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GOP Debate; Fugitive Mom Captured; School Cop Sued. Aired 2- 2:30p ET

Aired August 04, 2015 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:00] BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Special report, "A Miner Miracle: Five Years After the Chilean Rescue" airs tonight at 9:00 p.m. Eastern in the United States right here on CNN.

That's it for me. I'm Brianna Keilar. "Amanpour" is next for our international viewers. And for our viewers in North America, "Newsroom" with Brooke Baldwin starts right now.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Brianna Keilar, thank you so much, my friend.

Great to be with you all on this Tuesday. I'm Brooke Baldwin, and this is CNN.

Right now the countdown is on. We are just a couple of hours away from the cutoff for the first GOP debate. So the big question, who's in, who's out, and how will these candidates fare against wild card Donald Trump? As of right now, based upon CNN's calculations, a poll of polls here, here are the 10 who will likely make it to the stage of the first nationally televised prime-time presidential debate for 2016.

Needless to say, Donald Trump is a sure thing. Twenty-three percent of support among Republican voters. That is nearly twice that of Jeb Bush, his nearest competitor. Governor Scott Walker, he is in third with 11 percent, while right down there, on the bottom, you have New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and Ohio Governor John Kasich just scraping in. And here are the candidates who will likely not make that cut. Some - some a surprise. Former Texas Governor Rick Perry in with this bunch.

Joining me first up here, Maeve Reston, our CNN national political reporter.

And, Maeve, you know, there's always a chance another poll or two could drop before the 5:00 p.m. cutoff, you know, Fox News has set. Is there any chance they could widen the debate stage in, you know, that 11th hour? And what would happen in the case of that?

MAEVE RESTON, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER: Well, absolutely. I mean, think about how much we've seen the polls fluctuate so far this cycle. It is a little bit surprising that Perry didn't make the cut and that Kasich swept in there. A big win for Chris Christie, if you think about it, because he was really far down in the polls. But as you know, he's been kind of plowing in in New Hampshire, trying to make connections with voters there by just being there all the time. So I do think that this is very much in flux, and I also think that

the lower-tier candidates, though, probably will get a few eyeballs in their earlier debate. And certainly this is a chance for all of them to try to shine and jump up to the next level for coming debates.

BALDWIN: Yes, people may be calling it the JV version of the debate, but I think there could be real benefits in being part of that - that earlier crew, as it were.

RESTON: That one's going to be really fun.

BALDWIN: Right.

RESTON: The early one's going to be fun.

BALDWIN: Right. And I want to talk about that in a second. But I just heard, as we've been, you know, recently talking about this momentum potentially, the whole draft Biden idea, before I let you go, I heard the vice president just answered a question about running for president. What did he say?

RESTON: Well, basically, I think it was kind of a quip to a reporter quickly who had asked would he run for president, and then he responded, only if you're my running mate. So he's still in kind of joke mode about that.

BALDWIN: Yes.

RESTON: But I do - we are hearing, obviously, that he's been thinking about this seriously. There's Maureen Dowd's reporting over the weekend about the way that Beau Biden had some very serious conversations with his father about this. And that could make the Democratic side incredibly competitive.

I think that Biden is often really underestimated. You think about the people that Donald Trump is connecting with right now, a lot of those blue collar voters. That was Biden's bread and butter. That's why Obama brought him on as a running mate. So Biden potentially could give Clinton a run for her money, as we know, and it will be really fun and we'll all just work 24 hours a day. That's - that's what will happen.

BALDWIN: As if you all aren't already. Here we go. Maeve Reston, thank you so much.

Let me stay on politics here and call it a dress rehearsal of sorts, but last night Republican presidential contenders sat around a stage for what amounted to I guess we could call this presidential speed dating, if you will, a rapid-fire format at the voter's first forum at Saint Anselm College there in New Hampshire. Saw some of the candidates taking on questions, you know, from everything from immigration reform to the battle against ISIS.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARLY FIORINA (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We talk a lot at election time, but somehow we never solve these festering problems.

JEB BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Protecting the homeland is the first duty of the president of the United States.

GOV. SCOTT WALKER (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm a new, fresh face versus a name from the past.

GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: When folks approached me four years ago, I was really honored, but I looked in the mirror and I said, I'm not ready.

SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't support the legalization of marijuana.

GOV. JOHN KASICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And people have to balance their budgets. So should the government.

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm fluent in Clinton speak. You want me to translate, Jake? When he says, Bill says, "I didn't have sex with that woman," he did. When she says, "I'll tell you about building the pipeline when I get to be president," it means she won't. And when she tells us, "trust me, you've got all the e- mails that you need," we haven't even scratched the surface.

[14:05:08] BUSH: My dad is probably the most perfect man alive, so it's very hard for me to be critical of him. In fact, I got a t-shirt that says - at the Jeb swag store that says, I'm the - I'm the - "my dad's the greatest man alive. If you don't like it, I'll take you outside."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: The mash-up, if you will. I've got Matt Schlapp with me, former White House political director and former advisor to George W. Bush, and Dana Bash, our chief congressional correspondent.

So wonderful having both of you on. And, you know, so it begins.

Matt, let me just begin with you because we ended with the Jeb Bush sound bite.

MATT SCHLAPP, FORMER WHITE HOUSE POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Right.

BALDWIN: Let me start, you know, he is the front running candidate who did indeed show up last night. As we all know, Donald Trump did not. But, you know, you read some of the - some criticisms this morning, some missing the mark, maybe some nerves there. I mean we're two days out from really the big debate. Where do you think he stands right now?

SCHLAPP: Look, I think he actually stands in a great place. These formats will be varied. You know, he is not always the best on his feet. He's a little more thoughtful. He'll do better when voters have a chance to actually hear his policy views. So -

BALDWIN: You don't think voters have already heard that, even though, you know, you see the polls. It's not quite -

SCHLAPP: Oh, most - here's the problem with the polls. Most voters have not even started to focus, even on the Republican side, on who their favorite is. These polls, they need to be screened much more for likelihood to vote. They're kind of all over the map. So Jeb Bush sitting there kind of in second place, my guess is he's pretty happy with that.

BALDWIN: OK. OK. Dana, to you, and, you know, the Lindsey Graham zinger that's sort of all over when he was, you know, ripping Hillary Clinton and he wasn't - he wasn't the only Republican to do so, we should point out. But you know what they didn't do? They did not mention Donald Trump at all. Is that strategy foreshadowing for - for the M.O. come Thursday night?

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. Well, first of all, you remember what happened the last time Lindsey Graham mentioned Donald Trump, called him a jackass?

BALDWIN: Right, that whole cell phone thing?

BASH: His - yes, his cell phone - his cell phone ended up, you know, literally -

BALDWIN: Right.

BASH: Literally on the cutting room floor.

But, no, in all seriousness, I absolutely think so in talking to the campaigns and getting a sense of how they want to deal with Donald Trump, and really their other competitors on Thursday night. Their whole idea of getting ahead is, first of all, to talk about their own records, but also to do what Lindsey Graham did, is to give Republican voters something to talk about, something to chew on, a little red meat, and that is going after Hillary Clinton. I mean nothing is more unifying than going after the woman who we think is going to be the Republicans' Democratic opponent. So I think it's absolutely a preview of what's to come.

Somebody said to me the other day, there's no point in going after Donald Trump unless you think you can actually knock him out. So just ignore it or at least use him as a foil and maybe in the (INAUDIBLE) -

BALDWIN: But on that - on that, Dana, let me follow up on that.

BASH: Yes.

BALDWIN: And, Matt, I promise I want to come back to you. But you - since you just talked to Donald Trump last week, how then does Donald Trump handle the other candidates' not dealing with him on that stage front and center Thursday?

BASH: I think he's not going to deal with the others either. I really do. Maybe I'm going to be completely surprised, but I think he's going to be, as he likes to say, Donald Trump, which means he's going to talk about the things that he likes to talk about. You know, if he's - if he is pushed personally, he will push back. But because I don't think that's going to happen, I think that those of us who are looking for a real personal boxing match maybe we'll - we'll be disappointed.

BALDWIN: Not going to - not going to find it.

Matt, there are - just so we're clear - you know, there's the big main event debate, right, and that's later. That's prime time.

SCHLAPP: That's right.

BALDWIN: And you have the - you have the earlier debate, the second tier debate, the JV debate, what - whatever you want to call it.

SCHLAPP: The undercard, right.

BALDWIN: The undercard debate. But then you have the - this one argument could be that these candidates actually have a better chance to shine.

SCHLAPP: That's right.

BALDWIN: They do not have Donald Trump out there potentially, you know, overshadowing them. How do they take advantage of that stage?

SCHLAPP: I think you're right. I think there's a really - there's a real good chance that that's a really great debate. And there's no studio audience, or a limited one. So, you know, it's going to be them talking about the issues. And, by the way, a smaller number. This issue of 10 people participating in a debate, it's a very legitimate problem. In the end, a debate is a television show and you've got to be able to have it flow. And one of the reasons why you're not going to have a lot of back and forth on the prime time debate is because with 10 people, they each get about 5 minutes.

BALDWIN: A finite - right, it's not a lot of time.

SCHLAPP: That's right. That's right.

BALDWIN: And it's all about, I hate to say it, but maybe more style over substance. You want the sound bite that we'll all be mishmashing through the next day.

SCHLAPP: That's right. That's right. So that's the - that undercard debate, I think, will be really interesting and will have an impact on this race.

[14:10:02] BALDWIN: OK, mishmash, by the way, very technical TV term.

Dana Bash and Matt Schlapp, thank you both so much.

SCHLAPP: Thanks.

BASH: You're welcome.

Next here, cuffed in class. A third grader with ADHD put in handcuffs as punishment and apparently this wasn't the first time the officer had done this to one of these kids.

Also, who was Michael Brown as a person? It doesn't matter, according to the former police officer who shot and killed him. But Darren Wilson doesn't stop there. Revelations from a new interview with the former Ferguson officer.

And one of the fugitives featured on CNN's original series "The Hunt" captured and her young daughter is safe. John Walsh joins me live, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

A fugitive's mother sitting in a jail right now and her three-year-old daughter is in protective custody. All of this as a direct result of CNN's "The Hunt."

[14:15:03] This mother is Megan Everett, who vanished with this little girl more than a year ago, leaving a note for the child's father saying this, and I quote, "dear c, if I let them take her and vaccinate her and brainwash her, I wouldn't be doing what's right. I cannot let a judge tell me how my daughter should be raised. We will miss you, but I had to leave. I know she will be safer and happier with my family and I. Love, Meg and Lily," her daughter. Now, Sunday's episode detailed how this child's father learned his little girl was gone.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT BAUMANN, LILY'S FATHER: Megan was very bubbly. Things become a little more personal. It just kind of progressively became more than just a friendship. When Megan found out she was pregnant, that - that was the - the game changer. That was a big change. Lily was always outgoing. She was always a bundle of joy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: After they broke up, it seemed like she definitely was trying to cut him out of her life completely.

BAUMANN: 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: With me now, I have the host of "The Hunt," John Walsh.

And, John, have you, since all of this has happened, and we know the little girl is OK, and you caught the mother, how is the dad?

JOHN WALSH, CNN HOST, "THE HUNT": The dad is thrilled. He's ecstatic. This is a very loving dad and he didn't want this to happen. He actually agreed to some form of joint custody. And I say to parents all the time, you know, the child is the victim. I'm sitting here at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and they deal with not only missing kids - stranger abducted missing kids, but they deal with about 200,000 family abductions a year where the father or the mother who didn't get full custody in a bitter divorce dispute decides, I'm going to punish the other parent and I'm good to steal the child and give the child a better life. But we've had parents who have been drug addicts, robbed houses, lived out of dumpsters, those children are missing children.

And Megan Everett is a very troubled woman. And the father is ecstatic. And this little girl is back where she belongs. And she's safe. So, again, those wonderful, wonderful American citizens who want to do the right thing made that call. The FBI, the marshals, the local sheriff in Putnam County, Florida, they went right there and got this little girl, and she's back in a loving, loving situation today.

BALDWIN: You know, we've talked about this before, John, where I really, truly respect what you have done and how you've dedicated your life to put the bad guys behind bars. But I think, too, it's the sense of trust that you have built with the community, with this hotline. You know, a lot of people are afraid of going to police officers or going to law enforcement because perhaps of who they're running with, even if they know something. And so kudos to you and your team.

WALSH: Well, thank you. Somebody had the courage to do this, and I - and I say again, it's been a great partnership with CNN, but if someone's watching "The Hunt" and they want to make that call, we don't trace the calls, we don't tap the calls, the cops don't answers the phones. They're there in the studio. If you want to talk to a cop, you can. But my hotline operators do not care what your name is. There will be no revenge. No D.A. or detective is going to show up at your door and say we need you to prosecute this case. Just do the right thing.

And just think of this. There's a three-year-old girl who was living in - hiding, running from place to place. She's back with a parents because somebody had the courage to make that call. It was a very good day yesterday.

BALDWIN: John Walsh, thank you.

And make sure to tune in. You can actually watch the episode of "The Hunt" on demand, that particular episode. Just go to CNN Go. And tune in each Sunday night, 9:00 Eastern, for all new episodes of "The Hunt."

Next, there is some video out today that's pretty tough to watch, and it has definitely catapulted national attention here from the public. The school resource officer handcuffing an eight-year-old boy with ADHD who, yes, he was misbehaving, but the sheriff's deputy in the video here is now facing a federal lawsuit. We'll get Nancy Grace to weigh in on this one coming up.

Also, a major setback involving those U.S. trained Syrian rebels who have now come under attack. CNN is now learning that some of them have been captured by the enemy.

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

[14:23:51] BALDWIN: A massive setback in the U.S.-led fight against extremists in Syria. We are learning that five of those 60 U.S.- trained rebels have been captured by an al Qaeda affiliate. A senior defense official tells CNN one was killed. This all happened since an attack on their compound Friday, but officials aren't saying exactly when. The Pentagon is now developing a plan to help move those rebel forces to safer locations.

And if you'd like to find out how you can help this humanitarian crisis in Syria, go to cnn.com/impact.

Now to this one. Everyone talking about this. This eight-year-old boy in Kentucky may have acted out of line, yes, but the ACLU says what a Kentucky school resource officer did in response to that was against the law. Know what he did? He put this little boy in handcuffs. And the handcuffs were not at the child's wrists, they were around his upper arms.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OFFICER: You don't get to swing at me like that. Now, you can either behave the way you know you're supposed to, or you suffer the consequences. But it's your decision to behave this way. Sit back down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[14:25:09] BALDWIN: The boy was restrained just like this for 15 minutes, this is according to the ACLU, which is suing the officer, Kevin Sumner, and his boss, the Kenton County sheriff. This incident happened in the fall of last year to this boy and twice to a nine- year-old girl. Both kids, we're told, have ADHD. A school staffer reportedly recorded this video.

With me now, HLN host and former prosecutor and parent, Nancy Grace.

So, Nancy Grace, first, let me just get in here, the officer's attorney told "The Lexington Herald Leader" that the kids were, quote, "placing themselves and other people in danger of harm." But handcuffs, Nancy?

NANCY GRACE, HLN HOST: Well, I mean, you could extend that defense argument to children playing out on the playground, playing cops and robbers, are you going to put them in handcuffs too? What's next, putting them in stocks, when you put your head and your wrists in when you misbehave? We've got to remember that this is an eight-year-old and a nine-year-old with disabilities. And when you say Americans with Disability Act, you know all the wrath of the law is going to come down on this, much less children. This little boy that was so dangerous weighed about 52 pounds and he was three feet six inches. The little girl, the nine-year-old little girl, had to be taken away immediately by ambulance to get a psychiatric evaluation. These are children that already had disabilities, babies. Babies. My children are seven, all right, what happened to time-out? What happened to that? Why did they have to be put in handcuffs by a sheriff?

BALDWIN: It's a question I have talked to so many parents they can't even look at the video they're so totally enraged. There's the thing. The ACLU, to be precise, they are not suing the school district, which I should read -

GRACE: Right.

BALDWIN: Said this in a school - in a statement about school resource officers, quote, "they're not called upon by school district staff to punish or discipline a student who engages in a school-related offense". So, you know, apparently this was the teacher, which then called in the principal, who then called in the school resource officer, took the kid to the bathroom, was acting out, and then we saw what happened. Do you think, though, that the principal, should the school district, Nancy, should they share the responsibility for allowing this to happen? What do you think?

GRACE: Well, I will say this, all right, under our jurisprudence system, you cannot put somebody in jail or sue for lack of acting. You don't have to be a good Samaritan. But in this case, the school had a duty. They designated that duty to the sheriff. So in my mind, they should all go in the same pot and let them stew in front of a jury. And I'd like to point out that these legal documents, the lawsuit itself, calls for a jury to hear this, not just a judge.

Another issue is, I'm glad that the teacher did take the cell video, but why didn't the teacher say, hey, don't handcuff that student! Don't do that.

BALDWIN: Stop doing this. Right.

GRACE: Why just get the video and release it? Do something about it. So in my mind, they're all responsible.

BALDWIN: What can be done, though? I hear you on, you know, giving a kid a time-out, but apparently this child, and again to point out he's just a child, you know, was acting out, was being physical. I know ACLU says you can't shackle a kid. That is - that is illegal. What can be done?

GRACE: What can be done? Well, OK, let's see. Between zero and 180, there's about 179 choices in between.

BALDWIN: Yes.

GRACE: So you go from doing nothing to handcuffing an eight-year-old? OK, I would start with time-out. I would start with calling the parents to come pick him up and take him home. I would start with something like that as opposed to having a deputy sheriff come put them in handcuffs. There are a lot of alternatives. You can kick the kid out of school. Don't let them come back if they're such a danger.

Now, I'd like to point out, the little girl had been in isolation, which is time-out. So how was she being a danger to other people? Of course children are going to act out. Of course they are. They're children. But handcuffs, not the answer.

BALDWIN: Yes.

GRACE: And I predict the ACLU is going to win on this one. I mean, I'm like you, I couldn't even stand to hear this little boy crying.

BALDWIN: Yes, it's tough to look at.

GRACE: I had to look away. And I guarantee you, a jury is going to feel the same way.

BALDWIN: Nancy Grace, thank you so much.

GRACE: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Make sure you watch Nancy every night on our sister network, HLN, at 8:00 in the evenings. Thank you so much.

[14:29:54] Coming up next, here we are one year since Ferguson. The officer, Darren Wilson, I should be specific, the former officer, Darren Wilson, who shot and killed Michael Brown, is now speaking out, revealing his insights into life, his struggle to find work, and what he really thinks about Michael Brown.