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Obama, Senate Democrats, Meeting Ends; Global Concerns About U.S. Shutdown; Interview with Maryland Congressman John Delaney; Four GOP Senators Meet Dems, Obama Over Government Shutdown; Arrest in Baby Hope Murder Case

Aired October 12, 2013 - 17:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back now to our live coverage here on CNN. I'm Don Lemon in Los Angeles. Thank you so much for joining us. Once again our top story this hour, the ongoing fight over the budget and debt limit in Washington.

Twelve days into this partial government shutdown, federal programs going nowhere. National parks closed. Hundreds of thousands of government employees still at home eager to get back to work. So, where do many Congress members, where are they today? Where did they go? Well, they went home. They went to their districts. And after all, it's a holiday weekend and the House of Representatives is in recess. Senators are working, though, they're working today.

As a matter of fact, they met at the White House just a short time ago and I want to get straight there to CNN's Brianna Keilar. Brianna, you and I talked about that meeting at the White House with Senate Democrats, I understand it's over. Lasted about a minute -- an hour 15 minutes. What happened?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: We haven't actually gotten a read-out yet from the White House or from the members inside of the meeting, Don, but I don't think we were expecting some extraordinary news to come out of it. It was, we were told by a White House official, really Democrats and the White House kind of getting on the same page after we've had a couple days here of developments and we're kind of back really at the drawing board.

So, just to recap what we've seen here in about the last 24 hours or so is the White House rejected yesterday a House proposal that would have extended the debt ceiling for just six weeks. That would have taken us to right before the holiday season. And then President Obama made clear in his weekly radio address that that wasn't a good idea. The White House has been hearing a lot from business. The President has been hearing from governors that this is not a good idea to be having this battle all over again, creating uncertainty as we go into the heavy holiday retail market.

Then today we saw Senate Democrats with, of course, the backing of the White House, rejecting a provision -- a bill that was being proposed by a Republican Senator Susan Collins. This would have extended the debt ceiling through January, but the White House wanted longer. There were provisions and conditions in there, the White House and Senate Democrats didn't want as well. And we also saw a failed vote in the Senate. It would have been what Democrats want, which is an extension of the debt ceiling beyond the midterm election in November. That failed along party lines.

So, right now all the focus is still in the Senate, but it really is with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell who met really for the first time on this topic today. McConnell has appointed Senator Lamar Alexander, obviously a republican, to be the point person on this. But what are they going to cook up? We just don't know at this point, Don, things are very uncertain, but we'll certainly be keeping an eye on the Senate to see if there is perhaps some sort of framework that they can come up with before the markets open on Monday. And even though it's a holiday, the markets, the stock market anyway, will be open and either way, whether there's some sort of framework or not, it will no doubt -- we would think anyways -- respond in some way.

LEMON: Yes. And as you were speaking there, we saw the video of them leaving the White House. And the last one was Harry Reid getting into his SUV, a driver helping him to get in there. Let's talk now about the House members, Brianna. They went home to their districts today. Senate leaders, again, negotiating that debt limit deal as you've been talking about. You told me last hour that the process is back to the drawing board. So, what happens when the House is back in session next week?

KEILAR: Well, I think at this point it's what we call in Washington jamming. It's when one House in order to influence the other takes something up and sort of pushes it to try to create momentum on the other chamber which may be less willing to take up whatever that measure is. It's unclear at this point exactly how this all goes down. But at this point you would think that with the ball kind of in the court of the Senate, that perhaps they -- Democrats or Republicans there, and there's really a lot of interest on both sides of the aisle at this point in getting something done, because this is sort of languishing on and Americans aren't happy with it and everyone knows that.

But they may come up with some sort of framework perhaps and try to either come to agreement with the House or just kind of push it on the House. The pressure, Don, as it increases if the markets respond and also getting closer to October 17th on Thursday, the pressure is going to mount on House Republicans who really at this point kind of have the least leverage to accept whatever the Senate may push their way. Of course, this is just one possibility of how these things shape up. But it does appear to be the more likely avenue at this point.

LEMON: All right, Brianna Keilar, you're going to be there for a while. Thank you very much. We appreciate it at the White House.

KEILAR: have a good one.

LEMON: Ye, you, too.

Even though the politicians are still bickering in Washington and much of the government is quiet with the lights off, somebody found a way to reopen some of the most famous symbols of the United States. Among them the Grand Canyon, Mr. Rushmore and Lady Liberty. The governors in five states are so fed up with the shutdown that they are taking matters into their own hands. Those states will pay for their iconic symbols to once again be open for visitors. That's right state money -- state money -- will let these parks open temporarily. But if the federal government remains closed for another week or more there might not be enough money to keep those sites open.

Authorities in Mexico looking for this man. His name is Scott Chandler. He's a director of a ranch where troubled kids. An amber alert was issued for nine teenagers who police say were abducted from the ranch. Authorities say at least one of the teens has returned home and is OK and Chandler's lawyer says that all the teens are safe, but an amber alert remains in effect until police can physically confirm the teens' well-being.

A California man has been indicted on charges of attempting to provide material support and resources to al Qaeda. Twenty-four-year- old Sinh Vinh Ngo Nguyen was arrested as he attempted to board a bus from Mexico. Federal officials say, they believe he was traveling alone. Indictment alleges when may false statements in order to facilitate an act of international terrorism.

Wall Street and Washington, we're going to go live to our business pro Richard Quest. He just spoke with the leader of the International Monetary Fund and you're going to hear what she has to say about the standoff in Washington. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: All right. While the world's financial leaders are watching as the U.S. struggles to get its financial House in order and avoid a government default and they're getting a little worried. Who best to talk about this, well, it's CNN's Richard Quest. He is in Washington for us. Richard, you spoke today with Christine Lagarde, right? The director of the International Monetary Fund, what did she say to you?

RICHARD QUEST, HOST, CNN'S QUEST MEANS BUSINESS: Well, they're having their annual meeting in Washington, just about every finance minister and central banker in the world including, by the way, Jack Lew of U.S. Treasury and Ben Bernanke of the Fed are all there. And what basically anyone who you'll talk to says they just a can't believe it's happening. It's an extraordinary state of affairs. They all say they have confidence that the U.S. will sort out its fiscal mess and raise the debt ceiling. But after the main committee meeting, I asked Christine Lagarde why she remains so confident since clearly there was very little progress being made.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTINE LAGARDE, DIRECTOR, INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND: There's nothing like a deadline to actually reach the target, and I would hope that that deadline operates in that fashion, but that was the view expressed by all ministers in town in Washington for two days who have come from all corners of the world for the annual meeting of the IMF. They are concerned, because the U.S. is the biggest economic -- economy in the world, because it trades with all of them, because it has massive financial consequences for them as well. So, it's an international concern that was expressed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: It's an international concern. And more than that, if you talk to them privately, the Europeans say, well, they're glad they're not center stage as they have been for the last few years, but really, the U.S. has never short of lecturing everybody else about putting their fiscal house in order and now it's time for them to do the same. One Latin American central banker basically said the U.S. really should take some of its own medicine, having told everybody else what to do, now they need to step up to the plate. And that seems to be the message. Although they've got no power and very little influence, the Washington message from the central bankers and financial ministers of the world is do the deed, do the act, before you do real damage.

LEMON: Absolutely. And you wonder if the people who are -- who have shut the government down, who are holding up the government --

QUEST: Oh.

LEMON: -- this faction of Tea Partiers on the right, I understand if they understand the enormity of this and what people around the world are thinking about it or if they're just looking at it through a myopic lens here in America. Here's what we want and shut it down if we don't get our way.

QUEST: They do know, and anybody whose -- George Osborne the British chancellor of the Exchequer and the finance minister had meetings on Capitol Hill early this week. Christine Lagarde has had meeting and they all told me, yes, the leaders do understand the seriousness, or at least the responsible leaders, the major leadership in both parties, understand what is at stake. But seemingly there is this vast disconnect between what they know to be the complications and the consequences and actually getting there. And we're now into the end game. I mean, Monday the markets will open. Now, only a fool would sit here and ever predict market mayhem, mystery and misfortune. But the closer you get to a serious deadline, the more you will start to see a reaction. It will start small. It might be in the foreign exchange. It might be in the bond market. But it will snowball as investors have to take account of the new changed reality.

LEMON: Oh, it's so frustrating, Richard. Richard, stay right there, don't go anywhere because we may need you.

I want to bring in Maryland Democratic Congressman John Delaney. He has a unique perspective on the budget standoff in Congress. He's the only house member to have served as a CEO of a publicly traded company, so this gives you some unique perspective here. He's actually had to make a budget and make a payroll at this financial services company no less. Congressman Delaney, good to see you.

REP. JOHN DELANEY (D), MARYLAND: Good to see you, Don.

LEMON: I'm sure you heard what Richard Quest was talking about the people, the bond markets and the international folks and the financial markets meeting and talking about the U.S. If you were running a business and it was in this mess that the country is in right now, would you still have your job as CEO?

DELANEY: The answer is no. I mean, the thing that's quite amazing is -- and I agree with the comments that were made right before I came on about the effect that this has on both the U.S. economy and the global economy. And, by the way, bad events in the global economy have a very negative effect on the U.S. economy. So, if you were running a company and steered your company for no good reason towards a situation we're in now, you would have been asked to leave at this point. And the thing that's incredibly shocking about this is these hard deadlines are coming up in a day or two. And it doesn't appear like people are actually engaged in serious conversations. On Saturday afternoon two days before this deadline's supposed to hit. It's unbelievable that this isn't being taken more seriously by the respective leaders and the parties.

The fact that they're not all locked in a room committed to work out a deal -- and let's face it, there is going to have to be some deal here and people are not going to feel great about it, but we have to get ourselves out of this situation. Because this situation is inherently dangerous. And we have to get ourselves into a normal operating model, if you will, where we can actually take on the big problems that we need to deal with. But we actually have to get out of the situation that we're in, because until we do that we can't even have a serious conversation.

LEMON: OK, so I want to ask, do you think that the people and I, you know, this is what I think and this is what the polls show, is that the American people believe that the Republican Party, not all Republicans, not responsible Republicans, but the Tea Party faction, those are the people who have shut this government down. Do you think those people understand the implications of this worldwide in their actions?

DELANEY: Listen, I think a lot of the Republican Party understands the implications. A lot of the republicans I've been talking to, both members on Capitol Hill, members in the Senate, and people who are not formally in Congress but Republicans who are affiliated with the party, they understand the severity of this. I think a minority of the Republican members in the House of Representatives are indifferent to this situation and that's a huge problem. But I think a majority of the Republicans do, which is why I think people are optimistic.

When you heard from the comments that were just said, there were discussions with the leadership and they say they understand it. But still to me, you know, and again, I come to this with a view that they did precipitate this. It was actually precipitated several weeks ago when Senator Cruz did what he did which was entirely about himself and entirely against the common good of the United States --

LEMON: There's no doubt, listen, Representative, there's no doubt that they precipitated it and the rhetoric have said on CNN, don't believe the false equivalent of the false narrative. They did precipitate it whether they want to hear about it or not. People hate that I say that, but that's the honest truth here, that's who precipitated this.

DELANEY: That's right. But it's up to both parties now to get us out of this situation.

LEMON: Right. Absolutely.

DELANEY: We have a significant problem, right? In a couple days we'll going to trip the treasury impose deadline if you will when they can no longer borrow. Right. That as you've spent a lot of time talking about, that has incredibly negative implications in the short term for the United States economy and in fact, it will likely and probably already has had significant implications for the U.S. economy across the long term, because whether we like it or not, the United States is going to have to be a net borrower for a very long time in the global markets and it wouldn't surprise me if foreign investors in our debt even now are starting to recalibrate on the margin how they think about the U.S. credit.

LEMON: Right.

DELANEY: And so, I think there's a fair amount of damage already done. Now, I think we can recover from this, but if this goes any further, we start to kind of notch in permanent damage and that will result --

LEMON: We dig ourselves deeper into a hole, correct? Right?

DELANEY: Right. We should as a country be very concerned about our borrowing cost. I mean, someone like myself who has been a very strong advocate for fiscal responsibility, I've been leading on entitlement reforms in my party and I have a strong view that I need to change the fiscal trajectory, but we should also be concerned about our borrowing costs because whether we like it or not we will have borrowing costs in this country for a very long time and we should be very mindful of presenting ourselves as the terrific credit we have historically been. And these kinds of actions clearly undermine that confidence. They increase borrowing costs on the margin and in that regard they're actually fiscally irresponsible.

LEMON: Hmm. Richard Quest has a question for you, Congressman. Richard, of course, is -- handles, you know, international business here on CNN. He wants to talk to you about something.

QUEST: Congressman, having spent the weekend talking to finance ministers from all parts of the world who just can't really grasp how Congress could do this, your answer, are they in denial or are they delusional about the effects, if they continue to push to the end?

DELANEY: You know, I think probably some are in denial. I think some are delusional. And I think some just don't have their priorities straight, right? Which in other words, they're prioritizing political wins over substantive progress for the country. So, I think the reasons for the behavior we're seeing, there's kind of multiple reasons for this behavior. I think some people don't truly understand the situation and they think, you know, the debt limit it doesn't really mean anything and they don't understand the implications on the U.S. economy and on the global markets. Some I think are in denial. And some, quite frankly, are just using this for political gain.

I mean, one of the things that's most frustrating to me particularly as a new member of Congress is all the talk about how this seems to be playing out to the benefit of each party and you hear it from each party. And that to me is really destructive and scary dialogue, because we need to be thinking about the common good of the country and if you actually think about the common good of the country, you would not have let this played out as far as you have. Which is why it's incumbent on both parties to actually work this thing out across the next 24 or 48 hours.

LEMON: Yes. I was watching -- I think you're absolutely right. I was watching Ted Cruz and others at the values voter summit yesterday and these guys are running for president, at least for him specifically and so, you're right, it's about the politics of it, and increasing their platform for some people when a lot of Americans are hurting. Thank you very much. We appreciate it. Richard, I'll see you soon. Go ahead.

DELANEY: And just one comment on that if I could. And the message that the American people should send is that the leadership that has been involved in this debacle or people that precipitated this debacle, the American people should send a message that they're disqualified from being the president of this great United States. Because this behavior if you are in the leadership and kind of, you know, presiding over this, or if you are actually precipitating this, I mean, to me that should be a disqualifying event for being considered. And I think that would be the message that the American people need to send to those people because we do need to change the behavior here.

LEMON: Thank you, congressman.

DELANEY: Thank you.

LEMON: And, again, thank you to Richard Quest.

You may have seen those mug shots, magazines at gas stations, right? Online mug shots, website, they are big business right now, not because people hate to see those photos, but they have to pay to get themselves off those websites. Some say it's wrecking the lives of innocent people, that's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: In response to an offensive e-mail that drew plenty of criticism online and on campus, a Georgia tech student and Phi Kappa Tau fraternity member has stepped forward to apologized, the e-mail which instructed fellow fraternity members on quote, "luring rape bait" including references to using alcohol as a means of sexual persuasion. Both the university and the fraternity are now conducting an investigation in to that incident. And the National Chapter of the Fraternity has temporarily suspended the campus chapter.

Want to bring in now criminal Defense Attorney Holly Hughes and human behavior expert Wendy Walsh. So, Wendy, in the apology, the writer claims the e-mail was written as a joke but should never have been written in the first place. What do you make of this?

WENDY WALSH, HUMAN BEHAVIOR EXPERT: I say there's a little bit of truth behind every joke, isn't there, Don? This disturbs me because this creates a culture where you have one generation, a slightly older frat boy, training the others in how to commit crimes. There's let's say no doubt about it, Holly, back me up, this is how to sexually assault a woman, how to use alcohol as a weapon and potentially rape her, even though he said, but don't rape them unless you make out with them for a while and feel them up and down and then it's kind of OK.

LEMON: So, OK, listen, we all went to college, right? And we all know that this happens, you just don't hear people putting it out there publicly, writing about it. Correct?

HOLLY HUGHES, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Absolutely, Don.

WALSH: I was just going to say, I think e-mail and technology is a double-edged sword. In one sense it's reduced our crime rate because it's really easy to get caught, and the other thing, it's made everything public all our human fats. So, it's because it was put in in e-mail they were talking about this today. Sorry, Holly, go ahead.

LEMON: Right. Right. Holly, if this could potentially involve any legal action taken against the fraternity, could this be taken against the fraternity or even the school for that matter?

HUGHES: No, because this was an e-mail sent to a limited audience. And furthermore, this is freedom of speech. We don't like that, it's stupid, Don, OK? And if we could legislate against stupidity, we wouldn't be able to build enough jails to house them all, all right? This was a poor taste. It was absolutely the wrong thing to do, but he's exercising free speech. He did not -- it's sort of when we think about free speech, what you can't do, you can't incite others to riot. You can't yell fire in a crowded theater because you're going to start a stampede.

So, with words alone it's a lot different than we all remember the movie a couple years ago where Kelly McGillis played the lady who was raped or the lawyer representing a woman who was raped in the bar, there were absolutely people standing there, watching the physical crime occur and cheering them on. They're on the hook for that. This young man, while not too bright in the social department, and, you know, the worst part, Don, he was the social chair of this fraternity. Right, yes. Think about that. So, he has since stepped down from that, thank God, but, no, it's unfortunately legally there's nothing you can do.

LEMON: Well, I'm glad you mentioned that, because as you know as we were talking about, well, the only reason we're talking about it because it was sent out in an e-mail, but, Wendy, does this speak to a larger conversation about the Greek system?

WALSH: It may. I think it speaks to an even larger conversation about how we socialize our young men towards relationships, love and dating and mating. Our media has become so sexualized that it really teaches young men to think of women only as a sex object when actually research shows that, Don, believe it or not, only about three percent of men are players. The rest are good guys thinking they're supposed to act like a player and that's how this behavior becomes damaging. Most guys just want a girlfriend. Most guys have feelings. You know, they don't want to just hook up at a bunch of parties with a bunch of strangers and I think that's the big conversation is how do we talk to our boys about this.

LEMON: OK. I think you're optimistic about that, Wendy, but thank you very much. I appreciate you, Wendy. I appreciate you, Holly, as well.

More than half the Americans blame the Republican Party for the current government shutdown. Next I'm going to speak to a republican congressman who voted against the shutdown.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Welcome back, everyone. I'm going to give you an update on the efforts to get the government out of this 12-day stalemate. Most of that work being done this weekend by the Senate because most of the House members, well, they left town. That means no house vote today and no vote tomorrow.

Just a few minutes ago at the White House four U.S. Senators and top Democratic leaders left a meeting with the president that lasted about one hour and 15 minutes.

So let's talk about what's going on with one of the rare lawmakers willing to buck his own party leadership these days, and that's Congressman Scott Rigell. He is a Virginia Republican.

Thank you, Congressman, for coming on CNN.

(CROSSTALK)

REP. SCOTT RIGELL, (R), VIRGINIA: Thank you, Don.

LEMON: I want you to look at this. Polls show that your party is really taking a beating in public opinion. More than half of Americans blame Republicans for this. You voted against the shutdown. I don't know. Do you feel like saying, I told you so?

RIGELL: No, not at all. I think it's really important for leaders to look ahead and bring our country together. I really understood what our conference was trying to do all the way up through and including September 30th, but once we hit October the 1st and went into a shutdown, it was unclear to me and, indeed, it's still unclear to me exactly what it is that we're fighting for. And I wish I didn't have to say that. I think we really need a bold plan to rally around. And I've put together the America First Plan, and it really would help us open the government open in a responsible way, put people back to work, and start to get control of federal spending, which is really threatening the future of every American.

So, I'm hopeful that more of my colleagues will join me. And if it's not this plan, look, I'm OK with another plan, but we've got to have less rhetoric up here and more substantive agreement that reflects common ground.

LEMON: OK. All right. Because you're so brave, I'm going to let you go on and on about your plan --

(CROSSTALK)

RIGELL: I appreciate that, Don. Thank you.

(CROSSTALK)

RIGELL: Thank you so much.

(LAUGHTER)

LEMON: But answer a few questions for me before you do that.

RIGELL: Sure.

LEMON: You said you're not exactly sure what you're fighting for, and I hope that Republicans are listening. I hope that the Tea Party, the faction of Tea Party members, who are -- who I believe, and many people believe and the polls show, have precipitated this shutdown. I hope they're listening because there is no clear message that appears to be coming from the Republican Party. It seems that you guys are fighting amongst each other. And at this point, it's Obamacare, it's debt limit -- you don't know what's going on.

RIGELL: Well, Don, we do have two broad objectives, and they are clearly defined, and I completely and fully support them. The first is to, at a minimum, make meaningful reforms to the -- what I refer to as the Unaffordable Care Act because I really believe it's not best for America. There are better plans, including Dr. Tom Price out of Georgia. He's put forth a lot of initiatives, a Republican lawmaker that I respect, that would put us on a better track with respect to health care.

We also, our conference, is absolutely committed to restoring certainty to our economy, getting folks back to work, our energy policy, and also responsibly reforming and lowering the rate of growth of federal spending. Not actually cutting it, but slowing the rate of growth and --

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: And, Congressman, but can't you accomplish those two things without shutting down the government?

RIGELL: Well, now that's my point, Don. When we went into October the 1st and I met with my staff and I evaluated all the alternatives before us, I said, look, does this get better for the American people? Does it get better for the hardworking folks in Virginia's 2nd Congressional District and Virginia and our country? Does it get better on day two, day four, day six, day eight? And as a businessman, I deal with two types of reality up here in my public service--

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: Hey, Congressman --

RIGELL: -- political reality and fiscal reality.

LEMON: Congressman, I hate to be rude. I have -- I'm going to have to get back to you, because we have some breaking news.

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: And as I promise, I'll let you go on about your plan.

RIGELL: Thanks so much, Don.

LEMON: Yeah. It's America's First Plan and it's by Congressman Scott Rigell of Virginia.

And I will have you come back on and you can talk about that, but I'm sorry we have to go to breaking news.

RIGELL: I appreciate that. I understand.

LEMON: Thank you, sir. Thank you.

Can we show the microphones in New York? This press conference is going to happen in New York. And the police commissioner there Ray Kelly is going to talk about -- do you remember Baby Hope? There was a gruesome death years ago for Baby Hope. They couldn't identify her. They have identified her this week. They've identified her parents, her father. And it is believed that, at this press conference, that the police commissioner of New York will make a major announcement about a suspect and an arrest.

Again, sorry to cut the Congressman off. We will have him back on. But we will have this for you after a quick break here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

LEMON: And the breaking news here on CNN, announced just moments ago by the police commissioner of New York City, there has been an arrest in New York City's decades-old case of Baby Hope. Her body discovered in a cooler by construction workers near an interstate in 1991.

Let's listen in now to Ray Kelly.

RAY KELLY, COMMISSIONER, NEW YORK POLICE DEPARTMENT: -- because bone samples from the remains would enable them to develop a DNA profile. That profile was ultimately developed in 2011. This summer, detectives obtained DNA evidence from the woman believed to be Baby Hope's mother. Earlier this month, the office of the chief medical examiner confirmed to NYPD investigators that they had a DNA match between the woman and the DNA discovered from Baby Hope, or recovered. Equipped with that evidence, NYPD detectives have worked tirelessly ever since to track down Baby Hope's murderer. They built a family tree, extending to Mexico. They identified and interviewed relatives of Baby Hope's parents. They created a timeline, beginning with Angelica's birth at Elmhurst Hospital in Queens in April of 1987 to discovery of her body on July 23rd of 1991. They visited numerous locations and interviewed numerous individuals throughout the city to develop their case. All of these efforts, the public outreach, forensic investigation and old-fashioned pavement pounding led detectives Friday to Juarez's residence in the Bronx. A young woman, his biological adult daughter, answered the door. She told investigators that Juarez did not live there and had been in Mexico for the last 12 years.

Detectives were able to interview Juarez's wife, who resided at the same address. She informed them that, in fact, he had gone to work at 7:00 a.m. Friday morning at a job in Manhattan. Investigators met him near the restaurant where he is employed and convinced him to talk to them. Early this morning, Juarez admitted that he sexually assaulted Angelica, that he smothered her and then disposed of the body with the aid of his sister, Alvenia Juarez Ramirez (ph), who is now deceased.

Juarez, who was 30 years of age at the time of the murder, said he returned to an apartment shared by seven of his relatives in Astoria and encountered Angelica in the hallway. He said he sexually assaulted the child, then smothered her. When she went motionless, he summoned his sister from another room. Juarez said she directed him to get rid of the body and brought him the cooler. The brother and sister then left the apartment with the cooler. They hailed a Black Livery cab and were dropped off in Manhattan, Juarez said. Carrying the cooler between the two of them, they walked through a wooded area and put the cooler down. They then separated and Juarez returned to the Bronx and his sister to Queens, never to speak of the heinous act again until the NYPD investigators, through their relentless investigation, caught up with Juarez.

There are many dedicated detectives over the last 22 years who have worked tirelessly on this case. They include the original NYPD case detectives, Retired Detective jerry Giorgio and Joseph Ninan; the investigators in the NYPD's Cold Case Squad, Sergeant Daniel Sharentino, the Lead Investigative Detective Robert Dewhurst, Detective Wendell Stratford and Carlos Vasquez, Mark Timmons and Steve Burger; and investigators from the Bronx Violent Felony Squad Sergeant Lee Dukes and Detective Joe Chiadaa and Daniel Rivera. We also want to point out excellent work on the part of excellent detective, Evelyn Gutierrez, of the Special Victims Init.

This case also would not have come to its successful conclusion without the contributions of the NYPD Forensic Investigation Division, investigators in the Real-Lime Crime Center, analysts in the Intelligence Division and NYPD attorneys and our legal bureau, and in particular, Assistant Chief Joseph Reznik, currently the commander of Narcotics Division. 22 years ago, then-Lieutenant Reznik delivered the eulogy for Baby Hope. Detectives from the 34th Precinct squad paid for Baby Hope's tombstone, which reads at the bottom, "Because we care." They ensured she had a proper Mass and burial. Today, NYPD investigators are giving young Angelica her due justice.

We also want to thank the tipster who came forward. That individual's actions was the catalyst, of course, to this most recent lead.

Questions?

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: What is the relationship between Juarez and the little girl?

KELLY: There was no --

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Was it biological?

KELLY: No, no biological relationship.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The murderer, Juarez, is the cousin of the little girl.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The family (INAUDIBLE)?

LEMON: OK, you're looking at a press conference in New York. They are taking questions now. And police there -- Commissioner Ray Kelly announcing an arrest in the Baby Hope case. Baby Hope found July 23rd, 1991, by construction workers working on the Henry Hudson Parkway. They found her body inside a cooler, wrapped in plastic. And according to the police commissioner, it's 52-year-old Juarez who has been arrested from the Bronx, and also gave an alias. And you may remember, earlier this week, Baby Hope was identified as Angelica Castillo, Angelica Castillo.

What they are saying happened, she was visiting with family members in Astoria, Queens. Mr. Juarez saw her in a hallway and sexually assaulted her. When she became lifeless, he panicked and his asked his sister for help. His sister helped him put her in a cooler and then carry her to Manhattan and then dumped her near the Henry Hudson Parkway. The sister is now deceased. And Conrado Juarez, 52 years old of the Bronx, now in custody, will be charged with the death of Angelica Castillo known as Baby Hope. That case has been alive since 1991 and now it will come to some resolution.

We'll be right back after this.

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LEMON: On July 23rd, 1991, construction workers in New York find a cooler with a body inside of it, a 4-year-old. And since then, there has been a mystery about what happened to her, how she got stuffed in that cooler. Police announcing just today -- just moments ago, the police commissioner in New York City, Ray Kelly, announcing an arrest in the -- the case dubbed "Baby Hope."

Let's listen to the police commissioner.

KELLY: Well, good afternoon.

I'm joined by chief of the department, Chief Phil Banks; our chief of detectives, Phil Pulask; Assistant Chief Joseph Reznik; the commanding officer of the Narcotics Division; the commandeering officer of the Fugitive Enforcement Division; Deputy Chief James O'Neill; and members of the NYPD Cold Case Squad. We're also joined by retired detective, Jerry Georgio, who had so much involvement in this case.

Yesterday afternoon, NYPD detectives from the Bronx Violent Felony Squad apprehended Conrado Juarez, age 52, of the Bronx, also known as Enedino Juarez, in connection with the murder of 4-year-old Angelica Castillo, a child victim known for the last 22 years as Baby Hope. The extensive police investigation began in July of 1991 with the discovery of the victim we know now as Angelica, inside a blue and white cooler, left on an embankment at the Henry Hudson Parkway near Dietman Street (ph). Her body was bound and wrapped inside a plastic bag in the cooler. Ever since construction workers discovered the remains, NYPD investigators have worked steadfastly to discover the perpetrator behind this gruesome crime. Part of their efforts involved public outreach. Every year, on the anniversary of the discovery of Baby Hope, police reminded the public of her case and sought new leads and media attention.

After a campaign this July, the renewed public awareness resulted in a Crime Stoppers tip. An anonymous call helped detectives develop information that led them to the now-adult sister of Baby Hope. From there, they identified a woman believed to be Baby Hope's mother.

This case was also enhanced by changes in forensic science since the 1990s. NYPD detectives requested Baby Hope's body to be exhumed from her resting place in 2006 because bone samples from the remains would enable them to develop a DNA profile. That profile was ultimately developed in 2011.

LEMON: Police commissioner, New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly going over the details of how they made this arrest of 52-year- old Conrado Juarez in the death, really in the murder of Baby Hope, Angelica Castillo. Her body found in an interstate in New York City, in the Bronx, back in 1991 by construction workers. It was stuffed inside of a cooler, wrapped in plastic. And now because of a Crime Stoppers tip, an anonymous phone call, an anonymous tip, they have come up with a suspect in that case.

We'll speak to our reporter who has been covering this story on the other side of the break and also give you new information on what is happening in Washington.

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