story, of course, for you throughout the night here on cnn. we also have new information on the breaking story we've been following, a new warning to airlines to be on alert for a possible shoe bombing attempt. an airline industry source now telling cnn the alert targets 35 to 40 specific cities all have nonstop flights to the united states. they include johannesburg, cairo, paris, london and some cities in the middle east. the united states has warned airlines that fly those routes that there will be an increase in the screening of people the tsa has deemed suspicious as well as randomly selected fliers. we'll stay on top of this breaking news store you for you as well. that's all the time i have. i'm wolf blitzer in washington. "crossfire" starts right now. tonight on "crossfire" -- fires in kiev. chaos in the middle east. challenges at home and abroad.

but is the biggest threat to our national security something else? >> in a sense, climate change can now be considered the world's most fearsome weapon of mass destruction. >> on the left, van jones. on the right, newt gingrich. in the "crossfire" -- the adviser to the state department. and bill kristol, one of the president's harshest critics. is climate change the biggest threat we face? tonight on "crossfire." welcome to "crossfire." i'm van jones is on the left. >> i'm newt gingrich on the right. in the "crossfire" tonight, two guests help us clarify john kerry's priorities. today a traditional secretary of state might have called a news conference to address at length the near civil war in the ukraine or the challenges we face in syria and iraq or iran's nuclear program. even the problems in venezuela.

a real secretary of state would focus on the real world. instead we have a secretary of state who says the biggest threat we face is global warming. i want you to hear it again. >> in a sense, climate change can now be considered another weapon of mass destruction perhaps even the world's most fearsome weapon of mass destruction. >> that statement is delusional. it's perfectly fine if you're in the u.s. senate which has a hundred members and anyone can be randomly weird. but delusional thinking is totally inexcusable for any secretary of state. >> well, i am -- we're going to fight that. because i think it's wrong to jump on him about this. first of all, i've worked on this issue, as you know, for ten years of my life. it's a superserious issue, the pentagon says it's superserious, the cia. and i'm surprised at you. you're one of the most

pro-science people in public life. here you have someone trying to elevate sigh tones the global discourse. i think you're wrong to jump on it. >> if you read the actual speech. >> which i have done. >> we're not talking about the sentiment, we're talking about the speech. in a war where you have prnl civil war in ukraine, several thousand nuclear weapons in russia, several hundred nuclear weapons in china over a hundred in pakistan, north korea nuclear weapons, to suggest that global climate change is anything comparable to the threat of nuclear weapons? i use the word "delusional" deliberately. it's really out of touch with the real world. >> the pentagon disagrees with you. there's a guy named newt gingrich who disagrees with you. i want to hear you listen to yourself talk about this issue a few years ago. >> what would you say to senator inhofe and to others in the senate who are resisting even science? what's your message to them here

today? >> my message, i think, is that the evidence is sufficient that we should move towards the most effective possible steps to reduce carbon loading of the atmosphere. >> and do it urgently, now. >> do it urgently. >> this, i love, this newt gingrich guy, he's great. i would hate -- he uwas talking to somebody who used to be called a flip-flopper. i would hate to thing that newt gingrich is competing with john kerry for the title of flip-flopper in chief. >> it was in a debate in the senate conference hearing room talking about taking effective steps and suddenly elevating this -- i'm happy to say this is a serious topic and debate seriously. to then elevate that to more important -- remember, the phrase he uses is very clear. that's why the speech matters. not a press release. he says, this could be the biggest mass threat. >> perhaps, he says. >> just plain not true. >> we're going to be fighting

tonight, but we've got some people to help us get through this. in the "crossfire" tonight, a member of the secretary kerry's actual international security advisory board. we also have "weekly standard" editor bill kristol. i'm going to go to you first, bill. don't you think maybe kerry went a bridge too far. don't you think he's gone 15 bridges too far saying the secretary of state should resign over a line in a speech when john kerry is out there trying to get peace in the middle east and everything else he's doing? >> peace in the middle east is going great. >> but don't you think -- >> the question why it's not just delusional but offensive weapons of mass destruction have been used when john kerry was secretary of state, they were used by bashar al assad. secretary kerry said it was a unique moment. secretary kerry said we would remove bashar and prevent the use of them again and then president obama made a u-turn and we did nothing and we have an agreement that's gotten a few but not most of the chemical

weapons out and -- >> i know you're a critic. >> and 130,000 people are dead in syria and some are dead from weapon of mass destruction and instead john kerry gives speeches about global climate change. ludicrous. >> i know you wish that we'd gone into war in syria and a bunch of other place, but the republican party didn't support the president on a march to war. i've asking you a specific question. do you think that john kerry, who has shown the kind of creativity and energy that he has shown, should lose his job because newt gingrich doesn't like a line in his speech? >> i think he's a terrible secretary of state. >> oh, my god. >> he is terrible. so farcical now, the peace process is going nowhere, ebb incredible flip-flop on syria. my only worry is if we get criticized by john kerry, people will think that hillary clinton was a little bit better, which she was. she did nothing, she had no accomplishments, she wasn't quite as delusional.

we'll inadvertently help hillary clinton by showing how bad john kerry is. >> let me put you on the spot just a little bit. the central premise of my criticisms is in the toughness of my reaction is that a secretary of state is very different than a senator in that a secretary of state speaks for the most powerful nation in the world. this is at an international event in indonesia. and presumably the speech had been thought through, written out and i assume he's telling us what he honestly believes. that he honestly would rank global warming as a threat that could be the greatest sing sl threat. now, holding him to that standard, we can have an argument as, i said, that is delusional. but this is a serious state document that is designed to inform both the world and our own state department about our priorities. >> you know that in the state department speeches like this are cleared by dozens of people. so clearly this is well thought

out. i serve on an advisory board to the secretary of state, but my comments here are strictly my own and don't represent the u.s. government. and they're always happy when i say that. there's no question that john kerry is right on this issue. >> that's right. >> last year when the head of the pacific command was asked what our single-greatest threat was, he said climate change and the reason is. it makes fragile situations worse, it kills crop, floods cities, destroys nations. he is right to be in indonesia talking about this because jakarta is in danger of being drowned out if the flood waters rise as much as the army corps of engineers predicts it will by tend of the century, five feet. >> you think climate change is more dangerous than nuclear proliferation? >> i'm on record saying that nuclear weapons and climate

change present the two biggest threats? >> you think climate change is as much of a threat as nuke rar. >> climate change is slow growth mass destruction. >> unbelievable. >> climate change can change our planet forever. >> why do you disagree with the pentagon's assessment on this? >> make a statement knowing that the -- let me ask you this. >> yes. >> 1997 was a resolution in the united states senate should there be binding limits as kyoto suggested the climate change on carbon emissions. no, the u.s. should sign no treaty with binding limits. one of those senators was john kerry. now he's secretary of state, he goes around the world, giving speeches. what is he doing? is he putting my pressure on china or russia to change their policies? >> they are, yes! >> he just came from -- >> to great effect. >> tell me how much influence he really wields. >> there's more and more

agreement that this is a real threat to us, that this could fundamentally change geopolitics forever. let me give you one quick example where nuclear weapons and global warming come together. south asia. 135 million people live in coastaly-threatened areas. if the sea change is even close to what experts predict, those people are going to throw that continent into chaos. there's 200 nuclear weapons in india and pakistan. you think it's dangerous now? wait 20 years and 50 years? >> 50 years? can we focus on the fact that iran is getting a nuclear weapon in the next two years. >> we are focusing on that. this is just one speech. >> let me stay on your version of reality. first, do you believe any commander would be appointed who said climate change didn't matter? this administration politically, it would be hopeless. to have a senior officer now say i will now repeat what the

senator want meese to repeat -- >> the quadrennial review which sets policy for the country which is key to our national security and includes climate change, you're saying that document, the political document is wrong? >> here's what i'm saying. >> of course it's a political document. >> i do know -- >> political officials a t the defense department. >> but here's a simple test. this is why this is a farce. you go to the pentagon and say, i just read your review. this is one of the two greatest threats to the planet. good. we're taking half your budget and we'll put half your budget into fighting global climate change, they will all of a sudden say to you, i don't think you quite understood the way in which we wrote this. because that's a problem about 45 years from now, but this year we need three more ships. >> this is a budget issue. last year for the typhoon that hit the philippines, we had 15,000 american troops there in relief. how do you budget for something like that?

this is a problem the military actually is facing. >> we're updating the totally discredited science playing that the typhoon is caused by global warming? >> you can't blame any particular -- >> okay. >> but overall the weather patterns are clear. >> joe, let me ask one other question. last year is first year since 1962 that no major hurricane hit the united states. none. now under your theory of all global climate change, how come it was the safest year since 1962 for hurricanes? >> scientists will tell you individual years will vary, but it's the overall trends. ten of the warmest years on record have happened in the last 12 years. something is happening here. the climate is warming. we've gone up -- >> no warmer, it's no warmer in the last 15 years. >> we're going to keep arguing about this. when we get back, here is what newt is absolutely missing. any problem you're concerned about, any problem we can talk about will get worse, as you said, under climate change. i'll connect the dots for you globally when we get back. there's this kid.

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welcome back. we are debating john kerry's call to action on climate change and we're also debating newt gingrich's call for him to resign. now here's a good question. should serious people focus on global political instability, terrorism, failing states, nuclear weapons or should we folk ow on global climate instability, droughts, flood? here's the correct answer. yes, both. because every other will make every national security problem worse. big floods, that can destabilize governments. that makes it easier for extremists to grab power or nuclear weapons. no food, people riot. when the oceans rise, people

flee. you can imagine these scenarios with a billion climate refugees. that's a dangerous place. look, all these issues are interrelated. it's not delusional to focus on climate disruption, it's delusional not to. now, back in the "crossfire," we've got joe cirincione and bill kristol. i want to start with you. let's just go back to this point about the pentagon and its concern. you don't deny that the science of climate change. you believe that something could be happening here. we should take it seriously. >> clearly the earth has warmed. i don't think there's anything different about that today over 150 years. it has flattened out over the years. what are the consequences of that warming is, good or bad. >> don't you thing the pentagon is right to take this seriously? john kerry's getting beat up for saying this is a national security issue. don't you thing the pentagon is right to take it seriously? >> i love hearing van jones say

the pentagon is right. i'll have our guys at the "weekly standard" clip that and put that up online. honestly, if this were as serious as you all thing it is, shouldn't the president of the united states actually be spending political capital to do something about this? the democrats controlled the united states senate. cap and trade. why aren't they trying to bring that up for a vote. this is what i think is annoying, what's sort of infuriated newt and i would share his infuhr yags -- fury is the word, fuhr be this. this is just talk. this is nonsense. if this were as serious as you think, the president would be using capital he has to change u.s. policy and he's doing nothing. >> that's just wrong on the facts and you know it. he just talked about putting a billion dollars to try to do something about this. he did go before congress, the house actually passed a resolution, weren't able to get it through the senate. this president has done more -- he put $36 billion in the

stimulus package trying to move the ball forward on green energy and the price of solar has come down. this president has done well. the republicans have turned this against a litmus of faith. >> i honestly know republicans who were sort of on their heels after 2008. the science is cutting against the president. >> my response was the notion of making this the biggest threat. now, let's talk about reality from a different angle. right now i think we ought to go to kiev to show you. >> yes. >> kiev is literally burning. this is a live picture from kiev. one of the people watching kiev burn who has a deep interest in this is vladimir putin, who is described by former secretary of defense gates who says when he looked into his eyes he saw a stone cold killer. if you're vladimir putin and you looking at the american backdown

in syria and the american backdown in iran where the ayatollah said the negotiations will accomplish nothing. doesn't mind if he talk. you're now seeing the secretary of state put his political capital on global warming. don't you think from putin's standpoint as a guy who thinks of himself as probably the toughest guy on the planet that this is all sort of a joke? he has no interest in those things. his interest is what's going to happen to kiev and he has no interest in the president once again drawing a line as he did this afternoon as he did earlier in syria because putin doesn't think the president is going to do anything. >> i think it's a tragedy that you're making this a political football. this is a very important speech on a very important topic. one speech that he gave. i was there when john kerry at a plowshares event gave a great terrific speech on nonproliferation. about stopping the spread of these weapons. he's talked about iran

today the president of the united states spoke out against the violence in kiev. they're taking action trying to get targeted sanctions against the top officials of the ukraine government. they're organizing with the eu and hopefully the eu will act tomorrow. of course they're doing all of these things. this is one of the important things you have to do. >> to govern is to choose so should they put their capital on climate change? should they put their capital on iranian nuclear weapons? putin? they're clearly not capable of doing all of them simultaneou y simultaneously. >> you don't think john kerry is trying to craft an ice railly-palestinian framework. you don't doubt that he's serious about it at least in the amount of time that he's spent down there, right? >> he's delusional on all three. >> you disagree with his policy but he's putting his capital -- >> the israeli palestinian thing

is crazy. the west bank is stable. >> we don't want to go into why the middle east is so unstable. for example, the war on iraq. >> i'm happy to go into that if you want to have the rest of the debate in that. it doesn't excuse kerry one way or the other. which democratic senator from massachusetts voted for that? i believe his name is john kerry. >> it was a mistake. he's been held accountable for that. you don't get everything right as you know. >> we're talking about capital. >> you're saying despite the speech, again, i only reacted to what he said. i didn't make it up. despite the speech, this may be the greatest danger we're faced with, you're not saying, look, he's really putting his capital on palestine or israel, he's putting it over here. >> the american government has to do more than one thing at the same time. it turns out when you have these interlocking problems you have to do more than one thing. >> anywhere. we're not doing anything about anything. >> that is not true and i am -- >> you had this nice list of all

things we're doing and nine out of ten were things we were saying. the president spoke out about this, we were alarmed by this, appalled by that. >> you would be the first person to applaud john kerry. if you designed a secretary of state, you would design john kerry. he's energetic, creative, going everywhere, trying to talk and show american presence. you are sitting here saying he's the worst. i think you should say one positive thing about john kerry to do something good. >> no. >> no! terrible! >> he's the worst secretary of state than hillary clinton, madeleine albright and other democrats. >> let me ask you to stay here. we want you to weigh in on today's fire back question. do you agree with secretary kerry, climate change is the most fear some weapon of mass destruction? tweet yes or no.

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we're back. now it's time for our outrage of the day. i'm outraged over a field test scheduled for the spring by the federal communications commission. it plans to study how local stations pick the news in order to, quote, ensure that the information needs of all-americans are being met. this may be even more than unusual than john kerry's speech. the idea that we need the

government to protect us from the very reporters that expose the misdeeds of bureaucrats is absurd. thomas jefferson would be enranged. >> that's the first kind and caring thing you said about the media. yesterday i was outraged because of the texas governor candidate greg abbott. he would not disavow ted nugent. a couple of weeks ago he called president obama, quote, a subhuman mongrel. sarah palin has endorsed abbott. she says, if he's good enough for ted nugent, he's good enough for me. there are some people who fling around the word racism way too often but when you call a mixed race blackman a subhuman mongrel, that's racism. governor palin, i want you to know something. my kids are mixed race.

they're not subhuman, they're not mongrels, and no republican leader should do any name-calling. you're a mom. we expect more than that. you can go to facebook or twitter. do you agree with secretary of state's assertion -- kerry's assertion that the climate change is perhaps the most fierce some weapon of mass destruction 567892% say yes, 48% say no. i think that's where the country is on this type of stuff. >> what do you think? >> on kerry's assertion? >> and the country's reaction to it? >> that's one of the reasons the secretary of state has to speak out about these things. they have to let the publics around the world know about the science and the immediate threat that we're facing from the warming of the earth. >> fair enough. i want to thank you both for being here. t the debate will continue on

here. >> i'm dan jones. >> i'm newt gingrich. erin burnett "out front" starts erin burnett "out front" starts right now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com next breaking news out of k kiev tonight. we have exclusive footage. facebook pays a jaw dropping $19 billion for an app. is it worth it. ted nugent calls the president a subhuman mongrel. let's go "out front." good evening, everyone. i'm erin burnett. breaking news. military forces and ukraine on the move ready to defend bases and weapons