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Removal of Flag Pole, Fencing After Confederate Flag Taken Down; Trump Lighting Up Social Media, Regular Media, Says He's Serious; Still No Answers on Who Baby Doe Is; Womens World Cup Team USA Get Ticker-Tape Parade in NYC. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired July 10, 2015 - 14:30   ET

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

[14:30:00] BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: It's as if now that it wasn't even there. These are pictures from moments ago. This big day in the capital of South Carolina. The Confederate flag removed and now the pole.

Nick Valencia, the pole is officially coming down. Am I understanding correctly that the pole as well is heading to this museum?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. This is part of the process. We were told this by legislators that not only the flag was going to be removed and sent to the Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum but also the flagpole as well as the fencing. There was fencing surrounding that pole so no one could get in. That didn't stop one activist a couple of weeks ago from climbing that pole and bringing it down. We've seen in the last few minutes, moments ago, as we were showing here on CNN, that flagpole being dismantled and now it is making its way, as the Confederate flag did, to the Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum a few blocks from here. As we've been reporting, they have until January 21 to figure it all out. The director at the museum is still unclear how they are going to exhibit this at the museum -- Brooke?

BALDWIN: There was no police system, once the compromise was reached after the last debate in 2000. It was flying high and it was significant because the person recently shimmied up the pole to take the flag down.

Nick Valencia, thank you very much.

Coming up next on CNN, he's going to need a bigger venue. Donald Trump reportedly switching locations ahead of his speech in Arizona because of popular demand. Is this growing interest an incentive for Donald Trump to remain controversial? Next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:35:47] BALDWIN: When it comes to Donald Trump, pick your adjective, bold, brass, bombastic? He's lighting up social media. According to "The Washington Post's" analytics partner, Zigno Labs (ph), 48 percent of all the social and media conversations about the 2016 elections involve Donald Trump. Let me show you some numbers. From June 30th to July 6th, Donald Trump was mentioned on either social or regular media more than 1.9 million times. Compare that to the candidate receiving the next highest number mentioned, Hillary Clinton, mentioned 448,000 times.

So as much controversy as Donald Trump stirs up, he told our Anderson Cooper he's serious.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & CEO, TRUMP GROUP: I'm in it to win it. We'll see what happens. I'm going to have thousands of people that work for me standing up saying we love Trump. What I'm going to do for the Latinos is, I'm going to create jobs from China, I'm going to take jobs, excuse me, from Mexico, Japan, where they are sending millions of automobiles all the time and we get nothing out of it. I'm going to bring jobs back and the Latinos are going to be able to work and make money and they are going to vote for me and I'll take them away from Hillary Clinton.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Let me bring in Matt Lewis, senior contributor with "The Daily Caller; and Peter Beinart, who just wrote an article in "The Atlantic" about Trump's views.

Welcome to both of you.

Matt, you're up to bat first because you just heard Donald Trump tell Anderson Cooper, yes, I'm in it to win it and it's impossible to crawl into the heart of mind of Donald Trump but do you think he thinks he can win?

MATT LEWIS, SENIOR CONTRIBUTOR, THE DAILY CALLER: I think we have to take him seriously at this point. He's polling in -- depending on what poll you're looking at, first place, early stage national polls. I think he is tapping into something. Some of it is positive. Look, I think that there are a lot of Americans out there struggling and he talks about jobs and he's not a politician. I think, you know, politicians have become almost like game show hosts. He appeals to something that is positive but there's the dark side, of course, as well and that's the part that I think Republicans are really afraid of. He's tapping into something that's not so pretty sometimes as well.

BALDWIN: I want to get to that fear in just a moment. But, you know, maybe take him seriously but the corporations certainly aren't.

And, Peter Beinart, that was the thrust of your piece. It wasn't jump centered on Donald Trump. The title of your "Atlantic" piece, "How Views like Trumps Become Socially Taboo." So his comments, for example, about undocumented Mexican immigrants, which then led to major corporations, i.e., NBC, Univision cutting ties, is a sign, quote,, "Political views once acceptable are now not acceptable." How do you mean?

PETER BEINART, THE ATLANTIC: The Republican Party, let's be honest, and sometimes Democrats, too, have been playing the race card, running in elections against African-Americans or immigrants and going back to Richard Nixon in 1970s, and it's been effective. There's a market for that to some degree but there's an economic consensus and cultural consensus among corporate elites now that it's unacceptable. And it comes down on you much harder than it did a generation ago. That's what Donald Trump is facing here. It creates a really interesting dynamic for the Republican Party. The Republican Party elite is furious with Donald Trump, terrified at Donald Trump. They are probably --

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Democrats are loving this, by the way?

BEINART: Democrats are thrilled. But the problem that they have is there is some segment of the Republican base, which actually really resonates to what he says, some of the uglier stuff, too.

BALDWIN: So staying with you, it resonates because, to Matt's point, if you look at our CNN/ORC polls, number two behind Jeb Bush. But your point, the blow back is louder?

BEINART: The blowback is much greater, and it's even hitting him in his wallet. I think ultimately Donald Trump politically is going to collapse like a pinata. Once people start to take him seriously as a candidate and apply the same scrutiny that they apply to other serious candidates, he can't withstand that scrutiny. He doesn't even have an organization in Iowa or New Hampshire. He matters most I think for what he ends up saying about the other Republican candidates and how they respond.

[11:40:04] BALDWIN: And, Matt, I know you've written about how he absolutely should be part of the stage, which will have many a podium in that first Republican debate, that he should be able to be part of that. But you also make the point that, yes, he says these horrible things and maybe some of the Republicans are cringing, and it's great for Trump because we are talking about him again and it's buzzy. But you also make note at the end of your piece about a rope and letting himself hang himself?

LEWIS: Yes, right. Donald Trump is not a conservative. If you look at his record, he's a liberal on social issues, a liberal on fiscal issues. The only thing that makes him, quote/unquote, "conservative" is he doesn't care much for illegal immigrants and he says horrible things about Obama and Hillary. That shouldn't be a criteria for how to decide whether he's a conservative.

But you have to let him in the debates because the rules are the rules. He's polling in second place. If you were to now retroactively disallow him from the debates, if the RNC were to come in, it would look heavy handed, like the establishment is rigging the game. And Trump would become a martyr.

(CROSSTALK)

LEWIS: I think you let him keep talking. As Peter was implying, he will implode eventually like McCarthy did. These demagogues eventually will show themselves for who they really are.

BALDWIN: Matt Lewis, Peter Beinart, thank you both.

LEWIS: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Coming up next, tens of millions of people have clicked on this picture online. Maybe this picture. But there's another picture. Here we go. Trying to find this little girl who was found in a trash bag who washed ashore in the Boston harbor. We'll talk to John Walsh about what law enforcement is trying to do to find her parents.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:46:03] BALDWIN: Two weeks now and still no answers, no one coming forward to say who Baby Doe is. This is a facial reconstruction of this little girl believed to be about 4 years of age. Her remains were found stuffed inside of a trash bag and discovered along the rocky shoreline of the Boston harbor two weeks ago. More than 50 million people now have seen or shared this image of this little girl but still authorities are no closer to identifying her or how she died. Some forensic and criminologist experts suggest a family member or someone close to Baby Doe is responsible.

So I have John Walsh with me, host of CNN's "The Hunt with John Walsh."

Thank you for joining me.

In all your years you were telling me that you did this phenomenal work you did, there were 10 cases --

(CROSSTALK)

JOHN WALSH, CNN HOST, THE HUNT: Over the years of babies that were found, some old cases, the boy in the box in Philadelphia, a baby in Miami Beach. Sometimes they were found soon, like this little girl who isn't fully decomposed. That's from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The Massachusetts police were smart enough to reach right out to the center. My wife and I created that center after Adam's murder in 1981. President Reagan cut the ribbon on it in 198 h4. The center produced this. They have the technology, the artists, the technicians. Our partnership with Facebook and YouTube, 45 million people have seen this. But they also peruse their database. The National Center is the repository for all missing children and they disperse all of the Amber Alerts. Nobody has really reported this girl missing.

BALDWIN: That's the thing. And that's the question you kept getting when you were doing the Q&A with your Facebook page for "The Hunt." You were getting bombarded with tens of thousands of questions.

WALSH: Five million people went on that one hour that I did it yesterday live and said, why isn't anybody claiming this girl?

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: What do you think the answer to that is? WALSH: I believe these are itinerant people, people who live in the

underworld of America, maybe not have their babies in hospitals. They may be illegals from whatever country working here, pursing the American dream. She may have died on an accidental death and maybe there isn't a homicide involved but they don't know what to do with the body. They don't want ICE to come and take them out of the country and send them to wherever they came from. That's happened in several of the cases I've done. So I always say that if you are an illegal and you want to do the right thing, call me.

BALDWIN: You don't trace?

WALSH: I don't tap calls, trace calls. For 25 years, people call me and we have recovered children. So if you know the family or think you know something about this girl, go to my website, CNN.com/thehunt. I don't care what your name is. You don't even have to leave a name. Cops don't answer my hotline. I have trained operators. That's great way to say, you know, I think I saw this baby in northern California or in Texas or in Florida or wherever, I think I know the family, I think I know there's other siblings.

My fear is that whoever killed this girl, if she is a victim of homicide --

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Could have other kids in the home.

WALSH: -- they target. They start with one and then they do child number two. And this could save somebody's life.

And look at this beautiful girl. She's thrown away like a piece of garbage. She needs to be buried. There are people that love her and need to come and pray for her and she needs to be put to rest. And we need to find out who dumped her in that bay.

BALDWIN: John Walsh, thank you.

Make sure you watch "The Hunt with John Walsh," returning Sunday night, 9:00 eastern, right here on CNN at 9:00 p.m. eastern on Sunday.

I appreciate your time. Thank you.

WALSH: Glad to be here, Brooke.

[11:49:56] BALDWIN: Next, it's not every day that we get to see a ticker-tape parade, especially for an entire team of ladies. This is through the Canyon of Heroes. This is an historic moment for the U.S. women's soccer team. The last time a female sports figure, one woman was honored like this, was back in 1960. We'll speak with that Olympian and about what today's parade means for the country. Stay here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: All right. The 2015 women World Cup champions keep making history. This morning, they were the first female team ever to be honored with the ticker-tape parade in New York's Canyon of Heroes. And, by the way, New York spared no expense here. This massive event cost about $2 million with the city picking up most of the tab. That includes the cost of two tons of shredded confetti.

By the way, let me take you back for all of you keeping score on history here. Look at these pictures. This tradition started with the dedication of the Statue of Liberty back in 1886 and it was stockbrokers who tossed rolls and rolls of ticker tape out of their windows in lower Manhattan.

Let me show you another photo. This is Olympic skating gold medalist, Carol Jenkins, being honored in 1960. By the way, that was the last time New York threw a parade for someone.

Carol Jenkins is joining me from Cleveland. Also with me, 1991 and 1999 World Cup champion, Michelle Akers.

I'm surrounded by some amazing women.

[14:55:] MICHELLE AKERS, WOMENS SOCCER WORLD CUP CHAMPION: Thank you.

CAROL JENKINS, OLYMPIC SKATING GOLD MEDALIST: Thank you so much. And it's an honor for me to be here with Michelle.

BALDWIN: I know.

Carol, I'm beginning with you.

Your legacy continues to be celebrated. You were invited to be at today's parade. So can you tell me about what that parade was like 50 years ago?

JENKINS: Well, it was just magical, unbelievable, awesome. I mean, I just didn't realize it was going to be history making and I didn't realize it was going to be 55 years before they would honor women or a woman with a parade. But it's something that you don't expect. You work so hard and this is the icing on the cake. Because you get the call and you say, oh, wow. Marvelous. Isn't this outstanding?

BALDWIN: But really at the time, Carol, you didn't think -- you didn't feel it as history in the making and you thought another woman would be honored soon after you?

JENKINS: Oh, sure. I mean, I never dreamed that it would be history making. And I was 20 years old. You know, it's like, oh, this is wonderful, this is marvelous. I'm going to take it all in and it's going to be a wonderful memory for me. And that was it.

BALDWIN: Well, I hate that it's history making. I wish there were other women who followed you.

This is the first female team, Michelle, and the decision for the mayor and the city to do this for these ladies. I mean, does it feel like a celebration for women's soccer or does it really feel overdue for you?

AKERS: Well, first of all, Carol, wow. Good for you. But it is shocking that you were the first and that's -- you were the only one until now.

So I think it's -- I think it's great for soccer and women's soccer and the accomplishments that we did, this team is continuing that legacy and the goal is to build awareness and appreciation for just athletes and athletics in general. So that's kind of how I'm looking at it. It's like, oh, my gosh. This is so cool. You know, I'm so excited for the team and I'm so excited for the progress that's been made since we first started this U.S. women's national team program.

BALDWIN: And here I am sandwiched between two generations of women athletes here to talk about all of this, because we would be remiss if we didn't -- again, I know you're not saying, Michelle, that this is a male or female thing but you have to talk about gender equality in sports.

AKERS: Yeah.

BALDWIN: Carol, to you.

Why do you think so few women have been honored this way?

JENKINS: You know, that's a complex question to answer. But I think it's just -- we have to come to the forefront and I think having this team have this parade -- by the way, I'm so proud of my city, New York City to do it, that now I believe you will see more and more. You know, it's -- since Title 9, my daughter was involved in soccer and it was pickup team and a title 9 team. And this puts it to the forefront and I think the U.S. soccer with their wonderful logo, "She believes," now not just for young women and young girls but I think for boys. But they can dream about wanting to have a goal, to be in a sport and to do something. And then when you write it down, -- take that dream, write it down on a piece of paper, it becomes a goal.

And I think having all of this publicity with it and for the world to see it, much less all the United States, it gives us all a belief that we can, you know, have a dream come true.