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MH370 Mystery: Speculation of Breach Below Cockpit; California Ablaze: 21 Separate Wildfires Burning Now; Ambitious Climate Change Rules Unveiled Tomorrow; Outbreak in the South Bronx; Jericho the Lion Alive and Well; Is Trump Working on His Image? Trump Fires at Campaign Staffer; The Hunt for Fugitive Mom; Jon Stewart's Final Week as "Daily Show" Host. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired August 02, 2015 - 18:00   ET

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

[18:00:10] POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, everyone. Six o'clock Eastern, 3:00 Pacific this Sunday. So glad you're with us. I'm Poppy Harlow in New York.

And we begin with the update on the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370. The part of an airplane wing found on an island in the Indian Ocean is indeed from a Boeing 777. That much was confirmed today by Malaysian officials.

MH370, the plane that disappeared last year with 239 people onboard, was also a Boeing 777. So, the question everyone wants answered, is this piece of debris a piece of MH370. Investigators in Toulouse, France, are working to identify the debris this week.

Beaches on the Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean are being scoured for anymore potential debris and a handful of objects of interest -- that is what they're being called -- had been found. None though are confirmed to be from the plane.

A leading theory in the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 is that someone deliberately steered the plane off its course from the cockpit. But now, we are hearing of another possibility. A security breach that could have happened right under the pilot's feet.

CNN's Kyung Lah explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The washed-up debris still brings pilots no closer to a consensus on the greatest mystery of their profession.

RET. CAPTAIN ROSS AIMER, CEO, AERO CONSULTING EXPERTS: There's all kinds of theories. Everybody has a different theory.

LAH: U.S. intelligence agencies believe it's likely the plane was deliberately steered by someone in the cockpit. But retired United Airlines pilot Ross flew the 777 and trained pilots on the jet at Boeing. He says the debris launched a new round of speculation among his fellow pilots. Among the theories, a section of the aircraft known as the E/E Bay, or the electronics bay, may have been breached.

(on camera): What's in the electronics bay?

AIMER: This is basically the brain and heart of an aircraft. In case of a 777, which is a very highly electronic aircraft, all the electronics that control the entire airplane are in that electronic bay. So this is the most important part of this aircraft, other than the engines. So every pilot that flies a 777 knows how to get down there.

LAH (voice-over): It's designed for maintenance access. But here you can manage all flight systems, taking total control of the plane.

We're not going to show you where the access is on the aircraft. But we will show you what's widely available on the internet. In this aviation video viewed tens of thousands of times online, you can see in the bay various electronics, wires and green tanks. The concern floated by some pilots, they say Boeing manufactures and delivers a 777 with an unsecured access door. Most of the airlines add a lock, and the access is hidden, so only crew and perhaps some aviation enthusiasts would know how to get in.

That's why a breach aboard MH370 is something that pilots says is possible, but unlikely. Investigators around the world found no immediate red flags from anyone onboard. More likely believes Aimer a catastrophic fire, or even that one of the crew, perhaps Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah or co-pilot Fariq Abdul Hamid, were somehow involved.

AIMER: One of the things that investigators do, they never leave any stone unturned. They look at just about any possibility.

LAH: Kyung Lah, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAH: It is one of the theories being floated. Let's talk about it with two pilots and CNN aviation analysts, Les Abend and Miles O'Brien.

Thank you both, gentlemen, for being here.

Les, you flied a 777. You've talked a lot about this E&E compartment, calling this the Achilles heel in regard to security breaches. Do you think that it could have been compromised on MH370?

LES ABEND, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: Anything can be on the table. But in order to get into that compartment from the cabin, you've got to disrupt cabin service, you've got to lift up a rug -- I mean, it goes on and on. So, somebody's going to notice this. And if you get in from outside the airplane, the access is difficult. Somebody may have noticed.

I realize that Malaysia may be -- may have some lax security procedures, but there are procedures in the United States that you can know this, that if somebody tried to gain access, and you'd have to get a lot of people in there to gain access to an airplane and take it over in a hijacking situation.

But if you wanted to disable the systems on this airplane, they have to -- you'd have to have a heck of a IT knowledge of what you were disabling, and to steer the airplane would require very -- you know, mission impossible-type knowledge.

HARLOW: Miles, do you agree? Mission impossible-type knowledge?

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: Well, Poppy, the one thing about access to this room -- and it is possible that somebody was there when the plane took off.

[18:05:04] There's also a door to the room, unlock to the forward luggage compartment, the luggage hull. So, the fact that it's open is not a great idea.

But from that room, you have access to all of the circuit breakers for all the systems, including the circuit breaker for the cockpit door. If you pull that circuit breaker, the door is de-energized. And when it's de-energized, it fails to open, that's a safety issue. You don't want to lock the pilots in.

So, you may not have to fly the aircraft from there to compromise. It's an Achilles heel. It should be locked. The regulatory agencies have not taken a stand on this, they should.

HARLOW: All right. Also, let's talk about the report that came out late this week. CNN's Evan Perez reporting what U.S. intelligence has surmised. Something that they put together in this preliminary assessment months ago, before the piece of Boeing 777 washed up ashore this week, something that wasn't intended for the public to see. But it suggests that someone in the cockpit deliberately a caused the aircraft's movement to veer off-course before it vanished.

Les, to you, you say a deliberate act does not mean a nefarious act -- I want to be clear here, because U.S. intelligence never said in this report that the plane was deliberately crashed, just that it was deliberately veered off-course. Why is that difference so important?

ABEND: Well, the difference is that we can go through Virginia scenarios where somebody else was trying to control that airplane, maybe for the purpose of getting it back to an alternate airport because of an emergency situation that they had. We don't have time to go over some of the scenarios.

But indeed, that's possible that somebody from the cabin that didn't suffer hypoxia situation with a walk-around bottle could have come up there and used the autopilot to steer the airplane. So, that scenario is definitely a possibility. But once again, anything is on the table.

HARLOW: Miles, to you, when you look at the U.S. intelligence report, it only says they believe someone deliberately veered the plane off course, not that they deliberately crashed it. In your mind, though, there's no question the plane was deliberately downed. Why is that? O'BRIEN: There's just really no way, Poppy, and I know Les will pick

a bone with me on this, but there's really no way to come up with a scenario that would provide a catastrophic enough event to cause all of the radar tracking, communications systems to suddenly go blank at that convenient spot, that spot during a handoff between the control of conversations. There's no scenario that allows you to claim a catastrophic enough event that also allows the plane to fly that circuitous route for seven hours. It just -- it doesn't jibe.

So, clearly, there was a deliberate action involved here. Les is saying that it was initially a response to an emergency situation. That is potentially the case, except how do you explain it flew on for seven hours.

HARLOW: Les, how do you explain it?

ABEND: I mean, I've always disagreed with Miles. I've looked at the mechanical aspects. I can explain the scenario that could have possibly shut down the systems and done weird things to the airplane. You know, once again, Miles and I are both speculating on this. So, we have to respect each other's opinion in that regard. But I really -- I just don't see the purpose. I don't see anything that traces back to a nefarious act.

HARLOW: Seventeen months later, and still so few answers. We don't even know yet if the parts washed up ashore is from MH370. And all that these families want and deserve, our answers. I hope they get some this week. Les, Miles, thank you both.

O'BRIEN: You're welcome.

HARLOW: Also to California now, two deadly wildfires raging out of control in California. Coming up, a live report from the evacuation zone.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:11:54] HARLOW: Thousands of homeowners in California are nervously watching several wildfires this weekend, and ready to evacuate their homes if they need to. Fifty homes and other buildings have already been burned. One of the fires is near Sacramento and has doubled in size just this weekend alone, and more than 47,000 acres.

Stephanie Elam is live in Lake County, California.

And when you look at this, Stephanie, this is the last thing the state of California dealing with that horrific drought needs. You've got the resources to fight these fires already stretched thin. What are they doing to contain them at this hour?

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's so true, Poppy. You're talking about the 21 wildfires burning across California. Now, California has a unique system where they're able to work with each other across the state and get resources where they need them. But still, that doesn't help when you just have fires burning all over the place. We have now arrived in Lake County where this rocky fire is burning.

This fire started Wednesday afternoon. And it has ballooned overnight here. It went from the low 20,000 acreage area to now being about 47,000 acreage with 5 percent of it contained.

A massive fire is how Cal Fire is describing this fire as it is threatening some 3,000 people. They have 2,000 firefighters working to stop this fire. But take a look behind me. We came around the ridge after we came out of a little mountain range here, and you could see that smoke there.

We saw a big plume going up into the sky. It is now dissipating into this big massive helicopter that I can see dropping. It's way out there. You may not be able to see it. It is dropping water right now, or fire retardant on this area.

But because of this, there are some massive evacuations affecting thousands of people, as this fire continues to burn. And one thing that's really different about this fire is the fact that it is burning -- it burned overnight to this big expansive ballooning number of acreage. That is weird, because normally at night, the humidity rises, the temperature cools off, it's not as easy for the fire to burn.

But because it didn't do that, this is weird, and the main reason that is a problem is because of the drought. And the drought has just left everything so brittly dry here, there's so am kindling, so much reason for the fire to keep on burning, that it's continued to use that as fuel to burn more and more acreage.

And that is the problem with this drought, especially since it's been lingering year after year, Poppy, that is the reason why it is so difficult for those folks who are out here fighting fires. And if you see one other thing, see how my clothes are blowing in the wind? That's the other problem. It's so windy out here, it's easy for the fire to go from one branch to the next and to keep on burning.

So, we're going to see if we can get closer. But that is the big bulk of it there, you can see, is from that rocky fire.

HARLOW: Yes. Stephanie Elam reporting there right near the evacuation zone. Stephanie, thank you very much.

Also want to show these images, huge fires on another continent. These are out of Australia. Firefighters there battling a huge brush fire in New South Wales Blue Mountains in that part of Australia.

[18:15:00] Rain helped them get some of these -- a little bit under control. It is feared the very difficult terrain there will keep these fires going for days and days, just incredible images there.

Switching gears to politics now. Tomorrow, the White House sets in motion the most aggressive nationwide climate change program yet. The so-called "Clean Power Plan" has specifics, as a lot of them listed out looking at what the White House just released. Not everyone is happy about it. You've already got some Republican backlash. Also, some executives in the energy business aren't going to be thrilled about this.

Let's talk about it with Sunlen Serfaty at the White House.

Walk us through it here what we're talking about, because this was an extensive list coming out late this afternoon from the White House.

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Poppy. I want to first tell you the contours of the plan that will be announced by the president here at the White House tomorrow. The plan calls for new regulations on coal-burning power plants, with the goal, they say, of reducing carbon emissions by 32 percent over the next 15 years. It would set carbon pollution levels for states. The White House is already touting that there are potentially big benefits, including a boost in public health, also potentially job creation with investment in the clean energy technology.

But as you said, even before this rule was announced, it was definitely getting some pushback. Some states promising to fight the administration and is above to potentially even bring the administration to court. It does seem that the White House is aware of this likely big pushback that they'll receive to these new rules.

And they're already out and promising an all-out push to sell this deal. President Obama in a video released on social media of the White House overnight already touting the benefits.

Here's a little bit of that video.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Climate change is not a problem for another generation, not anymore. That's why on Monday, my administration will release the final version of America's clean power plant, the biggest most important step we've ever taken to combat climate change.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SERFATY: And there are many groups that dispute all these benefits that the White House is touting. Many critics are saying that it could potentially increase energy prices -- electricity prices. And one of the critics, Republican candidate, Senator What Marco Rubio, who today --

HARLOW: Right.

SERFATY: -- lashed out against the potential proposals, he said that this does not address the underlying issues. Here's Rubio in California today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R-FL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Tomorrow, there will be a new carbon rule issued by the EPA. And here's the practical impact of that new carbon rule: It will make utilities, it will make the cost of electricity higher for millions of Americans. So, if there's a billionaire somewhere that is a pro-cap and trade person, they can probably afford for their electric bill to go up a couple hundred dollars. But if you're a single mom in Tampa, Florida, and your electric bill goes up by $30 a month, that is catastrophic.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SERFATY: And with all this pushback, the White House put President Obama on the road in the next few weeks to sell this deal. He already has plans later this month, at Nevada, he'll speak at the National Clean Energy Summit. He'll also, Poppy, travel to Alaska. He'll be the first sitting president to travel to the Alaskan Arctic.

HARLOW: Right.

SERFATY: But, certainly, there's a lot of political and potentially legal challenges ahead for them.

HARLOW: Huge hurdles ahead, no question. This is ahead of the big sort of climate summit in Paris in December, with so many nations participating. But let's talk about this in the framework of the president's legacy, right? I mean, you have seen this president in the last six months, you know, just not holding back.

This is a huge thing to take on. You've got huge money, huge power lobbyists on the other side here. This is him saying as he has with immigration and a number of other things, who cares, we're going for it.

SERFATY: Yes. That's probably what is going on behind closed doors. We don't know for sure, but we know senior administration official telling us earlier today that this is one of the biggest issues on his plate right now. Certainly, a deal has been elusive. He knows what he's coming up against.

And I feel like -- I get a sense from the White House the way they pushed out this announcement that they're ready to take this on. As they say, in their words, putting an all-out climate push over the August recess. They're going to fan out, not only send President Obama out, but members of the president's cabinet trying to get into the district, really educate people on the terms of this proposal. And then wait for Congress to return in the fall -- Poppy.

HARLOW: All right. Sunlen, thank you very much.

Coming up next, right here in New York, a huge outbreak of Legionnaires' disease in the South Bronx. What the health officials are doing to try to prevent the outbreak from spreading even more after four lives have been claimed.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:23:14] HARLOW: Four people have died in New York City after getting Legionnaires' disease. It is a respiratory infection that has flu-like symptoms.

CNN correspondent Sara Ganim has been looking into why this is happening in the South Bronx in New York.

We've got dozens of other cases reported, right, 65 people?

SARA GANIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Sixty-five people have contracted this disease, 55 of them hospitalized, as you mentioned four of them died. They had preexisting conditions, but really affecting this neighborhood in the South Bronx. And now, investigators and epidemiologists are trying to figure out how it started.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GANIM (voice-over): Daniel Tejada spent nearly a month in a medically induced coma in a New York hospital because of Legionnaire's disease.

DANIEL TEJADA, RECOVERED FROM LEGIONNAIRES' DISEASE: I was about to wait one more day to go to the hospital. And if I would have waited one more day, I don't think I would be out here right now.

GANIM: The outbreak has caused 65 people to get sick since July. Four all with preexisting conditions died.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The CDC needs to come in this community.

GANIM: Residents of the South Bronx are calling for more action as health officials say the outbreak could get worse before it gets better.

DR. JAY VARMA, DEPUTY COMMISSIONER, NYC DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND MENTAL HYGIENE: We think it's very possible that there will be an increase in cases over the next seven days.

GANIM: Named after an outbreak in the '70s that made a group of American legion workers ill, Legionnaires is a disease with flu-like symptoms. You can't catch it from someone else. The bacteria travels through water mist, like from air conditioners or cooling towers. Five buildings in the South Bronx have been thoroughly decontaminated in an attempt to contain the spread.

Meanwhile, residents are warned to seek help at the first sign of illness.

[18:25:01] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We thought it was just regular pneumonia, you know. You got sick. We thought it was Legionnaires. That's when everybody really got into a panic.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GANIM: You don't hear Legionnaires that often. People do get it, but the outbreak here, doctors say, is significant because so many people have gotten it in such a short amount of time.

New York health officials emphasizing not to panic, this isn't something you can get through the drinking water or pools or water fountains, especially in the summer, right, you think of water as transmitted by water. Not something you can get by pools or fountains in New York City or even the drinking water. So, not to panic. Now, of course, they're monitoring these buildings. They're looking

for ways to make sure the cooling systems, the towers, you know, they make sure that they're healthy and safe moving forward. And people with concerns in that community should know that there is going to be a town hall meeting tomorrow night.

HARLOW: And as you said, you can't contract it from someone else.

GANIM: You can't contract it from someone else or through drinking water. It's mostly transmitted through mist. You're breathing in the mist from, like say an air conditioning unit or cooling towers within a building.

HARLOW: OK. Sara Ganim, thank you very much for the reporting. I hope they get it under control soon.

Coming up next, still no sign of the Minnesota dentist who shot Cecil the lion on what officials call an illegal hunt. What is next for Cecil's cubs and the other lions call that part home? Details from Johannesburg ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: Well, there's still no sign of the man responsible for gunning down Cecil the lion in Zimbabwe. Walter Palmer, a dentist from Minnesota, has gone into hiding since he killed the beloved lion. He insists his hunt was legal, but authorities in Zimbabwe say it was not, and that he broke the law by luring the lion out of the park before killing him. They want to see Palmer extradited to face trial in Zimbabwe.

Meanwhile, wildlife authorities in Zimbabwe are apologing for false reports on Saturday that Jericho that a lion in Cecil's pride, who was watching after Cecil's cubs, was killed.

[18:30:05] Jericho is indeed still alive. This is a photograph of Jericho taken this morning by an Oxford researcher tracking him using a GPS tag.

CNN's David McKenzie is in Johannesburg with more details this evening.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Early reports that Jericho the lion was killed illegally by a hunter turned out to be false. In fact, the group that put out that information has since apologized. And the Oxford University Research Group that tracks these lions said he is doing just fine.

Now Zimbabwe has appeared to tighten up on hunting in the country. They banned all kinds of hunting on the borders of Hwange National Park for big cats and other large game. And in fact, they've banned bow hunting outright. Hunters with a bow, that's Dr. Walt Palmer, shot Cecil the lion last month causing this global outcry. He says he did nothing illegal, but Zimbabwean officials are trying to extradite him to face charges from the U.S. to Zimbabwe, though that might be a tall order according to experts.

The guide and the hunter that he hired to kill Cecil, though, face charges this week in Zimbabwe and they could spend 10 years in jail if found guilty.

David McKenzie, CNN, Johannesburg.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: David, thank you for that. Cecil's killing has sparked international outcry. Huge petitions signed by more than 200,000 people to have Dr. Palmer extradited. There's also concern about the safety of the cubs that Cecil left behind.

Dave Salmoni joins me now on the phone. He is Animal Planet's large predator expert.

Let's talk first about why is it believed by so many that Jericho, sort of this very close but not blood brother, if you will, of Cecil, is protecting Cecil's cubs? Why would that happen?

DAVE SALMONI, ANIMAL PLANET'S LARGE PREDATOR EXPERT: Yes, typically a younger age, when a young male gets kicked out of a pride he goes on what they call a nomadic phase. And during that nomadic phase, clearly Cecil and Jericho met up and formed what we call a coalition. And the reason they do that is because they can hunt better, they can protect themselves better. And when it comes time, and when it's the right size, they're able to take over a pride together.

So that's why Jericho -- Jericho formed an alliance with Cecil. Both of them would have been covering different females so they're not quite sure whose cubs are whose. So in general, a lot of male lions will protect all the male -- all the cubs in a pride.

HARLOW: So knowing what you know now about Jericho's close relationship with Cecil, do you believe the cubs will indeed survive if they do have Jericho overseeing them?

SALMONI: Well, if Cecil's death, the cubs' survival is a lot more in jeopardy than it would have been because obviously at some point, Jericho's going to come across new males. Now if a group of males of two or three or more decide to come in and want to take Cecil's pride, Jericho's a single male now. He doesn't have a brother with him helping him fight. So unfortunately, he has very little chance of fighting off any other coalition.

If Jericho doesn't have any real pressure around his pride over the next year and a half, meaning, you know, any single males coming, or two younger males that aren't quite as big and experienced as him, Jericho may be able to fight them off to the point where those cubs get old enough where they can just run away.

At a certain point around 2 to 2 1/2, those cubs are going to be smart enough to hunt on their own, and big enough to stay away from any other males threatening them. But also, they're not going to be nursing, so they'll be a lot less likely to be a problem for the new males coming in.

HARLOW: Dave Salmoni, thank you for the expertise. Appreciate it.

SALMONI: Thanks for having me.

HARLOW: Next -- of course.

Next, Donald Trump says you're fired to a staffer of his for a post that he made on Facebook back in 2007. What those posts said and how Trump's campaign is downplaying how senior the staffer really was.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:37:52] HARLOW: To politics now. Donald Trump has fired plenty of people on his show "The Apprentice." Now he is doing it with a member of his own campaign staff. He fired the staffer today after learning racially charged Facebook post.

Sam Nunberg, that is the staffer who allegedly wrote the post in 2007 and 2009. "Business Insider" was the first to report those posts. One of them called civil rights leader Al Sharpton's daughter the "N" word. The other one called President Obama, and I quote here, "a socialist Marxist Islamo fascist Nazi appeaser." It went on to say congrats to the losers who voted for him.

Nunberg denies he wrote the post. He says, quote, "Anything posted under my name does not I posted it." He also told CNN this, let me ready it to you, quote, "I'm not adept at social media. I have a long record of working with diverse people and anything you are reporting on does not reflect anything on Mr. Trump or Mr. Trump's campaign."

Joining me now to discuss it, CNN commentator Mel Robbins.

Mel, you know Donald Trump, you've interviewed him, you've delivered speeches for Trump Corporation. How is his demeanor with his staff?

MEL ROBBINS, CNN COMMENTATOR: How is Donald Trump's demeanor with his staff? It's exactly what you see on television, Poppy. What you see, you know, in terms of Donald Trump is exactly who he is. He's right up-front. He communicates in an extremely deliberate, staccato forceful manner. This is guy that knows exactly where he stands and is not afraid to say it.

And the thing that's interesting about this particular story we're discussing is not the fact that some staffer had something in his past in terms of social media, but how quickly Donald Trump immediately fired the guy and will probably figure out a way to make this look like a strength move on his behalf rather than a weakness.

HARLOW: And the campaign keeps saying this was not a senior staffer, this was a low-level staffer on the campaign. They keep focusing on that.

I do want to get your take on this. On the "STATE OF THE UNION" today with Jake Tapper, Jake sat down with Chris Christie, another GOP hopeful, and asked Chris Christie about Donald Trump. Here's what Chris Christie had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Listen, I think that Donald is going to be a serious a candidate as Donald wants to be. And he's going to determine through the depth of his answers and the seriousness of his answers, whether he's a serious candidate or he isn't.

[18:40:10] That's what I mean about campaigns matter. Anybody can do well for a month in this business. Especially if you have talent and you have personality. And Donald has both of those things. So let's see how it goes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: That's pretty nice compared to what Rand Paul said to our Wolf Blitzer on Thursday. And I quote here, saying this is a, quote, "temporary loss of sanity." He went on to say eventually we will look for somebody serious to lead the country, Mel. What do you make of the sort of the nice way --

ROBBINS: Well, Rand Paul --

(CROSSTALK)

HARLOW: You ever see them on the same ticket?

ROBBINS: Rand Paul has got nothing to lose because he's not doing well in any poll. So he might as well swing for the fences in terms of attacking Donald.

Now Christie is smart. One of the things you don't want to do is pick a final with Donald trump because he will go on the attack. The thing that I find to be the most interesting watching this as an independent voter, as somebody that knows Donald Trump in a professional setting, I don't see eye-to-eye with him on most political issues, however, I have great respect for him as a business person.

But I think the really fascinating thing to watch is the fact that the Republican Party has a huge issue on their hands because Donald is running away in the polls. And the problem is, if they don't get behind him, or if he happens to fall into second place, there's a very serious possibility that he could go independent. He's already been talking about this.

HARLOW: Right. Right. And --

ROBBINS: And that would be the biggest threat to Jeb Bush or anybody else that happens to beat him at some stage in the primary, Poppy.

HARLOW: Right. They do not want that.

Let me ask you about this. Big retreat in California this week, and a big name there, right, the Koch brothers. Huge, huge billionaires, big Republican donors. Charles Koch, one of the Koch brothers, said, and I want to read you the quote here, talking about the direction of this country.

"We're headed towards a two-tiered society. A society that's destroying opportunities for the disadvantaged and creating wealth for the rich. Misguided policies are creating a permanent underclass crippling our economy, corrupting the business community." He went on to talk about the big banks getting bailouts.

This is something you might expect to hear from a Bernie Sanders, not a Charles Koch. I'm wondering what you think it means just about this race and the direction of the party?

ROBBINS: I mean, did they ask him that after he had a few cocktails? I mean, this is a guy that's funding super PACs and do nothing but support candidates that are increasing the gap between the America's 1 percent and the rest of, you know, the United States.

So, you know, honestly, Poppy, I think there are so many Americans that don't really identify with either party, that are fiscally conservative, that are socially liberal, that are for individual rights. And while there are things that some Republicans say that may be appealing on an economic standpoint, or some sort of philosophical standpoint in terms of the tax code, when it comes to individual rights, there are things that they're saying that are completely offensive.

And so I think so many folks unlike even four years ago are going to look hard at what these individuals stand for. And what I've seen over and over again, whether it's in private conversations or watching the interviews with folks like you were doing with people is that what people like about Donald Trump is the fact that he is a fighter.

The fact that his brand represents success. And he is a master at branding. And his entire campaign is about making America great again. And I think a lot of people are buying into it, Poppy.

HARLOW: And a lot of people are going to be watching on Thursday night as he is part of that first GOP debate.

ROBBINS: Absolutely.

HARLOW: Mel Robbins, thank you.

ROBBINS: Sure.

HARLOW: Coming up next, the hunt for a young mother on the run. And new fears that she and her child may be in danger. A preview of "THE HUNT" with John Walsh ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:47:36] HARLOW: This week on "THE HUNT," a young mother who betrayed the court's child custody laws and kidnapped her own daughter.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JOHN WALSH, HOST: I know how tough it is for family court judges. I know their days are 12 to 14 hours. I know they're overwhelmed. But somewhere that judge has to sit there and say, as tired as I am, as sick as I am of these continuing cases, I've got to think about one thing, the welfare of this child.

I have to say in this instance, I think the judge made a very bad decision because it gave Megan Everett plenty of time with joint custody to plan a run.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I got my daughter that first week and then I brought her back. I went to pick her up on May 13th, I knock on Carlos' door. He opens the door and he says, Megan doesn't live here, she moved, and he slammed the door in my face.

So I called the Sunrise Police Department. And went there, and there was no sign of a child. Or Megan. Or any clothes or baby stuff or anything. Reality kind of hit me. And then the panic hit me. I'm like, what am I supposed to do now? How am I supposed to find her? Where do I go from here?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Criminologist Casey Jordan with me now.

When you look at this case, how much danger is the child in, Lilly, who is caught in the middle of all of this?

CASEY JORDAN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: That's a good question. But a very important point that's made by this episode is that parental kidnapping needs to be taken just as seriously as a stranger kidnapping. When clearly the mother has taken the child in violation of her custody rights and dropped off the face of the planet.

The really interesting thing about Megan is that she's affiliated with this group the Virginia Flaggers. And that in and of itself is not necessarily dangerous, except what they stand for, which includes a lot of guns, a lot of ammunition. You're going to see photos of little lily sitting among a field of ammunition on the floor. And her mother shooting guns all the time. That's when we begin to think this child could definitely be in danger.

HARLOW: You say that there is an indication of a mindset of conspiracy theories here.

JORDAN: Well, the note that she left, her ex-boyfriend, Lily's father, when she disappeared, she had taken Lily for the weekend and then never brought her back. She said, I'm not going to live in a society where you are forced to get your children vaccinated. And basically it was very anti-government, anti-establishment.

[18:50:13] I am going to drop out of society in the best interest of my daughter. And that makes you worry that she's very susceptible to extremist groups. That she believes could protect them that also isolate her from justice and from Lily seeing her father. HARLOW: Yes. And what her mother is thinking. What kind of mind

frame her mother is in right now. If she really thinks what she's doing is the best for her child or not.

Casey, thank you very much.

JORDAN: Always good to be here.

HARLOW: "THE HUNT" tonight. "THE HUNT" for Megan Everett, later tonight, 9:00 p.m. Eastern only right here on CNN. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:56:44] HARLOW: It is the final week. Can you believe it? For Jon Stewart's reign as host of the "Daily Show." His 16-year run ends on Thursday night.

CNN's Brian Stelter look at how Stewart turned a small cable show into appointment television, no question about that. And launched young correspondents into superstars.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the Daily Show, the most important television program ever.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There was a Daily Show before Jon Stewart.

CRAIG KILBURN, FORMER HOST, DAILY SHOW: First in other news.

STELTER: It premiered in the summer of 1996 hosted by former ESPN anchor, Craig Kilburn. But it wasn't until Stewart took over in 1999 that the show really started to matter.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think you're on somebody's short list for vice president.

STELTER: His sharp tongue instilled fear in politicians and TV pontificators, and he more than tripled Kilburn's average ratings, too. While Kilburn introduced segments like five questions, and the longer lasting "Your Moment of Zen," Stewart's "Daily Show" earned the respect of the industry with 20 Emmy's and two Peabody Awards. Stewart was a clown, that's for sure.

JON STEWART, HOST, "THE DAILY SHOW": Champagne and caviar for everybody.

STELTER: But he was also a fact-checker, and a media critic, showing the power of a big video clip library to catch lawmaker's contradictions and cable newsers' exaggerations. His message, humor can hold people in power accountable.

STEWART: Let me give you Mug Force One, this is yours.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Nice.

STELTER: Toward the end, Stewart's interviews got more serious, and so did his tone. Liberals loved him, while some conservatives despised him. But they all had to pay attention.

JON OLIVER, CORRESPONDENT, "DAILY SHOW": The human mojo is on.

STELTER: Stewart's young correspondents became stars. Long before being nominated for an Academy Award, and winning a Golden Globe, actor Steve Carell spent five years on "Daily."

STEVE CARELL, FORMER CORRESPONDENT: Senator, how do you reconcile the fact that you were one of the most vocal critics of pork barrel politics, and yet, while you were chairman of the Commerce Committee, that committee set a record for unauthorized appropriations. I'm just kidding. No. I don't -- I don't even know what that means.

STELTER: Later he joined another "Daily Show" star Ed Helms on "The Office."

ED HELMS, ACTOR: I'm still just thinking about my old pals.

STELTER: John Oliver got his start thanks to Stewart, too.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: New Jersey has the highest property tax in the nation.

OLIVER: I know. And what are you getting for it? Because it's an awful state.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Exactly.

STELTER: And people thought he'd take over the show some day until HBO came.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hey, what are you going to do with her?

STELTER: Before Olivia Munn starred Magic Mike, she also reported for the Daily Show.

OLIVIA MUNN, ACTRESS: Before there was a name for tiger moms, there was my mom, the original MILF, the mother I learned from.

STELTER: And now a new generation of comedians, like Jessica Williams, are continuing Stewart's tradition.

JESSICA WILLIAMS, ACTOR: We'll put you on the tin ladies, but Alexander, go with them to make sure they don't do any impulse buys.

STELTER: With new host Trevor Noah it will be a different show. But still daily.

TREVOR NOAH, NEW HOST, "THE DAILY SHOW": Welcome to "The Daily Show."

STELTER: Brian Stelter, CNN, New York.

NOAH: With me, Trevor Noah.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: Jon Stewart, we love you. We will meet you. Thank you for all the laughs.

All right. Thank you for being with me tonight. You can you get the latest news any time on CNN.com and on our mobile app.