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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees

Great Expectations for Governor Chris Christie; New York's New First Family; Florida Teen Mysterious Death; Calls For Crack Smoking Toronto Mayor To Step Aside Grow Louder; Reporter Who Broke The Story Of Toronto's Mayor Smoking Crack Recounts How She Saw The Video; New Video From Cameras Inside Gym Where Kendrick Johnson Died; 1984 Hijacker Returns To U.S.; Couple Rescued After Six Days; Man Charged With Murder After Missing Mississippi Family Found Dead

Aired November 06, 2013 - 20:00   ET

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

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Erin, thanks.

Good evening, everyone.

Tonight, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie's possible road to the White House and potential potholes on it.

Also tonight, he says he was too drunk to remember picking up the crack pipe. He also says he's not stepping down as mayor of North America's fourth largest city. We're going to hear from supporters of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford and from the reporter who first broke the crack story.

And later, breaking news in the Kendrick Johnson story. There were 36 cameras inside and outside the gym where the young man died. We've just gotten access to new footage from inside the gym. We're sorting through it now, including the camera trained on those gym mats where Kendrick Johnson's body was found. We're going to bring that to you as soon as we can.

But we begin with the big state Republican governor winning reelection in a landslide and riding the wave all the way to the White House, or at least -- well, that's how George W. Bush did it in Texas in 1998, bulldozing a half dozen potential GOP challengers and using his big margin of victory as a kind of battering ram in the primaries and as proof that his campaign message that he was a moderate. A compassionate conservative.

Well, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is more combative perhaps than compassionate but like George W. he, too, has won big and done so across gender, ethnic and party lines. He is without question the man with the presidential buzz right now. He's also a man with a mouth and a temper and a record for better or worse.

We'll explore it all tonight starting with battleground or background, I should say, from chief political correspondent Candy Crowley.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If you're wondering whether Governor Chris Christie could use his New Jersey template to win a presidential election, you didn't have to ask.

GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), NEW JERSEY: I know that if we can do this in Trenton, New Jersey, maybe the folks in Washington, D.C. should tune in their TVs right now and see how it's done.

CROWLEY: His shrinking girth aside, the governor of New Jersey has an outside ego and an outsized personality that screams authentic.

CHRISTIE: You'll get your hug later, brother. And I can -- I can tell you this, I guess there is open bar tonight, huh? Welcome to New Jersey.

CROWLEY: He is a hands-on politician, he's a hand shaker, a hugger, a hell fellow well met until he's not, like with that teacher who didn't react well to his explanation on layoffs.

CHRISTIE: I sat here -- stood here and very respectfully listened to you. If what you want to do is put on a show and giggle every time I talk, well, then I have no interest in answering your question.

CROWLEY: The reporter who broke Christie imposed rules at a press conference.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Governor, on Monday are you going to be addressing the legislature?

CHRISTIE: Did I say on topic? Are you stupid? On topic. On topic. Next question.

CROWLEY: The veterans who argued with him about funding for state schools.

CHRISTIE: And let me tell you something, after you graduate from law school you conduct yourself like that in a courtroom, you're rear end is going to get thrown in jail, idiot.

CROWLEY: How's that going to play in a 24/7 klieg light of a presidential campaign?

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Are you prepared to make any adjustments to your personal style to tone down your rashness, to appeal to people beyond New Jersey?

CHRISTIE: No.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: None at all?

CHRISTIE: I mean, listen, no, I mean, this is who I am, Kelly. I mean, you're asking me at 51 years old now to become a different person.

CROWLEY: The street fighter in Christie has made him one of the most YouTubed governors in the country. It's why they like him in New Jersey and it's one of the things that made him an early hit with conservatives who admire his spine but the appeal has worn thin.

Tea Party types are suspicious. They say Christie gave up the fight against same-sex marriage too early, is squishy on gun rights, and demanded federal money for New Jersey storm victims without a thought on how Uncle Sam would pay for it.

Christie is anti-abortion, has kept state funds from going to Planned Parenthood and by and large has governed as a fiscal conservative. Still, what won him the election was his ability to work with Democrats.

Wednesday President Obama who struck up a bromance with Christie over their joint effort to help storm victims called the governor to congratulate him on his victory. That may play well in Peoria. It does not help among conservatives who believe that working with Democrats too often has meant surrender.

In a country tired of the bickering, the New Jersey template could work in a general election but first Christie will have to sell it to his own party.

Candy Crowley, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: More now with CNN political commentator, Republican strategist, Ana Navarro, she's served as a National Hispanic chair in Jon Huntsman's presidential campaign, we should note. Also CNN political commentator and Obama 2012 pollster Cornell Belcher.

So, Ana, Christie's brash style, yelled at teachers, calls reporter idiots, for people he says he doesn't need to mend fences, that people just need to understand who he is, it's appealing, in many ways, to a lot of people, could it also be a liability outside of New Jersey?

ANA NAVARRO, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Look, some people are going to like him, some people are not. But he's absolutely right. He cannot change it. This is who he is and this is part of what he brings to the table. An enormous amount of authenticity which is something that we complained about not having in our last nominee.

So this is a -- something that we actually crave and I think he also brings a dramatic change from what's in the White House now, and after eight years we may be due for some of that type of change.

And, look, Anderson, you can't argue with the numbers. The guy got a third of Democrats, he got a majority of Latinos, he got 2-1 the independents, 57 percent of women. Any Republican that could come close to those numbers would be in the White House.

COOPER: And, Cornell, I mean, electability, certainly as Ana was just saying, it seems sure to be his argument if he chooses to run in 2016. He won all those groups, as she just said. How strong a candidate do you see him as?

CORNELL BELCHER, DEMOCRATIC POLLSTER: Well, two things. One, Ana, I'm in your city so call me later and tell me where I should smoke and drink. But the problem that Ana points out here is this --

(LAUGHTER)

Is, you know -- and by the way the media's love affair with Chris Christie has begun which is -- which is also the kiss of death because the more the mainstream media loves him the less and less the Tea Partiers are going actually trust him.

Here's the problem, you know, and I think Romney is a problem for Chris Christie because the problem is this. Let's for a second channel and get in the minds of a core Republican voter, a Tea Partier, OK. You got a blue state governor who's reached across the aisle to work with Democrats and who the establishment loves and they say he's electable.

However, from the ideological standpoint, I'm not that comfortable with him, but they tell me I should vote for him anyway.

Does this sound familiar? It sounds like Mitt Romney? I think Chris Christie is going to have an awful hard time getting through a Republican primary with an emboldened Tea Party. The Tea Party hasn't stepped back. They've actually got more emboldened and I think he's going to have a harder time selling himself to Tea Party core Republican voters in the primary.

COOPER: And, Ana, I want to play something that Dana Bash heard from Marco Rubio today, whom she talked to. I just want to play a little bit about what he had to say about Governor Christie's win.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R), FLORIDA: It's important to remember, every race is particular to the state that it's run in. So there are factors in New Jersey that I think are individual to that race and clearly he was able to speak to that and to the -- to the hopes and aspirations to people within New Jersey. And that's good, that's important. We want to win everywhere we can and Governor Christie has certainly shown a way of winning in New Jersey and states like New Jersey.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: That's not exactly a compliment, is it?

NAVARRO: Well, it's -- it's half of one. You know, it's something coming from a guy who may be running against him, frankly, but also, I -- you know, I know Marco Rubio and I happen to know that he's -- you know, he's had a friendship and a good relationship, working relationship with Chris Christie, and I have to tell you, I give Cornell a lot of credit because it takes a lot chutzpah to go on national TV and try to compare Mitt Romney to Chris Christie.

Nobody would see any similarity. Listen, Mitt Romney is a guy who have to have focus group to figure out what jeans to wear. This is a guy who can hardly get out of his fleece. So they are as different strokes as people can be and still be in the same party. And certainly, he will never be the Tea Party candidate. He won't be the Tea Party candidate in the primary, but that's OK because there may be five guys fighting to be the Tea Party candidate on the right of him and if that's the case, that may open up the pact for a Chris Christie.

COOPER: Cornell, that authenticity which people now, you know, are using that word a lot when they talk about Chris Christie, does that -- I mean, from the polling you've done on candidates, does that wear well over time, or does it sometimes start to kind of grate on people?

BELCHER: It is one of the most important things. I mean, one of the things that -- that electorate has gotten more sophisticated about. I mean, they've grown more cynical about politics and politicians. Understandable. And authenticity they can smell it a mile away. And if you're not authentic, you know, it is a harder hurdle for you. He has that in spades.

But here's -- here's the problem. You know, when you match him up and you sort of look at his record and look at some of the -- the positions that he's taken, look at where he is on same-sex marriage. You can make the argument that he is out of step for the general election and even in New Jersey if you get inside the exit poll numbers in New Jersey, even in his landslide electorate where he used to head up much older and much wider electorate than you typically have in a general election, his perfect -- his perfect landslide election, even in this perfect landslide election, he still is losing in the exit polling to Hillary Clinton.

So, I think, you know, there are some problems here. I mean, you know, curve your enthusiasm, Republicans, a little bit. Just a little bit.

COOPER: Cornell, appreciate you being on. Ana Navarro, as well.

I want to show our viewers the front page of the "New York Times" now because it ushers in a remarkably big change here in New York City. The tall guy behind the afro is Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio. The hair belongs to his son Dante. Behind them -- behind them an Asian American, behind her an African-American. This is one photo, a picture of 21st century New York.

Now Don Lemon with a portrait of New York's very modern first family.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHIRLANE MCCRAY, WIFE: From our family to your family, I give you the next mayor of New York City, Bill de Blasio.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR/CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Meet New York's first family. An urban quartet from liberal Brooklyn who cracked 20 years of Republican rule with their modern family appeal.

CHIARA DE BLASIO, DAUGHTER: And once again, the smackdown. One, two, three.

LEMON: He is Bill de Blasio, a 52-year-old former college activist who was an open supporter of Nicaraguan rebels and liberation theology.

BILL DE BLASIO (D), NEW YORK MAYOR-ELECT: That inequality, that feeling of a few doing very well while so many flipped further behind. That is the defining challenge of our times.

LEMON: He promised voters he'd combat income inequality and plans to raise taxes on the wealthy to fund public pre-K.

DE BLASIO: (Speaking in foreign language)

LEMON: She is Chirlane McCray. Another progresista. New York City's next first lady declared she was a lesbian in this 1979 "Essence" article.

MCCRAY: And he's tall and good looking.

LEMON: She talked about her attraction to de Blasio on "Huffington Post Live."

MCCRAY: I didn't really date very many men. No.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did you tell him that when you started dating?

MCCRAY: I did.

LEMON: Little she is daughter Chiara with her signature ring of hair flowers.

DE BLASIO: They are very stylish.

LEMON: Then there is Dante, the son whose outsized afro became a campaign prop.

DANTE DE BLASIO, SON: And he's the only one who will end a stop-and- risk era that unfairly targets people of color.

LEE MIRINGOFF, MARIST POLITICAL SCIENCE PROFESSOR: On an issue basis, it did things in terms of the demography of the city, it did things in terms of his family values. I mean, the ad touched so many themes at one time. There was not much left any of the other candidates could do at that point.

LEMON: It was enough to convince New Yorkers to replace a single, wealthy, 5'7" billionaire businessman with a 6'5" patriarch of biracial family, where even a picture hugging his son on the revered front page of the "New York Times" shows that family matters.

Don Lemon, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: The new first family of New York.

Let us know what you think, follow me at Twitter @Andersoncooper. Tweet using hash tag ac360. Ahead, Toronto's Mayor Rob Ford and the question, what happens after a politician goes on TV and admits to smoking crack while in a drunken stupor? Is it possible he goes nowhere and stays in office? When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.

Also next, breaking news. A shocking revelation after CNN obtains video that could show what really happened to Kendrick Johnson in a Georgia high school gym.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Breaking news tonight in the Kendrick Johnson case. Newly released video from three dozen cameras inside and outside the gym where the teenager's body was found rolled inside a gym mat.

As you may recall, the Georgia Bureau of Investigations rule that the 17-year-old -- three-sport athlete died from accidental suffocation. Johnson's parents didn't buy that, however, and had -- they had their son's body exhumed.

Now a second autopsy ruled his death was a homicide. It also found that Kendrick's body cavity was stuffed with newspapers, his internal organs were missing.

Every turn in this case seems to only raise new questions. The question is, does this new video from 36 cameras provide any answers?

Victor Blackwell joins me now with the latest.

So what does the new video show?

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Anderson, the Johnsons were hoping that this video would give them some answers. There was even a hash tag on Twitter giveusthetapes. But it appears that this video is only providing more questions and very few answers.

We've got a couple of clips from these hours of video we've watched. Let's look at the first one and it shows Kendrick walking in from the right side of your screen there. He's behind another student and as soon as he runs out you see that student disappears and a couple of other students disappear -- appear, rather.

It's from one image to the next with no explanation of how those students got to that position or where the student at that red shirt went. Now we've blurred their faces because they are minors in this video and the next.

Let's go to the next one. You can see Kendrick at the bottom right of the screen. He's walking at first and then he runs out of the frame and just like the first video, other students just appear. No explanation of how they got to that point. You don't see them walk in.

We have not edited these videos to just kind of put one image next to the other. This is how we received them from the sheriff's office today. COOPER: So the video seems to be jumping around. You're saying those aren't edits? Is that -- I mean, I assume that's a motion sensor camera. Is that the way it's supposed to work, that it may take a few seconds for an image to register?

BLACKWELL: That was our first question. When we see the images especially of Kendrick with all these hours of video, it's like what happened at the end of this and how did these students appear? Was this video edited?

So we reached out to both the school that owns the cameras that recorded it and then the sheriff's office which had a copy of it which supplied it to us.

I' want to read you the statements first from the school district and attorney for Lowndes County Schools, says simply, "What we produced to the sheriff is a raw feed with no edits." And then from the attorney for the sheriff's office, "My client has confirmed that the video was not altered or edited by anyone within the Lowndes County Sheriff's Office."

They both maintain that what we see is exactly what was recorded.

COOPER: What about the corner where the gym mats are, where Kendrick's body was ultimately found. I mean that seems to be the key place. We've known there was a camera there. You saw the video from that camera today. What did you see?

BLACKWELL: Yes, this is the most important camera of all 36, and I want to show you the video. It's blurry. Of all 36 cameras, a video that was provided, this angle is blurry. It's almost impossible to make out any of the faces and if you look at the corner, the top left of the image, those are the mats in which Kendrick Johnson was found.

What you don't see is a top of the mats. And we know why that's important because sheriff deputies say that he climbed in through the top of the mat. They say that the students who found him were playing on top of those mats, and in this video, because you can't see that image, you can't see that.

Also, you know, we saw from one image to the next in the other videos, from looking at this, we see students playing basketball and then a few frames later, we see what appears to possibly be the nurse running in, then we see someone running through with a gurney. So there is -- we know from the file of -- the investigative file, there are activities and there are events between these but we just don't see them through what is the only blurry image, the blurry angle of all three dozen cameras that were provided by the school district and the sheriff's office.

COOPER: So I'm a little confused. I mean, is -- we saw Kendrick running from one angle. Did the camera on the mat -- does that show him approaching the mats at any time, and is there anybody else that shows up?

BLACKWELL: There is activity in the hours of video there, but it's so blurry and so much is happening in that corner. There are bleachers there and students we know from the file would sit in that area. The police say that they would play in that area, but because we can't see the top of the mats from the image, we can't tell if anyone ever went on top and when they went on top.

And we don't see Kendrick running in that direction, and if we were to see someone going in that direction, the video, the image is so blurry. We have not edited this at all, the clarity of it, to tell if Kendrick is running in the direction of the mats.

And there is one other thing that I want to mention that we saw and we're working on getting this on air for you.

From this angle, from this camera, Anderson, at the very start of the list of images, there's a 12 -second clip. The gym is dark and then a light is turned on in the corner where the mats are, just that corner, and you could see a person walking in that direction and then the video stops. Twelve seconds, dark gym, they flip on the light, someone is walking that way, and that's the end of it.

You know, the theory from the parents is, is that Kendrick was beaten and put in that corner, rolled up in the mat, and it was a cover-up. He went missing on the 10th of January, did not come home that night, and they found him on the morning of the 11th.

COOPER: Do we know -- I'm sorry, was the video time stamped so that shadowy figure you saw when the lights turned on, do we know what day that is?

BLACKWELL: We don't have any time stamps and that's something we've been asking for because all of this video, it's not put into any context because they just say -- in the file, the last 48 hours. Well, they don't say which day it is. I can tell you the next video sequentially is just a quick video of someone turning on the lights in the gym. So that could presumably be the beginning of the day but without a time stamp there is no way to be certain.

COOPER: All right. Appreciate the reporting, Victor. Thanks very much.

We do have that video. We're still going through it. We'll bring it to you as soon as we technically can.

Joining me now, Ben Crump, attorney for the Johnson family, also CNN legal analyst and criminal defense attorney Mark Geragos.

So, Ben, rather than giving answers, these tapes just seem to be kind of raising more questions, don't they?

BEN CRUMP, JOHNSON FAMILY ATTORNEY: Anderson, they do and the family believes, as they always have believed, their son did not climb into a mat, get stuck and suffocate. We don't see anywhere in the mat that that happened.

COOPER: Mark Geragos, what do you make of all this? MARK GERAGOS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Frankly, Anderson, I agree. I think that there are more questions. I know -- I think it's not likely, given some of the (INAUDIBLE) that they have shown that he ran in there and climbed in. It just seems like it's too fast. As far as the time stamps, I think they are going to be able to show exactly when those videos were shot. They will have a way to -- and I've had cases like this where the police officer painstakingly will go through and there are certain ways that they can correlate a time for one video through a time in actuality and they will be able to cooperate that.

But I agree with Ben. I think it does raise quite a few questions and I think it's going to be some interesting investigation from this point forward.

COOPER: Also, Mark, the fact that authorities didn't seem to flag any of these things, I mean, does that make any sense to you, even, you know, blood streaks on the wall that they didn't test?

GERAGOS: I -- you know, I hate to say it but there was almost -- there was almost an idea here that somebody came to this case with a preconceived notion as to what happened, and that's -- you know, people always slam lawyers but one of the great thing about -- great things about lawyers is Ben is here. He's asking questions, all of a sudden things are coming out. There are starting to be more questions being asked.

I don't want to be a conspiracy theorist, but clearly there's a lot more going on here than everybody was led to believe initially and it deserves a thorough investigation.

COOPER: Ben, have you ever gotten a straight answer about why -- I mean, again, I keep coming back to those bloodstains on the wall. Why the authorities did not test those bloodstains?

CRUMP: Well, Anderson, there are so many questions yet unanswered. As we've said before, this is a real-life murder mystery and there just seems to be more and more add into the mystery. Just the fact that this one videotape is blurry, you know, Attorney King and I, we are very troubled by that.

His parents have always said all they want to know is the truth and this videotape seems to tell us that the truth has not come out yet. Almost as if something was done with this one video to help conceal the truth. But we're going to keep pressing to get the truth to this murder mystery.

COOPER: And, Mark, how much does it hurt an investigation if there is not conclusive evidence, A, from the surveillance cameras and even -- I mean, I hate to get to this level of kind of a detail, but the internal organs of this young man were removed, nobody knows really by whom and replaced with paper. That's going to even make it remarkable.

(CROSSTALK) GERAGOS: Well, you know, Anderson, I -- Anderson, I'm with you on that. I mean, it's kind of moored in terms of the facts itself but there are -- somebody has got to explain why did that happen, how did that happen. And I think the video really cries out at this point for somebody and they can do it. I mean, I've had cases where you can enhance the video, you can clarify, you can blow it up, you can do all kinds of things, it's an amazing world we live in now that is remarkably different than it was five years ago.

So as crazy as this video appears right now with the jumping around and the blurring and everything else, somebody who in the capable hands of some kind of an audio -- video specialist, this can be some really important evidence at some point.

COOPER: Mark Geragos, Ben Crump, guys, appreciate you being on. We're going to continue to follow through with this and go through the video, trying to isolate that shadowy figure. When we do we'll get back to Victor Blackwell. Just ahead.

Also ahead tonight, Toronto's crack smoking mayor, not resigning, he says. We'll look at the source of his diehard support and talk to the reporter who first broke the crack story.

Also a tragic ending to a mystery in Mississippi. The bodies of a missing family have been found. The suspected killer is in custody.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Canada, don't ever call it dull again. With a liquored up, crack-smoking Toronto mayor, not anymore. These days the headlines read "Mayor Rob Ford's Stupor Star," because he says he probably smoked the crack in one of his drunken stupors. One of his drunken stupors, or in this afternoon's "Toronto Sun," "Mayor Rob Ford Refuses to be Smoked out of Office." Or on the "Colbert Report," this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHEN COLBERT, HOST, "THE COLBERT REPORT": After months and months of his denials on Thursday Toronto Police confirmed that Ford appears in a video that allegedly depicts the mayor smoking crack cocaine.

(CHEERS)

But on the bright side, he is personally taking crack off the streets of Toronto.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Well, what he's not doing, despite more pressure today is stepping down. Paula Newton is on the no longer dull streets of Toronto. Actually Toronto is a great city, I should say. I liked it a lot. She joins us now. Paula more than 24 hours after Mayo Ford admitted to smoking crack and still, there is no sign he's stepping down, right?

PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely not, Anderson, and, you know, the thing is everyone is telling him, supporters, saying look, take a few months, take a few weeks, take some time. No, the people he's probably listening to are the people I spoke to today, those people in the so-called Ford nation, who are saying, look, this is the best mayor we had in Toronto. He can stay in office. These are personal problems. We don't agree with him smoking crack cocaine, personal problems, not problems here at city hall -- Anderson?

COOPER: He said yesterday and I quote, "he's got nothing left to hide." Does anyone really believe is that?

NEWTON: Well, talk about painting yourself into a corner. We all heard that and OK, here we go. But I want you to listen to somebody who believes he has a credible voice on that and that's one of the Toronto counselors who is moving a motion now to strip the mayor of most of his powers. He is going to try that next week, but in the meantime, listen to what he's worried about.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN FILION, TORONTO CITY COUNCILOR: You just know there is more coming out. We know there is another video. We don't know what is on it, but not something the mayor is going to like. We know there are wiretaps. We know there are more documents that were redacted, but will be coming out, and just more crazy stuff just keeps popping up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Yes, so as you say, Canada boring no longer. We are going to have these wiretaps perhaps released next week and many fearful about what will be in them -- Anderson.

COOPER: Again, for a mayor to say that, you know, just one of my drunken stupors, implies obviously there have been many. It surprised me that people would accept a mayor having repeated drunken stupors when he's supposed to do the people's business. I understand it was bring your child to workday and a day after smoking crack the mayor was spending the day in the office with kids.

NEWTON: I was stunned today. I arrived to city hall and the entire city at work with their parents today and there he is, Mayor Ford giving a tour to Grade 9 students in his office and he, as you can see now, blows a kiss to the media outside. You know, the thing about this is I think most people are going through what I'm going through right now.

And I heard people say look, I had to explain to my kids what cocaine is today. This is schoolyard chatter. I had to do that. It's gotten to a point where it's no longer cute. It's no longer funny and I think that Mayor Ford will find no matter what he did. No matter what he confessed to yesterday, he has failed to actually put any kind of a period at the end of this drama, he probably put an exclamation point at the end of all of this.

COOPER: All right, Paula, appreciate the reporting. No one has chronicled the Ford story better than my next guest. It came to her one morning by way of a voice on the phone after an explosive story, she and a colleague wrote about the mayor's drinking problem.

Robyn Doolittle is the city hall reporter with the "Toronto Star." The author of a soon to be published book about Rob Ford called "Crazy Town, The Rob Ford Story." Robin, you've done some great reporting through this whole saga. How you first came into contact with this now infamous video is pretty unbelievable crazy. Can you just quickly take us through it?

ROBYN DOOLITTLE, "THE TORONTO SUN": Sure, I mean, the "Toronto Star" has been investigating this mayor's erratic behavior for about a year and a half. So I along with my colleague, Kevin Donovan, have written about like he mentioned his alcohol problem. He was asked to leave a military ball after showing up impaired earlier this year.

And a few days after that, I got a call from an anonymous tipster who claimed to have a video of the mayor apparently smoking crack cocaine. It took about a month of back and forth getting to know them and they eventually let us watch it in early May. Two weeks after that, your very own Goucker ran the story in the ""Toronto Star" and been reporting it all summer long since then.

COOPER: You've seen the video. What does it actually show?

DOOLITTLE: It's about a minute and a half long. It shows what a man, clearly Rob Ford, shot in high-definition. It's in sunshine. He's holding what looks like a crack pipe and he's jerking around on his chair. He's slurring, rambling, he calls the leader of the liberal, federal liberal party a homophobic slur. He makes disparaging comments about minorities and he smokes out of what looks like a crack pipe.

COOPER: OK, wait a minute. So he's smoking crack and making slurs about another politician, both homophobic slurs and a racial crack?

DOOLITTLE: Correct.

COOPER: OK. So we talked to Paula Newton about more video possibly coming out. Is that your understanding that there is another video, that there was a politician talking about another video?

DOOLITTLE: Well, what's really key is the last six months the mayor has been on a rampage against the media particularly my newspaper calling up pathological liars and maggots for making up this story. The fact that he's never even admitted to drinking before a few days ago and all along we've been hearing there are other videos.

And the star is reporting and last week the chief of police dropped a bombshell and said they actually obtained the video and actually had another video as well. So we've always heard about other videos. The chief of police says he has another video. There are hundreds of pages of search documents related to a police investigation of the mayor so a lot more stuff probably will be coming out in the next month or so.

COOPER: And does he still have a lot of support? DOOLITTLE: Yes, there was a poll that came out shortly after. I mean, a lot of people have been criticizing that poll, question the sample size taken on Halloween suggesting the approval rating went up. Rob Ford is a populous conservative mayor. He's got the George Bush charm. You can imagine sitting and having a beer. He's not going to judge you and not arrogant.

His supporters call themselves Ford nation, I guess, Canada's version of the Tea Party. We don't know exactly how people are feeling. I can tell you on the streets and on my Twitter feed, people are extremely embarrassed.

COOPER: I've been getting that a lot on Twitter, a lot of folks watch in this Canada and Toronto is a great cosmopolitan city, a lot of people I talked to kind of feel embarrassed by this guy's behavior but again, we'll see what happens. Robyn Doolittle, again, thanks for all your reporting. Appreciate you have been on tonight.

Coming, we've just managed to isolate that shadowy figure on the tape of the gym where Kendrick Johnson died. We'll check in with Victor Blackwell next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Well, a few moments ago we showed you new video of the gym where Kendrick Johnson died. We just have managed to isolate what could be a crucial segment of it. Victor Blackwell is on the story. He joins us once again. So what does it show, Victor?

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We've got this 12-second clip from the only angle that shows the mats and you can see it's a dark gym then a light over the area where the mats are comes on and you can see a person walking in that direction and then the video stops. Now, why is it so blurry?

That's our question to the sheriff's office and to the school district. Of the 36 cameras inside and outside of windows and doors and cafeterias and hallways, only this camera that shows the mats is blurry, but again, a dark gym, someone flips on a light where the hats are where Kendrick Johnson was found dead and a person walks along that area in that direction and that's it -- Anderson.

COOPER: And then disappears, also which is odd and sort of stops, again, more questions I guess than answers. Victor, appreciate the update.

Let's get caught up on some other stories we are following. Isha is here with the 360 Bulletin -- Isha.

ISHA SESAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Anderson, world Palestinian leader, Yaser Arafat poisoned. Findings from Swiss scientists say levels found on samples of his remains and personal effects, quote, "moderately support that theory."

Now a former Black Panther who hijacked a plane nearly 30 years ago turned himself into U.S. authorities today. William Pots returned to the United States from Cuba where he served 15 years in prison for the 1984 hijacking.

Anderson, a couple from Wisconsin who was stuck in that car in a foot of snow for six days were rescued by a man who went looking for them on his snowmobile. They were stuck outside Yellow Stone National Park. The couple survived rationing on bread and water and wrote goodbye letters to loved ones afraid they would starve or freeze to death.

COOPER: Unbelievable, Isha, thanks very much.

Coming up, a tragic discovery in Mississippi, a missing family found dead, a 7-year-old boy, his mom and step dad and a man is charged with murder. We have a live update from Gary Tuchman next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: In Crime and Punishment tonight, a man was charged with murder in connection with the mystery in Mississippi that turned into tragedy. The bodies of a woman, her husband and her 7-year-old son were found shot to death. The family had been listed as missing, last seen on Friday until the grim discovery. Gary Tuchman tonight has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Family members in mourning what happened to the family they loved. Atira Smith, her 7-year-old son, Jaidon and her newly husband, Laterry Smith, were last seen in a Dodge SUV. However the SUV was found overturned and on fire in a ditch last Friday, but the three family members nowhere to be seen. Vinson Jenkins is Atira's cousin.

VINSON JENKINS, ATIRA HILL'S COUSIN: We went to bed last night still praying that we would have them return home safely. But unfortunately, that did not happen.

TUCHMAN: Instead, Vinson and other family members were informed the little boy, his mother and stepfather were found dead in an abandoned house in a wooded area close to where the vehicle was found.

JENKINS: Detectives found Atira and her husband and Jaidon's bodies this morning. Basically they were all shot to death.

TUCHMAN: So what could have happened here? A 42-year-old man named Timothy Burns has been arrested and charged with murder.

(on camera): Mr. Burns do you know the people you're accused of killing?

(voice-over): No answer from the alleged murderer.

(on camera): The sheriff here Copiah County says he believes Burns drove the car, got into an accident and then set it on fire.

(voice-over): Sheriff Harold Jones also believes Burns abducted the victims and ultimately took authorities to the bodies. SHERIFF HAROLD L. JONES, COPIAH COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI: He took the people that -- our investigators, our Mississippi Highway Patrol investigators, he took them to the scene, yes.

TUCHMAN (on camera): Why do you think he took them to the scene? Did he feel remorse?

JONES: I don't have any clue about that. I was not there.

TUCHMAN: That's unusual though, isn't it?

JONES: Yes, sir.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): For now, Burns is being charged with the murders of the child and mother. There is a possibility the stepfather was killed in a different county so another murder charge could come soon.

JENKINS: To my knowledge, we don't know of anybody that would want to do harm to them.

TUCHMAN: The 7-year-old Jaidon actually lived with his grandmother in this house, the same house where the family is gathered. The grandmother remains in mourning. Angela Ashford is another cousin.

ANGELA ASHFORD, ATIRA HILL'S COUSIN: I don't know how anyone could ever be so callous and cruel to take anyone's life especially the life of a child that hurt no one and didn't deserve who he got.

TUCHMAN: At first, law enforcement hoped they were dealing with a missing person's case, but personal items were found at a gas station dumpster and then bodies found. Antionetta Taylor was one of Atira's best friends.

ANTIONETTA TAYLOR, ATIRA HILL'S BEST FRIEND: Atira had such a big heart. It's kind of like why her? She never bothered anybody, was very loving, and innocent.

TUCHMAN: The question for everyone here, the family, community, the sheriff's department is simply why?

(on camera): At this point, any idea what he had against these three people?

JONES: No, sir, not at this point.

TUCHMAN: Is there any relationship between the suspect and these people?

JONES: At this time we don't think there is but hadn't tied that loose end up yet.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: It's so sickening. Gary Tuchman joins me now. Gary, I understand the alleged murderer was in court today. What happened? TUCHMAN: Well, Burns had his initial appearance in court and he was escorted in by police. He was wearing a bulletproof vest. He was wearing shackles. He got inside the small courtroom and the judge informed him of the murder charges against him and Burns said no, I don't have a job. No, I don't have a lawyer. And the judge said no, you will not have bond. So he's back right now in this jail behind me and still, Anderson, the motive in this case complete and utter mystery.

COOPER: And likely another murder count will come?

TUCHMAN: Right, yes, we -- we're hearing from authorities is they believe the stepfather was murdered in the neighboring county of Heinz County and we do expect another murder charge very soon according to authorities.

COOPER: All right, Gary, appreciate the update, very sad story. "The Ridiculist" is next. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Time now for "The Ridiculist" and it's that time of the year where the entire world waits with baited breath to see what will be crowned Ms. Universe. The pageant airs Sunday, but the preliminaries are already happening. Eight six contestants participating in various events including the national costume show where contestants where outfits that exemplify the spirit and essence of the nations from which they hail.

At least there is certainly creativity involved because come on, it's 2013, judging women base the on how they look in evening gowns and swimsuits is just offensive. Judging Ms. Lithuania on the authenticity of her national costume, no harm in that, right? How about Ms. Brazil? She went all out certainly. What says Peru in colorful flowers and a plastic man baby on her shoulder wearing a hat?

Can we see that again? I want to see the little man baby. Not that one, the other one, the one before that. No. Where is the man baby? There he is. There is the little man baby. The man baby looks surprised. The man baby hand right up there in front of his face like I'm a man baby from Peru, this --

Ms. Chile decided to go literal with a chilly pepper. I'm part Chilean so I don't know why I bring that up. Why -- it been a really long day. I have no idea. Look I don't speak Spanish. Look at the grin.

Excuse me, I have more respect from this. Many of the contestants went for a racy look, looked like the Victoria Secret catalogue ran over by a pickup truck. One contestant and I don't mean to be bias here I think knocked it out of the park. I'm speaking about Ms. USA. Look at that. I got to put my glasses on for that. Yes, her costume simply is America. Is she a patriotic robot? Is that what that is? Is she a transformer?

That's not actually -- that is a transformer. She's paying to a transformer. Could have been a costume? I don't know. I don't care. It's that good. She could have gone with an eagle theme, the Wild West, baseball, apple pie, she could have been dressed as an apple pie. There are literally hundreds of costumes she could have chosen showcase these United States, but no she went with a transformer comic book lady look. I can see Gaga wearing something like that. It makes you want to know more about USA, doesn't it? It does me.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: USA moved out on her own when she was just 17. She worked full-time while getting a degree in finance, which taught her a lot about sacrifice and time management, and today is her birthday, USA.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Was that Thomas Roberts doing that, by the way? That his voice or has he not shown up yet? That text at the bottom said she was indeed a briefcase girl on deal or no deal -- did it actually say -- it does say girl. Yes, it says a briefcase girl. Is that their official title for deal or no deal?

She's qualified to stand on a stage and smile. She's got experience. Being Ms. Universe isn't about standing still or looking pretty, no, no, no, she isn't a doll or robot and we can agree come Sunday she doesn't win Ms. Universe, she's already a master.

That does it for us. We'll see you again one hour from now, 10:00 p.m. Eastern for "AC 360 LATER" and rolls off the tongue on ac360.com. Log on the web site, ac360.com at 9:15, if you want to talk to me and Jack Gray and ask questions for folks that may or may not show up. Thanks for watching. "PIERS MORGAN LIVE" starts now.