Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

U.S. And Chinese Officials Clash Over Security; Obama Talks With Turkish President Erdogan At Summit; Minnesota Boy's Remains Found 27 Years Later; Pope Francis Declares Mother Teresa A Saint; Kaepernick Protest Causes Police Rift. Aired 2-3p ET

Aired September 04, 2016 - 14:00   ET

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


FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN NEWSROOM ANCHOR: Hello everyone. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

The Donald Trump campaign continues to try to clarify exactly what the Republican nominee stance is on illegal immigration.

This morning former New York mayor, Rudy Giuliani tried to make one thing clear, Donald Trump does not support mass deportations.

He told CNN's Jake Tapper on "STATE OF THE UNION" that Trump would "Find it very difficult to throw out a family who's been here for 15 years with three children, two of whom were citizens. That is not the kind of America he wants."

Giuliani also addressed Trump's attempt to appeal to black voters by visiting Detroit yesterday, including touring Ben Carson's childhood home and visiting a, predominantly, African-American church.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Mr. Mayor, thanks for joining us.

RUDY GIULIANI: Hi, Jake, how are you?

TAPPER: Good. Thank you so much.

Donald Trump making an effort yesterday to reach out to African- Americans, it seems to have been welcomed by those inside the church.

But, I have to say in interviews many African-Americans say they are still troubled by Mr. Trump having suggested over and over, falsely, that the first African-American president was born in Africa, and thus, ineligible to be president.

GIULIANI: Well, you know, the interesting thing is the first one that made that claim was Hillary Clinton --

TAPPER: Well, not her - not her herself, people around here.

GIULIANI: Her campaign did. They were the first ones that brought it up and finally it was resolved after Donald Trump raised it. So, they may be having faulty memory there as to where that issue first came from and what first suggested -- TAPPER: You say it - you say it was -

GIULIANI: -- from the Clinton campaign.

TAPPER: That's fair enough, sir, to say that people around the Clinton campaign brought that up. But, as you say, it was resolved in 2011 when he released his birth certificate.

Donald Trump talking about this as recently as February of last year at CPAC, saying, that he thinks the birth certificate is false. Should he just apologize for this to let -- if he really wants to reach out to minority voters?

GIULIANI: You know, if everybody apologized for all the things they said in politics all we would be doing on television shows is apologizing. Maybe a lot of the Democratics should apologize for calling Donald Trump a racist and calling him all kinds of terrible names and it gets a little silly. Let's get down to the basic issue here.

For years, people say Republicans don't reach out to the African- American community. Well, he's reaching out to the African-American community. Maybe it isn't the message of left-wing Democratic politics which, in my view, having been the mayor of the city that was rotting when I took it over on the front cover of Time Magazine as "The Rotting of the Big Apple" because of years of liberal democratic policies.

New York could be Detroit if I hadn't turned it around. If I hadn't lowered taxes, gotten jobs for people, gotten jobs for people on welfare and straightened out a good deal of the education system and moved away from dependency. I moved 600,000 people off welfare, 500,000 people with jobs.

So now you compare New York to Detroit and Baltimore and you look at the number of crimes in both of those cities and you look at New York, you look to the unemployment rates, you look at the economic opportunities and you see that -- I think Donald Trump is the first Republican since Jack Kemp and me to go into minority poor communities and say, the Democrats have failed you for 50 years and you are reflexively giving him your vote and they are going from bad to worse.

I mean, food stamps have gone up two and a half times under - food stamps have gone up two and a half times under Barack Obama. He should be ashamed of himself. Jobs should have gone up two and a half times.

TAPPER: I take your point. My only - my only point is that many African-Americans are still mad about Donald Trump having tried to invalidate Barack Obama by claiming he was born in Africa, but were obviously not going to get anywhere.

I want to ask you about Mr. Trump's trip to Mexico because you played a pivotal role in that.

The Mexican president says that he began this meeting by saying that Mexico would not pay for the wall that Donald Trump wants to build. And according to the Wall Street Journal, you immediately jumped in. What did you say?

GIULIANI: No. What I said was -- it was off the table. We had - we had ground rules for this meeting, and one of the ground rules was we were not going to discuss paying for the wall because that's not something we're going to agree about.

What we wanted to do is to find areas of common agreement, and maybe the president's staff didn't brief him on it, maybe the president forgot it, but, I mean, he brought it up.

It wasn't right at the very beginning, it was sort of in the middle of the sentence and I just briefly said that's not on the table, and the reality is they have a disagreement over that.

They found many areas of agreement. I'll tell you one really interesting one is trade.

Mexico is suffering from the same trade problems with China that we're suffering from. All the same complaints that you hear from Donald Trump, President Pena Nieto would say exactly the same thing. The same kind of dumping, the same kind of violation of a lot of the trade rules and regulations, and they're bringing cases against Mexico - against China and they're going nowhere.

So one of the things we said we could do is we could join together in an alliance between the United States and Mexico and see if we could bolster ourselves in terms of fair trade with China.

We also found common ground on illegal immigration. They have a tremendous amount of illegal immigration into Mexico from El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, some stay in Mexico creating a problem for them. And then, a lot of the people coming across the Mexican border are not Mexicans. They're people from the countries I just mentioned.

TAPPER: Right.

GIULIANI: In some cases ISIS has made clear they're going to take advantage of that open border to bring terrorist in.

And on the question of the wall, basically, the President of Mexico said that's your decision to make. You know, it's your - it's your decision whether to put up a wall or not.

So, it was mostly - it was mostly a very good, very productive conversation.

I think - I think Donald Trump learned a lot of what he - what he probably knew anyway, but it reinforced a lot of what we knew about trade and what we knew about areas of which we can agree.

Look, with all of our allies we're going to have areas of agreement, we're going to have areas of disagreement. And I think what Donald Trump displayed was his ability to be a president.

TAPPER: So, and a lot of pundits even those who are skeptical of Donald Trump seem to give that meeting very high marks.

There are reports that you and Governor Chris Christie among other have been internally in the Trump campaign pushing Trump to do things more like that, more presidential in tone for want of a better term.

But later that day, Trump went to Arizona and he gave an immigration speech that was perceived as so harsh that even the Republican National Committee scrapped plans to praise that speech.

In a way, sir, did your side of the struggle within the Trump campaign win the morning but lose the night?

GIULIANI: No. We won both, and both sides won. There are two sides.

I think if you have to read the AP story that came of that speech. The AP story says, Donald Trump retreats on mass deportation. It is true the speech was delivered in, and I'd say, a dramatic style because it was in a rally audience.

But if you read that speech carefully, that speech is consistent with what he said in the past, and at least a very big opening for what will happen with the people that remain here in the United States after the criminals are removed and after the border is secure.

And he says in a very, very important sentence, which everybody seemed to ignore but AP, he says there that at that time when America is safe we will be open to all of the options. Meaning that Donald, as he expressed in one of his interviews recently, would find it very, very difficult to throw out a family that's been here for, you know, 15 years and they have three children, two of whom citizens and that is not the kind of America he wants.

His main focus of that speech -- and I think the reason for the emotion in it was because of all of those mothers who came up, whose children were killed by illegal criminal immigrants.

TAPPER: Right. But --

GIULIANI: And all - and all of the policies, the all ten policies are largely directed toward criminal, illegal immigrants, which the Obama administration releases into the streets of our city --

TAPPER: So let me just --

GIULIANI: -- which is actually -- they have an insane policy.

I was a prosecutor most of my life.

TAPPER: But Mr. Mayor --

GIULIANI: -- catch and release them. They catch criminals and they release them.

TAPPER: I just want to - I just want to understand what you're saying here. So Mr. Trump will not be trying to kick out the dreamers? He will not be having a deportation force and he no longer wants to get all 11 million undocumented immigrants out of this country?

GIULIANI: What he said in the speech is, after we secure the border and after we remove the criminal illegal immigrants to a - to a - to a large extent, you're never going to get to 100%, then and only then can we look at this in a very rational way in which we can look at all of the options and be open to all the options.

TAPPER: And he doesn't want to separate families, as you say?

GIULIANI: Well, I would say that would be one of the things that would be pretty clear. There are other options too. I mean, it's going to depend on the person.

I mean, some of these people could have been on welfare for the last 30 years or taking benefits or cheating. And maybe some of them have to be thrown out but not necessarily all of them and that's the point that he was making in the speech.

And I agree with you, that point got lost, to some extent, in the emotion of the moment. The emotion of the moment where the 12 mothers and - I think 10 mothers and 2 fathers who came up who have been killed by illegal immigrants, released because of the incompetent policies of the Obama administration which Hillary Clinton is just going to continue.

TAPPER: All right. Mr. Mayor, thank you so much. We appreciate your time, as always.

GIULIANI: Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, coming up next, did Rudy Giuliani just change Trump's position on mass deportations? We'll discuss with our panel, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, you just heard Rudy Giuliani's take on Trump's attempt to appeal to black voters, his immigration plan, and that meeting with Mexico's president. So let's discuss all of this with my panel now.

CNN Political Commentator and Trump supporter, Jeffrey lord. Good to see you. Editorial page editor for The Detroit News, Nolan Finley. Good to see you as well. And New York State Democratic Party executive director, Basil Smikle.

All right, gentlemen, hello to all.

So let's begin with those whole the issue about the mass deportations. This has been the cornerstone of Trump's campaign dating back to last year. Listen. DONALD TRUMP, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: They're illegal

immigrants. They got to go out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But how do you do it in a practical way? You really think you can ground 11 million people?

TRUMP: You know what, at some point we're try getting them back, the good ones.

You're going to have a deportation force and you're going to do it humanly.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you going to be sending in officers?

TRUMP: We're going to be sending in people in a very nice way. We're going to be giving notice. We're going to be saying you have to go.

We have at least 11 million people in this country that came in illegally. They will go out. They will comeback. Some will come back, the best, through a process. They have to come back legally.

WHITFIELD: Okay. So, that's what Trump has said over the last year.

Giuliani says Trump no longer is interested in mass deportations, and then there was Kellyanne Conway and even Mike Pence who were on the Sunday talk shows weighing in this way. Take a listen.

MIKE PENCE: He's been completely consistent on this point.

(Multiple Speakers)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He had deportation --

PENCE: -- center of the national debate.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But he's not been consistent on this issue of what to do with the 11 or 15 million.

PENCE: Well, but there are - there are people in different circumstances in that category. There are people who are criminal aliens in this country. And I think everyone in this country understands that people who were here -

(Multiple Speakers)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- violent crime.

PENCE: Well, people who were -- who their first act in this country was violation of the law but have gone onto criminal activity in America, we want them out and we want them out quickly.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But Mr. Trump said that in his meeting with Mexico's president they did not discuss payment for the wall. Mexico's President Pena Nieto says he told Trump Mexico will not pay for the wall. Is President Pena Nieto lying? KELLYANNE CONWAY: Well, they disagree on that conversation, but I

think Mr. Trump clarified very clearly when he got to Arizona leader in that day that he will build that wall and he has been consistent on that since day one of his candidacy and he will have Mexico pay for it. So his position has never changed on this side of the border or on that side of the border.

WHITFIELD: Okay. So a lot to digest at once, so, Jeffrey, to you first.

Is the message getting muddled whether it be mass deportations of the 11 million or whether it be over the meeting that took place or didn't take place, the discussion that didn't or didn't take place between Trump and the Mexican president?

JEFFREY LORD, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: No. I don't think so at all. I mean, Donald Trump gave that speech in Arizona that night laid out very clearly his 10 points.

You know, as to the discussion with the Mexican president, I'm sure that the Mexican president said something about the subject. I'm sure -- listening to Mayor Giuliani --

WHITFIELD: Well, you even heard in that Giuliani conversation he said, you know, the president wanted to talk about it, but then it was Giuliani. I thought that was the interpretation from interview there where he says, he even said that is off the table.

LORD: Right. In other words, Fred, you and I and our other guests are having a discussion. If you ask me a question, I just sat here and never said anything and never engaged you on the issue, that's not a discussion --

WHITFIELD: But did that mean the president was saying what's off the table is that Mexico is not going to pay for it.

LORD: I'm sorry, what?

WHITFIELD: What's part of that conversation about Mexico paying for or not because Giuliani then said that he said, you know, it's your decision whether to put up a wall or not that from the president to Donald Trump. Meaning, Mexico is not going to pay for it, it's up to you if you want to put it up.

LORD: The Mexican president could say anything he wants. If Donald Trump didn't take the bait as it were and get into a negotiation which he has no authority to do anyway because he's not the president. I mean, that's not a discussion of the issue.

I mean, I think it was just very clear the Mexican president may have said something about it, Donald Trump chose not to respond correctly so which they disagree.

WHITFIELD: Okay. So, Basil, does this underscore that there may be a problem in terms of messaging from this camp that the interpretation is so loose, it depends on who you're talking to or how you interpret from whom the information is coming from that camp?

BASIL SMIKLE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NEW YORK STATE DEMOCRATIC PARTY: Absolutely. It also depends on the room that Donald Trump is in at the time. There is no consistent message about immigration and what to do with these families except this.

If you listen to Donald Trump, and if you listen to Rudy Giuliani and Mike Pence, they described immigrants first as criminals and then, potentially, as families that should not be disrupted. And I think, to me, the Democrat, Hillary Clinton has just a fundamentally different approach to how -- as to how to engage these undocumented immigrants.

And so, it depends on the room that you're in at the time. That's the message that you're going to get from Donald Trump on that day. And that's what's scary and that's why so many of his -- these Latino advisers, surrogates have left his campaign over the last few days because it's that inconsistency that's problematic. And no matter what kind of trip you take to Mexico to show that you're being presidential, the inconsistency, and I think the language, the tenor of those comments directed towards 11 million Americans, that's not presidential at all.

WHITFIELD: And then, what about the messaging to African-Americans? You know, some may want to use the same word inconsistent as it pertains to the message from the Trump campaign being sent to black American voters, Nolan.

So, you know, Donald Trump was in Detroit trying to send a message that he hears the African-American community because now he has been in church in this predominantly black church in Detroit.

How successful is that move going to church sending a message that he is here to learn?

NOLAN FINLEY, EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR THE DETROIT NEWS: Well, he actually did a really good job in the Detroit in terms of presenting himself as a serious candidate who was willing to listen. He wasn't bombastic. He wasn't inflammatory. He went to that church humbly and he listened to what the people had to say. Now, it won't do him a wit of good.

Detroit voters go 90-95% Democrat, election after election. I don't see Donald Trump being the candidate who's going to break that hold on the black vote in Detroit.

But it was, perhaps, the best I've seen him appearing before a minority audience.

WHITFIELD: And what do you mean by that? Why?

FINLEY: Well, again, he was humble. He listened. He didn't pander. He presented a couple of three very practical positions in terms of making sure urban residents, African-Americans get the job training they need, get the support they need to succeed in this - in this economy. He wasn't pandering, he wasn't promising, a bunch of giveaway programs. He was promising training, education, getting them prepared for a workplace and that would allow them to compete with everyone else.

WHITFIELD: Okay. All right. So now, both campaigns will be focusing on other battleground states, North Carolina is, one in which many will be descending. Trump, Cane, Bill Clinton will be in that state campaigning on behalf of his wife. Hillary who also be holding a rally there, just look at the map right there.

Basil, the all important state of North Carolina. This is a battleground for both sides. How do they go about campaigning in this state?

SMIKLE: Well, I think it's interesting. This is a state that Barack Obama has won in the past. You talk about some of the restrictions that were just thrown out by the court on, with respect, to voting rights and ID laws.

I think there's a tremendous amount of organizing that's already taking place in the state, organizing against, what I would consider, some very restrictive laws that I think Republicans have promoted in that state over the last few years.

So I do think it's an important battleground for Democrats, certainly for Republicans, but for a Democratic state that I think Democrats can win.

And look, there are - there's a very narrow path for Donald Trump here in this election when you take into consideration North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, perhaps one other state. It's a very narrow path for them, but I think for us we've been able to talk about states like Utah and Georgia states that in the past, may not have - certainly, have not gone for Democrats. But there is -- the demographics have changed. I think the issues that have come to the forefront make this a very important state and a very good state for Democrats.

WHITFIELD: And, Jeffrey, what's the strategy here?

LORD: Well, I could tell you, living in one of these battleground states, which is the state Pennsylvania, the Trump forces are really getting organized here.

There is a lot of enthusiasm for him.

And I would say in regard to the - to the black vote, and Donald Trump was in Philadelphia speaking to black community members, he doesn't have to get 99% or 50%. What he has to do is increase the share of the black vote that Republican nominees have been getting in the past.

So I think he's really making an effort to do that --

WHITFIELD: So you say he could do that?

LORD: -- it's a genuine effort. And as you - as you may know, there's videotape out there from years ago of, none other than, Jessie Jackson praising Donald Trump's work in the black community.

So, I think as word of this spreads he's going to have a better shot at this.

SMIKLE: Well, and I would - but if I can I would interject. It's not really about getting the one or two percentage points and he did to reverse historical trends. African - Republicans have not gotten more than 20% in the African-American votes since 1960.

So there's something there. There's something structural and institutional there that keeps - that seems to keep Republicans from engaging African-American communities appropriately. I don't think Donald Trump is going to reverse that trend with less than three months left in this campaign cycle.

LORD: The revolution is here, Basil.

SMIKLE: The revolution?

We'll talk - we'll talk off camera about that revolution.

WHITFIELD: All right, gentlemen, thank you so much. We'll leave it right there. Jeffrey Lord, Basil Smikle, and Noland Finley, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

FINLEY: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right, be sure to watch "UNFINISHED BUSINESS,THE ESSENTIAL HILLARY CLINTON" tomorrow night at 8:00 Eastern. It's followed by "ALL BUSINESS, THE ESSENTIAL DONALD Trump" at 10:00 Eastern right here on CNN.

Also, still ahead, an exclusive interview with President Barack Obama. He's on his last trip to Asia, a region, he believes, is central to America's future.

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: Building a strong international order is in our interest and I think over the long term will be in China's interest as well.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: President Barack Obama spending his second full day at the G20 Summit in China. He and China's president are dealing with some, rather, thorny diplomatic issues including trade and China is expanding military presence, especially, in the South China Sea.

Before he left, President Obama sat down, exclusively, with CNN's Fareed Zakaria and talked about how China must accept more responsibility along with this increasing power.

OBAMA: If you sign a treaty that calls for international arbitration around maritime issues, the fact that you're bigger than the Philippines or Vietnam or other countries, in of itself is not a reason for you to go around and flex your muscles. You've got to abide by international law. And part of what I try to communicate to President Xi is that the United States arrives at this power in part by restraining itself.

You know, when we bind ourselves to a bunch of international norms and rules, it's not because we have to, it's because we recognize that over the long term building a strong international order is in our interest. And I think, over the long-term, will be in China's interest as well.

WHITFIELD: At the G20 Summit today, the red carpet was rolled out for President Obama, but that was a very different story from yesterday where the president was given, what's being called, the bare bones reception when he arrived, tensions boiled over on the tarmac between members of the President's entourage and Chinese officials over security access.

White House correspondent, Michelle Kosinski, explains what happened.

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, still lots of buzz surrounding this in terms of how Chinese security officials have been handling certain events and not granting the kind of access to the U.S. press that travels with President Obama, access that they expected on this trip and they normally would get.

They are covering events that in some cases are not much more than photo ops and are covered by cameras anyway. Four times in two day certain access was denied. There were two notable cases where there were shouting matches between Chinese security and U.S. officials.

At one point it was looking like it was going to come to blows. The individuals had to be separated. President Obama was asked about that today. He said often on his trips to China these kinds of tensions come up.

It shows you that often other countries including China are not used to the kinds of press access that often we in the United States take for granted.

There is a lot else going on today. President Obama was able to sit down with the new British Prime Minister, Theresa May. He addressed comments that he made a few months ago that really raised brows about in terms of dealing with a new trade agreement Britain would be at the back of the queue.

Well, today, he said he didn't mean that as a punishment of Britain, but the U.S. has been working directly with the E.U. on a trade agreement. They would continue to do that first as would Britain.

He also sat down with Turkish President Erdogan. I mean, that relationship has been difficult lately. When we heard the president speak, he really emphasized democracy and standing up for Turkey after the coup.

Even though Turkey has been criticized for what many see as a crackdown following the coup attempt, I mean, arresting or firing tens of thousands of people. Here's part of what President Obama said. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: By taking to the streets to resist the coup attempts the Turkish people once again affirmed their commitment to democracy and the strength and (inaudible) of democratic institutions inside of Turkey.

I indicated at the time the unequivocal condemnation of these actions and spoke personally to President Erdogan to offer any support that we might be able to provide in both ending the attempted coup, but also in investigating and bringing (inaudible) of these illegal actions to justice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSINSKI: And also at some point on this trip, we expect President Obama to meet on the sidelines with Russian President Putin. There is a relationship that has been fraught to say the very least lately.

On that same note, we hear from Secretary of State Kerry today who said there is still no cease fire agreement with Russia over Syria, but they continue to work out those details. Michelle Kosinski, CNN, Hangzhou, China.

WHITFIELD: And still ahead, for 27 years the family of Jacob Wetterling never knew what happened to their child. Now key evidence is helping them piece together what happened all of those years ago.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:36:47]

WHITFIELD: Welcome back. A heartbreaking end to a 27-year-old cold case. Minnesota authorities confirming to CNN that they have found the remains of an 11-year-old boy who was abducted in 1989.

Jacob Wetterling was grabbed by a masked man with a gun. The boy and his brother and a friend were on their bikes near their rural Minnesota home and sources tell CNN affiliate, WCCO, that a suspect in Jacob's disappearance led the FBI to his remains.

Wetterling's abduction was the driving force behind the creation of a national database of registered sex offenders. The troubling was profiled recently on CNN's "THE HUNT WITH JOHN WALSH." Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This guy wearing a mask came out and you could see his handgun. This guy told him to get off their bikes and lay down in the ditch or else he would shoot. He asked them one by one what their age was.

After that he had Trevor and Aaron one by one run off into the nearby woods and not to look back or else he would shoot. As Aaron was taking off he saw the man grab Jacob's arm. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When he caught up to Trevor and they felt safe enough to turn around and look back they were gone. They were just gone. The police asked the boys, are you sure you weren't playing with a gun and Jacob got hurt and you're afraid to tell us what happened? They were absolutely clear, no. There was a man with a gun.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We started to search the area, the immediate area of the abduction and started to fan out from there. Everybody thought that within a few hours we would get it taken care of.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When it comes to missing children, time is the enemy. Seconds count. Hours count. If the child is killed it will happen within the first few hours.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We were up all night. It was just crazy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are so many parallels in the Wetterling case to our case of Adam. I will never forget that night when darkness fell and we started to search for Adam. I will never forget that realization and that loneliness.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Oh, my gosh. This is tough. CNN's Polo Sandoval has been following the developments. So what do we know about how they found the remains? What is the circumstances?

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, this is what the Wetterling family worst fears and now become a reality.

[14:40:02]At this point, what we know the county sheriff's office says that they found the remains of Jacob Wetterling in Minnesota. Investigators reportedly lead there by a man who has been in custody for nearly a year now.

He's been charged with possession of child pornography. Here is what initially led investigators to him, though. It was actually the abduction of another young boy in that region who was only about nine months before Jacob went missing in October of 1989. That's very important here.

CNN does not usually identify victims of sexual assault. Jared Shyrel (ph) came forward publicly identified himself as the 12-year-old boy who survived the attack before Jacob's abduction.

He says that a man pulled him into his car, molested him and them later let him go. Fast forward to 2010 that's when a freelance writer flagged Shyrel's case and several other attacks on young boys in the late 80s. It all happened in the same general area in Central Minnesota.

The perpetrator reportedly also approached the boys, also molested them and then threaten to shoot them if they turned around as they fled. What is the same though here, the same MO described by Jacob's Wetterling's friend and also his brother that day in 1989. Investigating authorities right now won't say or at least they are not in position quite yet to actually release more information yet, Fred. We do expect that to happen possibly in the week ahead.

But again, the headline now is this reality now for the Wetterlings family, they held on and clung onto hope for 27 years and not just them but the entire community.

It is also important to keep in mind the boy before Jacob, this young man survived to tell his story and playing a crucial role in this investigation. Again, it's a very complex story, very complex case but a very tragic one.

WHITFIELD: Are investigators willing to say anything about information, evidence now leading to an arrest?

SANDOVAL: As we mentioned, they do have someone in custody. Now no murder charges have been filed. We do understand that this individual who we are not quite naming yet as he's not been charged in this case has been in federal custody for a year now for child pornography charges at the federal level.

But I think that in the coming days that's when we'll actually have a better understanding of what could be in store for this individual and the crucial question, if investigators believed that he was the man who kidnapped Jacob Wetterling, killed him.

And then, you know, what sad here is just again, the family was holding onto so much hope for so long. Hoping that he was still out there. We've seen that happen before. Sadly he won't be coming home.

WHITFIELD: Yes, sad, soberly and very enlightening. All right, thank you so much. Appreciate it, Polo.

All right, Season 3 of "THE HUNT WITH JOHN WALSH" premieres tonight at 9:00 Eastern and an updated episode on the case of Jacob Wetterling airs at 7:00 Eastern. We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:46:23]

WHITFIELD: All right, welcome back. A special day for Catholics around the world, Pope Francis is officially declaring Mother Teresa a saint.

(VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Tens of thousands of people filled St. Peters Square this morning known as the Saint of the Gutters. Mother Teresa devoted her life to helping the poor and sick in India. CNN Vatican correspondent, Delia Gallagher, was there.

DELIE GALLAGHER, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: Hi Fred. What a celebration it has been here today under a sweltering roman sun some 120,000 people came down here to St. Peter Square. They came from all over. We saw flags from India, from Albania, all countries in between to celebrate the life of this saint and to hear Pope Francis say the declaration in Latin that officially makes her Saint Teresa of Calcutta.

I can tell you, Fred, a big cheer went up when he said those words. He called Mother Teresa a model of holiness and he said that she was an eloquent witness to God's closeness to the poor.

In the pope's own gesture of closeness to the poor, we know it's a priority for Pope Francis. After this very solemn ceremony, he said he was offering a pizza party to 1,500 poor and homeless in the Vatican -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, Delia Gallagher, thank you so much for that. Let's talk more about the importance of Mother Teresa's canonization. CNN religion commentator, Father Edward Beck with us now. Good to see you.

FATHER EDWARD BECK, CNN RELIGION COMMENTATOR: You too, Fred.

WHITFIELD: So the Catholic Church requires someone to be credited with two miracles to be considered for sainthood. What can you tell us about the miracles that are being accredited to Mother Teresa?

BECK: There is a woman with stomach tumors from India. They were inexplicably cured after praying to Mother Teresa so she was one and then present there today at the canonization was a man from Brazil who had brain tumors. He was actually in the operating room and they were ready to operate on him.

Praying with a medal of Saint Teresa as his family gathered around him, and when the doctors came in there were no tumors. They couldn't explain how they left. There was medical investigation. The doctors themselves said it could only be a miracle. He was actually present there today at the canonization.

WHITFIELD: So then why there are there critics who say that she was not deserving to become a saint?

BECK: Fred, the critics kind of -- remember Christopher Hichen (ph), the atheist, who wrote and did a documentary in 1994. He called it "God Hell's Angel" and that was her. He said that he didn't believe that her modus operandi was a good one.

He said she preached against abortion, against contraception in developing nations. He felt it was irresponsible and her response was look, if people took care of the poor, if people gave injustice what they were required to it would not be an issue.

He also criticized her for accepting money from dictators like De Valle (ph) in Haiti. She said look, people like this take money from the poor. I am giving it back to the poor. She was a tough lady and she had an answer for all of the critics.

People thought she should have developed infrastructure for her health care. She said that's not my mission. I see Christ in the poor, in the homeless, in the destitute, in the sick and I minister to that person. I picked them up out of the street and I tend to them. You worry about the infrastructure. That is not my call.

[14:50:04]WHITFIELD: Reverend Edward Beck, always good to see you. Thank you so much.

BECK: You too, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, next, the controversy continues for an NFL quarterback who is refusing to stand for the national anthem. Why the safety of football fans could be an issue?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: New developments in the controversy swirling around NFL quarterback, Colin Kaepernick, and his refusal to stand during the national anthem. It appears Kaepernick's protest is causing a rift inside the Santa Clara Police Department. The safety of fans could be at stake. Here's CNN sports anchor, Coy Wire, with the latest on the twist.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Santa Clara's police chief, Michael Sellers, issued a statement yesterday urging the city's police union to put the safety of the citizens first. You see, the union had sent a letter to the 49ers demanding that they take action against Kaepernick and his stance or police officers would choose not to work security at the stadium on game days.

Chief Sellers said that Kaepernick's, quote, "blanket statements" disparaging the law enforcement profession are hurtful and do not help bring the country together.

But he went on to say, quote, "As distasteful as his actions are, these actions are protected by the constitution. Police officers are here to protect the rights of every person even if we disagree with their position," unquote.

Now one big question yesterday was will Colin Kaepernick even make the team? Yesterday was final cut down day and many thought the team might release Kaepernick because of his activism, but also because poor play at times, but he did make the team.

[14:55:11]He'll be back up to Blain Gabbert (ph) so his protests will continue and so will both the negative and positive responses to those protests. The 49ers open their season at home in just eight days against the Los Angeles Rams on Monday night football.

So a huge stage. This controversy doesn't seem to be hurting the sales of his Kaepernick's jersey. His number 7 is top selling jersey at the 49ers store and it is eight overall entire NFL just behind Tom Brady.

So as divisive as this topic is, many not happy with Kaepernick's methods of protest, but many more supporting him and standing behind his message. Back to you.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thank you so much, Coy Wire. Appreciate it. The next hour of the CNN NEWSROOM begins right after a short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Hello again, everyone. Thanks so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. High level campaign staffers and advisers of Donald Trump continue to try to explain exactly what the Republican candidate's position is on illegal immigration.

This morning on "STATE OF THE UNION," former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani tried to make clear that Trump does not support mass deportations.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)