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Computer-Generated Image of Mystery Child Found Dead on a Beach Released; Governor Nikki Haley About to Sign a Bill to Remove the Confederate Battle Flag from Statehouse Grounds; U.S. Military Plans to Cut 40,000 Troops Over the Course of the Next Two Years; Donald Trump Lays out Plan to Fight ISIS. 3:30-4p ET

Aired July 09, 2015 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00] HENRY LEE, CONSULTANT TO CASEY ANTHONY DEFENSE TEAM: In addition, the other clothing on her, we probably can track back because those clothing looks like a relative new, not too much stain on it except for a blanket appeared to have some little blood stain on it, so those can be traced.

The next thing they should look at a plastic bag, what type of a plastic bag, what company and, of course, look at current, whether or not the bag was dumped into the ocean and washed to the deer island area or (INAUDIBLE) somebody dropped there.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN HOST: Let me stop there, Dr. Lee. How can they determine? I mean, apparently there were no signs of trauma. She was just wrapped in this blanket. To your point, I think they figure out the blanket is from Walmart and inside of this trash bag. But how do they then trace back? How she even came to be in the water in the first place based upon a bag and no signs of trauma?

LEE: Yes. I've been in this field for almost 56 years. We looked at a lot of similar cases. If no trauma, whether or not have water is in the lung, which means before or if that's after, and the plastic bag which how long this body been in the trash bag in the water. So determine that's a primary scene or secondary scene, whether or not somebody dropped there, again, so much scene and also DNA, it's another scene. They are asking three or four years so they should check Boston area, the hospital record between the year 2013. That and, you know, so the burst record, so much scene you can do. That's besides, of course, the baby doe picture, want the public to provide the information. Use all of the resources.

BALDWIN: Right. No, the good news is that so many people around the country, not just in New England now, 45 million people have clicked on this picture and hopefully soon enough, based upon everything that you are describing, that they will be able to find these parents. If there are any other kids in that home, they will find those kids.

Dr. Henry Lee, thank you.

Next, Donald Trump laid out to CNN his plan to fight ISIS and it involves blowing up oil fields. We'll have a retired U.S. general react to that proposal, straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:36:47] ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

BALDWIN: All right. Breaking news here on CNN. We are learning now that the data breach that we talked about a couple of weeks ago effecting the office of personal management compromised the personal information of millions more government employees than previously thought.

So to our chief national correspondent Jim Sciutto with more on that. Millions more, Jim?

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Five times more than the initial estimate, Brooke. The initial estimate was around four million. Now I'm told that the total number affected, 22.1 million people, really remarkable.

The sensitive information, information including for instance Social Security numbers. Of that 22.1 million, 19.7 million, including individuals who applied for background checks, it is known as an Sf- 86. It is a form you fill-out in the government when you're seeking security clearance. And on that form, you have a host of other sensitive information that might be in there.

For instance, as we look at these numbers there, approximately 1.1 million of the breaches whose data was breached, including fingerprints as well. But just the scale of this, it was already big when we heard about it a couple of weeks ago at 4.2 million. Now, it's five times as big.

And I will just remind you, Brooke. In the investigation as to who was behind this, James Clapper, the director of national intelligence, he told me just two weeks ago this was an intelligence conference that China is the leading suspect in this breach. China has been attacking U.S. systems of private companies and government institutions for years now. But this one, Brooke, really remarkable in its size and its scope. And in the sensitivity of the information involved.

BALDWIN: I was going to ask when we were first reporting on this, fingers were pointed in the Chinese direction but there you go.

Jim Sciutto, thank you.

SCIUTTO: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Next, the army announcing new details on the 40,000 troops it is cutting. We'll talk to a retired general how that will affect troops overseas.

And while we have him, let's go to Donald Trump's plan to fight ISIS, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:42:58] BALDWIN: We are getting some new details today about the U.S. military and its plan to cut 40,000 troops over the course of the next two years. Listen, a number of bases as we are learning will be affected. Major cuts, specifically, to Georgia, Alaska, Hawaii, Washington, Oregon and California, Ft. Benning and Ft. Hood, each will lose more than 3,000 troops between this year in 2017.

So let's talk about the repercussions here with our CNN military analyst, General Mark Hertling.

General, always wonderful to have you on. Welcome, sir.

LT. GEN. MARK HERTLING (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Thank you, Brooke.

BALDWIN: How will this impact U.S. operations, bottom line?

HERTLING: Well, it will affect it tremendously. But this is not new, Brooke. This has been happening over the last several years. We've been decreasing the size of the army starting in about 2011. This is just the latest amount of cuts. But the reason it's gaining so much attention is because it's affecting congressional bases here in the United States.

When you start reducing the number of soldiers at bases, congressmen get very upset about it. I mean, I will tell you on my last command was in Europe where we - we were not a constituency of a congressman and we've been cutting forces in Europe and in Asia for the past several years in the tens and thousands. But now, it's gathering attention because it's affecting employment and the civilian communities around these bases.

BALDWIN: Let me pivot and you ask about the U.S. war on ISIS and, specifically -- and I never thought I'd be asking YOU ABOUT Donald Trump, but I'm going to because you are a military man of many, many years, so tapping into your expertise. Let me just play you a little sound.

Anderson Cooper sat down with Donald Trump. They talk about, you know, ma y (ph) issues including Trump's thoughts on ISIS and the fact that he apparently says that the U.S. should be blowing up the oil fields controlled by ISIS. Donald Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If I win, I would attack those oil sites that are controlled and owned by ISIS. They are controlled by ISIS. They are taking tremendous money out. They are renovating a hotel in Iraq. Can you believe it?

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, AC 360: Wouldn't you be destroying the wealth of Iraq?

[15:45:02] TRUMP: No, no, no. There is no Iraq. There is no Iraq. Excuse me, there are no Iraqis. They are broken into so many different factions.

COOPER: And you don't think that bombing Iraqi oil fields which are now the controlled by ISIS is going to anger huge numbers of people? TRUMP: I would bomb the hell out of those oil fields. I wouldn't

send many troops because you wouldn't need them by the time I got finished. I'd bomb the hell out of the oil fields. I then get Exxon, I then get these green oil companies to go on. They would rebuild them so fast your head will spin. You ever see how fast they put up rigs? These guys are unbelievable. So I go Exxon Mobile. I go to the top five oil companies. They would be in there. They would finished so fast.

COOPER: Wouldn't you need U.S. troops to protect the oil fields?

TRUMP: Yes. You put a ring around them. You put a ring. You've just taken all of the wealth away. This is what should be done.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Bomb the hell out of those oil fields. I see that smile on your face. Listen. You're a military man. You don't really delve into the realm of politics, general. But I know you have thoughts on this. Is that even in the world of plausible?

HERTLING: Well, let me just state first, Brooke, that over the last 40 years when I was a soldier, I was very apolitical. We would judge the people running for office based on their capability of not just being the president but being the commander in-chief. That's a leadership requirement. And leadership consists of three things -- character, presence and intellect.

And when you're talking the way Mr. Trump did last night to Anderson Cooper, it just shows that he does not understand the issues in Iraq, he does not understand the intricacies of the application of military force and even governmental force and he's not able to provide strategic guidance.

We have a saying in the military that it's very tough to live in a 0.50 caliber world with a 0.22 caliber mind. You just got to understand the issues a little bit better than just bombing things. And that's what troubles me about this current debate because this is very complex and there are hundreds of thousands and millions of Iraqis who do believe they have a country. It's more than about oil. It is about a government and the intricacies of government and the application of force are very tough. You just can't answer those kinds of questions with very simple answers like this.

BALDWIN: General Mark Hertling, thank you.

HERTLING: Thank you, Brooke.

BALDWIN: In mere minutes, we will be live in South Carolina, the state capitol here, the governor, Nikki Haley, will be signing the bill into law to remove that confederate flag there at the statehouse. Again, live pictures here, you can see some protesters are gathering, but she will be signing it, and we'll bring it to you as soon as it happens.

You are watching CNN. We'll be right back. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:52:24] BALDWIN: Here he was.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL LEVIN, FOUNDER, FIRST CHURCH OF CANNABIS: Originally I was going to lease a building for a year, and that's why we were raising the money. I figured we need about $20,000 to lease a building and pay the gas and electric. And during that time, then we would investigate getting hemp creak legal in our state as a building and we would build the first t-hemp-le, that t-hemp-l. We needed a t-hem-l here in the country.

There's a need for a new religion. People are burned out on the old doctrine. They offer guilt. They offer sin. Come on, we offer no judgment whatsoever. We're based on love, compassion, and health. Good things for us, you know? Healthy things, happy things. There's no heavy doctrine. There's 12 pathways to life. There's no ten commandments. We're not commanding you to do anything. We're suggesting to you this is a good pathway to life, and millions of millions and millions of us out here smoke religiously. We have faith in one plant. And with that faith, we've started a church.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Remember that? That was a winner.

Well, joining mess now chief counselor for the constitutional accountability center, Elizabeth Wydra.

Elizabeth, great to have you on.

ELIZABETH WYDRA, CHIEF COUNSEL, CONSTITUTIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY CENTER: Great to be with you, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Listen. This is serious. They have filed this lawsuit here, and some people, you know, in that hard of hearts believe, we should be deeply held religious belief. But let's be, you know, in terms of the eyes of the law, do you think that will fly?

WYDRA: Well, you know, their biggest challenge is going to be whether or not this is a sincerely held religious belief. Because the law does protect in some instances the use of drugs and religious ceremonies. There's a Native American church that's been afforded the right to smoke peyotes (ph) as part of its spiritual practices. But it has to be, again, a religious belief. It can't simply be a way of life or, you know, a cover for recreational use that may be enjoyable, or may have some health benefits for certain users. It has to be a sincerely held religious belief. You can't just smoke religiously.

BALDWIN: His holiness, I believe, is how he referred to himself at one point in that interview. What argue different and let me just, you know, be fair to the first church of cannabis and read with the attorney is saying quoted "their sacrament is marijuana. Marijuana is something that provides them peace. It is a healing herb. They believe that is something that is a positive thing, and therefore not being able to smoke it means that they are not able to practice their religion."

I hear you, though, as you referenced the peyote case which is why I believe the religious freedom restoration act, you know, is in its existence. But this would also be, if they allow this, I supposed of a bit of slippery slope.

[15:30:00] WYDRA: Yes. And you know, there have been other groups that have tried to say that marijuana is part of their religion. They tried to press those arguments before in court before. And they haven't been generally been successful in the way that, you know, in the Peyote case, they were successful or there's also a Brazilian group that was allow to do use a hallucinogenic tea.

So they haven't worked in the past, you know. It is a new day. Maybe this church of cannabis will have more success than previous instance. But, you know, it is still illegal in Indiana. And even if they were able to say this is our sincerely held religious belief, the law does say the government can burden those religious beliefs in some instances to further a compelling interest, and enforcement of marijuana laws, saying that they're illegal have previously been found to be such a compelling government interest.

BALDWIN: So you mentioned the peyote case, you mentioned the Brazil case with the (INAUDIBLE) tea, is the issue that makes this different is because of the potential for recreational users to use and abuse what could become a loophole?

WYDRA: Yes. There are, you know, several distinguishing factors. And one of which is sort of the prevalence of marijuana, you know, the amount of peyote in the United States is very small, so the government's interest in regulating that is arguably lesser, and also just the way that it's used.

You know, the native-American church, for example, was able to say we only smoke peyote as part of these spiritual practices. Whereas some groups practicing this marijuana claims have, you know, smoked marijuana, you know, as much as they could even outside of any church- related activity.

So those are some distinguishing factors. And, you know, the courts previously have not bought these arguments, but you know, as the country does move to legalize marijuana, and more states maybe they'll have increased success.

BALDWIN: Final question, if the court shoots them down, is that the final word or would there be room for appeal?

WYDRA: Well, you can always take it all the way up to, you know, no pond intended, the highest court of the nation.

BALDWIN: I suppose they could and they may.

Elizabeth Wydra, let's leave it. Thank you so much. I really appreciate you coming on. And just quickly, let's go live. Let me show you some live pictures

here of South Carolina. We are is shortly going to be seeing the governor there, Nikki Haley. She will signing is the bill into law which will remove finally this confederate flag from flying on the state capitol grounds.

I believe, guys get some my ear if these are live pictures or not inside the capitol rotunda moments ago, I'm being told. So, you know, and it's packed with legislators. Outside there are protesters. I'm going to send it to my colleague, Jake Tapper early today because I know this is a huge deal and you want to take it live.

I'm Brooke Baldwin. Thanks for being with me. "The LEAD" starts right now.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST, THE LEAD: With a stroke of her pen, South Carolina capitol's confederate battle flag will soon by history.

I'm Jake Tapper and this is "the LEAD."

Breaking news in the national lead. Just three weeks after the Charleston shooting, that terrorist attack, renewed the debate off the flag. Governor Nikki Haley, a Republican, is about to sign a bill to remove the confederate battle flag from statehouse grounds. We are going to bring you that ceremony live in moments.

Plus, new information on how close we may have come over the weekend. Top U.S. officials now saying they may have saved the fourth of July just in time from attacks by lone wolf terrorists with guns and knives. We'll have all the details.

And do you know this little girl? This computer-generated image of a mystery child found dead on a beach? It has been viewed nearly 50 million times online. Will the power of social media give police the break they so desperately need?

Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to "the LEAD." We are going to begin with the national lead. It has been a flash point ever since the massacre of those nine innocent worshipers on June 17th at the mother Emanuel AME church in Charleston, South Carolina. The blue and red battle flag flown for the confederate cause in support of slavery in the 19th century. It's coming down from capitol grounds three weeks after that horrific terrorist attack.

South Carolina's governor, Nikki Haley, who called for the battle flag to be removed just a few days after the massacre is moments away from signing the bill to do that. Overnight, South Carolina lawmakers after a grueling debate, finally voted to remove the flag, which has flown at the state capitol for more than 50 years. The bill made it pass the state senate earlier this week that landed in the statehouse of reps where the final vote was 94-20, above the two-thirds majority needed to make it to the desk of the Republican governor.

Let's turn straight to our CNN reporters in South Carolina. Alina Machado is inside the statehouse in Columbia. Nick Valencia is outside where that flag still stands.