Return to Transcripts main page
Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees
Debate Candidates List Completed; Federal Suit for Handcuffing Children in School; Jeb Bush's Remarks on Planned Parenthood; Parental Abduction Taking Seriously. Aired 8-9p ET
Aired August 04, 2015 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[20:00:10] ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: Good evening. Thanks for joining us. A lot of breaking news to bring you tonight.
We now know which Republicans made the cut for the first presidential debate. There is also uproar over a comment Jeb Bush made about women's health issues and potentially serious new polling trouble for Hillary Clinton.
We begin tonight with CNN senior political correspondent Jeff Zeleny who has the latest on that.
So tell me about this poll. Bernie Sanders gaining ground on Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire specifically.
JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: He is indeed, Anderson. He is chipping away at Hillary Clinton's lead. This new poll tonight in New Hampshire shows that Clinton holds only a six- point lead over Sanders, 42 percent to 36 percent. Now it is the closest of any survey yet so far in this campaign.
He of course is from neighboring Vermont and he spent so much time campaigning for the New Hampshire primary. It is clear that his liberal and populist message he has been delivering out there is resonating with a lot of democratic voters. Now, it is important to note she is still viewed favorably by 72 percent of Democratic primary voters there so they could just be listening to Bernie Sanders for now, Anderson.
COOPER: And how is her campaign dealing with this?
ZELENY: Well, Hillary Clinton has said again and again that she expected a tough contest. I'm not sure she expected to be this tough so soon. Polls like this simply fuel conversation about vice president Biden. Perhaps other Democrats jumping in to this campaign. So this is why the Clinton campaign started running the ads today in Iowa and New Hampshire. $2 million worth, trying to remind voters of her life story and her campaign message.
She is also, Anderson, going after Republicans much more aggressively, trying to show Democrats that she is actually a fighter. But it is really unclear if all of that will be enough or if they'll have to do more retooling. Her likability and trust remain very troubling issues. They're trying to look at this and see if they can repair this, Anderson. COOPER: And still no word yet on Joe Biden.
ZELENY: No word on Joe Biden. I mean, I talked on a couple of his advisers again today. He actually have lunch with the president this afternoon and they talked about it. But they said, look, he is going to think about this for the next month and not have any decision until at least probably late September.
COOPER: All right, Jeff Zeleny. Jeff, thanks very much.
Now the Republicans, which ten of them are ready for prime time in Cleveland Thursday night in the season's first debate. Well, here they are. Chosen by and seated by performance in the polls. Donald Trump Jeb Bush, Scott Walker, Mike Huckabee, Ben Carson, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Rand Paul, Chris Christie, and John Kasich. Now, the rest will debate earlier before prime time. Rick Perry, Rick Santorum, Bobby Jindal, Carly Fiorina, Lindsey Graham, and George Pataki and Jim Gilmore.
There are also late developments in hasting damage control on a topic that could decide no, exaggeration, who becomes the next president. One that very likely will come in that debate this week. Namely, how women voters, especially general election voters, view the GOP. Speaking at an evangelical forum late today, Jeb Bush weighed in on Republican legislative efforts to strip federal funding from Planned Parenthood. The moves sparked by those heavily edited undercover videos featuring an anti-abortion activists posing as would-be fetal tissue buyers. Here's what governor Bush said today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEB BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We should. And the next president should defund Planned Parenthood.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Well, that got applause. This on the other hand, caused a stir.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUSH: You can take dollar for dollar, although I'm not sure we need a half billion dollars for women's health issues, but if you took dollar for dollar, there are many extraordinarily fine organizations, community health organizations that exist, federally sponsored community health organizations to provide quality care for women on a wide variety of health issues.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: So he's saying, if you took dollar for dollar the $500 million being given to Planned Parenthood, could you give to it other groups. But he also said, I'm not sure we need half a billion for women's health issues. Now, that set off a storm within the Bush campaign, almost immediately putting out a statement saying in part, quote "with regard to women's health funneling broadly, I misspoke, as there are countless community health centers, rural clinics and other women's health organizations that need to be fully funded."
Now, all of this drawing a sharp response from Democrat, especially from Hillary Clinton. Her campaign tweeting Governor Bush's remarks on the $500 million then quote "are absolutely unequivocally wrong." A campaign aide tweeting, will any GOP are come out against Jeb's comments or will they all stay quiet because they agree. No answers there yet.
However, Donald Trump has already laid down a firm marker on defunding Planned Parenthood talking to conservative radio host Hue Hewitt shortly after Senate Republicans tried to fail do just, that he called for something more extreme.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HUGH HEWITT, RADIO SHOW HOST: The only way to get rid of Planned Parenthood money for selling off baby parts is to shut the government down in September. Would you support that?
[20:05:00] DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, I can tell you this, I would. And I was also in support if the Republicans stuck together, you could have done with it Obamacare also.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Now again, neither his views nor Jeb Bush's are in the least bit controversial among Republicans during a primary campaign. The bigger question would be what about the general election and are Republicans on the way to alienating women voters the way the party itself it did in the last election? Or is it simply too early in the process.
John King joins us now. You've been crunching all the numbers. What do they show?
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Let's start, Anderson, with the first audience.
Governor Bush and Mr. Trump are running in the Republican primary. Let's start by looking at Republican voters. Then we'll get to the question of a general election. On the issue of defunding Planned Parenthood, they're both on relatively safe ground.
Look at these numbers. The Monmouth University poll, these are just women, 57 percent of democratic women have a favorable view of Planned Parenthood but only 19 percent of Republican women have a favorable view of Planned Parenthood. So what about the question of defunding? Only 22 percent of Democrats say defund Planned Parenthood. Democratic women.
But look at this number, 67 percent, two-thirds of Republican women say go ahead and defund Planned Parenthood. So again, Governor Bush, Mr. Trump in relatively safe ground there.
And at the moment in the crowded field if you look at the horse race numbers, they're both doing OK. Mr. Trump actually very well among women, 24 percent of Republican women support Donald Trump in the latest FOX News poll out today. And we've looked at national polls. That's a consistent number. He tends to get more support from men. But that's not a horrible number. Jeb Bush gets 15 percent from Republican women in this poll. He is second in the race.
So, Anderson, if you look within the Republican electorate, they are both doing OK. Mr. Trump a little better on the horse race, both on safe ground when it comes to Planned Parenthood. But the key point is if one of them is the nominee, is it a different audience in the general election?
COOPER: And what do we know about that? I mean, how does it play out against, say, Hillary?
KING: Let's take a peak. This has a very damaging number for Donald Trump. Among all women, not just Republicans anymore, among all women in the electorate, 62 percent of women have an unfavorable opinion of Donald Trump at the moment. Hard to win a presidency. Majority of the voters will be women. If six in ten, more than six and ten do you want favorably, that's the problem with him.
Governor Bush's numbers are better. He could still use and improvement, 41 percent of women nationally, all women say they have an unfavorable view of Jeb Bush. And that is why if you look on our latest CNN/ORC poll, the gender gap which is the big issue in presidential politics. Hillary Clinton beats Jeb Bush by 15 points among women. He would need to get that down into the probably high single digits, at least down to 10 percent to be competitive in the presidential election. Clinton versus Bush, a 15-point gender gap.
Look at this one, Anderson, almost twice as high. Donald Trump loses to Hillary Clinton by 28 points among women. No way, you win the White House with a gender gap like that.
COOPER: Interesting. John, stay with us.
I want to bring in the panel. Katrina Pierson, a Pew party leader on Donald Trump supporter, also Marilinda Garcia, she is a former member of the New Hampshire state legislature and currently supports Karly Fiorina, and CNN political commentator Ana Navarro and a Jeb Bush report, a friend of Marco Rubio.
Ana, how big of a problem is this for Jeb Bush? I mean, his comments he made today which he then -- his campaign basically put out - had to put out two press releases in short order to try to clear it up.
ANA NAVARRO, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Well, first of all, I was very happy to see them clarify it. And for him to say that he misspoke. He clearly misspoke. But this is nothing new for Jeb and I think there is going to be a stark contrast if he's the nominee between him and Hillary Clinton.
Jeb Bush has been all his life a pro-lifer. He is against funding of abortions with taxpayer money. He defunded Planned Parenthood in Florida and that is what his stance is. And I think he is proud of it and ready to defend it. I will tell you, though, he also has a very strong record with women's
health. He started an initiative on breast cancer in Florida. It was named after his, Mary Brogan, a very lovely woman I had the privilege of knowing, who was the wife of his lieutenant governor, Frank Brogan who passed away from cancer. He funded crisis pregnancy centers.
So he misspoke. It is going to happen, Anderson. It is going to happen to every candidate. I'm glad he cleaned it up and that he admitted he misspoke.
COOPER: Katrina, do you think Jeb Bush should even be clarifying what he said? I mean, would Donald Trump or Ted Cruz, both of them, you are pretty bullish (ph) on, would they bother clarifying or would they just, you know, kind of move ahead regardless of what Hillary Clinton said about?
KATRINA PIERSON, NATIONAL TEA PARTY LEADER: Yes, absolutely not. You know, the thing about Donald Trump and Senator Ted Cruz, they say what they mean. There is no need to go back and try to fix things.
But what my colleague left out about Jeb Bush in his position on abortion is maybe he is not supportive of taxpayers' dollars going to Planned Parenthood, but he sat on a board for five years of an initiative that spent $50 million globally to reduce abortion restrictions rights around the world and I think that's important.
COOPER: Ana, I mean, do you think that's a liability for him?
NAVARRO: I don't. I think he has an incredibly strong record. I live in Florida. I'm a Floridian. I can tell you that he pushed adoption over abortion a lot while he was governor. It was really a big part of his governorship. People know that he stands for life whether you're talking about the unborn or you are talking about Terry Schiavo (ph). So I don't think his record on that is anything that, you know, is chopped liver. And they're going to have a hard time coming at him on that issue.
[20:10:27] PIERSON: But here's the thing, Anderson. More importantly, we're talking about right now, what is happening right now? Jeb Bush is doing exactly what the base is tired of. He is pandering, he is making the headlines, he is fundraising, but he is not going to do anything. When asked if he would support the measure to defund in September, he walked around it and said we are going to do things in short order. It is the status quo. And Republicans are tired of the status quo.
COOPER: But he did just say today, I mean, he doesn't want funding for Planned Parenthood.
PIERSON: That's what he said. But that is what I'm saying. They always say that. There is always rhetoric to fundraise but there is never any action behind it.
COOPER: Well, I mean --
NAVARRO: Well, listen. Unlike Senator -- COOPER: Right. With all due respect, every single candidate is full
of rhetoric and says things they won't end up doing. So I mean, let's not be --
PIERSON: Well, I think Senator Cruz, his rhetoric matches actions.
COOPER: OK. Marilinda, could this remark end up hurting Jeb Bush --?
NAVARRO: May I say this though?
COOPER: Go ahead.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think --
COOPER: Sorry. Marilinda and then we'll come back to you, Ana.
And Marilinda, do you think this could end up hurting with moderate women or do you think I mean, it's so early in the process? He corrected himself and it's over?
MARILINDA GARCIA, FIORINA SUPPORTER: I think it is what we see all the time where, you know, each side picks up on rhetoric or, you know, a phrase that is inelegantly expressed. I think his clear point was that it was relative to Planned Parenthood. It wasn't about women's health issues in general but, of course, you know, nobody wants to necessarily look at the context.
But I think what is clear is that the Democrats and liberals in general tend to always try to drive this wedge between, you know, women's issues and everyone else's issues. When the fact is, women make up 53 percent of the electorate. They hold 48 percent of the jobs in this country. So it is very clear that all issues are women's issues. And you know, it is really important that the candidates focus on that.
COOPER: John, I mean, the reality is this is still primary season. This is not the general election. And Republicans in the big way are outraged over these Planned Parenthood videos. A lot of people are outraged over what they have seen in these videos in which the context in which Jeb Bush made this comment. Does any of this really matter at this stage?
KING: Yes. We don't know the answer to that. It doesn't matter at this stage. We know it will drive the fundraising by both parties. We know it is going to be the interesting moment before the big Republican debate.
Let me give you two points on that. Number one, Hillary Clinton will have to answer questions about this as well because on the one hand, she said she found the videos troubling and she would support a congressional investigation to Planned Parenthood, not defunding, but a congressional investigation. Since then, she's gone into the "I'm for Planned Parenthood, Planned Parenthood is important." And she moved away from that because she got some criticism from the left.
To the point about Jeb Bush, Hillary Clinton is not a terribly dynamic candidate. And the question about Jeb Bush are this, Anderson. He has been off the bike for a dozen years. When he last ran for governor, won reelection, you've been showing pictures of a Jeb Bush rally. Not every cell phone was a camera the last time he ran. There was no twitter. We didn't have the social media universe we have today.
And he has an opportunity here. Yes, Donald Trump is leading the race. But as the Republican establishment gets worried about Donald Trump, at some point maybe face a choice. Who is our guy if we have to pick one? If Jeb Bush keeps stumbling, the other day he gave a very awkward answer about his dad and selling t-shirts in the Jeb Bush shop, he needs to get his campaign skills back to convince the establishment he is their guy.
COOPER: Ana, just briefly, the numbers that John King had earlier about Donald Trump, his popularity among Republican women doing much better than Jeb Bush. But on - in a general election among women overall in the United States, not such great numbers, obviously, for Donald Trump. I assume that doesn't come as much of a surprise to you since you're not a Donald Trump fan. But the fact that he is not doing well with women and yet still away ahead of Jeb Bush even without that national support, does that tell you anything?
NAVARRO: Yes. It tell me he has consolidated the Republican primary voters that are frustrated and angry at the government dysfunction and that includes women. You know, Jeb's slice of the pie is divide with a bunch of other candidates who are the same, similar lane that he is politically.
But I think Jeb has kept up his numbers. Second in the polls. He is going to be second in the polls, standing second to Donald Trump on that debate stage tomorrow. And you know, and I think he does need to improve his political skills. I've seen him improve them in the last six months and I think he knows he needs to continue and work hard to improve those skills.
[20:15:05] GARCIA: I think what's clear --
PIERSON: Donald Trump's unfavorable have been dropping significantly.
COOPER: Right. Yes - no. We pointed out that among women, in the GOP field, he is doing far better than Jeb Bush. The question is in the general election.
PIERSON: And Hillary is hemorrhaging married women.
COOPER: Right.
GARCIA: Well, I think what's clear about Donald Trump is that they're looking for someone who talks about actions. And also, is a political outsider. Now, that's where I think Carly Fiorina's appeal want her name recognition goes up. People that will look to a consistent record and consistent views on issues of the day will look to a Washington outsider. Will look to someone with clear leadership capabilities.
COOPER: All right. We'll see.
GARCIA: Track record and potential.
COOPER: Marilinda, I appreciate you being on. Ana and Katrina, thank you.
As we mentioned, the stage is set for the Republican debate Thursday night. Up next, we are going to look at the highs and lows from past debates from sweaty lips to winning lines. We'll talk about what may happen on Thursday night.
Also, "the HUNT's" John Walsh joins us on the missing girl his viewers helped find just this week and the fugitive mom now facing justice.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:20:04] COOPER: The ten Republicans who made the cut have been named. By Friday morning, some may be glad they made it, others not so much. There will be no shortage opportunities to shine on that stage and more than a few ways to fail.
Randi Kaye tonight walks us through the minefield.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Candidates learned early on from the first televised presidential debate to keep cool, literally. It was 1960. Republican presidential candidate Richard Nixon squaring off against democrat John F. Kennedy when Nixon's make- up started to run under the hot lights. Then Chicago mayor Richard Daly was quoted as saying, my God, they've embalmed him before he even died. And the "Chicago Daily News" ran the headline, was Nixon sabotaged by TV make-up artists? Nixon never recovered. Though he only lost by a fraction of a percentage in the 1960 election.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have as much experience in the Congress as Jack Kennedy.
KAYE: In the 1988 vice presidential debate, republican Dan Quayle compared himself to John F. Kennedy while trying to defend his inexperience. His opponent, Texas senator Lloyd Benson, gave this scathing response.
SEN. LLOYD BENSON, VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I served with Jack Kennedy. I knew Jack Kennedy. Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy.
KAYE: That flawless response earned Benson huge applause and a moment in the spotlight, but his ticker with Michael Dukakis didn't win the election.
In 2000, Democrat Al Gore made himself heard while debating George W. Bush. Gore was mocked for his heavy sighs. "New York Times" columnist Maureen Dowd likened his behavior to a country song she called, you've been sighing and lying. Others described him as a teacher's pet, annoying and irritating. Gore took a hit, falling five percentage points in the CNN today
Gallup poll. Remember this moment from November 2011?
RICK PERRY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Commerce, education and the -- what is the third one there? Let's see.
KAYE: Republican candidate Rick Perry, unable to remember the third government agency he promised to shut down. The meltdown went viral and was spoofed on Saturday night live.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All three. Ready? Commerce. Oh, God. I only know one now.
KAYE: Still, Perry's memory lost only lost him one percentage point in the CNN tracking poll.
In December 2011, When GOP candidate Mitt Romney tried to bet opponent Rick Perry during a live debate, critics pounced saying he appeared out of touch. Perry even suggested the $10,000 was pocket change for Romney. Late night comedian had a field day with it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: $10,000 bet?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not in the betting business.
JON STEWART, COMEDIAN: This is awesome. A Mormon gambling with an evangelical over who is the bigger liar!
KAYE: On CNN.com, a contributor wrote, a $10,000 bet he offered to Perry could not have helped him in the heartland. It turns out Romney jumped eight percentage points in the CNN/orc poll conducted after the debate. So his gamble actually paid off.
Randi Kaye, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Let's bring in the panel back with us. CNN political commentator Ana Navarro, Jeb Bush supporter and a friend of Marco Rubio. Also, former Reagan White House political director Jeffrey Lord, he is currently the American Spectator and Bret O'Donnell former messaging director for the McCain presidential campaign. He is currently with the 2016 Lindsey Graham effort.
Bret, you've worked with a number of former presidential candidates on the debate prep. How important is it to try to create kind of a memorable moment like Lloyd Benson had. And how much impact can that really have?
BRET O'DONNELL, WORKING WITH LINDSEY GRAHAM'S PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN: Well, it can have an enormous impact. In a ten-person debate or a seven-person debate, creating that moment is absolutely important. You want to be able to capture the imagination of the press so that your message gets near tops of the stories or even makes headlines the next stage. So having a moment like John McCain had back in October 2007 when he talks about Hillary Clinton spending, in terms of being all tied up in a Woodstock memorial, he got a standing ovation for that. That captured the imagination of the audience and the press and made him the news of that debate.
COOPER: And how do you prepare for those? Because obviously, I mean, a debate is, you know, three dimensional chess. There is a lot of moving parts. You can't predict them all. But do you try to read everything the person, the various candidates have said? Because I've always found if you read everything they said over the last, you know, six weeks, you can generally get a sense of what they're going to say because they tend to repeat certain stock phrases and then do you try to prepare a moment based on, you know, you think Dan Quayle is going to reference John F. Kennedy so you prepare that moment?
[20:25:09] O'DONNELL: Sure. I mean, the Benson folks knew that Dan Quayle had been referencing President Kennedy. So they were prepared for that. And most instances, you can predict how debates are going to go. That's what people pay people like me to do. And so, we try to figure out what the questions are going to be, what others will say in response to those questions. And then try to come up with a moment or two that will dominate the stage. That will establish your presence on the stage.
But, you know, sometimes those moments are organic as well. And I can think of several that senator McCain had in debates. One, where he encountered a woman in the audience who asked him about losing her son in Iraq. That moment was totally organic and wasn't staged. So it is also up to the candidate to be thinking on their feet. And that's part of what we're looking for in a president, a person who can think on their feet.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.
COOPER: Ana, if you're Jeb Bush who you obviously support, I mean, do you position yourself on stage as the anti-Trump? Do you lay out positions in very specific terms which Donald Trump is probably less likely to do? Or do you try to take on Donald Trump because to me, it seems like every time a candidate takes on a Donald Trump, that gives Donald Trump another 30 seconds or a minute to respond and gives him more air time.
NAVARRO: And it works both ways, Anderson. Any time Donald Trump attacks anybody on that stage, they're going to get 30 seconds rebuttal time. So I think it is really to their hindrance if they start attack each other because all they're doing is giving their opponents more time and it is a very limited amount of time with ten people on that stage.
Bret, who was a very good friend of mine, you know, he is right that most debates are predictable in a lot of ways. But I think this is one debate that's completely unpredictable. It has, you know, ten people on the stage, on the bigger debate. It has got seven people on the previous debate. And I hope people tune in and watch that previous debate at 5:00. Because I think, you know, I think we owe it to the candidates to watch all of them including Senator Graham who Bret is working for. You know, do you make moments? Yes, you do want to make memorable
moments. You just want them to be good memorable moments. We can all remember also some bad memorable moments. So you know, be careful about those memorable moments. They can be good or they can be bad.
COOPER: Jeffrey, I mean, there are a lot -- some people are saying, look. Donald Trump is going to have to give out some specifics when it comes to policy positions. But is that really the case? I mean, should he continue as far as you're concerned, to be the candidate he's been all along? And not get into the minutiae, given the time constraints in a debate like this. You can kind of get around minutiae unless you're pressed.
JEFFREY LORD, FORMER REAGAN WHITE HOUSE POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Yes, yes, you can. I mean, for him or anybody to really get into the minutiae with such a limited time frame is going to be very difficult. So he is well positioned here. Just to be himself and deliver his broad message. And one thing you don't want to do, and I think President Bush 41, looking at his watch during the Clinton debate or governor Dukakis four years earlier, answering in a very dispassionate way the question from Bernard Shaw what would happen if his wife were raped. If you play to the negative stereo times about you, that can hurt you a lot. So you want to be very careful about that as well.
COOPER: Bret, do you believe that Trump is not really preparing for this debate? I mean, that's what he says that he's not.
O'DONNELL: I absolutely don't. I mean, a person who is as smart as Donald Trump would certainly know that you can't go into a major debate against nine other people and not have prepared. I mean, that would be malfeasance on his part. The lights are very that bright. You have to be able to think on your feet. And you do have to demonstrate that you know something about issues. You have to be able to prepare to respond to both the moderators and to the other opponents on the stage.
You know, Donald Trump has spent his life up-playing expectations. Everything is bigger and better with Donald Trump. So it is a little surprising that he has been downplaying those expectations.
COOPER: Yes. I think it is a first. I think we're all astonished by that.
Bret O'Donnell, it is good to have you on. Jeffrey Lord, Ana Navarro, thank you.
LORD: He did that Facebook --
COOPER: He did the what?
LORD: He did a Facebook post today apparently asking his opponents what they would do to make America great again. And I thought it was a very interesting challenge right on the eve of the debate.
COOPER: Maybe he should have saved it for the stage. NAVARRO: Listen, guys. I'm going to propose that we have a drinking
game tomorrow night. And let's have a drink every time he tells us he's rich. And also my favorite, when he tells us how much Hispanics love him.
COOPER: We'll be on after the debate from 11:00 to 1:00 a.m.
(CROSSTALK)
More on Jeb Bush's remarks coming up. And the people he made them to - Evangelical voters. Let's look at how the candidates are appealing to conservative Christians and how Donald Trump is playing with the faithful. Some of the comments he made have raised some questions about his level of support among evangelical voters who in a lot of these primary states, caucus states, and particularly in Iowa are critically important. We'll talk about that.
And later, an eight-year-old acting up in school and winds up in handcuffs. A third-grader in cuffs. Now, there is a federal lawsuit. Details ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: We are now on the breaking news we brought you to the top of the broadcast. Jeb Bush's remarks on Planned Parenthood and more broadly, speaking federal funding on women's issues. He later clarified his remarks saying he'd misspoken. However, at the time he made them speaking to a large Evangelical gathering in Tennessee, he got big applause. Tonight we're joined by Christian broadcastings David Brody and by the man whose question prompted the - Russell Moore, president of the Southern Baptist Convention Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission and author of "Onward, Engaging the Culture without Losing the Gospel."
Dr. Moore, Jeb Bush is getting certainly a lot of attention for something he said to you today at your event. He said, and I quote, "I'm not sure we need half a billion dollars for women's health issues." He since clarified that saying he misspoke that he was referring specifically to federal funding for Planned Parenthood, not women's health in general.
Was that your understanding of what he meant because as you know, Hillary Clinton has now pounced on these comments?
[20:35:03]
RUSSELL MOORE, SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONV. ETHICS & RELIGIOUS LIBERTY COMM.: Yes, and I find it surprising that there is this sort of criticism from Hillary Clinton. Because in context, I think most people in the auditorium understood what Governor Bush meant. Which is that we shouldn't be funding Planned Parenthood, an organization that is obviously violent and barbaric. And instead we ought to be funding other organizations. And he said off handedly I'm not sure the amount that we would need. That we would need that amount. It was not something that even caused a stir in the moment. It was clear in context what he was referring to. COOPER: But as you just recounted it, it does sound like he's saying,
I mean he's saying - his original sentence was you could take dollar for dollar and give that money, that $500 million that you're giving to Planned Parenthood, you could give it to other women's health organizations. But he did put in that phrase, "I'm not sure you actually need half a billion dollars for women's health." But you don't think he really meant -- you think he was just talking specifically about Planned Parenthood?
MOORE: Well, in the context it certainly seemed as though he was talking about Planned Parenthood and he was talking about later in our interview, talking about the necessity of making sure that we have a strong social safety net including for, I was specifically asking him about young single mothers who are in crisis. And he affirmed a strong role for government in taking care of them.
COOPER: David, the comments that Donald Trump made at the Family Leadership Summit a couple of weeks ago saying he doesn't think he asked God for forgiveness explaining, and he said, "I think if I do something wrong, I think I just try and make it right. I don't bring God into that picture." He later talked about communion as maybe a way of asking for forgiveness. But he also talked about my little wine and my little cracker. And I was reading something that Eric Ericson read - saying that those comments largely closed the door on evangelical support for Trump. Do you think that's true?
DAVID BRODY, CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, CHRISTIAN BROADCASTING NETWORK: I don't necessarily think that's true, Anderson. At least at this point. I mean look, this was classic Donald Trump. I don't think anybody thought he was going to go to an Iowa evangelical event or any evangelical event and talk about yes, I've asked God for forgiveness and I'm on my knees every single night. They realize that's not the authentic Donald Trump. Donald Trump knows that's not the authentic Donald Trump. And so, therefore, he was authentic, which is what he's been doing, which has been his calling card all along. And so look, Evangelicals can deal with some truth telling. You know, they've had many lies over the years to them as it relates to politics, kind of being used as a pawn many times in political games. Get out the evangelical vote and then those issues are dropped. And so, you know, Donald Trump is in essence basically showing some truth telling here. At least on the forgiveness front. And they can work with that, at least they know where he stands.
COOPER: And David, I should point out, I put these questions to Trump as well and he essentially said what you said, that he got - felt he got a very good reception there. Dr. Moore, how much support do you think Trump actually has within the evangelical community?
Because I know, have you met a lot of pastors who say they support him? What kind of response are you hearing out there?
MOORE: Well, so far I've not heard from a single pastor who says that he supports Donald Trump. But it's still early, people are looking at candidates, and when it comes to the comments, that Trump made, I agree with David that we don't want a sort of religious identity politics where politicians use religious language or hymns or bible verses in order to pretend to be something that they're not. On the other hand, I think it tells us something about his character. This is someone who has been running a casino industry that I would argue is predatory on the poor. Someone who has left two wives and divorced them. Broken up those families. I think then to step back in and say I don't have anything I can think of that I need forgiveness for is problematic. I think that raises many questions.
COOPER: Dr. Moore, it is really a pleasure to have you on. David Brody as well, thank you.
BRODY: Thank you.
MOORE: Thanks for having me.
COOPER: Just ahead tonight, why authorities are crediting John Walsh and his show, "The Hunt" here on CNN with helping to find this woman who's now behind bars and her three-year-old daughter who is back with her father tonight after being kidnapped, allegedly. It's an amazing story. I'll talk with John coming up.
[20:39:12]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Authorities are crediting John Walsh and his show "The Hunt" here on CNN with helping to fund a toddler who was missing for more than a year. About 24 hours ago, Robert Baumann was reunited with his three-year old daughter Lilly. He had been searching for her since May of 2014. He had never given up hope. It has been a long and agonizing wait though. Lilly's mom Megan Everett is now in custody charged with kidnapping. She and Baumann share custody for Lilly, but according to report, did not agree on how to raise her. On Sunday, Mr. Baumann search for Lilly was featured on "The Hunt." with John Walsh with Baumann describing how it all began.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT BAUMANN: Megan was very bubbly. Things become a little more personal. It just kind of progressively became more than just a friendship. And when Megan found out she was pregnant, that was the game changer. That was a big change. Lilly was always outgoing. She was always a bundle of joy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: After they broke up, it seemed like she definitely was trying to cut him out of her life completely.
ROBERT BAUMANN: I got my daughter that first week and then I brought her back. I went to pick her up on May 13. I knocked on Carlos' door. He opens the door and he says Megan doesn't live here. She moved and he slammed the door in my face. So I called the Sunrise police department. I went there and there is no sign of the child or Megan or any clothes or baby stuff or anything. And reality kind of hit me. And then the panic hit me. What am I supposed to do now? How am I supposed to find her? Where do I go from here?
(END VIDEO CLIP) COOPER: Less than 24 hours after that episode aired, a crucial tip came in from a viewer. A caller had seen "The Hunt," recognized Everett and Lilly from an - certainly not the first time "The Hunt" has led to capture either. John Walsh joins me tonight.
John, congratulations. It is incredible, the speed with which you were able to help bring this case to a conclusion. Explain how law enforcement finally found this little girl.
JOHN WALSH, CNN HOST, "THE HUNT WITH JOHN WALSH": Sunday night, we got the show on. We got a call directly to our hotline. And as you know, police are there in the studio but they're not allowed to talk on the phones.
[20:45:00]
WALSH: I always guarantee anonymity. I guarantee your safety. Lots of people don't want to be involved in cases or talk to cops. But this person did the right thing. The FBI in Daytona Beach got ahold of the Putnam County sheriff's office who rolled right immediately. They did a fantastic job and found Megan Everett and Lilly in good shape. And now Lilly is back with her dad. She was back with her dad last night. And noncustodial parental abductions are awful ugly, ugly situations. There are hundreds of thousands of them. About 200,000 every year. And the real victim is the child. And this one turned out for the happy ending.
COOPER: Well, I mean I want to talk about that. Because we all think about stranger abductions and that's often what grabs headlines. But I mean as you said, there are a huge number of cases where there's a parent or guardian who takes the child. Does law enforcement take it as seriously when a parent is involved as opposed to a stranger?
WALSH: They do now, Anderson. We were successful several years ago to make it a federal crime. I lobbied for a long time saying, you know, if someone takes your child, put yourself in somebody else's shoes. If somebody takes your daughter at two years old and you don't see that child until 18 years old, it is an ugly situation. Sometimes the perpetrator will tell a lie to friends and family and say hey, my ex is molesting or hurting that child. And the family will be unwitting accomplices to a noncustodial parental kidnapping. But police take them very seriously.
COOPER: For a child who goes through something like this, even at a young age, I mean it is more complex than a stranger in some cases, because obviously, and the parent is still going to be involved in this child's life down the road, whether or not she does some time in prison. You know, she is going to remain this child's mom. That's got to make it more difficult.
WALSH: So difficult. I always say to parents. When they split up, whether it is join custody, supervised visits or whatever, if you really love your child, take the high road. In so many of the cases that I've been involved with, the parent who steals the child, will tell that child your - the other parent doesn't love you anymore. The other parent is dead. The other parent is a drug addict. I saved your life. I took you. And in so many times it is a lie. It is not the case. But I think in this case, this is a good loving dad. He knows that Megan Everett will come back into this little girl's life at some point and I hope that both of them take the high road for little Lilly's sake.
COOPER: And, you know some of the headlines in this were saying that she had taken the child because she didn't want the child vaccinated. It seems - was that the whole thing or was that just part of it?
WALSH: I think that was an excuse to get even. And the people that Megan Everett hung around with, some very bad choices as a mother. So I hope they work this out. It wasn't about vaccination. It was about a lot of things. And it's usually about revenge, Anderson, and I always say, think of that beautiful little kid. Think of what they're going to go through when they find out what happened. But I say, I hope they take the high road. Get some counseling. That little girl is right where she should be tonight.
COOPER: Yeah, well, thanks in large part to you, John. Thank you so much.
WALSH: Thank you, Anderson.
COOPER: It's amazing, the results he's gotten. You can watch "The Hunt" Sundays, at 9:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific here on CNN.
Coming up next tonight, a third grader with ADHD actually put in handcuffs as punishment. That's the video right there. The sheriff's deputy in the video now facing a federal lawsuit. It's apparently happened before at this school. Details ahead.
[20:48:38]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: A third grader at a Kentucky school may have been misbehaving but the ACLU says what a school resource officer did to him in response was against the law. He put him in handcuffs. They weren't on the child's wrists. Either they were on his upper arms. It was all cut on video. Jean Casarez has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(BOY CRYING)
JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Difficult to watch, even harder to listen to. This eight-year-old third grader is being handcuffed in the vice principal's office of his elementary school in Covington, Kentucky.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You don't get to swing at me like that.
UNIDENTIFIED BOY: No. I'm trying to [INAUDIBLE]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You don't get to swing at me like that. CASAREZ: According to this federal complaint brought by his mother and the ACLU, S.R., as he is called to protect his identity was diagnosed with attention deficit disorder in 2012 and then PTSD two years later. In November 2014, the third grader had difficulty complying with directives. He was taken to the principal's office. Then trying to leave, was restrained by the vice principal and a special education teacher twice. For about four to five minutes each time. The school calls in this man. A school resource officer. A member of the local sheriff's department. Then according to the complaint, the boy swung his arm and attempted to strike him with his elbow. After that, the handcuffs. Placed above his elbows. You can hear the 52-pound little boy cry out in pain. According to Kentucky law, mechanical restraints can never be used. The plaintiffs say that is the only way to describe handcuffs. But the law does allow for the physical restraint of a child if the student's behavior poses an imminent danger of physical harm to the child or others. Listen to the words of the officer. Is this an imminent danger or physical harm?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I asked you not to kick.
JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: You want to prevent in the defense perspective that child from injuring himself at all, injuring another teacher, injuring the law enforcement officer and then the argument will be that the cuffs were put on just to limit his behavior. And to ensure that he otherwise didn't represent a further danger.
CASAREZ: A statement from the school superintendent's office describes the role of the school resource officer. They are not called upon by school district staff to punish or discipline a student who engages in a school-related offense. Now listen to this by the officer.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you want the handcuffs off? You are going to have to be - and you have to ask me nicely.
[20:55:00]
CASAREZ: The sheriff's department said in a statement today, all the facts are not yet known. But the deputy Somner (ph) responded to the call and did what he is sworn to do and in conformity with all constitutional and law enforcement standards.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Jean, was this the first time a student was handcuffed at this school?
CASAREZ: No. In fact, there's another defendant. It's a little girl. She was a fourth grader at the time at another school. She also had attention deficit disorder and it was alleged in a complaint that she was handcuffed two different times. Facts pretty similar except at the end. Initially, she was disruptive, put in an isolation room. They tried to physically restrain her. She got so emotional after those handcuffs were put on, was screaming and just jostling in her seat, they had to bring in a medical crisis team who took her to the hospital to the psychiatric unit. And so, there is another plaintiff here also, representing the family law center saying that this behavior is all because of the disabilities.
COOPER: Jean Casarez, I appreciate that. We'll continue to follow that.
Coming up, an update on the breaking news in politics tonight.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Quickly update in the news on top of the program. New polling tonight just out showing Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders trailing Hillary Clinton by six points in the New Hampshire primary race. Also, the ten Republican prime time players have been named for Thursday's debate in Cleveland. There they are. Rick Perry. Six others did not make the cut. However, they're going to have their debate earlier in the evening. We'll see you again later tonight at 11:00 p.m. Eastern.
[21:00:00]
COOPER: I hope you join us for that. The CNN special report, "A Minor Miracle" five years after the chilling rescue starts now.
