and also we stretch every morning and stuff like that, which is beneficial towards basketball. >> big dance. all of us anchor types have filled out our brackets. i have my alma mater, unc chapel hill, going all the way. i'm brooke baldwin. "t "the lead" starts now. >> i'm just filling out my brackets right now. i've got trump university upsetting duke in the sweet 16. "the lead" starts now. the plan to stop trump. details of a secret back room meeting. leaders plotting to deny trump the nomination in cleveland no matter how many millions of people vote for him. liberal leaders calling the trump campaign a five-alarm fire for democracy, but will a new plan of attack against trump back fire just like every single other one before it? plus, the black fish effect. seaworld announcing a major change saying this generation of killer whales will be the last at their parks.

good afternoon, everyone, welcome to "the lead." i'm jake tapper. desperate conservative leaders huddled together in a secret trying to figure out if there is any possible way to block donald trump from the republican presidential nomination and if not whether they will mount a third party challenge to trump this fall. sunlen serfaty joins me live from houston, texas, where ted cruz has his campaign headquartered. sunlen, who are these conservative leaders? >> well, jake, they're not the establishment types within the party. sources tell cnn this meeting was of long-time diehards of the conservative movement. coming out of that meeting today in washington, d.c., they called for a unity ticket, potentially even if ted cruz and john kasich teaming up and possibly launching a third party candidacy all in an effort to stop donald trump. paul ryan today brushing off the

idea that he could be drawn into the presidential race. >> it's not going to be me. it should be somebody running for president. people are out there campaigning. >> reporter: but the house speaker is not stepping away from the prospect that his party might be heading towards a contested convention. >> it's more likely to become an open convention than we thought before. so we're getting our minds around the idea that this could very well become a reality. >> reporter: this comes as conservatives belonging to the stop trump movement are huddling in washington today. sources tell cnn there was absolute consensus in the closed door meeting on trying to stop trump from getting the number of delegates needed to clinch the nomination. but that there was a real division about launching a third-party challenge if trump ultimately becomes the nominee. trump's team encouraging republicans opposed to trump to rethink their strategy. >> when we get to cleveland, he's going to be our nominee. and, you know, some of these guys are going to have to decide how much damage they're willing

to do to the party because they don't like that. >> reporter: a contested convention is pushing the gop candidates into effectively waging two campaigns side by side, still working to win outright. >> look, if donald and i come in and we're neck in neck and neither of us are at 1237, then it's a battle for the remaining delegates. >> reporter: but also scrambling to prepare their backup plans if the nominating fight is still unsettled before republicans gather in cleveland this july. >> it is unlikely that anybody is going to achieve enough delegates to avoid a convention. >> reporter: the campaigns making their calibrationis from the sobering reality they come when it comes to the math. candidates need to get to 1237 delegates to clinch the nomination before the convention. based on the current delegate counts, donald trump would need to win a little more than 50% of the remaining delegates to reach that mark. ted cruz would need roughly 80%. and for john kasich, it would be

mathematically impossible. he would need about 108%. south carolina senator lindsey graham today telling cnn's dana bash that he sees cruz as the best hope for stopping trump. >> i think the best alternative to donald trump, to stop him from getting to 1237, is ted cruz. i'm going to help ted in every way i can. >> reporter: senator graham will work to raise money for cruz as well. he is set to headline a fund-raiser on monday in washington, d.c. that is the same day that all three candidates will speak in washington before the apec conference. >> sunlen serfaty, thank you. after donald trump's overwhelming victory in florida, the sunshine state's governor just became the newest trump backer and he wants the rest of his party to fall in line behind trump. joining me now, florida governor rick scott. governor, thanks so much for coming. >> sounds like 2010 in my race. i was not the establishment candidate. i was a businessperson, never having run for office.

all the republican establishment said, oh, get out of the race, we've got our candidate already. you're going to hurt our ability to win. i waited and i listened to the voters. i worked hard. we won. we've turned our state around. a million more jobs in five years. paying down debt. it's the same thing. donald trump is the will of the people. we need to listen to the people, back his candidacy and win in november. >> governor scott, let me get your reaction to this meeting among conservative leaders to find anyone but trump. you're urging the party to fall in line behind him. what are you saying to the republicans, including your home state senator, marco rubio, who think that trump is out there, unlike the way you are, trump is out there appealing to americans base or instincts and sullying the party's good name? what's your response to them? that was not the charge made about you in 2010. >> there's always going to be something. if you're not the establishment candidate, they're going to attack you some ways. i'll never agree and none of us

will ever agree with any candidate out there. but let's listen to the -- i would have always told people listen to the voters and let's think about where we want to be. in november we want to win so we can turn this economy around, have a person that believes in job growth. we can't have four more years of barack obama. donald trump is either going to have the number of delegates that he needs or be very, very, very close. let's listen to the will of the people. >> obviously we're not going to have four more years of barack obama. >> that's hillary clinton. >> i want you to listen to mr. trump talking to chris cuomo yesterday about the possibility of a contested convention. take a listen. >> if we're 20 votes short or if we're, you know, 100 short and we're at 1100 and somebody else is at 500 or 400, because we're way ahead of everybody, i don't think you can say that we don't get it automatically. i think it would be -- i think you'd have riots. >> house speaker paul ryan today

said in response, nobody should say such things in my opinion because to even address or hint to violence is unacceptable. what did you make of that comment? >> i'm not going to agree with how everybody says anything but let's think about where we are this year. this year people don't trust party leaders. they don't trust the establishment right now. they don't trust our political leaders. so we are going to go to a convention where donald trump is going to be -- either have the delegates or be very close and then party leaders are going to choose somebody else? i think that would make sure we don't win in november. we've got to win in november. we've got to have a president that's going to win. our nominee is going to win so we turn this economy around. >> i put out a request on social media for questions that people, that voters would like to ask you. i got a couple. here's one from a constituent of yours who wanted to keep his or her name out of it. quote, as a florida muslim american republican who has supported you and many gop candidates, why haven't you done more to condemn anti-muslim statements by candidates you support at a time when

anti-muslim hate crimes in the state of florida have doubled? words and statements have consequences, unquote. governor, your response? >> well, what i've tried to do is make our state a state where people are welcome. we had 105 million tourists last year, thr365,000 people moved h. we're at a four and a half year low in our crime rate. i try to make sure everybody that wants to be here feel comfortable living here. this is a wonderful state to live in. >> this is a republican who supports you or has in the past saying that my not condemning things that donald trump has said about muslims, you are basically being complicit in animosity towards muslims, including muslims who live in florida. >> jake, people say a whole -- candidates say a whole bunch of things that i might disagree with. i'm not going to agree with everybody. but if you listen to what i talk about, i'm trying to make this the state that people want to

visit, they want to live here, they can get a job here, their kids can get a great education, they can live in safe communities. no one is going to agree on everything. i've tried to make this the state, we have languages spoken here. people are welcome in our state. >> a man named dustin moody asked me to ask you what policy of trump's do you like the most? >> i think the thing that i like the most about it is he's got a business background, he understands how to get along with people. he's very focused on how we grow our economy. if you want to build up our military, you can't do it without a good economy. in our state we've gone from a multi billion dollar deficit to multi billion dollar surplus because we focused on our economy. we have record funding for education. we're funding the environment. we're funding all sorts of agencies for people that have needs because we focused on our economy. that's what donald trump will do. >> so no specific policy but

just the fact that trump is promising to focus on the economy? >> that's part of what you do. you focus on reducing taxes, reducing regulation, streamline the permitting process. one thing about bringing a businessperson in, they know the problems business people have. often government reduces your ability to bring in jobs and succeed. >> all right. florida governor rick scott from the beautiful state -- beautiful sunshine state, thanks so much for taking our questions. we appreciate it. >> see you, jake. have a great day. bernie sanders says his revolution still has time, but hillary clinton's campaign says he does not have a path to the nomination. now president obama may, according to one report, be taking sides. stay with us. (burke) at farmers, we've seen almost everything, so we know how to cover almost anything. even a stag pool party. (party music) (splashing/destruction) (splashing/destruction)

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whatever home means to you, we'll help you find it. zillow. staying with our politics lead, president obama is, according to one report, saying behind closed doors what hillary clinton shouted out loud, that democrats need to start focusing on donald trump now. "the new york times" is reporting that the president told some of the democrats biggest money men and money women that his party needs to close ranks around hillary clinton to deny trump any opening to get a head start. well, they are. the democratic campaign machine coined a brand new term for vulnerable republican senators who promised to support trump.

re-trumplcans. jeff zeleny is here with me. could this potentially alienate sanders supporters? >> the white house is saying the president did not suggest sanders should get out of the race. one other person you're not going to hear that is hillary clinton. she will not call on him to get out. 6 million reasons why. those are the number of voters who supported him in the primaries so far. that number is only growing as sanders is staying in. but democrats are growing increasingly eager to start taking on trump. donald trump was one of the best democratic punch lines around. >> he's making the most out of it. i'm having a good time watching it. >> the democratic party is no longer laughing. even as the primary fight

between hillary clinton and bernie sanders goes on, the party is quickly turning its focus to trump. >> our commander in chief has to be able to defend our country, not embarrass it. >> liberal groups are sounding the alarm. suddenly taking trump seriously as a general election foe. republicans, led by trump, have dramatically surpassed democrats in voter turnout this year. some democrats worry trump is tapping into anger and discontent that's coursing through the democratic electorate too. from labor unions the democratic machine is spinning into action. >> most of us cannot fathom how he rose so far and so, so fast. his vile rhetoric is embarrassing, his proposals are dangerous. >> harry reid delivered a speech today focused solely on stopping trump. >> republican leaders created the drought conditions. donald trump has simply struck the match. >> nearly two dozen progressive

groups signed a letter this week saying it's time to unite. they're calling this moment a five-alarm fire for our democracy. sanders is trailing clinton significant low in delegates, but he's far from folding. he's back on the campaign trail tonight in arizona, five days before the state's primary. he's launching a new wave of tv ads. >> he's a change agent. has been for 33 years. he represents a change and a message that many of us have been longing for. >> but clinton is airing new ads of her own today in arizona. >> hillary knows our kids deserve better. >> keeping one eye on sanders and another on trump. >> i've gotten more votes than he has. i think he has -- if you really analyze it, a pretty narrow base. but we'll find out. if he gets nominated, we're going to have a very vigorous general election if i'm the nominee. >> and that vigorous general election isn't here just yet but trump has his hands full with his own primary and looming convention fight. democrats are beginning to invest time and money into

defining trump early, something they believe republicans have failed to do starting last summer when trump jumped in. jake, it is a tall order for them because donald trump so far has defied every single odd. >> every rule. every political rule has gone out the window. jeff zeleny, thanks so much. panicked conservatives gathered in washington trying to figure out how to stop trump if possible, maybe suggesting a third-party candidate at only way to do it. and seaworld's killer whales will soon be history. why the park is making major changes three years after that damaging documentary, "blackfish." kellogg's® frosted mini-wheats®... 8 layers of wheat... and one that's sweet. to satisfy the adult and kid - in all of us. ♪

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welcome back to "the lead." we're going to stay with our

politics lead. for the first time since bowing out of the presidential race, senator marco rubio spoke publicly just over an hour ago on capitol hill. he said he is not interested in being anyone's vice president and he took this shot at the front-runner, donald trump. >> hopefully there's time to still prevent a trump nomination, which i think would fracture the party and be damaging to the conservative movement. >> talk about this and everything else with former republican congressman vin weber who is supporting john kasich. mary katherine hamm and emily sussman who is supporting hillary clinton. congressman weber, let me start with you. if rubio really wanted to unite conservatives or republicans around the task of defeating donald trump, wouldn't it make sense to endorse either kasich or cruz to get some momentum? >> yes, yes, or at least campaign around the country for both of them or something.

something other than vacating the field. too many people including the candidates have vacated the field on this trump issue and now we're on the eve of him maybe having a majority. i don't think he'll get there. all of a sudden they're saying oh, my god, the house is burning down. we should have done something before it got this far. yeah, i would prefer to see them support governor kasich but if he's for cruz, he should be for cruz. i think people can't just sit on the sidelines and then complain the house burned down in july. >> mary katherine, let's talk about this meeting of conservatives to come up with a way to stop trump from getting the nomination or have a third party. erick ericsson said conservatives are about ideas, not necessarily parties. that sounds like there's a ground swell among some for a third party. >> there's two things here. it's not just the establishment that does not like a donald trump nomination. it is these grassroots conservatives and activists who

have been doing this for a long, long time. i do think there is an appetite for a third party. you see 38% to 40% of republicans saying yes, i would consider a third party. what i worry about and i do think that's a possibility here. what i worry about is a lot of these solutions as you were point out seem a little too clever by half sometimes. they require a lot of strategy and they require a lot of it coming together really fast. >> but the case has to be made, regardless of whether we defeat trump, start a third party or whatever, the case against him substantively hasn't been made because we've had so much focus on just the horse race. trump is doing so well. we've got to focus on why he is objectionable. >> i think it's longer than eight months. i think really since the tea party wave in 2010 and the republican party embracing the tea party wave, it really wasn't a natural fit for the party, bringing them in. >> trump is not tea party. >> no, that's true, he is not tea party but does tap into a

lot of those emotions. by bringing that into the party as a whole, i think it's been brewing. so the idea of a third party is not crazy in this sense, but -- i think we're seeing a fracturing that's been brewing for a couple of years. >> i think with a third party run you have to decide is this just an ideological sort of put your flag somewhere and give people somewhere to go or are you actually trying to do something. >> beyond election. >> yeah, a colleague of mine wrote a piece saying, look, pick somebody who's regionally appealing who you can get on the libertarian party ticket and maybe win a few states and see if you can throw it to the house of representatives. we're getting into some really serious stuff here. >> there's a long-term phenomenon we should think about. it has always been the case throughout polling history that there are more conservatives than there are republicans. not true on the other side. there's always more democrats than there are liberals. but there's a big block of people who usually voted republican, thought of themselves as conservatives but resisted identifying with the

republican party. those are the people that may now be saying it's time for a divorce. >> people who voted for perot. >> a lot of them. a lot of them vote republican but are uncomfortable with the republican party. >> they don't like the establishment, they don't like the trade deals or the softer stance on immigration. >> or other issues maybe. >> three weeks ago lindsey graham, who now says he's going to hold a fund-raiser for cruz. three weeks ago graham joked if you kill ted cruz on the floor of the senate and the trial is at the senate, no one would convict you. this is where we are in the republican party now. >> i was actually surprised that graham came out for cruz. i've never seen two words used so much together as cruz and detest. that is pretty much where his colleagues feel about him. now he feels like he's the only possible alternative in terms of boating trump but he was running as an outsider and talk about burn get house down. he was ready to burn the house down to run as an outsider. now that people have to coalesce

around him. >> you say that the substantive case against donald trump has not been made. what do you mean? i've seen a lot of attacks on donald trump. >> we know what all the issues are, but no one has really prosecuted the case that he basically -- first of all, he's never been a republican. i don't think he's a small d democrat. >> jeb bush tried, marco rubio tried. >> nobody paid attention to it. on some of the issues that he has that are popular with the grassroots are things you need to talk about anyway like trade and immigration. i don't know how a party goes forward basically offending everyone who comes into this country across the southern border or ripping up all the trade agreements we've been negotiating by republican presidents. >> so here's a question. do the people who are trying to stop trump, is their issue with trump or is their issue with republican voters? because republican voters are turning out, maybe they were conservatives and unaligned in the past, but they are turning out and he's dominating in a way that i haven't seen since george w. bush ran in 2000. >> right. he is dominating. he's running the board in a lot of these states.

he's also still at 35%, 40% of the vote and there is a large contingency against him and there's a large contingency that says i would go third party. although she does have strong support, they're saying if indeed ehighs the standard bearer, i'm not with those standards and i'm can't stick with it. >> 35% to 40% isn't bad if the rest of them say he's a good second choice. that's not the case with donald trump. >> got to end it there. great job. going door to door, that's what president obama's pick for the supreme court is doing today. the question is, will all republicans slam the door in his face or is there a small crack? stay with us. they say you shouldn't spoil your kids. but your grandkids? how about front row seats to the best show in town?

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welcome back to "the lead." i'm jake tapper. we're going to stay with our politics lead. moments ago judge merrick garland met with senate minority leader harry reid. the 63-year-old garland is making the rounds on capitol hill trying to get democrats on his side and pressure republicans to hold hearings on his nomination. let's get right to justice correspondent pamela brown. pamela, there are some republicans willing to break ranks just on the issue of whether or not they would meet with garland. >> that's right. there seems to be a divide on that front. some republicans are softening their positions, they're considering at least meeting in private with the president's nominee. this as judge garland as we saw spent his first afternoon on capitol hill meeting with democratic senators in his push for support. president obama's new supreme court nominee, merrick garland, is meeting privately with senate democrats patrick leahy and harry reid, as he lobbies for support in the face of fierce opposition. >> we could easily have the

hearings, the debate, the background and the vote by memorial day. >> republican leadership in the senate is refusing to budge on giving judge garland a hearing, saying it's not about the person, it's about the principle. but there are subtle cracks in the gop blockade. while majority leader mitch mcconnell says he won't sit down with garland, a handful of republicans are open to meeting with him, including some up for re-election, like chuck grassley. >> if i can meet with a dictator in uganda, i can surely meet with a decent person in america. >> reporter: senator mcconnell wrote an op-ed in "usa today" saying, quote, the american people deserve a voice in such a momentous decision. but president obama says the voters did have a voice when they elected him. on a phone call with supporters he said, quote, they didn't add a caveat saying we want you to

be president except for your last 300 days in office when you don't have to fulfill your dultys. on the steps of the supreme court today, democrats said republicans are putting politics above the law. >> judge garland is a widely respected legal mind who puts the law above ideology. exactly the type of nominee that republicans profess to love when it comes to the supreme court. you simply can't lay a glove on them. senate minority leader harry reid speaking now up on capitol hill. let's take that live. >> they failed miserably at that and he's going to also fail miserably at this. they cannot succeed in the position they have taken. it's just totally against the american people. so it doesn't matter how much money the koch brothers spend, we're going to continue with our message that all we want them to do is their jobs. >> senator reid, could you talk about what the strategy is for democrats here in the next two weeks while republicans are back

home? how specifically will you try to apply pressure to them and how do you think that that's going to be successful? >> a lot of the pressure is being applied by you folks. i think the stories have been commendable recognizing what an important issue this is. when i go home, i'm going to make sure that you have more to talk about. i'm going to do an event or two or three in nevada. we already have the locations we're going to do them. i think they'll be good events. my caucus is doing that all around the country. we have one day i'll be traveling and i'll have to do it from long distance, where we're going to have a day of -- we have a petition signed by lots and lots of people and we're going to join with that.

>> all right, that's senate minority leader harry reid making the case for u.s. supreme court nominee, merrick garland. let's bring in democratic senator patrick leahy of vermont. he's the ranking member, the democrat on the senate judiciary committee. senator leahy, thanks for being here. we appreciate it. >> happy to be. >> you just left a meeting with judge garland. republicans say they will not hold hearings. so what is the democratic game plan here, sir? >> i don't think it's a game plan. we're saying the constitution requires the president nominate somebody. he fulfilled the constitution. they talk about advise and consent, which we've done for -- ever since there's been a judiciary committee. but democrats are saying we should do our job. we did when there were republican presidents as well as democratic presidents. we're not afraid to do our job. i think if we take a few less

recesses around here and actually do what we're paid to do and vote up or vote down. >> but do you see any sign that republicans are going to give on this point and hold hearings? have you had conversations with republican colleagues that lead you to believe that if you keep up this campaign they might actually blink? >> i don't think it's so much a campaign or blinking. i know there's a number of republicans i've talked with who privately will tell you they're disturbed by this, disturbed by setting any kind of a precedent like that. in fact senator lindsey graham said publicly it's a precedent, a new precedent. i think they ought to look at the fact, for example, the democrats were in control of the senate in president reagan's last term. we put through his nominee. we didn't say, well, it's your last year of your last term. we put him through. we've had a dozen times where

there's been a nominee in the last year of a president's term. we've always voted to -- you know, we've taken an oath to uphold the constitution. some of us sit down there quietly and we raised our hand to god, did we mean it or didn't we. >> republicans say that there are plenty of examples of democrats blocking or making comments about not hearing a republican nominee. there's one from you in 2004 when you said, quote, it is a well established practice that in presidential election years, there comes a point when judicial confirmation hearings are not continued without agreement. well, there isn't agreement here. >> let's be serious. for one thing, i spoke and it's obvious, you look at the tape of that, i was teasing those who always talk about the thurmond rule. we kept on having hearings.

the last two years of president bush's, george w. bush's term i became chairman. i was confirming his judges right up to -- just about the time we left for our own campaigns. 68 of his judges in two years. look what the republicans have done. they have allowed 16 of president obama's. we've done this, we've had right up until september of election year, we put through judges. look at practice. they blocked democrats, we put through republicans. let's get back and take the courts out of politics. let's be above that. let's worry about the constitution, not about our political future. frankly, i'm sure there are some, maybe some who are running this year, that don't want to have to vote one way or the

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uh, no thanks. i have x1 from xfinity so... don't fall for directv. xfinity lets you download your shows from anywhere. i used to like that song. welcome back to "the lead." i'm jake tapper topping our world we have seen them burn people alive and now the u.s. state department officially designated these isis terrorist atrocities as genocide. this includes attacks against religious groups and minorities in iraq and syria. cnn cameras were there in august, 2014, as thousands of trapped men, women and children desperately tried to escape, some of them on board a helicopter, to flee the deadly violence. let's get right to jim sciutto. jim, this is the first genocide declaration by the u.s. since

darfur in the sudan. will this have any effect on the military campaign? >> not the military campaign. they say in the words of john kirby, the state department spokesman, it will have a difference in terms of drawing attention to these crimes. this is for the sake of history. also to unify the world against isis. even secretary kerry admitted today that the declaration needs to be not just words but action. >> naming these crimes is important, but what is essential is to stop them. that will require unity in this country and within the countries directly involved. and the determination to act against genocide. >> to act against genocide. that's the key word there. you'll hear that repeated from u.s. officials. the state department says this does not mean captured isis fighters will be treated as war

criminals. there are separate international legal channels for that. what the u.s. has said throughout this, they're not going to get back in the business of a detainee operation with captured isis fighters. >> so this will or will not have an impact on how many syrian refugees are brought from iraq and syria? if the united states is saying this is a genocide, one might think that would have a repercussion on that. >> you might thinks so it hasn't changed the official u.s. target. for this year it remains 10,000 refugees. but u.s. officials admit they're unlikely to make that target. here we are middle of march and they have let in just over about a thousand, so if that continues at that rate, they're not going to meet that 10,000 target. >> jim sciutto, thanks so much. turning to our national lead, the flint water crisis front and center on capitol hill along with fireworks and finger point as michigan governor rick snyder and epa administrator gina mccarthy testified in front of the house oversight

committee. >> i agree that the epa should have done more. they should have rushed in sooner to rescue the people of michigan from governor snyder's vindictive administration and his utter incompetence at every level. >> sara ganim is here with me. lots of outrage. any solutions? >> everybody says they're working hard to fix the problem, but the issue at hand is when they acted fast enough when they learned that the water was toxic, and for that we continue to see a lot of the blame game. governor rick snyder desperately trying to hang on to his job faced an angry congressional committee, especially democrats, demanding answers for why he was so slow to react to flint's water crisis. >> i kick myself every single day about what i could have done to do more. >> plausible deniability only works when it's plausible. and i've had about enough of your false contrition and your

phony apologies. >> you need to resign. >> it wasn't just governor snyder who faced blame. republicans mostly focused their sights on president obama's epa administrator, gina mccarthy. >> wow, you just don't get it. you just don't get it. you still don't get it. >> not only am i asking you to be fired. if you're not going to resign, you should be impeached. >> snyder and mccarthy faced off in the contentious hearing, often bickering over who is more to blame. >> why didn't administrator mccarthy just get on the phone and call me. this is not technical compliance. this is that culture that got us in this culture to start with. where is common sense? >> i will take responsibility for not pushing hard enough, but i will not take responsibility for causing this problem. it was not epa at the helm when this happened. >> mccarthy deflected several questions about whether the epa did anything wrong. >> would common sense not have told you, hey, hey, stop

drinking the water. >> not at that point in time. >> at what point in time? >> as the questions continued, flint residents protested in the hallways like they have been for months. >> arrest rick snyder. >> e-mails show governor snyder's top staff members knew for months before action was taken and the public was warned. some members of the committee weren't buying his claim that he wasn't looped in. >> there's no doubt in my mind if a corporate ceo did what governor snyder's administration has done, he would be hauled up on criminal charges. >> now, governor snyder has said he does not want to resign and you saw gina mccarthy, she's not even admitting to doing anything wrong here. you saw a lot of questioning and not a whole lot of answers. part of that is because there are many people who still won't talk. 15 either former or current state officials who are really part of this decision-making process who refuse to talk to

the committee. >> any lead, any is bad for kids. >> absolutely. >> and we know the state knew about it, i believe, in february and the epa knew about it at the very latest in april. >> the state actually did testing in january, and the epa began to receive information about that testing in february. so depending on how you look at it, yes, there were memos that detailed -- gave more details as you get into the spring and summer months. depending on how you look at it, these officials knew for a really long time on both sides that there was something wrong. >> and the key is any amount of lead, any amount is bad for kids. unbelievable. in our money lead, seaworld under fire for years announcing a major change for its killer whales. why now? that story next.

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welcome back to "the lead." i'm jake tapper. our money lead is a whale of a story. literally. seaworld announcing today that its current generation of killer whales will be the last generation to swim in their pools. hopefully they think this will end its controversial breeding program. let's bring in martin savidge. martin, this is a concession on seaworld's part. why the change now? >> this announcement just to put it in perspective is as big as the creatures that it's about, orcas, because it is huge. up until now and actually since the '70s the orcas have been the star performance at seaworld. there has also been growing controversy over keeping them captive has been upsetting animal advocacy groups but it was the documentary "blackfish" that brought to the forefront and explained how captivity may be corrupting the minds of these

creatures. that's when things began to change. the ticket prices dpan to go up, the attendance began to go down, the stock value went down and seaworld finally got rid of its former ceo and got a new one and the announcement today saying no more killer whales will be bred and we're cutting back on the performance shows and essentially retiring shamu. they are partnering with the humane society which was a long-time adversary. that they're teaming up is almost beyond belief to many. >> what's going to happen to the orcas that are currently in captivity at seaworld parks? >> that's a big question and a serious one because they lived for decades. just because the program ends today, this is still going to be an issue that seaworld will have maybe 20, 30 years from now. there's one still to be born. how you care for them and what is their proper lifestyle after retirement, that's a serious

issue for many animal advocacy group. then you know the question will be raised about other mammals, say dolphins or sea lions and other acts near and dear to seaworld. >> martin savidge, thank you so much. self-braking cars may soon be the norm in the united states. 20 automakers representing 99% of the u.s. auto market have committed to make automatic emergency braking a standard feature on all new cars by 2022. the system uses cameras, lasers and radar to detect any possible imminent crash and applies the brakes for the driver. one industry estimate said the move could prevent 10,000 crashes every year. the chicago cubs are the vegas favorite to win the world series this year, so it looks like the predictions from "back to the future part 2" might have just been off by a year or two on a couple things.

>> all right. power laces, all right. nike just announced that shoes with self-tying power laces will go on sale later in 2016, just in time for the holiday season. a sensor in the shoes heel detects when someone puts them on so they'll tighten around your foot just in case you have to run away from biff's grandson and his lackeys. turning you over to wolf blitzer in "the situation room." happening now, conservative uprising. the republican right ignores donald trump's warning of riots, mobilizes to stop his march to the nomination. could the gop be looking at a nasty battle on the convention floor? miami vice. marco rubio speaks out for the first time since dropping out of the gop race after his embarrassing defeat in florida. will he try to get on the ticket as the vice presidential pick? is he ready to make an endorsement? an> picking his poison.