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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees
Nuclear Agreement With Iran Finalized; Donald Trump Now Leading Republican 2016 Candidate In Newest Polling; Interview with Brad Steinle; Surviving Crash; Strange Kidnapping Case in California; Investigation of El Chapo Escape from Prison. Aired 8-9p ET
Aired July 14, 2015 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[20:00:11] ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: Good evening from New Orleans. I'm here on assignment.
The big story tonight, a very big deal no matter where you are or how you look at it. The agreement hammered out in Vienna to limit Iran's nuclear program and bit by bit, remove global economic sanctions on the Islamic republic.
Now, it arrived with Iran potentially on the brink of having a bomb with Israel urging tougher measures and contemplating military action on its own with the entire region in turmoil with Iran holding Americans captive and the United States entering a presidential campaign.
Tomorrow, President Obama who spent the day on the phone with Middle East allies will speak to reporters and presumably answer his critics and tonight there are many. He defended his deal with Tom Freeman of "The New York Times."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: What we were able to do is to say to them, given your past behavior, given our strong suspicion and evidence that you made attempts to weaponize your nuclear program, given the destabilizing activities that you've engaged in in the region and support for terrorism. It is not enough for us to trust when you say that you are only creating a peaceful nuclear program. You have to prove it to us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Well, President Obama and supporters underscore that this deal goes far beyond nuclear agreements with the old Soviet Union when it comes to actual verification. Though critics and as I said there are many, you'll hear from some tonight, said the president did not even get the kind of deal that he himself promised to hold out for. We are going to look at all of it starting with the moving parts of the agreement itself.
Chief national security correspondent Jim Sciutto joins us now. So what exactly is in this deal? What are the U.S. concessions?
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Anderson, the ultimate concessions are that Iran is not giving up its nuclear facilities. That includes, for instance, the underground once secret nuclear facility. They will be under restrictions. They will have things that they couldn't have had in the past. But they'll still be in place. That's a major concession.
Also, Iran will all these restrictions are going to sunset over time. For instance, the restrictions against buying conventional weapons. The restrictions against having ballistic missile technology and in fact the entire deal itself only has a 15-year time line.
Now, the administration position is that this deal is more specific than any deal, for instance, that you had with North Korea and their ultimate argument is that it is the best deal they can get at this time and that if the current sanctions regime could not last forever. So this is the best that they could do with the partners they have right now.
COOPER: Both sides are trying on declare victory here. President Obama said today, the deal would, and I quote, "cut off every pathway that Iran could take to develop a nuclear weapon." But is that really accurate, especially if there are sunshine provisions in this?
SCIUTTO: Listen, cut off, no. Restrict and penalize, yes. For instance, they did, it seem, win a victory of sorts on snap back of sanctions. In other words, if Iran violates the provisions of this deal, there is a way to get the sanctions back.
But listen, Iran is not going on unlearn any of what it learned already in terms of nuclear capability. It could ultimately decide that it wants to restart a program. It would be penalized for it but it is not cut off. It could go down that path again. And that's really the ultimate point here is that this is, as you said, there is a sunset here that Iran could decide to go back to the -- to a path toward a bomb.
This does not eliminate that. This does not end the threat of a nuclear program over the long term. It holds it back for some time. And again, ultimately, it extends the time that Iran would have to take that path from about two to three months today to a year.
But even that, Anderson, there are different interpretations. The administration position again, it is the best they could get. It is better than other deals they've had in the past. It is a similar bargain that the U.S. has made in the past, even Reagan made with the Soviet Union. But it did not end this problem. It pushes it down the road.
COOPER: All right. Jim Sciutto, I appreciate that. Again, President Obama is going to talk about this all at length tomorrow. He is already getting an earful from Israel's prime minister whose cabinets today unanimously condemn the deal. He spoke as well with the Saudi king Salman. The Saudi is no friends of Israel or Iran, calling the agreement a historic mistake.
Now, on the flip side, it may turn out to be quite simply historic, whichever it turns out to be in the long run. Right now, it is mainly just a very, very tough sale. More on that tonight from Jim Acosta.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When it comes to the fallout over the Iran nuclear deal, it is all on President Obama.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Because of this deal, the international community will be able to verify that the Islamic Republic of Iran will not develop a nuclear weapon.
[20:05:06] ACOSTA: The president's global sale speech has begun with a call list that includes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, leaders in Europe, Saudi Arabia's king, and Republicans in Congress.
REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: The deal that we have out there in my view from what I know thus far is unacceptable.
ACOSTA: The White House strategy, flood the Iran debate zone. But social media all the ways the agreement will block Tehran's path to a nuclear bomb. President's lavish critics say that billions of dollars in sanctions relief coming Iran's way will do just the opposite.
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: They are going to put in it their war machine. This is a death sentence for the state of Israel if this does not change.
ACOSTA: But if the deal works, it is an Obama legacy show piece right with health care reform, same-sex marriage and Cuba. Congress has 60 days to review and block the deal. But much of that time will be during lawmakers August recess, pushing a likely showdown to September.
OBAMA: I am confident this deal will neat national security interests of the United States and our allies. So I will veto any legislation that prevents the successful implementation of this deal.
ACOSTA: Leaders from both parties already have problems with the deal consider the dispute resolution process which may take 30 days to break through any Iranian opposition to inspections at suspicious sites, 30 more of the U.N. gets involve.
SEN. BOB MENENDEZ (D), NEW JERSEY: The deal doesn't provide for any time anywhere inspections.
ACOSTA: The president phrases it differently.
OBAMA: The organization responsible for the inspections, the IAEA, will have access where necessary when necessary.
ACOSTA: Others wonder what happened to the president's comments in 2013 when he suggested Iran would give up some of its facilities.
OBAMA: We know that they don't need to have an underground fortified facility in order to have a peaceful nuclear program. REP. ED ROYCE (R), CHAIRMAN, HOUSE FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE: The
president told us Iran does not need to have an underground fortified facility like forto (ph) in order to have a peaceful nuclear program. Yet this military complex will now stay open.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: And Jim, that's an incredibly important point. To those who oppose this deal, do they even have the two-thirds vote needed to overwrite a presidential veto?
ACOSTA: That is the big question, Anderson for this White House. Do the deals opponents have that two-thirds vote needed to overwrite a presidential veto? That veto you heard the president, the threat of a veto that he issued earlier?
Today, White house officials say no they don't. And there are even some lawmakers up on Capitol Hill who agree with that assessment. But the president has more than just Republican lawmakers to deal with it at this point, Anderson. There is not a bigger critic and all the world of this deal, than Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He called this agreement, as you said, an historic mistake.
The president spoke with Netanyahu on the phone earlier today. The White House says the president reassured the prime minister that the U.S. is still committed to Israel's security. Remains concerned about Iran's support of terrorism. But the White House tried to get ahead of that Israeli criticism today by reaching out on a conference call, I'm told, with Jewish American groups. I'm told there were some pointed questions on that call. But Anderson, no question about it. They know that there are some hard feelings with the Israeli prime minister, between prime minister and this president over this issue. This is going to be one of the questions the president will have to face tomorrow at his news conference here at the White House happens at 1:00 -- Anderson.
COOPER: All right. Jim Acosta, appreciate it.
Jim, I want to dig deeper now with Aaron David Miller who spent two decades in senior positions at the state department advising presidents in both parties on Middle East issues. Currently he is the vice president at the Woodrow Wilson Central for scholars.
Mr. Miller, to you, what is the most pivotal part of this deal?
AARON DAVID MILLER, MIDDLE EAST ANALYST: I think the reality is, Anderson, the president willfully pursued this because he wanted a smaller, slower, more easily monitored, more easily verifiable Iranian nuclear program. He wanted to preempt an Israeli strike making American won unnecessary and inject some measurable order into a broken angry dysfunctional and very disorderly Middle East.
The problem is we paid a significant price, I think, for what is tantamount to an arms control agreement. It is not a disarmament agreement. It is an agreement designed to constraint, to slow as Jim said, Iran's fugitive quest for a nuclear weapon. And it is an agreement. Forget political space it doesn't have in Washington. And the fierce debate, it is going to set into motion which already set into motion and the fact it has alienated our allies. It pre assumes, essentially, to constraint Iran's nuclear program. But the reality is, it is in essence, going to result in an Iran that is going to read billions of dollars in sanctions relief.
The legitimacy of an Iran that is now open for business to the Europeans, the Russians and the Chinese. To get the deal, we've acquiesced in some of the more egregious forms of Iranian behavior in Syria, (INAUDIBLE), in Yemen supporting the Houthis, even the Shia- Iraqi militias. And at the end of the day, and this is a kicker, we still will leave Iran with enough of a residual nuclear infrastructure to weaponize, should they, and I'm not arguing they will. Should they make the decision to do so. So there are no good deals with Iran, Anderson. Only deals with various degrees of risk and the president rolled the dice and took a risk.
[20:10:34] COOPER: So why did a deal have to be made? I mean, could the sanctions have just remain in place? And the status quo just remained in place?
MILLER: Well, the counter factious, the administration based their policy in the fact that sustainable sanctions, particularly the Russians and the Chinese were not possible. That at some point, the Russians and Chinese would break with the Europeans. Presumably we keep the Europeans on board. At some point Iran might make the decision to accelerate its program. The Israelis would be put in the difficult position of having to consider a unilateral military strike. Or the administration would have to make good on its own rhetorical commitment to basically to use the president's words, prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.
All of these were very bad scenarios and you have a guy, an inherently risk averse president when it comes the using military force but a risk ready one when it comes to testing diplomacy, reaching out and trying on validate the proposition that talking is always better, at least at first, than shooting. And you put all these stuff together and you essentially lay the basis for what we have.
And you know, ten years is a long time, Anderson. I measure my life for 25 years in four to eight year infamous from one administration to the next. But a decade out there where time is measured not in administrations but in generations, it is not a long time at all. And toward out-years of this agreement, should Iran choose to continue to pursue of its nuclear weapons pretentions, we could have a problem.
COOPER: Do you believe this is going to be President Obama's legacy in the Middle East?
MILLER: You know, you have a broken angry dysfunctional region. Almost everything is going wrong. The Arab spring has proven to be a disaster if there is any sort of spring, frankly, it is a Persian spring. Iran is rising in the region. It is taking advantage of dysfunction in the Arab world to create spheres and zones of influence for itself. Look. If the (INAUDIBLE) in Tehran became less repressive, if it
opened up, if Iran started cooperating with the United States in Syria, in Yemen, in Iraq, if Iran released the four Americans that it is holding without justification and cause, you know, then over time you could argue that the bet was worth making. But the odds of that happening, you know, China, Russia, Vietnam, even Cuba, authoritarian societies can maintain control, still open up economically, and even liberalize to a degree at home. And I suspect the mullahs, particularly the supreme leader, did this agreement not to liberalize the Iranian revolution but to consolidate it.
COOPER: Mr. Miller, always good to have you on. Thank you.
A reminder to our viewers, you can set your DVR. You can watch "360" any time you like.
Coming up next, there is a lot ahead. We are up for two hours tonight.
The political fallout, a new polling that puts Donald Trump out in front in the latest polls.
We also have breaking news. You wouldn't believe it unless you saw it. A look inside El Chapo's escape tunnel. Motorcycle included.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:17:37] COOPER: Welcome back. In a moment, you are going to hear from the brother of Katie Steinle who was killed allegedly by an illegal immigrant in San Francisco. Now, as you know, Donald Trump has talked about her killing, adopting it as a political cause. Her brother has plenty to say about that tonight and it might surprise you and certainly might surprise the Trump campaign. He is actually very critical of the way Donald Trump has not reached out at all to his family and believes that essentially, Donald Trump has been using his sister's death. You're going to hear that from him coming up in a moment.
But first there is new polling tonight. Mr. Trump leading in a new Suffolk University USA today poll of likely Republican voters ahead of Jeb Bush. Within the margin of error and 30 percent undecided but ahead of Jeb Bush all the same.
Dana Bash talked to Mr. Trump today and joins us now.
So tell me about the conversation with him.
DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, first of all, Anderson, you know, I'm used to covering Republican candidates, interviewing them in the corn fields of Iowa, the mountains of New Hampshire. But doing it on a candidate's sprawling winery next to his boutique hotel; that was a first.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BASH: Let's talk about the Iran deal. The president said it is not built on trust. It is built on verification.
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's not true. It is absolutely not true.
BASH: How do you know that?
TRUMP: They can do whatever they want to do because I know many of the people involved in the negotiation. The Iranians are very good negotiators. The Persians are always great negotiators. They are laughing at us back in Iran. And why didn't we get our prisoners back? Why didn't somebody say where are our prisoners? Nobody is even talking -- we have four people that are in prison that shouldn't be.
BASH: You put out a very harshly worded statement about Hillary Clinton today. Why did the gloves come off?
TRUMP: She did it with me. She talked about my tone. And I said basically, it is not about tone. We're too worried about tone in this country and that's why we're getting beaten by everybody. It is about results. You have to get results.
BASH: Talking to Republicans behind the scenes, you know this full well. You spoke to the Republican chair and I'm sure you speak to a lot of people that we don't know about. That they are concerned about the way that you're taking the conversation within the Republican primary process.
TRUMP: Well, I don't know about that. I'll be honest with you. I want to save the country. Our country is going to hell. We have a problem. I want to make America great again. And to do, you have to be bold. You have to be strong. You have to use the same abilities that I use. You need a certain ability. We don't have that in office right now. We had people that are incompetent. And as far as the Republican Party, I mean, they're big people. They can speak up for themselves.
[20:20:10] BASH: A new poll just came out saying that 40 percent of Republican voters think you're just doing this for publicity.
TRUMP: That's what I don't understand.
BASH: How do you change their mind?
TRUMP: Well, I think it is a great thing for me.
BASH: Why?
TRUMP: Because a lot of those people want to vote for me but they think I'm doing it for publicity. The fact is that was one I was very surprised at that. Why would I be doing this? I take abuse from everybody and I'm doing this for fun? This isn't fun. I want to make America great again.
Those 40 percent are people that would vote for me. That's the thing I like about it. Remember, before I announce, everybody said he is never going to announce. I announced. Then they said he is never going to send and sign the form that is did two week ago. I signed it. Now over the next couple days I'm putting in my financials which will show an unbelievable company.
BASH: Can you give me a little teaser on that?
TRUMP: No, I can't. (INAUDIBLE). But it is an unbelievable company, far greater than -- I built that. I built it. And that's what this country needs.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: He also spoke out against Jeb Bush spoke out against Donald Trump today. What did he have to say?
BASH: Really fascinating, Anderson. When Donald Trump announced his candidacy which was the day after Jeb Bush did in June. What we heard from the Jeb team was that they couldn't believe that we were taking Donald Trump seriously. Well, it turns out now, Jeb Bush seems to not have a choice but to do. Listen to what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEB BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: From a Republican Party perspective, we have to be big and bold, not divisive and angry. We have to be hopeful and optimistic, not deeply pessimistic. We're never going on win if we're a grievance party. We'll win if we offer something that gives people hope their lives are going to get better. And Mr. Trump has every right to have every belief he has. He's going on run. That's fine. But I don't want to be associated with the kind of vitriol that he is spewing out these days.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: So, Anderson, not only is Jeb Bush speaking out against Donald Trump, he is very clearly using him as a foil to position himself, Jeb Bush, where he wants to be within the Republican field as the moderate voice, the one who is not going to speak as he said in vitriol. So, it is very calculated, I think, politically. Never mind, it is probably very much how he feels, Anderson.
COOPER: And it's interesting. I can imagine Donald Trump saying a response to that, again, it's not about tone, it is a bout results. We'll see if he actually use that line on stage against Jeb Bush.
Joining me now, Dana, thank you. Joining me now is CNN political commentator and Democratic strategist Paul Begala, co-chair of a pro- Hillary Clinton super Pac and long-time adviser of President Clinton in the 1990s, former Reagan White House political director Jeffrey Lord who is a contributing editor of "American Expectator," and CNN political commentator and Republican strategist Ana Navarro. She is a Jeb Bush supporter who also advises other GOP candidates.
Ana, so now you have Jeb Bush talking about Donald Trump. I'm wondering about your thoughts on how he and other GOP candidates should be dealing with him because you have this new poll now that has him out in the lead.
ANA NAVARRO, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think Jeb Bush is dealing with it just right, frankly. Look. He is not going out there and making it a proactive issue that he is discussing he has important policy issues that are of great significance to the nation that he's talking about. But if a question comes up, I think he is not hedging. He is not mincing words. He is being civil and he's taking high road. But I think he is making it very clear that Donald Trump does not represent him. Does not represent every Republican. And that he is not going on engage in that kind of fear mongering that Donald Trump is engaging.
So, you know, Jeb has been doing it from the start. I remember when Donald Trump first announced. He did it a couple days later. He did it again in New Hampshire at a Fourth of July parade. And he did it again today. So he is not throughout talking about it every day. I suspect he would like to be talking about other things. But if he gets asked, he is being direct, he is being blunt.
COOPER: Jeffrey, the fact that Jeb Bush even brought up Donald Trump, does that give Trump's candidacy more power? I mean, he's gaining in the polls. He is number one in this latest poll.
JEFFREY LORD, FORMER REAGAN WHITE HOUSE POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Sure, I think it does. One of the problems that Jeb Bush has, I went back and found an article in the "New York Times" in 1980, in March of 1980, in which Jeb Bush was basically running his dad's campaign in the Cuban community in the Miami area. And it was talking about Jeb Bush doing that and then the appeal of Ronald Reagan in Florida and the Cuban community.
One of the observations was that Jeb Bush was getting, in essence, the elites of the Cuban community whereas Ronald Reagan had the grassroots of the Cuban community. If you follow this, this is basically what is happening here is that Donald Trump is appealing to rank and file Republicans. And Jeb Bush is sweeping through Washington with all these fundraisers from lobbyists and elites. It is the same sort of situation and I think that's why the poll numbers reflect this.
[20:25:09] COOPER: Ana, I want you to respond and then I'll go to Paul.
NAVARRO: Well, I think Mr. Lord should continue reading and continue doing research and he will find that when Jeb Bush ran for governor, he got over 60 percent of the Hispanic vote in Florida, a key swing vote. Not only did he get the Cuban American vote, he got the Puerto Rican vote, the central Florida vote, those very important swing vote and he did it because he earned their trust. He did it because he showed results.
And so, you know, Jeb Bush is a very popular guy in Florida. And it is a little bit ironic, I think, that the billionaire who is getting coverage for opening up his winery is being called the everyday guy. Whereas Jeb Bush, the guy who has been (INAUDIBLE) and working and signing paychecks is the guy who is being called the elitist. I mean, there's something surreal about this entire conversation. COOPER: Paul, I can't see you right now, because of the satellite
feed. But I imagine you're sitting there like a Cheshire cat. And I want to talk, Paul, about your response to this poll that was released today that has Trump leading amongst Republicans. You wrote, and I quote, "as the great philosophy Mick Jagger saying, thank you, Jesus, thank you, Lord." What did you mean by that?
PAUL BEGALA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: One of the great rolling stones songs. Yes, I almost don't want to speak. I think this is just so great and I'm scared I'm going to jinx it.
I think Mr. Lord is right. It is not my party and I'm often wrong and Ana knows her party better than I do. But I do think that there is this populist elitist divide in the Republican Party and I think it is real. And it focuses especially, not on tone, it focuses especially on immigration.
I did some research, too. Mr. Lord, I was a little intimidated coming on with two Republicans. So I look at the Republican autopsy that was done. Chairman Reince Priebus of the Republican Party is ruthlessly honest. It is really better than anything, frankly, I've seen my party in a long time.
But here is what they said. They said, I'm quoting for it, "we must embrace and champion comprehensive immigration reform. If we do not, our party's appeal will continue to shrink to its core constituencies only."
Now, one of the primary authors in that document, and I think it is a brilliant document is Sally Bradshaw, who is a tough, probably the top adviser to Jeb Bush. That's what the elite Republicans believe.
Mr. Trump comes in and says no. And he sometimes uses I think very vitriolic language as Jeb said. But he says no and he just goes out there with this very intense anti-immigrant, anti-Hispanic message which I think is probably true to the Republican grassroots. I think it is why they are going to lose the presidential election to Hillary Clinton.
COOPER: So Mr. Lord, what about that? I mean, is Reince Priebus wrong?
LORD: Yes, I think he is.
NAVARRO: I think we learn from --
COOPER: Wait.
LORD: Yes. I haven't seen Sally in years. She was an intern in our office in the Reagan White House. I think the world of her. I think she is terrific. But I have to say, this issue came, was somewhere around four percent in the polls in 2006 or 2005. And then President Bush 43 took and then ran with it and suddenly its negatives were up there around 60 percent within the Republican Party and they lost the House and Senate that year. So I would suggest that there is a real divide here between the elites of the Republican Party and the rank and file on this issue.
COOPER: I have to leave it there.
LORD: OK.
COOPER: We'll have you all back. Ana Navarro, Paul Begala, thank you very much.
Just ahead, the breaking news in the killing of Kate Steinle. Her brother's message tonight for Donald Trump. And you haven't heard this before.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My message is, you know, if you're going to use somebody's name and you're going to sensationalize the death of a beautiful young lady, maybe you should call and talk to the family first and see what their views are.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: You're going to hear more of my conversation with her brother coming up in just a moment.
Also in the prison breakout, newly revealed photos from inside the tunnel of the drug lord El Chapo used to ride to freedom.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: As we mentioned before the break, the brother of the 32-year- old woman who was killed in the random shooting on a San Francisco pier this month says Donald Trump is using his sister's death to score political points. Kate Steinle's death has become a focus in the debate over illegal immigration. One that Donald Trump says proves his point about illegal immigration. The man charged with her murder is an undocumented immigrant, a seven time felon who had been deported to Mexico five times. Now, earlier I spoke with Kate's brother Brad Steinle. Take a look.
Brad, it's been one week since we last talked. First of all, how are you and your family doing?
BRAD STEINLE, SISTER MURDERD BY UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANT: We're hanging in there. We're hanging in there. We're leaning on each other. And trying to keep Kate's memory alive and just doing the best we can to put one foot in front of the other.
COOPER: To hear politicians talking about your sister, I'm just wondering on a personal level, what is that like?
STEINLE: Well, it is a bit strange. I would hope that people would reach out and get our views and our input in what is going on. My goal is that we have something that is put together by like-minded, reasonable people. Something that is fair and will be agreeable by both parties. COOPER: Can you talk a little bit more about who has reached out?
Obviously, you know, Donald Trump is somebody who was talking about your sister early on. I'm wondering if he ever reached out or if his campaign did and what your thoughts were about him, about, the way he talked about what happened to your sister?
STEINLE: You hear, you know, Donald Trump talks about Kate Steinle like he knows her. I've never heard a word from his campaign manager, never heard a word from him. It is disconcerting. And I don't want to be affiliated with somebody that can't have, doesn't have the common courtesy to reach out and ask about Kate and ask about our political views and what we want. The platform that he is setting isn't exactly what our family believes in.
[20:35:05]
COOPER: And I think for a lot of people that certainly seems like common sense. Do you feel, this is a hard question? And you don't have to answer it. Do you feel like Donald Trump is using your sister?
STEINLE: In a way, yes. Sensationalizing it is not the route we would like to go.
COOPER: So, your message to Donald Trump would be what?
STEINLE: You know, if you're going to use somebody's name and you're going to sensationalize the death of a beautiful young lady, maybe you should call and talk to the family first and see what their views are.
COOPER: You know, Brad, the San Francisco sheriff was asked if he would have done anything differently in the case of the man who admitted to shooting Kate. And he'd said he would tell federal authorities to do their job. I'm wondering what went through your mind when you heard that. Because that sounded to me like a bureaucratic response.
STEINLE: It is insulting. The fact that he looks at Kate's death as something that is entirely not his problem. Not his issue. And the justification for that is that he didn't have the right piece of paper on his desk. And if anybody else had that excuse for their boss that didn't use common sense, they would probably be fired. So I'm insulted. And, you know, it's back to the finger pointing game. Nobody wants to take responsibility for the fact that the system miserably failed my sister.
COOPER: Brad, I appreciate you speaking out with us tonight. And again, our thoughts and certainly our prayers are with you and your family. Thank you so much, Brad.
STEINLE: Thanks, Anderson, take care.
COOPER: I want to point out that Brad Steinle set up a fundraising site in his sister's memory. We have the address on the screen there. You can donate to katesfund.com. Again, that's katesfund.com. There is a lot to talk about. New images, taking you along the route the drug lord El Chapo used to walk and ride out of a maximum security prison. We've just gotten these in. They show the partially built house at the end of the tunnel that Joaquin Guzman used to break out of that prison. He crawled out of a hole in the shower. He made his way down the tunnel, and then he came out here. He rode part of the way on a motorcycle, believe it or not. There it is. There's also been no sign of him, despite a $3.8 million reward. The former DEA chief says the first 72 hours after escape are important, obviously, and if he's not caught by then, he may never be. Nick Valencia joins me from Taluka, Mexico, with the latest.
So Nick, what is the latest? Because we have some of these images now of the tunnel on the investigation itself. What are you hearing?
NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, if authorities do know something about the whereabouts of El Chapo, they are not making it known publicly. La Secretaria of the Governacion, which is the equivalent of the interior ministry of Mexico said it is likely the El Chapo had help from inside that prison. And that seems to be the overwhelming narrative here that people believe, Anderson. More than 30 prison guards have been taken into custody as well as the director of the prison. He's been fired as a result of El Chapo's escape. And you mention that $3.8 million reward for information leading to his arrest or capture. Anderson.
COOPER: I mean, you know, so much went into this prison. This is supposed to be Mexico's most secure facility. When you went in, what did you see?
VALENCIA: Well, we were caught off guard. It is a phenomenal example of the communication breakdown there at this maximum security prison. We've been trying to go through official channels to get into that prison with no locks. So we decided basically just to knock on the door. When we got there, we had our identification taken from us. We were escorted to a room where they took our belongings and we were run through a metal detector. We had our photo taken. After we got through that first perimeter, we were then escorted by a federal police van that took us to a second perimeter. There we were met by the current director of the Albingnano (ph) prison who was just furious that we were there. He was - seemed to be embarrassed that we had even gotten that far and it just goes to show, that the left hand in that prison is not talking to the right. We as a news crew were able to get through that first perimeter and it seems that we shouldn't have been able to get through there. And you can only imagine the type of influence a man like El Chapo had with this, you know, with the money that he has. What kind of influence he could have had and how easy it could have been for him to escape this prison, Anderson.
COOPER: All right. Nick Valencia, I appreciate your reporting.
An arrest in a kidnapping case in California. The police originally thought it was a hoax calling a wild goose chase and a waste of the resources. What changed their mind and led to the arrest is extraordinary. We'll talk about that next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) COOPER: A major break in a strange kidnapping case in California. Strange to say the least. A man has been arrested in the alleged abduction of a woman. An abduction that police thought was all a hoax. Our Kyung Lah reports.
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KYANG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The search for a missing woman, Denise Huskins. On March 23RD, a bizarre and terrifying break-in at her home. She and her boyfriend Aaron Quinn were woken up by a bright light shining in their eyes and the electric sound of a stun gun. The intruder or intruders tied them up with zip ties, covered their eyes with taped over swim goggles. The boyfriend forced to listen to a pre-recorded message on head phones that said they would be given drugs, a quarter bottle of diazepam and Nyquil. Give me financial information and passwords, the recording said, or they would be hurt. Leaving Quinn behind, the intruder disappeared with Denise Huskins. A day later, this voicemail sent to a San Francisco reporter, proof that she was still alive.
DENISE HUSKINS: I'm Denise Huskins. Thank you very much. Otherwise I'm fine.
LAH: Then as suddenly as she disappeared, she reappeared 400 miles away.
[20:45:01]
LAH: The kidnapper dropped her off near her dad's home in Huntington Beach. And almost too good to be true ending. In fact the Vallejo police department, it was too good to be true. They called the whole thing a hoax.
LL KUNNY PARK VALLEJO POLICE: So, over the course of the last few days, so I can kind of put things in perspective. We've had over 40 police detectives from the local, state and federal levels. And over 100 support personnel assisting in the investigation, working around the clock to help locate Miss Huskins. That is a tremendous amount of resources that in my opinion was wasted. I can sit here and apologize for me, for all of us being guarded with our information but I can tell you in the grand scheme of things, Mr. Quinn and Miss Huskins has plundered valuable resources away from our community and has taken the focus away from the true victims of our community. While instilling fear amongst our community members. So if anything, it is Mr. Quinn and Miss Huskins that owes this community an apology.
LAH: Then things got even weirder. That forceful statement from police drew an immediate response on March 26th from the kidnapper. In this e-mail to the "San Francisco Chronicle," the person writes, "Huskins was absolutely kidnapped." That he will not stand by and see the life of a really good person ruined. He alleged, she was part of a crime ring. Gentlemen criminals he wrote who fancied ourselves the sort of oceans 11. Huskins mysterious disappearance and reappearance drew comparisons to the movie "Gone Girl."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As you all know, my wife in an earlier time disappeared three days ago. I had nothing to do with the disappearance of my wife.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAH: On March 28, suspicion growing around Huskins, another e-mail from the kidnapper. He apologized. Then attached these pictures, showing the room where Huskins was held and she says, sexually assaulted. And the devices he used to kidnap her and demand ransom.
(on camera): This reads like a Hollywood script.
LL HERB WALTERS, DUBLIN POLICE SERVICES: Yes.
LAH (voice over): Lieutenant Walters is with the Dublin police. His department, not far from Vallejo, blew the case open. It happened when there was a break-in at this house. The victims, another couple, more zip ties and bright lights.
But something unexpected happened at this house. The couple fought back. The wife managing to call police. The suspect fled. But he made a mistake. He left his cell phone. It didn't take long before Lieutenant Walters and his detectives arrested this man. Harvard law school grad Matthew Muller who told investigators he is bipolar and suffers from psychosis echoed by his attorney.
THOMAS JOHNSON, MATTHEW MULLER'S ATTORNEY: What we'll be doing is trying to sort out what evidence they have to prove he committed Dublin, and then what evidence, if any, connects him to Vallejo. The other component of it is, every time are defending - You also have to look at their mental state. And it is true that Mr. Muller has suffered significant mental health issues over the past several years.
LAH: And the FBI believes there may be more victims.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The DNA when it comes back if it light up like a Christmas tree. We don't know. We don't know how many victims there are out there.
LAH: Victim Denise Huskins and her boyfriend now stand vindicated.
DOUGLAS RAPPOPORT, ATTORNEY: When they told the Vallejo police department, this was real, within hours, the police department said it was a hoax and she owed an apology to the public. Well, today, the Vallejo police department owes an apology to Miss Huskins and Mr. Quinn.
LAH (on camera): Are you ready to acknowledge that that was a mistake?
CAPTAIN JOHN WHITNEY, VALLEJO POLICE: Not at this time. We're going to wait until the investigation is concluded by the FBI and then go from there.
(END VIDEOTAPE) COOPER: And Kyung Lah joins us now from Vallejo. And you've mentioned other cases. There are at least two more in the San Francisco area that may be connected to this guy?
LAH: Yeah. Not very far from here. Two communities, known as Mountain View and Palo Alto. There are investigators there who say that they have two burglary that may be connected to this suspect. They won't tell us exactly why. And Anderson, the FBI is extremely concerned, there may be more victims they simply don't know about. They are asking if any of this sounds familiar, call the FBI.
COOPER: All right. Kyung Lah, it is a bizarre, bizarre story. We'll continue to follow it. Thanks very much. Coming up, an amazing survival story. A 16-year-old girl hikes the rugged mountain train after plane crash that apparently killed her grandparents. Two days later she calmly made this call to 911.
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AUTUMN: We crashed and I was the only one that made it out.
911 DISPATCHER: OK. Made it out from the collision? Or survived?
AUTUMN: Yeah. The only one that survived.
[20:50:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: This breaking news about a very young plane crash survivor. CNN affiliate KOMO obtained these new photographs of her eating breakfast this morning at the hospital where she is recovering. Autumn Veatch is her name. She is being called a teenage hero. The sole survivor of a deadly plane crash who managed to hike out of the rugged mountains where the plane went down on Saturday. She did this despite being hurt and having to leave her grandparents who apparently did not survive behind. A news conference has just wrapped up at the hospital. Dan Simon joins me now with the latest. So, Dan.
DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Anderson, we just learned that the young woman at the center of all this, 16-year-old Autumn Veatch, has been given the green light to go home by her doctors. That's simply amazing. She only had to spend one night in the hospital. This is a young woman who is in a fiery plane crash. Some of the details here are just amazing. The doctor who treated here - who treated her at the hospital credited her will and determination to survive. Her friends also say there was no food during this ordeal. She had very little water. She took a sip out of a creek at one point but was afraid that if she drank too much, it would make her sick. It has been a wild couple of days. And here's how we got to this point.
[20:55:01]
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SIMON: The Washington wilderness. Spectacular, but unforgiving. No one knows that more now than 16-year-old Autumn Veatch, the lone survivor of a small plane crash that left this young woman alone and scared. And she had to literally claw her way to safety through this jagged and mountainous terrain.
SHERIFF FRANK ROGERS, OKANOGAN COUNTY POLICE DEPARTMENT: We're just impressed with her. She is kind of like a super hero. The ordeal lasting some 48 hours with Autumn using every bit of her small frame to track some unknown distance in the dark and cold.
911 DISPATCHER: Hi, this is Michael with Okanogan County 911. What is your name?
AUTUMN: Autumn Veatch.
911 DISPATCHER: This is the teenager talking to a 911 operator moments after being rescued. She had been driven by some good Samaritans to a country store. She was later described as dazed.
AUTUMN: I was riding from Kalispell, Montana to Bellingham, Washington, and about, well, I don't know where but we crashed and I was the only one that made it out.
911 DISPATCHER: OK. Made it out from the collision?
AUTUMN: From the plane.
911 DISPATCHER: Or survived.
AUTUMN: Yeah. The only one that survived.
SIMON: Autumn's step grandparents, Leland and Sharon Bowman apparently did not make it. Mr. Bowman, 62 years old, was said to be at the controls.
AUTUMN: Are you injured at all?
SIMON: Yeah. I have a lot of burns on my hands and I'm like kind of covered in bruises and scratches and stuff.
911 DISPATCHER: OK. All right, Autumn. How old are you?
AUTUMN: I'm 16.
911 DISPATCHER: Autumn stayed with the bodies in a wreckage for about a day hoping help would eventually arrive, but after a while she decided to make the dangerous trek into the woods.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Obviously she was shaken and distraught.
SIMON: For more than 24 hours she hiked. No cell phone coverage, no map. She said she followed the river downstream until it led her to a highway.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She definitely looked like she had been out in the woods for quite some time.
SIMON: Owner Vick La Duke is also a pilot and knows the dangers of flying this remote region.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's just your classic jagged piece.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She is safe.
SIMON: Autumn was taken to the hospital for observation, and reunited with her weary father who had spent what seemed like an eternity wondering if he would see his daughter again.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I didn't want it to be real. So, I just - no, not until anything is confirmed. And I just, I just didn't feel like she was.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: And Dan joins me now. Were her grandparents, were they recovered?
SIMON: At this point they have not found the plane wreckage and they have not found the bodies. Anderson, I should tell you that Autumn did receive a burn to her right hand and according to the sheriff, that's because when the plane went down, she tried to reach into the fiery plane ball and pull her step grandparents out. Unfortunately, she was unable to save them, but really did her best. We can also tell you that just before the plane went down, that there was some turbulence. And, of course, that is something that investigators are going to have to look at and try to figure out exactly why that plane went down, Anderson.
COOPER: All right, Dan Simon, thanks very much. This special edition of "360" continues through the next hour. There's a lot to get to. We're going to have more on the reaction to the historic deal with Iran plus the latest in the hunt for Mexican drug lord El Chapo. The Mexican government now offering nearly $4 million for his capture.
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