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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees
Interview with Republican Presidential Candidate Donald Trump; Officials Hope Social Media Can Help Solve Gruesome Mystery; Schwarzenegger Not Answering Questions About Controversial Commutation; Confederate Flag to Come Down in South Carolina. Aired 8- 9p ET
Aired July 09, 2015 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[20:00:04] ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: Good evening.
Tonight, part two of my interview with Donald Trump. Just a few of the highlights what he thinks of his fellow presidential candidates, you will hear that in the hour ahead. Why he is still sure President Obama was born in the United States. And why he is convince he can get the Latino vote despite his comments about illegal immigrants.
First though, it seems there was a phone conversation between Trump and Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus yesterday and his immigration comments came up. A Republican source says Priebus expressed some concern about Trump's tone and how it could affect the Latino vote.
Now, Donald Trump characterizes the call very differently saying it was congratulatory in nature. We will have more reporting on that in a moment.
But first, listen to just some of what Mr. Trump told me on the subject of immigration.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I would even think about anything until I built a wall impenetrable. There will be nobody coming into this country illegally. More people are coming in under Obama, by far, than more president ever. There has never been an entrance like this, and they walking in, they are walking right past our patrols.
I can just say this. More people are in this country right now illegally than ever before. I will build a better wall. I will build for cheaper and Mexico will pay. We bring them back and they push them out. Mexico pushes back people across the border that are criminals that are drug dealers.
Illegal immigrants coming in are causing tremendous problems in terms of crime, in terms of murder, in terms of rape. If somebody is an illegal immigrant they shouldn't be here at all. There shouldn't be any crime. They're not supposed to be in our country.
(END VIDEO CLIP) COOPER: So that quick survey of the interview that we played last night. Part two is tonight. But first chief - CNN chief congressional correspondent Dana Bash joins us.
So what do we know about this phone call between Donald Trump and the RNC chair? What are your sources telling you about how it actually played out?
DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Anderson, I'm told that this was a phone call that was not intended to chastise Donald Trump. That perhaps Trump is right in there was some congratulation there. But it was a wide ranging discussion. The two of them I am told, it was not uncommon for them to speak. At the end of the conversation is when the RNC chair just basically said, look, go easy on the tone here. And the context, I'm told was quite obvious, in that Priebus has spent the past almost four years trying help the Republican Party build back confidence and trust and outreach with the Hispanic community. This community which really -- was turned off in a big, big way after a series of Republican primaries and elections where there was a lot of very hot rhetoric. Mitt Romney talking about self-deportation. The concern that Rience Priebus made clear I'm told privately is that this is the same kind of rhetoric Donald Trump is using now which will crush the Republicans big picture in 2016 with that community which is incredibly important.
COOPER: And which as you will hear Donald Trump say tonight, he doesn't believe that will happen to him. He says he believes he can get the Latino vote and explain why. But is it common for someone look the RNC chair to call a candidate, not just Trump, but any candidate? I mean, do they -- is that common that they have these conversations and have somebody even at the end of the conversation to just, you know, think about the rhetoric? If that is in fact what he say.
BASH: Well, it is common for the RNC chair to talk to presidential candidates. I'm told by Republican sources in campaigns and RNC that Reince Priebus talked to the what, somewhat, 15 almost candidates on a pretty regular basis when you look at them across the board. And in the case of Trump, in particular, they do have a relationship. It's not unusual for them to talk.
What is unusual for the Republican Party chair to even look like he is getting involved in any way, shape or form in an intraparty fight, which is of course what the Republican nomination fight is about. So that is why, Anderson, when Trump pushed back today, you heard crickets from the RNC because it is not in their interest at all to have a public dispute back and forth, tit for tat with Donald Trump.
COOPER: Yes, that's for sure. Dana Bash. Appreciate the reporting. We are going to check back within. In a moment, I want to show you part two, the beginning of part two of my interview with Donald Trump. Yesterday, he said several times that everybody loves him and he believes that includes Latinos. He says, as he mentioned, that he will get more Latino votes than anyone. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) COOPER: You do make a lot of people, a lot of people running against, very nervous. They feel you have got to get Hispanics on the side of the GOP. They look at Mitt Romney got 27 percent of the Hispanic vote.
TRUMP: He didn't appeal to them. And I mean, I understand why. He didn't appeal to a lot of people. He didn't appeal to conservative Republicans. If Republicans would have left their living room and gone out and vote heed would have within the election. People for some reason didn't dig Mitt Romney. Now, as far as--.
COOPER: You can get the Latino vote?
[20:05:02] TRUMP: I will tell you what, if the Republicans vote, if Mitt Romney - he didn't energize anybody. I do energize. I think you say that. I do energize. I mean, you look at what is happening.
COOPER: (INAUDIBLE)
TRUMP: Not only well, I get everyone is smiling now so he won't get --. I will get more Latinos than anybody else. I have thousands of Latinos that work for me now. And I tell you why I am going to get them. Because at the appropriate time, the later on, probably after the primary situation assuming I win, which I hope I do. I mean, I am in it to win it. We'll see what happens. I'm going to have thousands of people that work for me, standing up saying we love Trump. And what I am going to do for the Latinos, is am going to be able to create jobs. I'm going to take jobs from China, I'm going to take jobs, excuse me, from the Mexico, from Japan, where they're sending in millions of automobiles all the time and we get nothing out of it. I am going to take jobs back and bring them back into the country. And the Latinos are going to be able to work and make good money. They're going to vote for me. And I will tell you what. I will take them away from Hillary Clinton.
COOPER: You talk very openly about in your speeches about your deal with Macy's, your line of neck ties, they are manufacture in China. You said - yes, you talked about it, very open. Very standup guy about that.
TRUMP: Honestly, I hate the fact.
COOPER: But if you really hate it, why not just make a stand and say, you know what, I'm not going to make this deal. I want it made in America. Brooks brothers makes it in America, American apparel.
TRUMP: Macy's was weak. They were very weak because they want to be politically correct. By the way thousands of people are cutting up their Macy's credit card right now and I love that. I love that. Because I hate to see weak people when they're wrong. I think they're paying a very big price.
I talk openly in speeches about ties. That ties, that are made for me, because China has so devalued their currency that it is impossible for American companies, even with something so simple as a tie, it's impossible for American companies to come feet with China. (END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: We are going to have much more with my interview with Donald Trump ahead on the program. He is certainly not backing down, doubling down on fellow Republican and their approaches to illegal immigration. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: So, look, Bush is weak on immigration. Forget about his stance on common core which is a (INAUDIBLE). He is very weak on immigration. Marco Rubio is somebody who is extremely weak on immigration. He all of a sudden toughened his stance because his poll numbers went down. Well, I could be much more offensive to Rick Perry, but the fact is he was governor of Texas. The border is a disaster.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: And he was just getting started. He says among other things. Lindsey Graham wants to bomb everybody. Asked why Carly Fiorina is running for president, she can't win a Senate seat and says Chris Christie missed his time.
Also ahead tonight, take a look at this image. Do you know who this little girl is? Police are trying to figure it out. Her body has been found. But so far no one has been able to identify her. We have details on that.
And my conversation with crime fighter John Walsh ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:11:38] COOPER: Well, Donald Trump's comments have offended many in Latino community, but also some of his fellow Republican presidential candidates. In this part of our conversation and through Donald Trump style, he does not mince word about any of them.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Let me read you what some of your fellow Republicans have said. Bush says, Trump is wrong on this. He is doing this. He is not a stupid guy. Don't think he thinks every messing across the border is rapist. He is doing this to enflame and incite and draw attention.
TRUMP: So, look, Bush is weak on immigration. Forget about his stance on common core which is a (INAUDIBLE), he is very weak on immigration. And that's his prerogative if he wants to be.
COOPER: Marco Rubio. Trump's comments are not just offensive and inaccurate, but also divisive.
TRUMP: Marco Rubio is somebody who is extremely weak on immigration. He all of the sudden toughens his stance because his poll numbers went down. If he ever got elected, you would have people flowing across the border.
COOPER: Rick Perry. I was offended by his remarks. He is going to have to defend those remarks. I never will. I will stand and say that those are offensive which they were.
TRUMP: Well, I could be much more offensive to Rick Perry. But the fact is he was governor of Texas. The borders are disaster. He could have done much more as governor of Texas to make the border strong.
COOPER: Lindsey Graham, just today tweeted, why would any group vote for a party if it embraces that view, I sure has hell wouldn't.
TRUMP: Well, if Lindsey Graham - I think he has always been very nice to me. But then he wants to bomb everybody. All I know is every time I watch Lindsey Graham, he wants to bomb everybody.
COOPER: Carly Fiorina.
TRUMP: Well, you know, she came out very weak yesterday on my opinion on immigration. A little bit harshen me because, you know, I'm very strong on the immigration situation. But she lost her job at Hewlett- Packard, viciously was fired, viciously. She then ran for the Senate in California against Barbara Boxer, got killed in a landslide. Now, she is going to run for president.
COOPER: (INAUDIBLE) has backed you up on immigration.
TRUMP: Well, I have great respect for the fact he had the courage to back me up and to say what I am saying is right. And all I am saying, and all he is saying is that, we have to stop illegal immigration. It's causing tremendous problems including crime. And Carson, he stoke up too. He came out the other day, very strongly.
COOPER: Bernie Sanders?
TRUMP: I think he is a character. I mean, he is doing well. He gets people. I think actually that I'm not sure him Hillary is going to get the nomination. You know, if you go back to pre-Obama, when nobody heard of Obama, Hillary had the same kind power she did now. It was going to be - it was sort of, you know, almost foregone conclusion. She was going to be running for president on the Democratic line. And all of a sudden Obama came along and beat her. Well, now it is the same thing.
COOPER: Chris Christie.
TRUMP: As he said, he is friend of mine and everything else. I really, and I told this to Chris, I told this to his people. He missed his time.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: He missed his time. That's what he said about Chris Christie.
Joining me now are former Reagan White House political director, Jeffrey Lord who is a contributing editor of "American Expectator," CNN commentator and Democratic strategist, Paul Begala, whose co-chair of a pro-Hillary Clinton super Pac and obviously long-time adviser of President Clinton in 1990s, and with us again CNN chief political congressional correspondent, Dana Bash.
Jeffrey, let me start with you. You know, there is the old adage of your former boss, President Reagan, Donald Trump says he hugely admires, thou shall not speak ill of a fellow Republican. Obviously, that's not being adhered to in this case. Are the negative comments that he is making about some of his fellow candidates, are they bad for the party?
JEFFREY LORD, FORMER REAGAN WHITE HOUSE POLITICAL DIRECTOR: I don't think so. And you know, President Reagan when he was the former governor Reagan running against President Gerald Ford who was the sitting Republican president had a lot of sharp elbows and sharp words to say about Gerald Ford. And he also had a lot of sharp words in the 1980 primaries. So I don't really think there is anything particularly unusual here. I think that Donald Trump is Donald Trump. I think that's exactly why he is surging in the polls.
[20:15:19] COOPER: And to you, the appeal that you believe he has to the voters that he appeals to, is it - I mean, I think one of the things that comes across so strongly about him is that he is speaking extemporaneously. He does not have a bunch of papers there that he is reading from. It is not a prepared speech. And I think people like that sense of this is kind of a raw guy.
LORD: He is not scripted. He is not scripted. And I have gotten to spend time with him. He talks the same way in private that he talks in public. And I think that's exactly what people like. I think there is this enormous sense of frustration out there on the Republican side of the aisle. And I think that he speaks directly to it. And he speaks pointedly and bluntly. I think a lot of people feel this is what they say to each other. And now they're finally hearing this from a candidate who is not afraid to say this. Because they all know, I think that a lot of people would be afraid to say these things because the object then would be to destroy them. You know, destroy their personal life, et cetera, et cetera. And some of that they tried to do to Donald Trump. So I think that they appreciate the fact that he just sticks with it.
COOPER: Paul, what do you make of this phone call from the RNC chair with Trump?
PAUL BEGALA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: It means that he is hurting the Republican brand. Jeffrey is (INAUDIBLE) Ronald Reagan, a political genius. You know he used to say about Latinos? There is a direct quote from President Reagan, Latinos are Republicans they just don't know it yet. And that's the kind of welcoming - he got Ronald Reagan got 37 percent of the Latino vote, OK. That's the kind of appeal that the Republican seen, not that I need to give them free advice.
I don't know, is Trump rich? Because if he is rich, he should be paying me for this advice. Because this is fabulous, outstanding, tremendous, advice, Anderson. Here is the advice. When you tell people they're rapists and criminals, they don't like it. And they're not going to vote you, Donald. No, when you tell then like Ronald Reagan, I love -- they tend to vote for you.
COOPER: Right. I mean, he didn't say all Latinos are rapists and criminals.
BEGALA: No, he didn't. He said a few of them, and some of them might be good people and it's great.
LORD: He is talking about the illegals.
COOPER: He was talking about illegal immigration.
But Paul, to your point, when Donald Trump is on the debate stage, in that first debate, in that second debate, how do you think the other candidates are going to deal with him? I mean, do you get into a fist fight with him? I mean, a verbal fist fight. Do you ignore him?
BEGALA: How do I think? I think, weakly. I think they dealt with him very weakly so far. And that is the wrong way to deal with it, especially Republicans. Primary voters admires strength. Again, Ronald Reagan. I paid for this microphone, Mr. Green. He asserted strength. All voters, especially Republicans want strength.
The problem they have is that they're wimping out to Trump. Why? Because he speaks for a lot of people. The Republican base, as a technical term, they're crazy. And he speaks to the crazy base voters. So they can't -- they don't dare take on Trump. They are so cowed by him, you can all most hear them moo.
COOPER: I'm not going fact check you on your rash rationalization about entire, you know, class of people.
BEGALA: You know, base, the base, the base of the voters.
LORD: We all love Paul.
BEGALA: The base Republican vote.
COOPER: Dana?
LORD: The Reagan base that elected Reagan on landslide twice.
COOPER: Dana?
BASH: You are looking for a lifeline?
COOPER: Yes. Dana, there are some Republicans who while they support Trump they don't necessarily expect him at the end of the day to get the nomination. How big of an obstacle does that discrepancy pose for Trump?
BASH: A big one. But I think that Donald Trump is facing the reality that the other what, 14, 15, Republicans who are in the race, are as well, is that most of them are not going to get the nomination. In fact, I will be polite, all of them but one won't get the nomination. It is at this point, a very much a jump ball on the Republican side.
And, you know, you are seeing all the people in the race because of what happened in 2012. Because it was so wide open and Mitt Romney got the nomination, kind of by default, because there was no one else that really rose to it.
At this point, nobody thinks that Donald Trump is going to get the nomination. And, you know, I had gotten phone calls when he first got in from a lot of the other Republican campaigns very agitated saying why are you paying attention to him because he is clearly not going to be president. But the bottom line is that, as I said, it is a jump ball.
COOPER: And they are so paying attention to him now when they look at the poll numbers.
We got to take a quick break. We are going to have more with Jeffrey Lord, with Paul, Dana.
Up next, more of my conversation with Trump as well. Yesterday, we heard his plan for dealing with ISIS which was to, and I quote, "bomb the hell out of those oil field."
Ahead, who to negotiate with Iran.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Anderson, this negotiation should have taken a week. That's because I'm being generous. It shouldn't take a day, but it should have taken a week. It's going on forever. Now they are having another delay and another delay. And if you think that Iran isn't doing lots of nuclear work behind our backs as we're negotiating, then you are foolish.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[20:20:13] COOPER: Later, take a closer look at this picture. If this little girl looks familiar, you can help solve a mystery that has authorities right now baffled. Her remains were found on the beach in Boston harbor two weeks ago. Clues are hard to come by. We will have more on that story.
And John Walsh of "the HUNT" has made tracking child predators a life cause, he joins me ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:24:27] COOPER: My interview with Donald Trump was to say the least wide ranging, went for about 40 or so minutes. We covered everything from neckties to Iran. On the later, another deadline looms on the nuclear negotiations. And today, Secretary of state John Kerry said there are tough issues to be resolved. But there is progress being made. The deal's deadline has already been extended twice as you may know. And Kerry says they are not going to sit at the table forever. But at the same time won't leave just because the clock strikes midnight which brings us back to my interview with Donald Trump. He says this all should have taken a week at most.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TRUMP: We are making a terrible deal. We have the wrong people negotiating for us against greatly with the Persians are great negotiators. They are laughing at the stupidity of the deal we are making on nuclear. We should double up and triple up the sanctions and have them come to us. They are making an amazing deal.
You know we're paying them hundreds of millions of dollars on a monthly basis. Hundreds of millions of dollars going back. And I said why can't the money be held back? They said well, that money has nothing to do with our negotiation. Really?
And also, why aren't we taking our four prisoners back? Why aren't we getting the four people that are being held in the worst prisons they say in the world in Iran, why aren't we getting them back? They say we don't want to discuss that. That has nothing to do with the nuclear.
Anderson, this negotiation should have taken a week. That's because I'm being generous. Should have taken a day. But it should have taken a week. This is going on forever. Now they are having another delay and another delay. And if you think that Iran isn't doing lots of nuclear work behind our backs as we're negotiating then you are foolish. And I watch you too often to know you are not foolish.
COOPER: It is rare a politician actually admit mistakes. You have admitted you made mistakes in the past.
TRUMP: I have.
COOPER: You and I talked about President Obama and the whole birth certificate.
TRUMP: I didn't say it was a mistake. I just said --
COOPER: No. I'm asking now, do you say that President Obama was born in the United States?
TRUMP: No. I don't know. I really don't know. I mean, I don't know why he wouldn't release his records. But you know, honestly, I don't want to get in it. He came up with this thing, all of a sudden. Remember this one thing. I'm only going to get one thing because I'm about jobs, the economy, and I'm about the military and taking care of all that. And let me just say something.
You know that Hillary Clinton was a birther. She wanted the records and fought like hell. People forget. Do you know, John McCain was a birther? Wanted those records. They couldn't get the records. Hillary failed. John McCain failed. Trump was able to get them to give something. I don't know what the hell it was, but it doesn't matter because I am off that subject. I am about jobs. I'm about the military. I am about doing the right thing for this country. I want to make our country great again.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: By the way that notion about Hillary Clinton John McCain being birthers, that's not accurate. In fact, Senator McCain very publicly made that clear when he was running against then Senator Obama. Some supporters in McCain and Clinton did openly question Obama's origins. Neither candidate On the Record ever did.
And so, that brings us the interesting question, how far out there can Donald Trump go with some of his rhetoric without losing this groundswell of support. There is no sign that his support is waning. In fact, quite the opposite. There is a rally schedule ford Saturday in Phoenix, a speech on immigration and other topics. His office says it is actually now being moved to a larger space, to convention center to accommodate the quote "thousands of people" they're now expecting.
With me again, former Reagan White House political director Jeffrey Lord who is a contributing editor of "American Expectator," CNN political commentator and Democratic strategist Paul Begala and is a co-chair of a pro-Hillary Clinton super Pac and long-time advisor of President Clinton in 1990s and CNN chief congressional correspondent Dana Bash.
Jeffrey, some have made the argument that, you know, obviously some made the argument, Donald Trump is bad for the GOP. Others are arguing that actually him on a stage and nest to the other GOP candidates is actually good thing. If you don't like Donald Trump even, it allows them to show themselves in opposition to him or just opposed to him. Do you buy that?
LORD: Sure. Sure. I think -- they're going to want to be on that stage with him. And I know that there was some thinking that there would be GOP donors trying to shut down the debate and get in, you know, and not have people appear on the stage with him. But it is good for them.
Look. If they can't handle Donald Trump, they can't handle the White House. And I think that's, you know, a fairly obvious point here. And he is a tough guy. He is a tough debater. He is a tough negotiator and, you know, he is a very accomplished guy. I never understood this sort anti-Trump sentiment that he was a clown, or he was this, that or the other thing. This is one extraordinarily accomplished human being. And you know, if these other folks want to stand up there and beat him or be president. Then they have got to do the job.
COOPER: Paul, I mean, you have said that the Republican candidate should be much tougher on Trump that he should publicly go after him the way Bill Clinton did with Jesse Jackson. Obama as a candidate, did with Hillary Clinton. Explain that. Because don't you then run the risk of kind of getting into a knife fight with Donald Trump who is a very depth fighter.
BEGALA: He is. I agree with every word Jeffrey just said. He is an accomplished, formidable, brilliant guy who has spent a lot more time looking into a camera than anybody else on the stage, even Mike Huckabee who hosted the show on FOX News. I mean, Donald Trump knows what to do when the red light goes on.
Enormously formidable. That's why you have to take him on. If you can't -- Jeffrey is right, if you can't stand up to Donald Trump, how are you going to stand up to Putin? And these Republicans, they could prosper from Trump by playing off him the way Jeffrey suggests. Standup and punch him his nose.
And this birther thing, for example. John McCain did speak out against it. Hillary Clinton had nothing to do with it. And that's what I mean when I say crazy. The vast majority of Republicans, hell, my brothers are Republican, OK. I mean, I did lovely people, intelligent, wonderful, patriotic, fabulous. But there is a tiny fragment out there and I think Trump is appealing to them. And it is not even dog whistle. It is just straight up loco.
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: But I mean come on- Do you really believe it's his base, is that that he is appealing to.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We call that the Reagan base.
COOPER: Do you really?
BEGALA: Not the Reagan case.
COOPER: Paul, do you believe it's a symbol that is just appealing to a fringe people. Because aren't there a lot of people who are sick of politicians. And Ben Carson is doing well, a nonpolitician. And at least in the primary season, kind of just tired of practiced politicians, couching things not necessarily saying anything. You feel it. People go see Trump, you feel like he is saying something whether or not it is true.
BEGALA: I think that's right. And I think that's why the appeal is there. And it's why it is early. It moves very quickly. I do think, ultimately, over the long haul. And we are 500 some days away from the election. It is going to be more about ideas than personality, though. The end of the day people aren't electing an entertainer. They are electing someone who is going to fight for the, right? That's really ultimately - that's the question voters ask, what are you going to do for me? They may decide that Mr. Trump is the guy who can help the middle-class. I find that really inconceivable. Maybe I don't have a good enough imagination.
COOPER: Then, how much ...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I hate to agree with Paul. But I think he is right.
COOPER: Right. Dana, how much of this is also possibly name recognition? Look at Jeb Bush. Top of the polls. You look at Donald Trump number two in a lot of these places. You know, also recently entering the race. They Both have got very strong name recognition?
DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So much of it. I mean you can't even quantify really how much it is name recognition. Except to just look back eight years. And if it wasn't name recognition, Rudy Giuliani would be president right now. And obviously, he couldn't even win in Florida which is where he put all his eggs in the election. But I think, just the factor what you all were talking about, whether or not it's good, or not good for the other candidates for Donald Trump to be on the debate stage, when they actually debate each other. I know it is sort of counterintuitive to think well, maybe they should use them as a foil? I'm talking to some of these candidates who say that they absolutely do not want to have him on that debate stage. And, of course, they can use him as a foil. But their concern, but their concern is not so much about that. It's just where the conversation is in the first place.
If Donald Trump says something about immigration, then everybody else is going to feel like they have to respond to him or contradict him or they will look like they're being associated with him.
COOPER: Which by the way has already occurred?
BASH: They don't want to be associated, which has already accord. They don't want to be. But it's a totally different thing, Anderson.
COOPER: Right. When it's on the stage?
BASH: Moderated debates, when they're standing on the stage. And so, no question they do not want to be a part of that with him.
COOPER: Dana, I appreciate it. Paul Begala, Jeffrey Lord (ph), good to have you on. Coming up, a heartbreaking discovery on the Boston harbor shoreline. The remains of a little girl found in a trash bag. No one knows who she is. A forensic artist made a picture of what she might have looked like in life. And that's what you are seeing now. Authorities are asking for help. In solving the mystery of her death. I will speak to John Walsh of "The Hunt" about the case next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Tonight authorities are hoping that social media can help them solve a gruesome and heartbreaking mystery. A four-year-old girl. Take a look at that image, who may have looked like this is dead, her body was found two weeks ago in a trash bag along the shore of Deer Island, Massachusetts. She was thrown out like trash. And now the public is being asked to help identify her. Alexandra Field has the latest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAN CONLEY, DISTRICT ATTORNEY, SUFFOK COUNTY, MASS.: I think we can all agree she is precious. And, you know, she really deserves the dignity of a funeral and a burial under her own name.
ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Her own name because right now to the authorities she doesn't have one. Police call her only Baby Doe. A computer generated picture shows what she may have looked like. A 4-year-old with big brown eyes, long brown hair. She was wearing polka dot leggings, this zebra striped blanket found with her. Authorities have released images of both, hoping someone might recognize them. Baby Joe's body discovered discarded in a trash bag along the shore of Deer Island, Massachusetts. A place where wastewater is treated just east of Boston's Logan Airport.
CONLEY: We appeal to the caregivers, the parents. Please step forward. Clear your conscience. No child, no person, deserves to be discarded like this. At the same time I do worry that there may be other children in this home that need our attention and our protection.
FIELD: Online tens of millions are sharing her story. Sharing their grief and searching for answers. In early flood of tips suggested Baby Doe could be Aliyah Lunsford, a three-year-old who went missing from West Virginia in 2011. Police have since ruled that out. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children is pouring over its databases looking for a match.
ROBERT LOWERY JR., V.P. NATIONAL CENTER FOR MISSING AND EXPLOITED CHILDREN: Lots of people are calling in with tips and leads. And we want that to continue. With that information we are going out there and we are checking on the welfare of a lot of children. I think there have been over 24 actual welfare checks on children who resemble Baby Doe.
FIELD: Police say they aren't sure of precisely when Baby Doe died. Toxicology test will show if she was poisoned or given drugs. There were no visible signs of trauma to her small body. Baby Doe, 3 1/2 feet tall, weighing just 30 pounds. Alexandra Field, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: So awful. Joining me now is John Walsh, child safety advocate host of CNN's "The Hunt with John Walsh." How unusual is it, a case like this that an unidentified child's body for so long?
JOHN WALSH,CNN HOST "THE HUNT WITH JOHN WALSH": Thankfully, pretty unusual. But over the years when I did America's most wanted for 25 years I think we did about ten of those cases. And some of them were never solved. And some of them we got lucky and solved and people came forward.
COOPER: It's hard to imagine.
[20:40:00]
COOPER: How does a child -- you know, disappearing, a child disappearing is one thing. But a child being found and nobody, somebody must know who the child is. Multiple people must know who the child is.
WALSH: Absolutely somebody knows who this child is. In the cases where we did find the children. They were the one child in the family of multiple children that the live-in boyfriend or the mommy abused and battered, not any of the other children, and then either accidentally killed the child or starved the child or whatever. And disposed of the body. And then we always ask the same question -- somebody must have known that child. Please have the courage to call somebody. But I learned one thing on "America's Most Wanted" for 25 years and in the last year of "The Hunt." People do not want to talk to cops. They don't want to call the Massachusetts state police, or the FBI, the marshals, they don't want to be dragged into the case. So, if you give them a way to do the right thing, which I did for 25 years. They could call my number, now 1-866-the-hunt or go to my website cnn.com/the Hunt. I don't care what your name is. Couple of the cases I did were illegal aliens, OK? There are 15 million illegal aliens here, and good people that are pursuing the American dream. But they don't want to talk to police and get deported.
COOPER: Right.
WALSH: So, some time they know who the child is. And they may see something. If they are migrant in Texas or Florida, they may have seen the child and say, you know what? That family always abused that child. I would like to tell somebody I think who it is. But I can't. Because I think I will be in trouble. So, I was saying to those people. We are not going to involve you. No cop is going to come. Nobody traces or taps my phones at "The Hunt." It worked for 25 years. And last year I caught five people because I guarantee you remain anonymous. Somebody knows who that little girl its. She deserves a burial. And whoever killed her even if she died accidentally, and let's say by chance it is illegal alien family who doesn't know what to do with the body doesn't know what to tell.
Let's find out who she is. Let's give her that burial she so deserves. And if there are other kids in the family at risk, somebody has got to come forward and say either, there's three other kids and they might be beaten to death and wind up in that river a year from now, or six months from now.
COOPER: When you see this kind of artist's rendering, computer generated image, how accurate do these usually turn out to be?
WALSH: We started the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in 1984. Ronald Reagan helped us do it. My wife and I. And the center has the best pros in the country. They have put together computer aging of missing children for years right on. You have seen some of the pictures. The kid will get recovered. And it will be that kid. They're the pros at it. And they have now reached out. I was at Facebook all day today. Facebook now does Amber alerts, which are wonderful. So Facebook and Youtube and the National Center, we have been able to get about 54 million views of this little girl. I am still amazed nobody has come forward. But social media will help solve this. Because the pictures are what get people to call.
COOPER: In that image, her race may not be completely accurate.
WALSH: You can't tell. Many, many times children are of mixed races. It is very difficult to tell.
COOPER: The overall shape of the face. That kind of thing generally is accurate.
WALSH: Without a doubt. I am amazed. I mean, the technology is incredible at the National Center. They're pros. The Massachusetts state police and the Massachusetts cops know they are pros. That picture is going to keep being shown. I may even show it on Sunday night if -- if her identity isn't known. We really need to find out who she is.
COOPER: Again, just to reiterate this. A lot of people sometimes think, well, somebody else will know, somebody else will do it, even if I have the information. You got to pick up that phone and call.
WALSH: You make a great point. If you think you know, no matter how inconsequential it is or how far off you think you are, it never ceased to amaze me as I caught almost 1,400 guys and we recovered 61 missing children alive, people picked up the phone. It is incredible. People want to do the right thing. They're good. And they'll pick it up and make that call. Maybe we'll break this case. Can't save her, unfortunately. But maybe save her siblings or somebody else.
COOPER: John Walsh. Thank you so much for being with us. So glad for you to be here. Be sure to tune in, Sunday night, 9:00 Eastern and Pacific, for the premiere of season two of "The Hunt" with John Walsh here on CNN. Ahead, Arnold Schwarzenegger isn't answering question about a murder sentence he commuted on his last day as California governor. Tonight the convicted killer's father, a political ally of Schwarzenegger's, speaking out telling his side of the story to "360."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:48:00]
COOPER: "360" followup. CNN's Kyung Lah has been trying to talk to former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger about a murder sentence he commuted on his last day in office. She hasn't had any luck. He has been busy promoting his new "Terminator" movie and too busy apparently to discuss allegations that the killer received a huge political favor by way of his father. He's refused to talk about it. Tonight, there is something new, the convicted killer's father speaking out telling his side of the story. Here's Kyung's report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Arnold Schwarzenegger on the red carpet for "Terminator: Genisys" refusing to talk.
Will you answer another question from CNN?
About his final act as governor. Final act that at least one family calls devastating and insulting. In the final hour in office, then Governor Schwarzenegger slashed in half the jail sentence of Esteban Nunez, the son of a political ally, who pleaded guilty in the 2008 stabbing death of Luis Santos.
FORMER GOV. ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER, R-CALIF.: Since we used the day for the movie promotion, we always talk just then about movies.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The case is still winding its way through the courts.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thanks, everyone.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The family is trying to go to the Supreme Court, sir.
FRED SANTOS, SON STABBED TO DEATH: This is the type of person he is. He thinks somebody being murdered, it's a news that is below his status.
LAH: Luis' parents, Fred and Kathy Santos have been Schwarzenegger's commutation since 2011. And how they even found out about it, added insult to injury. No one from the governor's office called them. How they learned the man who pleaded guilty to the stabbing death of their son was being let out of jail early, when reporters started calling their home.
Esteban Nunez's 16-year sentence was cut to just seven years amid widespread criticism that the case wreaked of backdoor politics. Esteban's father is Fabian Nunez, once California's most powerful Democrat.
[20:50:00]
He was also a known political friend of Schwarzenegger's.
KATHY SANTOS, MOTHER: Cowardly act. He didn't even have the nerve or the heart to contact us and tell us he had planned to do this. I mean, come on. Be a man.
LAH: While Arnold wouldn't address the case, someone else did. After refusing repeated requests for an interview, Fabian Nunez called CNN after our story first aired on Monday. He repeated statements he has made in the past.
FABIAN NUNEZ: There was a totally different standard, legal standard applied to my son.
LAH: And then went on to argue Schwarzenegger merely righted wrongs perpetuated by a conservative judge and an overzealous district attorney. Nunez claims DA Bonnie Dumanes (ph) pushed for the plea- bargain, not his son, because she wanted a high-profile conviction before making a run for mayor. Dumanes called that ridiculous.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would say that if that were true, we were trying to treat him differently and go all out because it was a powerful person, we never would have plea-bargained this case.
LAH: But Fabian Nunez and Arnold Schwarzenegger in his commutation letter claimed the case was never as airtight as the prosecution argued. Witnesses said co-defendant, Ryan Jett, already on probation, actually stabbed Luis Santos, while Nunez stabbed two others who survived. Considering Nunez's limited role in the killing and his clean prior criminal record, Schwarzenegger wrote, I believe his sentence is disproportionate to Jett's. But that's not how Schwarzenegger ruled just one year earlier when he
refused to commute the sentences of 29 suspects who also had limited roles in various homicides. 29 suspects who also had no powerful political connections to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
NINA SOLARNO, SANTOS FAMILY ATTORNEY: I think this commutation is a complete joke. It just highlights how politics have come into permeate the entire justice system.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: And Kyung joins us now. So the Santos family, they're challenging Schwarzenegger's decision in court. Where does that stand? Do they really have a chance?
LAH: Well, they say they don't necessarily have a chance reversing it. But they want to make a statement here. They have filed a lawsuit asking that someone find that this clemency was illegal. So far, two judges essentially holding their noses said they don't find that it is illegal. They do find that this wreaks of politics. One judge writing that this action was quote, "repugnant." The Santos family is hoping that California's Supreme Court will hear their case. At least to get that acknowledgment, Anderson.
COOPER: Appreciate the reporting. Thank you. Ahead, a momentous day in South Carolina. The confederate flag on the state house grounds coming down after a dramatic debate.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Three weeks after the massacre at Emanuel AME church, the battle over the confederate flag flying outside South Carolina state house is over. At 10:00 tomorrow morning it is going to be taken down. Just hours ago, South Carolina's governor, Nikki Haley, signed the bill ordering its removal after a marathon and intense debate in the state house. Alina Machado reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALINA MACHADO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Surrounded by the very lawmakers who helped make this moment possible, South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley took a moment to remember the nine lives lost just 22 days ago.
GOV. NIKKI HALEY, R-S.C.: It seems like so long ago. Because the grieving has been so hard. But at the same time, we have all been struck by what was a tragedy that we didn't think we would ever encounter. Nine amazing people that forever changed South Carolina's history.
MACHADO: The families of those nine victims, present to see firsthand the governor sign into law a bill that will remove the confederate battle flag from the state capitol grounds. A place it's flown since the 1960s. The change comes after days of debate that culminated with the passage of the bill in a 93-27 vote. The end of a marathon session in the state house that was marked by dozens of amendments introduced by pro-flag representatives, who believe the flag is a symbol of southern heritage, not hate.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This amendment recognizes his actions, his reasons, so I am going to ask you today to support this amendment.
MACHADO: The debate lasting some 13 hours. The frustration palpable.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just know that the gig is up. I think right now we see what the real deal is.
MACHADO: The turning point in the debate coming when Republican Representative Jenny Horne, a descendant of the president of Confederacy, Jefferson Davis, took to the floor.
STATE REP. JENNY HORNEY, R-SOUTH CAROLINA: I cannot believe that we do not have the heart in this body to do something meaningful, such as take a symbol of hate off of these grounds on Friday! And if any of you vote to amend, you are ensuring that this flag will fly beyond Friday!
STATE REP. GILDA COBB HUNTER, D-SOUTH CAROLINA: What Representative Horne did was magnificent. Took a lot of courage and helped us win the day.
MACHADO: State House Representative Gilda Cobb Hunter has been in the house since 1992, well before the flag was moved from the dome to its current spot. Seeing the speaker sign the bill early this morning was a moment she says was worth fighting for.
COBB HUNTER: I thought it would be removed some day, but not when I am still here.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Alina Machado joins me now. The governor said that they're going to bring the flag down with quote, dignity at 10:00 a.m. tomorrow. Do we know how?
MACHADO: We know that there will be a ceremony. The governor did say that South Carolina is a state that believes in tradition. So I think that ceremony will certainly reflect that. Once the flag is removed from here, we know it will be taken to the confederate relic room, which is just a few blocks from where we are, Anderson.
COOPER: Right. Alina, thanks very much. On that note, a change today. We turn to a decade of it. The CNN original series, "the 70s" starts now. Enjoy.
