe you want to come here in "the situation room" and help me co-anchor sometimes, charles. >> well, i got to say one thing to you, wolf. this is the first time in a long time your washington wizards are going to make the playoffs. so that's the good news i got for you today. >> i'm with you. with you all the way. washington wizards fans, they're thrilled to hear that. you're a good analyst and you're spot on for sure. charles, thanks very much. >> thanks for having me. >> charles barkley is a legend in his own right. and i love that legends brunch every sunday morning of the nba all-star weekend when all those

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the former president bill clinton leading the traditional hog call. he was honored by the razorbacks this weekend as the team celebrated the 20th anniversary of the ncaa championship win.

president clinton was at the game where they won their first title in 1994 when he was president. he told fans he's proud of what arkansas basketball has meant to his home state. finally still here on the sports beat. take a look at how president obama spent part of this federal holiday out there on the links in palm -- i guess it's palm springs, california. it's, of course, where numerous presidents have teed off going back to dwight hizeisenhower. according to the cbs news white house correspondent mark knoller who chronicles all this stuff, he's been keeping count of everything. remember, you can always follow what's going on here in "the situation room" on twitter. go ahead tweet me @wolf blitzer. "crossfire" starts right now.