rd criminal trial that stems from an assault in jail and he's facing civil allegations. this will be a very interesting case to watch. >> glad you're on it. thank you, mel robins. >> see you at 10:00 eastern. "smerconish" starts right now. this is cnn breaking news. >> welcome to the program. i'm michael smerconish from washington, d.c. with breaking news. an abrupt change of plans by the president of the united states. mr. obama and the first lady left india this morning but that plan has changed. the president will cut short his trip to india, and go to saudi arabia to pace respects following the death of saudi king abdullah. the plan had been for vice president joe biden to go now he will stay home. so the real question of course is why? the president seldom travels for the death of a head of state.

the only to south africa when nelson mandela died. the answer he is facing a myriad of cry sees in the middle cease. not only is saudi arabia getting a new leader but also this week saudi neighbor yemen descended do chaos with the president apparently out after a coup by a shiite group and yemen is the new al qaeda headquarters. then news from our so called strongest ally israel prime minister benjamin netanyahu so mad at president obama that he's coming to the united states to address congress even though the president asked him not to. i can't think of any one better to help us understand this moment than aaron david miller a scholar at the woodrow wilson center and former adviser to several secretaries of state, on the arab israeli peace process. aaron, read the tea leaves. i get the impression this is not just a function of the president saying hey i'm in the neighborhood, i guess i'll attend. >> clearly michael, good morning, great to see you, it wasn't part of the original

plan. some smart advise e let's hope it was the president said look, i'm in the neighborhood. i've been to india twice now which is historic for a president, i've got an important relationship. i didn't show up in paris, i'm hammered for abdicating my responsibilities by republicans and others for leading from behind a lot of issues yemen in crisis next door. i'm going to go see king salman. i think frankly, under the circumstances, it was clearly the right decision. >> is part of the motivation to send benjamin netanyahu a message given the angst that exists between the united states and israel, to let the israelis know hey, saudi arabia is as key an ally to us in that part of the globe as is israel? >> i think that would be too clever by half. it's not like the u.s. saudi relationship is in the best of shape. there are differences, the same things that divide president obama from benjamin netanyahu have caused serious tensions within the relationship between

the saudis. our willingness to accept mubarak's transition perhaps to edge him out. the fact that we're trying to cut a deal with the iranians the israelis and the saudis fear. and support for the new president of egypt which both the saudis and israelis think is the right course all of these suggest that there's serious tensions also within our relationship with saudi arabia. so no i don't think this was intentional willful poke in the eye or a slap but rest assured, the president will be criticized for quote unquote snubbing the prime minister of israel and meeting with the new king of saudi arabia a country that frankly, to say the least, doesn't share our values with respect to human rights. >> let me pursue that. do you think the fact that the president now meets with the new king of saudi arabia increases the pressure on president obama to meet with benjamin netanyahu

when he comes to the united states or will the mindset still be one of that was a poke in my eye, i don't need to meet with benjamin netanyahu. >> i think the chattering classes including myself will continue to debate this but i think no. i think that there's a separate issue between obama and benjamin netanyahu. that israeli elections does suggest that the administration wants to stay clear on this one. frankly, no meeting with the prime minister of israel even from his perspective is better than a bad meeting. >> what strikes me to my untrained eye and i have you here because you're the scholar in these matter is the dichotomy between the peaceful transition of power in saudi arabia and soon because this new king is what 79 it will be transferred yet again, with what's going on in neighboring yemen. will you speak to that. >> i think you broke the code here michael. the kings have made the

transition in the arab spring weathered the arab spring which has become a winter or worse. much better than the phony republics. morocco, qatar, oman the uae emerging as a key american ally in the bloc in the gulf all of these states in large part because of money, some of them have it in large part balls rulers are less cruel and less extracktive than the iraqis and the egyptians, they all maintained a measure of stability, and represent, frankly, despite all of the imperfections and we don't share many values with some of these regimes, they really are partners of the united states. and the fact that the president will be in saudi arabia a state that critics believe is unstable at a time when right next door yemen is in the process of failure big time really makes your point and contrast to

reality that despite all of the instability, there are processes in the middle east and states that can weather the worst kind of regional transition. >> i said to a friend intelligent friend this week that were witnessing a period of unpress departmented unrest in the middle east. his response to me was to say no, this is a reflection of the news cycle. he wasn't critical but saying we have the means now of being more up to date better informed on events that are transpireing around the globe. which of those do you believe? >> i think 24/7 media cycle everything is elevated to the same level of importance which is frankly breaking news is clear. it gives us the capacity in the sense that the world is in crisis. let's be clear, what's happening in the middle east the last four years is extraordinary. things regional transformation like this occurs maybe once a century. no this is a fundamental

transition largely negative most of the moving parts in this region are running in the wrong direction, it's a generational problem. we're going to be in this region perennially and it's going to be in crisis and our real problem michael, is we can't transform it and we can't leave it. we are going to have to try to manage to protect american interests as effectively as we can. >> as always thank you for your expertise. >> always a pleasure. >> thank you. coming up deny deny deny. that's what's coming out of foxboro, massachusetts after bill belichick and quarterback tom brady both say they had nothing to do with so called deflategate. are their denials a bunch of hot air? and the new movie, "american sniper" shattered box office records. was the man behind the war drama a liar? don't go away. ...no calorie sweetener. splenda® lets you experience...

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welcome back. deflategate. everybody including me wamts to know who let the air out of tom brady's football and if they will be punished. the nfl broke its silence confirming the balls were underinflated but the league has not figured out how that happened or if anybody did anything wrong. they have spoken to dozens of people but as of thursday had not spoken to brady. he told a packed press conference he had not broken rules. >> is tom brady a cheater? >> i don't believe so. i mean i feel like i've always played within the rules, i would never do anything to break the rules. >> i'm not sure that press conference got us closer to the truth. i watched and took to my twitter account. i said among things will jeremy bonderman at least ask him what did you know and when did you know it? another, i'm missing helen thomas in the front row. wish she were questioning brady

right now. i know she's gone but she could hold presidents' feet to the fire. he thanks the people who prepped the balls but he doesn't know who handles them. come on. ask a follow-up. joining me or former nfl head of officiating mike pereira, revolutionized coverage for fox sports. and former tight end now boston radio host jermaine wiggins who knows brady well as a tight end he caught a key brady pass in brady's first super bowl win. mike to the uninitiated you know i'm holding now one that is inflated at 13.5 p srkssi and another under. it's hard to tell the difference. we've been passing the footballs and asking people in a blind test can you tell which one is within the reg. is this a big deal? >> be careful when you pass the football. come on now.

there's a lot of exspen stiff equipment there. i do think it is -- i think it's a big deal because really you know it's about the integrity of the game. look it's not a player safety football type act that you may get disciplined for. but this is the integrity of the game. and while everybody has said the same thing that 2 pounds of pressure is hard to recognize, the fact is 2 pounds to a quarterback does have an effect. certainly the aspect may be of it in cold weather. i do think -- >> how about the officials? lou about the officials who -- >> never know. >> why wouldn't the officials have a trained touch that they could have figured this out? >> you know they did it before the game and they actually when they pressure test the balls 3 mark it, put one of their marks on the game. and really 3 don't sit there and squeeze them and try to feel if they are properly inflated. i say these aren't the same guys

that go to the produce store to squeeze avocados. and again, i think it's very hard to tell. i think once they test them at the beginning then they figure the clubs, the ball people anybody that might have any possibility of touching the balls have enough integrity that won't be compromised. obviously there was some type of breakdown here that needs to be found out. >> jermaine i have to tell you that the press conference for me didn't pass the smell test. for this reason. if i were brady and my credibility had been called into question i would be tearing apart that locker room to find out what the hell went on here and who knows what the real story is. instead he came out in the press conference and suggested that he had not asked questions, he wasn't sure who handled the footballs, he couldn't speak to the chain of custody. did no that not rub you the wrong way? >> no, it didn't.

clearly tom brady is a guy he wants to make sure he is calculated in the questions that he is asked. you have to understand you have to make sure you don't say anything that might jeopardize what's going on here the investigation, so he comes out, to me the biggest thing he came out in the one statement i took away from this is he put himself on a ledge and said i had nothing to do with altering the footballs. the nfl then came out and gave us some insight to the investigation and said the balls are kept in the referee's office until 10 minutes up until kickoff time. then they go on the field. and you said clearly you guys were passing around a football. my question is this. if you are a referee and you handle that football on every single play wouldn't you notice the difference after the first possession when the patriots have the football and say hold on these balls feel underinflated. let's stop and see what's going on. we don't know if this is even checked the footballs. >> unlike you i didn't play in

the nfl. my claim to fame is i held for extra points in high school. that's my football career. brady tries to downplay what kind of a deal this really is. but it's brady who lobbied the nfl for the rule change i think it was 2006 where each team got to pick their own football. so tom, which is it. if it's not a big deal why doesn't everybody play with the same ball? >> it's really not a big deal. this underinflating because it doesn't give you an advantage. it doesn't give you -- doesn't make you a better quarterback because you have a football that's underinflated by 2 pounds of psi. if that was the question tim tebow would still be in the nfl and all of these quarterbacks that fizzled out. it's not the underinflation of the football. when you look at it what brady wanted to do changing the rule was saying hey, as quarterbacks we should have the ability to have the footballs, pick the ones we want to use and use our own footballs. not to say hey, why do we have

to all use the same football. i think the thing that he was trying to lobby is that each quarterback would be able to pick the footballs and then those footballs would be decided which are used on game day. >> but mike it has to be a big deal because if it weren't a big deal there would be no standard and we'd let each team go out and play at whatever inflation rate they choose to. >> listen. i was part of that petition that was sent in by the quarterbacks and you're talking about not just tom brady but peyton manning and all of those that sent in the petition to the competition committee to use their own footballs. we got it. the committee got it and understood and thought that it was a fair thing to do to let the quarterbacks -- listen when i was on the field back in '96 and '97 we got new balls in the locker room and i'd have to sit in the shower i was the rookie with the wet cloth and rub all of the red wax off of the ball and brush them and prepare them myself. so the competition committee

said okay let's let the teams prepare their own football. let's let the quarterbacks throw them during the week. i think that was wise. and that includes the super bowl by the way. i disagree with jermaine that it's not a big thing here. because while it may be hard for the layman to touch and feel the two pounds i do think quarterbacks have all said quarterbacks have said that it does make a difference. and again, you know it's kind of like taping on the field, taping the team's calls and plays which we have in 2007. it's the integrity issue of the game. they are breaking a rule. and to me that all boils down to -- >> i'm going to give jermaine the final word. look you are a super bowl champion now you talk about this on the radio. you must have a theory as to what went on here. why would the pressure have been proper and by halftime 11 of the

12 balls are outside the parameters. what do you think happened? >> well first of all what i think happened is i don't know exactly but my theory is this the football the nfl said the footballs are brought out ten minutes prior to kickoff. the window you have a 10-minute window to let out air. to me it's about the officials. and who knows, maybe the officials never checked the gauge. you can't tell the difference between 13 psi and 10.5 psi. so they might have felt them that ball's fine. rather than going through 48 balls and have to put a gauge in. maybe it was hey, these are good and 3 go out and it's brought to their attention because if it wasn't brought to their attention, would we even be talking about this. probably not. so brought to their attention, they go in and 3 measure the footballs, check the air gauge and they can see they are underinflated. the thing i would say to mike and i understand mike has been -- he has been an official but he knows it's better than anybody else a lot of teams in

the national football league league do a lot of things to bend the rules. we heard aaron rodgers say he goes over the allotted 13.5 to get lis footballs a little heavier. so you're telling me he's never played a game with a football that was over inflated? i don't see that. a lot of teams do a lot of things. >> got to shut it down. thank you. thank you, gentlemen. coming up next it's the first major presidential cattle call of the year all eyes on today's iowa freedom summit and the high profile possible 2016 presidential hopefuls including chris christie. will the brash new jersey governor be a hit in front of the ultra conservative crowd? a convicted billionaire pedophile's alleged sex ring new allegations that two high profile men accused of having sex with underage girls. i'll speak to one of them here in a moment. a breathe right strip and shut your mouth.

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welcome back to the program. the story i'm about to tell is not suitable for young children so fair warning. it involves a tangled web of sex and lies featuring famous people everyone from england's prince andrew to criminal defense attorney alan dershowitz aalleged to have sex with girls or young women by jeffrey

epstein who used to be a hedge fund manager known for making large political donations to bill clinton among others. new court papers reveal explicit details about epstein's so called lolita express, a private plane in which he allegedly forced young women to have sex with his friends. the court documents are part of a civil case brought by a young woman who says she was forced to have stex at age 16 with prince andrew and with alan dershowitz the prince denies the allegations, so does dershowitz who has vowed to seek disbarment of the accuser's attorneys. alan dershowitz joins me. professor, i think context is important in this case. am i right in saying that this is a lawsuit in which you are not a named party, but nevertheless you were named as having had sex with an underage woman. >> yes. i'm not a party, and it was like a drive-by shooting. they said oh, by the way, prince andrew and alan dershowitz had

sex with this woman, i don't know koymt have been in the places she said i was at the time for example she said i was in jeffrey epstein's ranch. i was there once with my wife and daughter and friends. his private island i was there once for a day, and four members of his family. so it's impossible that it could have happened. and the woman knows that. that's why she's refused to come on your show or any show and repeat her false allegations in public because she knows that i could sue her. what they have done hidden behind what is called the litigation privilege, put it in a document didn't give me an opportunity to respond, forced me into speaking out in the court of public opinion and sued me for selling the truth. >> so now this week the now 31-year-old woman filed an affidavit in which she affirms that the end she says to a perjury charge and it's loaded with graphic detail and i apologize for reading this. >> please. fiction is good. >> harvard law professor alan

dershowitz was around epstein frequently. dershowitz was so comfortable with the sex that was going on he would come and chat with epstein while i was giving oral sex to epstein. >> you know, anybody who knows me i never smoked a marijuana cigarette, i never snorted cocaine, i have never driven while drunk. i stopped harvard serving cherry to 19-year-olds because i don't believe universities should break the law. i'm the most law-abiding person i'm sexually you know perm and private. the idea of me standing around with a client what are we talking about while he was -- it's so preposterous almost as stupid as her saying that she participated 18 sex orgy with steven haukings while on jeffrey's island. and a range of other preposterous -- >> i also had sex with dershowitz at epstein's zorro ranch in new mexico in the massage room off of the indoor

pool area which was still being painted. have you been in that room? >> no. of course not. i was only in the house while it was being built once in the presence of my wife my daughter two friends, and was there just looking around the house. no one was there. i have never ever seen young women around jeffrey. >> surely you have wondered what could be if it's not true, what could be the possible motivation? professor, to put your name in thels pleadings is to catch a tiger by his tail. you know that one of the smartest legal minds in the world is going to come after you. so i began asking you context because whether this took place doesn't matter to the underlying litigation. why the hell would they put your name in this? >> they profiled me. what they were looking for was somebody who was jeffrey epstein's lawyer and helped strike the bargain which they didn't like but also knew jeffrey, i knew him essentially as an academic a colleague, before any of these allegations

came oup. but i was in his house once on the island i was in his ranch for one hour. so they were looking for somebody who fit the profile. a lawyer who helped him in his case but also knew him and could conceivably have been in a situation. but they picked the wrong guy. i'm just not that kind of person. and they have to know that. >> gawker analyzed the flight log of jeffrey epstein. they say that whereas you suggested you always travel in the company of your wife. >> i said generally. my wife loves to come with me. we're leaving tomorrow for a trip to a foreign destination. she's with me. when i speak i like her to come with me. she doesn't come with me on every trip. she was with me on two. >> let me finish the question. they point out they say that according to the plan i fests your name appears but never does hers on the same where alan desh 0 wilts you get hazel, claire and tatyana. you know those? >> yes.

i note tatiana, she was jeffrey epstein's girlfriend. she was a serious person. the other two names are unfamiliar. they are probably the stewardesses. i was never on the airplane with anybody who looked underage or close to it. >> did you fly on jeffrey epstein's plane with former president clinton? >> no. i flew to a dinner with shim own perez but i never flew with young women and i didn't have sex on an airplane. i am not a member of the mile high club. that's just not me. >> do you worry that if there are portions of this which are true with regard to prince andrew you'll be sullied in the process even if alan dershowitz did nothing? >> i'm not worried. there is a picture of prince andrew with this woman, there is a diary, he has his own situation. i have mine. no picture of me. i'm not in a diary. i was never in the same place with her to my knowledge.

and therefore, i have nothing to worry about. you know when you're completely innocent and have nothing to hide it's really easy to defend yourltz. you don't have to think about what you're saying or whether you could be contradicted. just tell the truth. that's who i've been doing. >> am i correct in saying that this is it for you, professor dershowitz after this interview will have nothing further to say publicly and you'll do your arguing in a court of law? >> i don't intend to have further interviews unless other lies are circulated about me. i will always respond to lies. but i'm satisfied with the state of the record now. i put everything forward, i have not ducked a several question. i'm happy to be deposed. i want to make sure she is deposed first because she is the accuser. i think i'm saying my last word here and i'm sure that any reasonable person in the american public at this point understands that i have been the victim of a totally false charge. >> the jane doe who we're referring to said she's been watching you on television calling her a liar he is lying

by denying that he had sex with me. for the final time respond. >> i challenge her to repeat that to you, to repeat that in public. she shouldn't be hiding behind her lawyers, she is ducking dem 6s by the way. we tried to locate her. she lives in colorado. we think we know where she is. her lawyers refuse to accept a summons on her behalf. they are trying to hide her because they know if she gets on that witness stand and is cross-examined her entire story will crumble. >> thank you, professor. >> thank you. >> after a quick break a busy weekend for republicans eyeing the white house. many attending a major conservative gathering in iowa a campaign state. mitt romney is not invited to a second and equally important event for potential candidates. and, american sniper is a block buster movie. now serious questions about the truthfulness of claims made by sharp shooter chris kyle. the co-author of that book joins me ahead.

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marie callender's knows dinner tastes better when it's homemade. like chicken blanketed in golden breadcrumbs and wholesome sides with her signatures touches. marie callender's. the 2016 presidential election is a long way off, among democrats few names have been floated so far as potential candidates, everybody is waiting for hillary clinton to decide if she's running. but there's already a stampede

among the wide field of potential gop candidates. mitt romney considering a third run for the white house, met with top aides yesterday in boston to plot his next moves. senator marco rubio of florida long hinted running in 2016 has hired a new finance director and making a fund raising swing through california next week. he is huddling with advisers this weekend in miami. but interestingly enough romney rubio and jeb bush are all skipping today's iowa freedom summit a major conservative gathering others seriously considering a bid such as chris christie ted cruz, scott walker are all attending. we're joined by david, cnn's political director in des moines. in san francisco last night, jeb bush told auto manufacturers, dealers, that immigration is the engine of economic vitality. and i said to myself if he were to come and utter those words today at this group in iowa

wouldn't go over so well. >> right. michael, that's a brilliant observation on your part. nobody's going to say that on this stage behind me here today. what you've got here today in iowa you've got about 1200 activists who are excited to be at what is basically the starting line for the 2016 presidential race. you know better than anyone the folks here take that role ser yulsly being first in the nation and they are going to begin the process of poking and prodding the candidates. that's what today is about. you're right to notice that sort of split balls you've got anti-immigration reformer steve king on the conservative wing of the party as one of the hosts here he's known for many of his comments around immigration, certainly not where jeb bush is on the topic. but every one of these will have to navigate that as they begin the process of wooing these iowa conservative activists. thels are the folks who show up to the caucuses.- every candidate that is on the stage today is going to want to

start making a good impression with these folks. without mitt romney here without jeb bush here the only establishment wing guy here is krils chris christie. watching how he gets received will be fascinating. >> not only if i interested how he is received i'm interested to see how far to the right does he pivot to try and curry favor with the conservative crowd that many of us believe is necessary for a candidate to win a republican nomination. >> well as you know the most successful presidential candidates in this process are ones that can start up the process at this very early time and stick with the same sort of messaging that goes all the way through the general election not just the nomination. this was true of george w. bush this was true of barack obama in 2008. so i agree you'll be listening to see are some of these going to take positions or sort of color their remarks in a way that may make a general election a little more difficult, chris

christie said he won't play that game but i agree, let's see what happens when he takes the stage. >> one other question not only are there big goings on in iowa relative to the republican nomination but the koch brothers having a primary of sorts of their own. >> they are. out in palm springs, california the koch brothers bringing together some of the biggest donors starting to introduce them to some of the potential presidential candidates. they have got a trio of senators there, rand paul ted cruz marco rubio tomorrow night will be on stage in a forum there. and listen this is a clear signal the koch brothers put their money behind framing elections, now they are trying to play a little more of an active role in helping the party sort of find its way. >> david, chaunk from des moines. got to take a quick break. when we come back this other republican gathering, this one,

top secret oiled by big money and full of questions about who is not on the invitation list. plus american sniper new questions about the navy s.e.a.l. at the heart of the story story. i'll talk to the man that helped write the book that became a hit movie. >> you have some sort of savior complex. >> i want to get the bad guys. if i can't see them i can't shoot them. mayo? corn dogs? you are so outta here! aah! [ female announcer ] the complete balanced nutrition of great-tasting ensure. 24 vitamins and minerals antioxidants and 9 grams of protein. [ bottle ] ensure®. nutrition in charge™. [ aniston ] when people ask me what i'm wearing, i tell them aveeno®. [ female announcer ] aveeno® daily moisturizing lotion has active naturals® oat with five vital nutrients. [ aniston ] because beautiful skin goes with everything. aveeno®. naturally beautiful results™.

because its invitation only the koch brothers meeting is for potential gop candidates. charles and david are the billionaire brothers who donate to conservative candidates and causes getting invite from them is a big deal for any republican. and their network consis of hundreds of donors. ever republican wants to get close. many considering a run are on the guest list including jeb bush not expected to attend but mitt romney is not invited. ken is chief reporter for politico and talked about the influence of the billionaires the influence they have on american politics. ken, the opening chapter of your book "big money" talks about you trying unsuccessfully to crash a koch brothers seminar, they escorted you out.

there is more openness this year. maybe because of the way you wrote about it. >> well i don't know. but certainly the kochs have had this reputation for years of being sort of secretive and opaque in the way that they try to influence the political process and try to steer money. i think they are making a concerted effort to change that reputation and one of the things they are going to be doing, first of all the fact that they acknowledge they are having this gathering is unique. but in addition they are going to be providing a live stream to pleadia outlets of this big panel that is going to feature the three u.s. senators thinking about running for president in 2016 cruz rubio, and rand paul. that is new. that's something that i think does show a willingness to be a bit more transparent and to engage more with this political world they are so clearly influential player in. >> here's what occurs to me. the cameras now permitted i'm sure will be trained on the

speakers. and we know who they are and you identified those three senators. who is in the audience? tell me about who the people are that are attracted and invited to a koch brothers event. >> that is another area where they have sort of had this pen clant for secrecy. they did not want donors known. they primarily gave into these nonprofit groups that did not have to disclose the identities the sizes of contributions, the identities of the donors that state how much they gave. even that is changing a little bit. both in that they started a super pac, through this organization umbrella organization started a super pac in the run up to the midterms that raised a bunch of money. >> tell me somebody in the audience. >> because of this superpac we know some of the names of folks in that audience. ronny cameron, an arkansas poultry magnate. stanley hubbard, a minnesota

telecommunications billionaire, clarence werner a nebraska trucking -- these are folks in mostly older industries sort of industrialists not unlike the koch brothers themselves who are largely older, largely white, and very concerned about the direction of the country who want to spend money and willing in some cases to put their names on their checks to try to shape the direction of our politics. >> i watched barbara walters interviewing david koch at the end of the year and he revealed his politics are social issues are quite liberal. the issues a it a seminar like tomorrow night, only financial issues or do they get into social issues as well? >> primarily financial. and that is how the koch brothers have framed their involvement. their desire to be involved in politics. they are primarily interested in reining in what they see as reckless run away government spending expansion of government and that sometimes does put them at odds with the republican party. they famously opposed the iraq

war as sort of reckless foreign intervention and expensive. and they favor, i interviewed david koch around the 2012 nomination he favored scaling back some u.s. presence in the middle east. that is way different than the party line the gop orthodoxy on foreign policy. now, their donor base is not -- is not homogenous. there are some who would qualify as hawks but the brothers focus on what the organization focuses on is very much just the fiscal issues. >> do the brothers necessarily agree on how they see the world? >> not only do they not agree on how they see the world but they might not agree on who they see as the best republican presidential candidate. >> hey, ken, like any brothers i imagine. thank you for being here. >> when we come back they called chris kyle the legend. the most successful american

sniper ever with lots of incredible stories but many of them don't check out. we'll talk with a man who helped him write "american sniper" next. i know i have an 810 fico score, thanks to the tools and help on experian.com. and your big idea is hot dogs shaped like hamburgers? nope. hamburgers shaped like hot dogs. that's not really in our wheelhouse... you don't put it in a wheelhouse. you put it in your mouth. get your credit swagger on. become a member of experian credit tracker and find out your fico score powered by experian. fico scores are used in 90% of credit decisions. sir, we're going to need you on the runway later. don't let a severe cold hold you back. get theraflu... ...with the power of three medicines to take on your worst pain and fever, cough and nasal congestion. it breaks you free from your toughest cold and flu symptoms. theraflu. serious power.

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koch. let me ask you a question chris. would you be surprised i told you that the navy has credited you with over 160 kills? >> bradley cooper in "american sniper" like an on target sniper's bullet that box office sensation is a big hit. the film is the story of chris kyle a former navy s.e.a.l. who served four tours in iraq. in his book called "american sniper" he claimed 160 confirmed kills. two years ago, he was murdered by a veteran he was trying to help and now critics have him in the cross hairs questioning some of kyle's stories and he loved to tell stories. . one of them how he climbed to the top of the superdome in new orleans after hurricane katrina and picked off dozens of armed bad guys. or how he killed two armed men at a texas gas station who tried to steel his truck. and his story about punching out

former minnesota governor jesse ventura, ventura says it never happened, he sued and won, and reporters looking into the other two stories haven't been able to corroborate them. what's going on here? does it affect how we look at kyle's story? i'm joined by one of kyle's co-authors jim dephysical police in. thank you for joining us. >> it's my measure. thank you. >> congratulations on the success of the movie based on your book. did bradley cooper nail it? you knew chris kyle. how close was the adaptation. >> i have to tell you that the first time i saw the movie, there were many, many moments where i'm watching the screen and i'm thinking my god, i know that's bradley cooper but that looks like chris. he has everything. he's got his voice, he's got his mannerisms. he nailed it. >> let me tell you something it

if i might, mr. defelice. i regard chris kyle as a pate and i tell you that up front because i want to ask you a couple questions and i don't want you putting me in a category with michael moore. let me begin with this was he a b.s.er? >> no. absolutely not. chris was very, very straightforward, very honest in what he said. you know you could take it to the bank. >> but how do you square that with some of the stories that have been told were told by chris kyle that just don't check out? i mean at the top of the list, the story about katrina and him in response to the government taking up a position on the roof of the louisiana superdome and shooting as many as 30 looters? there's no factual basis to support that story? >> you know here's the problem, michael, you know you're talking about stories that this -- this is all hearsay. this person says that chris said it to them.

i don't know what the context was. that's not in the book. chris never told me a story about that so i don't really -- i don't know. you know the problem is that there's been a lot of controversy about the book because the book is very straightforward and honest about what a warrior has to do and has to feel in war, and ooup a lots-- you know a lot of people criticize it and what they're doing is criticizing war, which frankly is a good thing. we shouldn't get into wars easily. we should hate war. but in order to succeed at war, you have to think like a warrior and that's what chris kyle was. >> i approach this completely independent of whether we should have been in iraq and we should be in afghanistan. i simply want to know what the truth is and it just seems to me whether we're talking about pat tillman, whether we're talking about jessica lynch, whether we're talking about any number of other instances. >> sure. >> a genuine american story of

heroism, nevertheless gets embellished. i mean chris kyle told a story, was routinely, according to so many accounts telling a story about how two guys wanted to steal his truck and he killed them and there's just no record of that whatsoever. of course as everybody knows, in the book itself although he doesn't identify jesse ventura by name and, you know, you wrote it with him, he calls him scruff face a $1.8 million defamation jury verdict in support of jesse ventura and it leaves me wondering, well how much of the story can i believe, if each of these instances is just not based or grounded in fact? >> you see, now there's the problem. you just said it was a defamation judgment and the reality is that that's -- it was not a defamation judgment. part of it was. part of it was something else. what happens in these cases is someone says one thing and goes on the internet something else happens, somebody else says, you

know whatever. now, you know, in that case the jury split. there were something like a dozen witnesses who said it happened and, you know, the jury split. i have a feeling that if the case had been in texas maybe the split would have gone the other way. >> jesse ventura said before the trial, if chris kyle would simply take it back and let them know it's not true he wouldn't have proceeded. look i don't agree with so much of jesse ventura, he's a 9/11 truther, whatever the hell that is but in this instance i feel like the guy was done wrong. you certainly knew when you wrote the word "scruff face" in the book that chris kyle was talking about ventura, right? >> oh, absolutely. it was chris's decision not to -- actually chris didn't want to use the names of any s.e.a.l.s or former s.e.a.l.s a and we don't throughout the book. you know again, if like i say,

look at -- go ahead, do the work look at all the depositions, look at the motions, we did transcript from the trial and -- >> i think i would surprise you. i have. i'm an attorney and i know what defamation is. >> good. >> it encompasses liable and slander, this was a slander verdict if we want to get tech mycle. bottom line i'm thrilled for your success, i regard chris kyle absolutely as a patriot, i thoroughly enjoyed the movie, i will read the book but all along i will be wondering what's grounded in fact but thank you for your time. >> i'll be right back with a final thought. when the flu hits, it's a really big deal. the aches. the chills. the fever. an even bigger deal? everything you miss out on... family pizza night. the big game. or date night. why lose out to the flu any longer than you have to? prescription tamiflu can help you get better 1.3 days faster. that's 30% sooner. call your doctor right away. and attack the flu virus at its source

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>> thank you for joining me and to those who made the program work we had great guests today. don't forget follow me on twitter if you can spell smerconish. join me tomorrow morning at 9:00 a.m. and noon hosting "state of the union." thank you for watching. hope you stay with cnn. change in plans, president obama cuts his trip to india short and adds saudi arabia to the schedule. the motivation behind the move to pay respects in person following the death of the saudi monarch. >> deadline expired but the fate of two isis hostages unknown. what options japan has right now as it tries to bring the men home alive. >> and new terror arrests overnight. just how close spanish authorities say four men were to pulling off a paris-style

attack. good morning. i'm christi paul. >> i'm victor blackwell you're in the "cnn newsroom." >> we want to begin with news president obama is cutting his visit to india short to go to saudi arabia. this is a time when there's so much unrest in that region. here's the map of where he will be. the change in plan after saudi king abdullah died at the age of 90. >> the president left this morning for new delhi to visit india's prime minister. the first lady alongside him. cnn's white house correspondent michele kosinski has details for us. good morning, michele. >> reporter: hi, christi and victor. this is somewhat unexpected news since it seemed like the schedules had been established. the question initially, when we