Return to Transcripts main page

Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees

State Dept.: 22 Clinton Emails Contain "Top Secret" Info; Sanders Makes Final Pitch Before Caucuses; Cruz's Last Push; Why Glenn Beck Supports Ted Cruz; Ted Cruz's Canadian Roots; Question That Trump Tries To Avoid; Teacher Suspected Of Helping Inmates Escape; 1 Of 3 Jail Escapees Surrenders To Police; FBI Releases Video Of Deadly Shootout. Aired 9-10p ET

Aired January 29, 2016 - 21:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[21:01:26] ANDERSON COOPER, AC360 HOST: Just past 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time here at caucus crunch time in Iowa. Breaking news for the Democratic front-runner it comes with just a week end to go until the caucuses it involves the candidate who once was considered the far and away favorite to win it all.

Now Hillary Clinton who stamping there right now Davenport, Iowa finds herself battling Bernie Sanders on the ground and in the polls were even voters who said they like them both. Also said they trust her less would brings out to the breaking news tonight. The long running controversy over her e-mails while Secretary of State erupted again late today when the State Department refused to release nearly two dozen e-mails from her private server that did release about 1,000 others.

Our Chief Political Correspondent, Dana Bash joins us from a Clinton event in Davenport with all the details. What are you learning Dana?

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT Well, we know at least from top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee Dianne Feinstein who should say has endorsed Hillary Clinton. As you can see she's speaking behind me. She said that her understanding is that these were seven separate back and forth e-mail chains and that none of the e-mail chains originated with Secretary Clinton.

And so that is a kind of a key piece of information that she wanted to get out there and more importantly the Clinton campaign wanted to get out because, Anderson as you know, they have been arguing up and down, sideways, backwards and forwards that nothing that she sent from her private server had any classified information, and the whole concept is and question has been whether or not it was classified afterwards, and they want this to be made public because the whole concept of them not being made public kind of flies in the face with the argument that there was no sensitive information in there. Anderson.

COOPER: At the rally you're at, I understand the former President Bill Clinton just spoke. Has she addressed the e-mails or she just staying away from that during a stump speech? BASH: He did not address it. She is not address it so far. I don't expect that she will. She is doing a very standard stump speech talking about -- not sure if you heard -- women should have the right to make their own decisions on their bodies about drug affordability and so forth. But, she did speak with NBC News about the issues generally earlier with this about.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LESTER HOLT, NBC NEWS ANCHOR: Why shouldn't people as they weigh the electability question worry about this hanging over your head as you march forward?

HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Because the facts have remained the same. There was never any information sent or received that was marked classified to me.

HOLTON: For people who are watching this play out and know the Republicans will come at you on this with an open investigation, shouldn't people have some concern?

CLINTON: No, they shouldn't, Lester. I just don't see it as anything that will in any way cause any voter to -- a voter with an open mind to have any concerns.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: And, Anderson, just a few minutes before this rally started, Bernie Sanders was literally down the street just a few blocks from here where I am in Davenport, Iowa. He didn't say anything about it, but as we were speaking, his campaign released a statement. In it and he said referred back to what he said effectively to you in the CNN Debate that the American people don't care about her e-mails. It is not an issue that voters here in Iowa or anywhere else need to worry about and should not base their vote on that issue.

COOPER: And, you know, so much have been made about the response Bernie Sanders gets out on the campaign trial. What's -- the mood like there overall?

[21:05:02] BASH: There's a lot of excitement. There's no question. She's kind of engaging the crowd. She's doing and maybe you can hear them responding to her. She kind of doing a back and forth Q&A of, if you will, just trying to rally them. But it is not the same as Bernie Sanders. It's really stark again as I said I just came from there to hear the crowd there is much younger. They are much more enthusiastic, especially about the issues that he hit hard about college affordability, about the fact that Washington is in the pocket of Wall Street and so forth. Back to you.

COOPER: All right, Dana Bash, thanks.

Speaking of Sanders, Jeff Zeleny is in Des Moines for us joins us now. So obviously the breaking news today concerns the Clinton and her e- mails. Dana just mention the Sanders team they've been downplaying this, and they continue to. Is that correct? JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: It is, Anderson. Not even downplaying just not even talking about it. And that is a directive from the very top. As Dana just said they are following the orders from Senator Sanders himself who, you know, who famously said enough of these damn e-mails. But the statement that Dana just the referenced is a touch more nuanced to that. Read me read just a bit of it here. He said, "As I said at the first democratic debate, there's a legal process in place which should not be politicized. The voters of Iowa and this nation deserve a serious discussion of the issues facing them."

So in this statement they said there's a legal process in place. Of course suggesting if there is an investigation under way, which there is here. So I do not expect Senator Sanders to talk about this at all because democratic voters frankly aren't that concerned about it. This will be an issue going forward with independent voters in a general election. But that does not mean that this is going to be solved. I think it will not be an issue in the Iowa Caucus campaign which is now just three days away. But that does not mean that this is over for Hillary Clinton.

COOPER: And how is the race shaping up in the home stretch?

ZELENY: Anderson it feels very tight. I talk to people in both campaigns, visit the headquarters, and they know that this race feels incredibly close. She might be slightly ahead. Both sides agree. But they're going back over all their supporters. What they are doing right now both headquarters, all their offices across the state are have volunteers making phone calls, going back to call supporters, text supporters one by one to make sure they are still with them.

This is something that Howard Dean did not do famously in 2004. He forgot to, or didn't check with all the supporters. I was talking to Iowa Senator Tom Harkin former Iowa Senator Tom Harkin, who supported Howard Dean, endorsed Howard Dean back then and he told me today that was the biggest mistake they made. They forgot to call people. The Clinton campaign is going back, checking with everyone.

The Sanders campaign is doing the same and also trying to drive the young people to vote. So that is the dynamic shaping up here. Are these young voters going to come out and support Senator Sanders? Will it be enough on caucus night to put him over the top? Anderson.

COOPER: All right, Jeff, thanks for reporting.

A run in Republican side, what could be significant fallout from last night's debate was the influential "Des Moines Register" called a rough night for Ted Cruz. He is campaigning right now in town of a Wapello on the Eastern, end of the state on the Iowa River, his fifth stop of a very busy day.

CNN Sunlen Serfaty is covering in all fresh. She joins us now from Des Moines. So the Cruz event about to start any minute. Do we know what he's expected to talk about?

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the Cruz campaign, Anderson at this point says for right now it's all about projecting confidence for Ted Cruz and getting his stump speech in front of as many voters as possible. And as your reference, he's really been barnstorming throughout Northwest Area of Iowa. Let say a very conservative, very rural part of the state, really just giving in abbreviated of version of that stump speech.

So I want to expect him to deviate from that and anyway tonight as he makes his closing argument. But it was interesting on the campaign trail for much of the day. It actually did turn into a little damage control from his debate performance last night as you said, that rough headline in this morning's" Des Moines Register" calling it a rough night for the campaign, widely received that way.

How we saw Ted Cruz say really try to recover is go on offense against Marco Rubio. We really saw him sharpen his attack against Rubio today, specifically on immigration. This is a specific part of the debate that the Ted Cruz Campaign feels played well for Cruz last night. So it's interesting that he really laid into Rubio on this today on the trail. We also have the campaign as redirecting negative TV ad funds from hitting Trump now to hitting Marco Rubio.

So interesting movement, strategy shift within the Cruz campaign and these final days, really speaks to some growing anxiety within the campaign about a potential late last-minute Marco Rubio surge here. Anderson.

COOPER: And Trump is ratcheting up the rhetoric against Cruz calling him an anchor baby in Canada. Did -- has the campaign responded to that?

SERFATY: Well they in this was sure escalation by Trump today right out of the gate really laying into this birth right citizenship issue.

[21:10:03] But, you know, escalating it one step further calling him an anchor baby. Cruz campaign responded with the familiar refrain really hitting on the New York Values. In part Ted Cruz, Spokeswoman Kathryn Frazier saying, the only anchor here is the one being dragged behind as -- "New York Values". It's interesting on the campaign trail there are some signs that this is resonating. Some voters are bringing up, some voters bringing up directly to Ted Cruz. He got a question about it in a town hall just last week and polls reflect that as well. So this is a question going into the Iowa Caucus that the candidate himself is facing directly.

COOPER: All right, Sunlen, thanks very much.

Joining us right now is Rick Tyler, Communications Director for the Cruz campaign. Rick, thanks for being with us. I want to start up just playing a bit of an interview that Donald Trump did with Paul Steinhauser, Political Director for New Hampshire one new. I just want to play that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAULL STEINHAUSER, POLITICAL DIRECTOR NEW HAMPSHIRE: With you not there at the Fox Debate last night. You've made rival in Iowa, Ted Cruz, listen, he was getting pummeled from left and right. Was this maybe by design? Did you think about this all along?

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, a lot of things have happened since then. You know, because you saw the result. And he did he got very badly hurt. And he's going down. Ted Cruz is going down. Plus he has the Canada problem. I mean he got a huge problem. That problem with Canada as to whether he can even run. I think he cannot run. So we'll see what happens. But he does ...

(CROSSTALK)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: The Des Moines register as you know, also kind of said it was a rough night for your candidate. Is that how you see it?

RICK TYLER, COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR, CRUZ FOR PRESIDENT: No, not at all. You know the "Des Moines Register" is a left wing paper it's sort of singly as left wing paper here in Iowa and by the way they did endorse Marco Rubio. So I think they were they were providing him some cover because they like amnesty position that Rubio has.

Look, Cruz did not have a bad night last night. He was put to the test because a lot of barbs came his way. He handled them well that's something Donald Trump could've not handled. And we can imagine the video that they Fox News would have played for Donald Trump and if they can pick any number of issues. They could have pick his support for TARP or stimulus or his position previous position on partial birth abortion or gay marriage or amnesty itself.

So, Donald Trump, you know, he skedaddle from the debate and he also skedaddle from Iowa. You know it's really interesting to me, Anderson is that debate here in Iowa was actually not really about Iowa, it's actually about New Hampshire, because ...

COOPER: Right.

TYLER: ... the only person on that's stage who will has a chance to win Iowa is Senator Ted Cruz. So everybody else was trying to vie for a position in New Hampshire and certainly Marco Rubio. Does Marco Rubio knows that he places second to any of other establishment candidates or even to Ted Cruz because we're doing well in New Hampshire. And that he won't have a path forward. So that was a lot of that debate last night was about.

COOPER: Your campaign released an ad that we're showing right now this week called "New York Values" featuring Trump saying he was pro choice. How much do you or are you hoping that's his past stances on abortion hurt him there come Monday? And are you hearing that resonating on the campaign trail?

TYLER: We definitely are, because this is the real Donald Trump. And, this is not the Donald Trump that is presented himself to Iowa. He is the Donald Trump in his own words by the way, he says my values are New York values. They're not values perhaps in Iowa. And he mentions in that Tim Russert Interview that he was pro-partial birth abortion, that he was pro-gay marriage, that he pro amnesty. He's been pro almost everything. And it's really remarkable. This -- everything that Donald Trump seems to utter in this campaign, he's got a contradictory statement and people here in Iowa are starting to learn that. And I don't think they're going to trust Donald Trump with the White House.

COOPER: All right, Rick Tyler, always good to talk to you. Thank you very much. Appreciate it.

TYLER: Thanks Anderson.

COOPER: A lots to talk about as the candidates take their final shots at each other in search of Iowa vote.

Coming up next, the facts and the law behind the Trump Canada attack line we'll go to Calgary in search of the story.

Later, my conversation with Cruz or Glenn Beck who compares his candidate to Teddy Roosevelt. Why he's making his first presidential endorsement ever. Glenn Beck and his case against Donald Trump, when we continue.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[21:17:46] COOPER: In addition to declaring that he made the right move boycotting last night's debate, Donald Trump today also took the opportunity. You saw before the break to give Ted Cruz poor marks in citizenship. Make of it what you will. Legal questions do remain about his eligibility to be president.

CNN Jeff Toobin joins us shortly to talk about that, but first of all, the facts on the grand, the Canadian ground. Senior investigator correspondent Drew Griffin tonight has that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATOR CORRESPONDENT: Here's the birth certificate. That's the hospital where he was born. And there's no doubt where Ted Cruz first lived.

So it's not actually your log cabin, but historic, yes, because if Ted Cruz gets the votes he needs, this would be the birthplace home of a U.S. president, the first time ever outside the United States.

SEAN MILLER, CALGARY RESIDENT: A Canadian in the White House.

GRIFFIN: Well, not actually, but shocking to Canadian Sean Miller who understood the implications of all of this immediately.

MILLER: Doesn't the American president have to be born in the United States? Oh, my goodness.

GRIFFIN: The answer to that question, according to most scholars is no. But what exactly is Cruz's Canada story? It begins in Calgary in the late 1960s when his American mom, the former Eleanor Elizabeth Darragh of Wilmington, Delaware, and his father Rafael Bienvenido Cruz of Matanzas, Cuba moved to Canada to start their business in the oil industry. Easton Wren knew them both and was especially impressed with Rafael, the geophysicist who was turning his expertise in mathematics and seismology into a very successful business.

EASTON WREN, CALGARY GEOPHYSICIST: His software, his algorithms seems to have an edge to them that many people liked. He's a very clever man and he was very -- a lot of charisma. So the combination of technical capability with charismatic personalities served him well in the business here.

GRIFFIN: The Cruz family quickly moved from the rental home across from the hospital to this wealthier neighborhood on the Elbow River where Rafael and Eleanor bought this home. They were moving up and Rafael Cruz was becoming established in Calgary's scientific community.

WREN: He had his trademark mustache, very charismatic. Very -- the center of the group.

[21:20:00] GRIFFIN: Wren volunteered with Cruz as his assistant editor for a technical journal for two years. Then suddenly in 1974, the Cruz family just disappeared.

WREN: He has sold his company and had gone back to the United States.

GRIFFIN: Were you surprised?

WREN: Yes, because I thought that his business was growing, and I felt that he was becoming more established, and there's no reason to give it up.

GRIFFIN: Did he talk about, "I want to go back to America?"

WREN: Never.

GRIFFIN: "That I'm going to give up my Canada."

WREN: Never to me. Never to me. Never to me.

He was establishing his business here, and it was successful, indeed. And there was never any sense that he was about to leave for any reason.

GRIFFIN: The story, according to Ted Cruz it was alcohol that changed everything. Cruz says his mother and father drank too much.

TED CRUZ, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And when I was 3 years old, my father decided, he didn't want to be married anymore. And he didn't want a 3-year-old son.

So, he got on a plane and left Calgary and he flew back to Texas, to Houston. And he left us.

GRIFFIN: The story goes Raphael Cruz went to Texas found religion, stopped drinking, brought his family to the U.S. and for the past 40 years has been a preacher. The political problem for Ted Cruz during all those 40 years, while he was a U.S. citizen by birth from his mother, he was still also a Canadian, a dual citizen.

IAN HOLLOWAY, DEAN OF CALGARY'S LAW SCHOOL: What makes you a Canadian citizen? Being born in Canada.

GRIFFIN: Ian Holloway, the dean of Calgary's Law School says Cruz's birth certificate leaves no doubt he was Canadian at least until May of 2014. That's when Senator Ted Cruz said he wasn't even aware of his dual citizenship and he officially renounced his Canadian citizenship. Canada granted his request with this document.

So, is it fair to say that between this document and this document, he has been a Canadian citizen?

HOLLOWAY: He's been a Canadian citizen.

GRIFFIN: All along.

HOLLOWAY: All along.

GRIFFIN: Cruz is not Canadian anymore. That is official. But, that still doesn't resolve the other lingering question. Can he become the first former Canadian citizen to become president of the United States?

Drew Griffin, CNN, Calgary.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: So, having laid out the facts of the case that leaves the law which is why we turn next to a CNN Senior Legal Analyst, Jeffrey Toobin joins us now. I know we've spoken about this before but just be clear. Is Ted Cruz eligible to be president given that he was born in Canada, in your opinion?

JEFFREY TOOBIN, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: Probably, but there has never been a Supreme Court decision. There has been -- and never any federal court decision defining that term in the constitution, natural-born citizen.

The leading analysis, as far as I can tell, is by two former solicitor generals of the United States who have said, what natural-born citizen means is someone who is an American citizen without having to go through a naturalization ceremony.

And because Ted Cruz's mother was from Delaware, he got an American passport without having to go through naturalization. That seems to me right. But -- and I would think most people who have looked at this issue agree that he is a natural born citizen. But, it is hanging out there without a definitive answer.

COOPER: And the latest charge that Trump's that Cruz's an anchor baby in Canada, what do you make of that? TOOBIN: You know, it doesn't even make any sense to me because the whole idea of anchor babies, it's this epithet, it's an insulting term for a woman who comes to the United States illegally, has a child for the sole purpose of making the baby an American citizen.

The whole point of this controversy is that Ted Cruz was born in Canada. So, the anchor was in Canada. It just doesn't make any sense. I think it's simply an attempt to throw a nasty immigration based epithet at Ted Cruz and to sort of muddy the waters further. But just as a logical matter, the insult just doesn't make any sense.

COOPER: And also, the idea that by Donald Trump that he's put forward that Ted Cruz should just go and get a -- what he called the declaratory statement before a judge to settle this once and for all, that's not how this works.

TOOBIN: That -- and it's quite clear under Article III of the constitution, that's you need a case or controversy. You need a plaintiff and a defendant both of whom have standing to resolve the case in federal court.

You can't simply go to a judge and say, "Answer this question for me." The person who would have standing, clearly, is Ted Cruz. If some board of elections somewhere said, "We're not going to put your name on the presidential ballot because you're not a natural born citizen." He would certainly have standing to go to court.

Beyond that, it's somewhat unclear if anyone else would have standing. Certainly, a voter wouldn't have standing.

[21:25:01] The courts have been very clear that voters don't have standing on these issues.

Would one of his opponents have standing? That's quite possible. But there's no indication that any opponent is going to court on this issue. So, it's likely to just sort of hang out there. Cruz is probably right. I'm not going out on a limb. I think most people agree that he is a natural born citizen. But the issue is not definitively resolved. And Donald Trump has had a good month in the polls bringing Cruz down ...

COOPER: Sure.

TOOBIN: ... at least clearly in part because of this whole controversy.

COOPER: Yeah, no doubt about that. Just ahead, Jeff thanks very much.

Just ahead, we'll look closer, what seems to be a significant sore point for Donald Trump, it came out during his conversation with Brianna Keilar. See what subject made the candidate want to change his subject, even if it meant talking about property law.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) COOPER: Closer look now, Donald Trump and a subject he doesn't like dwelling on by appearance just the opposite as you probably know. He's been taking heat from social conservatives, his presidential rivals and fact checkers over his changing views over the years on abortion from being in his words at the time very pro-choice to pro- life.

[21:30:01] Some are hitting him because he changed positions, others because he doesn't -- not seem to acknowledge having changed at all. You can see in this moment from his conversation last night with our Brianna Keilar when asked, he change the subject.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN, SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Ted Cruz ...

TRUMP: Right.

KEILAR: ... has been hit not just Ted Cruz, but also those who support him have been hammering you when it comes to your previous views on late-term abortion.

TRUMP: Well, I'm hammering him on his views where he was born.

KEILAR: But, they have been ...

TRUMP: And his weak by the way, he's very weak on illegal immigration.

KEILAR: But you said, you said to my colleague just recently, Dana Bash, you said "I don't want to talk about that when asked about your previous support for late-term abortion. Would this ...

TRUMP: You know, what because everybody knows, first it was false, I am pro-life. Everybody knows I'm pro-life. He knows I'm pro-life. You know, Ted Cruz also took a commercial, wait a minute. Ted Cruz took a commercial that I ripped down an old lady's house. He said ripped down, they have a bulldozers. They say he destroyed it because of eminent domain, which by the way is very important because you wouldn't have roads or schools, you wouldn't have any ...

KEILAR: But can you explain it you said previously ...

TRUMP: Wait a minute, the house was never ripped down. I never ripped down the house she didn't want to do it. Ultimately, I said "let's not do it".

KEILAR: Well, let me ask you this question.

TRUMP: No way wait, wait, wait, why intervention.

KEILAR: This is my question.

TRUMP: Brianna, wait, Brianna, he did a big commercial he said I ripped down a person's house.

KEILAR: But what is that has to do with, you don't like to talk about this issue with late term abortion.

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: Excuse me, it has a lot to do with it, because he's very dishonest in what he's doing. He says I ripped down a house of an elderly lady. And I didn't rip it down. And he never apologized.

KEILAR: And you've said at. And you said that certainly in that within the interview.

TRUMP: Yeah, but he never apologized.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: In a moment I'll talk to Trump's campaign co-chairs Sam Clovis about his candidates change or position changes subject, the person background from Dana Bash.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I'm pro life, Everybody knows that I'm pro-life.

BASH: Yet Donald Trump wasn't always against abortion rights and his opponents are working to make sure Iowa voters know it. Like in this T.V. ad paid for by Ted Cruz's campaign.

TRUMP: I am pro choice in every respect.

BASH: That was taken from an interview with Tim Russert in 1999 when Trump was joined with an independent presidential run.

TRUMP: I'm very pro choice, I hate the concept of abortion. I hate it. I hate everything it stands for. I cringe when I listen to people debating the subject. But you still, I just believe in choice. And again, it may be a little bit of a New York background because there is some different attitude and different parts of the country.

Well I want to thank.

BASH: Here's what Trump said last week about his opponents using those comments against him.

TRUMP: In that they have their choice. They can do what they have to do. I'm pro-life. And they can do what they have to do. There'll be many people that will be voting for me that I can tell you.

BASH: But Trump didn't just advocate for abortion rights in one T.V. interview. He took time to lay them out in his 2000 book, "The America We Deserve."

At the time you said that you were pro choice, now you've changed.

TRUMP: Not strongly, but I am pro life. I had an experience with a friend of mine who was, frankly, they were going to abort their child, which they ended up having and their child is like this magnificent person, and it had an impact. I've seen that now a couple of times with other kid but I'm pro-life.

BASH: In the past, conservative voters especially in Evangelical Rich Iowa, was skeptical of candidates who were ever anything but anti- abortion. Mitt Romney went from being for abortion rights as Massachusetts governor to being against abortion rights as he considered his first presidential run saying then, "I am no longer content with the description of my position. I want to call myself pro-life".

Romney could never quite convince many socially conservative voters he meant that. Trump is occasionally asked about his position by voters.

TRUMP: Me, pro-life.

BASH: But his big rallies don't allow for extended Q&A with voters that candidates for president, especially in Iowa, are historically subjected to. Still, it's unclear if ads like this from Jeb Bush's Super PAC will stick.

CLINTON: I'm pro-choice.

TRUMP: I'm very pro-choice.

BASH: It may, for a normal politician but if Donald Trump has proven anything, it's that's he's not susceptible to typical laws of political gravity, at least not yet.

Dana Bash, CNN, Davenport, Iowa.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: So we've seen that time and time again. Joining us now is Sam Clovis, co-chairman and policy adviser for the Donald Trump National Campaign. Sam, is always good to have you at the program.

Do you think this attack on Trump that he has switched his position, which, he, you know, he clearly did at one point. Is it resonating at all? Or are you hearing it or seeing it in polls at all, because, you know, we just talked too at Ted Cruz's person, they're running ads about this.

SAM CLOVIS, CO-CHAIRMAN, POLICY ADVISER TRUMP NATIONAL CAMPAIGN: Well, I don't think it's not any impact. I think that a lot of people look at Mr. Trump in a way that a lot of, you know, with the great scrutiny he's had all of his life he's been a celebrity all of his life. And I think you to take a look at this, this is a person who has grown.

[21:35:00] He has broadened his view of the world and I really think that as his family matured and his children grew up and took over the business, and he had grandchildren come into his life, I really think that his perspective on a lot of issues changes. And I will tell you from personal experience, that same thing has happened to me that's happened into a lot of other people that reach this particular age.

And we start to see things in a lot different way. And I think what you look at is, what's best for the world? And if you have the wherewithal, Mr. Trump does, to go out and make a difference, and he can, I think this is a remarkable human being and I think it's a remarkable admission on his part. And I think that he has evolved in that way. And like a lot of other men have in this particular area and this particular time.

COOPER: Sam I've talked about this a lot the last couple days. I read this article in "the Wall Street Journal" which I found is really interesting on how Donald Trump makes decisions. The reporter spent a couple of days with him on his plane. He was with them when, you know, he kind of was looking at polls, looking at T.V. coverage and said, I don't know if he said it out loud to her or but he said, look, Cruz has been, you know, flying high too long in Iowa. We're going to take him down and came up with the whole the Canada -- the birth issue.

I'm just curious I mean you work with a lot of candidates, a lot of politicians. Does he make -- are his instincts more finely tuned than most you've worked with? And does he make -- it seems he makes decisions pretty much through his own counsel. Is that your experience?

CLOVIS: I will say, well I'm not sure that's an accurate characterization. I don't -- I think you have a lot of it right. But I don't think it's entirely right. And that's not disparaging at all, Anderson.

COOPER: Right now.

CLOVIS: If you're not part of it, you know, you don't realize what goes on. There's a lot of discussion. He has tremendous instincts. His tremendous may be have been elect. One of the things that struck me when I first started working for him was how intuitive he is.

He has an incredible ability to be able to connect dots when you sit down, start to lay out complex issues. And get through, you know, in trade deals or foreign policy issues. You start to lay those out. He picks up on it really quickly and he's able to help you and you help him move along in those areas. And he doesn't make any decision rationally.

I think he knows exactly what it is he needs to do and wants to do. He consults people. He his family is very important to him. His close advisers and I think for a lot of us, we're very comfortable with the way this process works.

And I think that and you got to admit. I mean take a look at the decisions he's made so far. We haven't -- we haven't seen any jostling of the ball going out of bounds anywhere. I'll tell you that for sure.

COOPER: Right, and I'm not bringing this up in any way as a criticism. I actually just think it's a fascinating skill that I thought was the first time I'd heard it written about, and I thought it was really interesting. Because even tonight talking to Paul Steinhauser in New Hampshire, a local reporter, Trump was saying, you know, about not participating in the debate that whether, you know, he didn't know it was necessarily by design that he did it so that everyone would getting up on Ted Cruz without Trump being there, but maybe it was instinct.

And I -- it just seems to me he's a guy who has a very finely tuned instinct for, you know, whatever his beliefs are or just the mood or -- I mean, I'm not sure what the instinct is for. But it just seems more finely tuned than most people I've seen in a political sphere in a long time.

CLOVIS: I think he's absolutely right. But I think a lot of it comes from, you know, his 40 years in business. I think that you -- I'm a businessman myself. But I know exactly when you get in there, you have to have some sense of what's going on. Situational awareness or what the circumstances are. You have to see things develop. You have to see how things evolve and he has that ability to see around corners. And I think that's an important position for a lot of people. And it's a very rare skill. And he probably has it in -- honed to his -- to a level that most people will never know.

COOPER: That's fascinating. Sam Clovis, good to talk to you, I appreciate it. Thank you.

CLOVIS: Always, Anderson. It's great to see you.

COOPER: All right. You take a long weekend ahead for Sam and all the other candidates in their campaigns.

Just ahead, part two of my interview with Glenn Beck. Why he is endorsing Ted Cruz. First time he's ever endorsed a candidate before publicly. And why he thinks -- or what he thinks about Donald Trump. He tells amount ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[21:43:18] COOPER: As we said earlier, Conservative Talk Radio Host, Glenn Beck has been speaking out against Donald Trump. He's slammed the Republican front runner in an essay on Facebook and on his radio show.

This week, he endorsed Mr Trump's biggest rival, Ted Cruz. The first time he's endorsed a presidential candidate. Here's part two of my interview with Glenn Beck.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: A lot of the people who were in the Tea Party, who were Tea Party supporters, and I talked to a lot of people who were, you know, Tea Party organizers who are against Trump, but a lot of people are Tea Party supporters are supporting Donald Trump. A lot of evangelicals who I remember, Erick Erickson early on after Trump made the statement about, you know, drinking the little wine and the little cracker and not talking about forgiveness at all essentially said.

Look, he's kind of written off the evangelical vote. And yet -- And there's a lot of big name evangelicals who have spoken out against Trump. And yet, a lot of evangelical voters, I mean, he's leading the polls among evangelicals.

GLENN BECK, CONSERVATIVE POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Because, I think, people are tired and they're frustrated and they're angry. And look, I can understand that. And, Anderson, you can understand that.

A lot of people are out of work and they've lost hope. But we never make a good decision when we're angry. There is, if I may make a, you know, something that everybody will mock me for and make fun of like the Caliphate.

We're headed for an economic collapse. I don't know when, but we're headed for an economic collapse. We're headed for another great depression.

When that happens, we better have somebody who is rooted in the constitution and rooted in you being a good person, not rooted in, "I'm going to fix this, I'm going to get him, I'm going to have revenge."

COOPER: You know, it's interesting, I read your endorsement. I watched it on TV, also, but I also read the transcript of it.

[21:45:04] But one thing you said is that you had never endorsed a candidate in your 40, I think it was, years of broadcasting. I don't want to get to the age, but the years wrong because, you know, you're incredibly youthful.

BECK: About 40.

COOPER: It's been 40, OK. I got to ask you for your secrets because I'm about 22 and I'm about ready to take a long nap.

BECK: I know.

COOPER: But, I thought it was really interesting and I think it's ...

BECK: It only gets worse.

COOPER: A lot of people in the media said there are though he's endorsed candidates before and they looked back and it actually, you have not endorsed candidates, you did one jokingly.

You know, you've said a while, I'd vote for this guy or I vote for these people, but you haven't actually endorsed somebody.

So, why make this step at this juncture with this candidate, with Ted Cruz, a guy who, you know, obviously, there's a lot of folks in Washington in the establishment who do not like Ted Cruz and who even say, he says he's anti-establishment. But, you know, he went to Princeton. You know, he's had a lot of high-profile jobs. He's in the U.S. Senate.

BECK: Yeah. There's a difference between being, you know, working in Washington or, you know, going to Princeton. I don't have a problem. Smart people go to Princeton and Harvard. I think that's a problem. As a difference between going and working places and then losing your soul. What I am sick and tired of is the people who go and then they just do the same thing that they promised they wouldn't do.

You know, go in there and be your own man and stand against the storm. I'm looking for somebody who will be a David with Goliath.

The corruption, Anderson, in Washington is unbelievable. I want somebody that isn't really liked by all the people in Washington, especially the GOP.

Because, you know, the Democrats have to clean out their own house. I have access to people in the -- that vote Republican generally. Let's clean out our own house. Forget about what the other guys are doing. Let's try to do ours right.

COOPER: Glenn Beck, it's always -- it's really good to talk to you. Where do you get a camouflage scarf by the way? I just got to ask, because I kind of like it?

BECK: I don't know. I was trying to make my double chin disappear. I was believed me, you didn't notice with my scarf.

COOPER: Somebody who's obsessed with my own ...

(CROSSTALK)

COOPER: ... I'm looking for a scarf, you know. I like it. Glenn, always a pleasure. Thank you so much.

BECK: Thank you.

COOPER: Well, just ahead, tonight, a woman who taught English as a second language at a jail is arrested in connection with the escape of three inmates.

What we know about the relationship between her and the alleged ringleader of the jail break, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[21:51:12] COOPER: The one or three inmates who escaped from the jail in California last week has turned themselves in and is back in custody.

The search is still on for the two other escapees. And now, a woman who taught English as a second language at the jail, she has been arrested.

Authorities think she may have helped them escape. And Investigators referring to looking for letters, she and one of the inmates wrote to each other. Paul Vercammen tonight, has the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: She is 44. He is 37. Both of Iranian descent and involved in a relationship that may have started inside the Orange County Jail.

Nooshafarin Ravaghi, taught English as a second language and reputed jailbreak ringleader, Hossein Nayeri was her student. After his escape, detectives found correspondence between the two but were these love letters?

LT. JEFF HOLLOCH, ORANGE COUNTY SHERRIFF'S DEPARTMENT: Obviously, it's not out of the question, but we don't have any information to determine that in fact, it was romantic.

But we do know there was much closer and much more personal than it should have been.

VERCAMMEN: Nayeri's rap sheet hardly screams hopeless romantic. He grew up in the Fresno area, serving the Marines, but was charged in 2005 for killing a friend after he crushed his car while driving drunk.

And in 2012, prosecutor say, he kidnapped and tortured a marijuana dispensary owner, burning him with a blow torch and sexually mutilating the victim. He was in jail awaiting trial before the escaped.

Noosha, as she calls herself on her website proclaims, she's a master's in French literature. She also say, she's been editing books and teaching English, Farsi and French to children and adults. So, how did he wind up in her English as a second language course?

HOLLOCH: The connection whether it's from Iran, we're not exactly sure. That does very much of a concern of us which leads us to believe that she played a significant role in the planning.

VERCAMMEN: The Sheriff's Department says the instructor may have provided Nayeri with a printed Google map, perhaps, extremely valuable to someone who could not case the jail roof from the inside. A roof Nayeri and his fellow fugitives rappelled off it makes your brooks four stories to freedom.

Authorities say all three fugitives were facing long sentences or life in prison if convicted so they were motivated to try to break out.

But Nayeri and cohorts needed help. So, authorities believe they turned to the woman who was a teacher and perhaps more to Nayeri.

HOLLOCH: It's common knowledge that the inmates, especially somebody facing significant amount of time are going to use whatever they can in manipulations, a tactic they typically will use to get something that they want.

VERCAMMEN: Now this sounds just like that upstate New York escape last summer. Authorities charge extremely violent prisoners got outside with inside help.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Paul Vercammen joins us now from Santa Ana, California. What do we know about the inmate now in custody?

VERCAMMEN: Well, Anderson, they believe he's talking. They say he's cooperating and following up from that, they now say that the two fugitives who are still out there are somewhere in the Fresno or in the San Jose area.

COOPER: Paul Vercammen, appreciate the details. Thanks.

The FBI says negotiators working around the clock to resolve the nearly month-long standoff in the Oregon.

The four people thought to still be inside say they're ready to leave peacefully, but are also prepared to die.

A protest leader, Ammon Bundy has been arrested as you know. Another protester was killed in a shoot-out earlier this week.

The FBI has released video showing that confrontation. Kyung Lah reports.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This shooting is why the FBI is releasing unedited video shot from a surveillance plane. The man gunned down is Lavoy Finicum, one of the leaders of the Month-Long Wildlife Refuge Siege in Oregon.

During the occupation, he told reporters, he would give his life.

LAVOY FINICUM, LEADER OF THE MONTH-LONG WILDLIFE REFUGE SIEGE IN OREGON: Please don't point guns at me and I shall not point guns at you. How about we leave it at that?

LAH: On Tuesday, law enforcement made their first move since The Siege began. The black jeep pulls over.

Leader Ammon Bundy surrenders. The truck that Finicum is driving stops here.

[21:55:05] One passenger gets out, turning himself in. Then it come waiving to authorities, but not exiting. For nearly four minutes, the truck sits on the road, then suddenly takes off.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The white truck leaves the scene at a high rate of speed.

LAH: The truck approaches roadblock, veers, nearly hitting an officer and slumps into a snow bank.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's head up from release the truck and steps through the snow.

LAH: His hands are up. But watch, he reaches to his left pocket here and then here and officer's fire. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He did have a loaded 9 millimeter semiautomatic handgun in that pocket. At this time, those three troopers shot Finicum.

LAH: Three people are still inside the truck. Officers use flash bags and a pepper spray type to turn to get the two women and one man to surrender.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Agents and troopers did find three other loaded weapons inside the truck, they included two loaded 223 caliber semiautomatic rifles and there was also one loaded 38 special revolver.

LAH: But the occupation here in Oregon continuous a small hand full of people remain on the refugee just down the street. Negotiations with them, continuing.

Kyung Lah, CNN, Harney County, Oregon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: More news ahead. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[22:00:02] COOPER: Well, that's it for us. Thanks very much for watching. We'll be back on Sunday night for special report about the Iowa caucuses. They'll be joining us, the CNN's Special Report, "The Secret Life of G.I Joe", starts now.