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Hillary Clinton Endorses Terry McAuliffe; Two Prisoners Escaped From Florida Jail; Jeh Johnson Nominated For Head Of Homeland Security; JPMorgan Chase Reaches Tentative Deal for $13 billion With Justice Dept.; Adrian Peterson's Son Dead>

Aired October 19, 2013 - 18:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. Don Lemon here. It is the top of the hour. Thank you so much for joining us.

Speaking of kicking the can, I appreciate the comments on twitter saying that you are going to go as a can for Halloween. That will be a very popular costume in a couple of weeks.

All right, so let's talk more politics right now. New repercussions this hour from the recent government shutdown from the man who led the charge that forced the standoff. I'm talking Texas Republican, Senator Ted Cruz. He led the push for the government shutdown. He framed it as a way to force changes or even to defund Obamacare. We all know how that turned out.

Well today, Senator Cruz is back in his home state of Texas. And our congressional correspondent, Dana Bash is there too.

And Dana, I understand that you had a chance to talk with Senator Ted Cruz just a short time ago. Does he have any second thoughts about his strategy? About anything he did? About what happened?

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (via phone): It is a little bit for me to hear you, Don. I think you asked me if he had regrets, and I'm just going to go with that because the answer is no. That is a resounding no. If anything, he was given -- he got applause and unbelievable angulations from the Republicans who he met with that we saw today.

He was in San Antonio, where I am now and went to a convention of Texas Republican women. Huge following, 300 people or so. And standing ovation and continued standing ovation he got for. But he says he wants to do which is to stand up for the principles that people in Washington won't do. It definitely gave him more power and more energy to keep going. And what was fascinating about the conversation, it's really wide ranging and very, very, very interesting the things he was saying, Don. What was most interesting was the way he frankly ripped his fellow Republicans in the Senate. He blames them, not the Democrats, but them for the fact his strategy to defund Obamacare failed. Listen to just part of it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: One of your colleagues told me it was like an intervention. That there was so many colleagues saying, you know, why are you doing this and really angry at you. And I'm just wondering, even on a human level, they told me you really didn't flinch. On a human level, it's got to bother you to be sitting in an institution like the Senate and having your, not Democrats, but fellow Republicans so angry at you.

SEN. TED CRUZ (R), TEXAS: Dana, not remotely. Because the people I work for are the women and men you just saw. I work for 26 million Texans. That's my job to fight for them. I don't work for the party bosses in Washington. I work for the people of Texas and fight for them. The reason people are frustrated all over the country is that far too many people get elected and they think they are there to be part of a club.

You know, what was interesting about some of those closed door discussions, what I said in those closed door discussions, I would have said the exact same thing if CNN's camera was sitting in the room.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Now, he also talked a lot about the fact that he was disappointed that Republicans and the Senate didn't follow suit, didn't go ahead and support his strategy. And, in fact, he felt very much undermined it by playing up the vividness in the republican party.

Now, he did not rule out the concept of having to fight again January 15th. That's when the current funding bill, which was just passed this week to reopen the government runs out. He certainly didn't rule out going ahead and trying this again. He didn't say he was going to. He was careful not to go there. But the fact he didn't rule it out will give a lot of people in Washington a lot of heart burn. Because got a lot of at boys back here in Texas. And he said he is here People in Washington, people who don't listen to the kind of grass roots that he does, they don't understand.

LEMON: Yes.

Dana, can you hear me now? Is it better than before?

BASH: I hear you much better, Don, yes.

LEMON: OK. Great. so, I will continue on the vain that you were talking about. Do, he is getting a lot of atta boys in Texas. And there were -- but he is getting a lot of criticism from members of his own party. And you and I both know the polling. The viewers know the polling that the Republicans took a huge hit when it came to the government shutdown as far as who is to blame. So, the atta boys and the people he is hearing this from might they be the loudest voices, but not necessarily the majority of the people in his party and the majority of the people in the country.

BASH: He knows that. And frankly, he doesn't care. You know, I tried, you heard me try to ask about sort of the human level and how he's responding because some of what I heard his colleagues say to him in private was pretty tough stuff, the kind of thing that you heard in a meeting at CNN, or I heard at the meeting at CNN, you know, you would think would have an effect on us. And he insists and he seems to be sincere in saying this, but he doesn't care because that's not why he's fighting. It's actually emboldens him, Don, because this is exactly the kind of thing he says he came to Washington to stop.

But the establishment Republicans just going on to getting along and not fighting for what they believe in. And in this n this case, it's what he was elected on. And then a lot of republicans in 2010 were elected, Don, which is doing whatever it takes to get rid of Obamacare. He doesn't buy the idea that he stepped all over the message. The message of Obamacare, actually, starting up and not doing well. He doesn't really buy any of it.

And he is not only getting atta boys, he's not directly benefiting, but certainly indirectly benefiting a lot of the outside groups that help fund Republican primary challengers even and especially the Senate majority leader or minority leader, rather, Mitch McConnell. Those groups are raising a lot of money and getting a lot of help not directly by his efforts but indirectly.

And so, the war within the Republican party is going to continue. And he absolutely no, what makes no bones about it and doesn't have any apologies.

LEMON: I have to say this, you know, many people don't respect what he did, the how he handled it, right, how he handled that particular situation. But, I mean, you have to respect someone who -- and at least I do, who is not a conformist, who is not worried about the loudest voices, if you know what I mean. Sometimes the people who criticize you the most, and is not afraid of criticism and will go their own way and really, because of their own principles.

I like that. Again, I don't respect what he did. I don't like shutting the government down. And many people said the same thing. But, you have to respect him for being the way he is and for doing that, having the guts to do that.

BASH: He is nothing if not consistent. That is true.

LEMON: Yes.

OK. Dana, great conversation.

And I want to tell our viewers, thank you very much. You can see more of Dana's exclusive interview with Senator Ted Cruz, along with another exclusive interview with John McCain. That's tomorrow morning at 9:00 a.m. eastern on "STATE OF THE UNION" with Candy Crowley. A great interview. Again, as always by our Dana Bash in Washington.

Bizarre twist in a hunt for two Florida killers free from prison by mistake. We now know both Charles Walker and Joseph Jenkins spent time with their families in Orlando. They went to church. They and visited their grandparents. And apparently, they were not hiding at all for days or even for a couple weeks.

Now, a manhunt is under way to put the killers back behind bars. And just a short time ago, Walker's mother stood before news cams pleading with her son to turn himself in.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LILLIE DANZY, MOTHER OF ESCAPED CHARLES WALKER: Charles, is there anything too hard for God? God knows who you are. I know who you are. Your family knows who you are. We want you to return home safely.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Well, both men were serving life sentences for murder. Forged paperwork duped prison officials into thinking the men's sentences had been reduced.

I want to bring in CNN's Nick Valencia who has been tracking the story near the prison in Carrabelle, Florida.

So Nick, what about the family of the other killer, Joseph Jenkins, how are they holding up right now?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm glad you brought that up, Don. Because we have heard a lot about the mistakes that of all of the agencies involve in this bureaucratic bundle here in the state of Florida.

But really, today, has been about the families, not just of the victims of convicted killers, but also of this escaped inmates as well. At a press conference earlier in Orlando, we heard from the so- called father figure, self-described, father figure of Joseph Jenkins. He's one of the escaped inmates that was let out of this facility behind me September 27th. And he talked about how he didn't suspect anything was wrong. He took him back to his grandma's house, took him to his mom's house. They even had a birthday party set up for Jenkins. He didn't show up. That cause him suspicion, of course, among the family.

But take a listen to his plea to Joseph Jenkins that he said earlier this afternoon asking Jenkins to turn himself back in.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY PEARSON, JENKINS FAMILY FRIEND: On behalf of the family, I am asking that you, Joseph Jenkins turn yourself in to the nearest appropriate authorities so that we can have this episode of our lives.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VALENCIA: Earlier today, we also heard from the son of Jenkins' victim. He was very emotional in talking about how he feels that his father's killer is back on the loose. Take a listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROSCO PUGH III, SON OF THE MAN KILLED BY JOSEPH JENKINS: It's not a game. No one is taking it for granted. No one is taking it lightly. We are taking it as if like the last time we saw this guy is when he killed our dad. And I was 15 or 16 years ago and now he's out. We don't know what he's capable of. That was the last time we saw him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VALENCIA: Now, a lot of people have questions about how the escaped inmates managed to duped the system and rightfully so. But there's a lot of finger pointing going on by these agencies. No one wants to take responsibility for what happened -- Don?

LEMON: All right, Nick Valencia in Florida. Nick, thank you very much for that.

And make sure you join us tonight at 8:00 eastern when we look at the big crime stories of the week from the Florida inmates accidentally released to the Missouri teen whose family was run out of town after she cried rape to the Utah doctor accused of murdering his wife in a bathtub. Covering all the stories from all angles for you "Making the case," tonight at 8:00 eastern right here on CNN. It's going to be a fascinating program for you.

The government shutdown, we have heard the opinions of whether the Democrats and the GOP won the standoff. But what about something Robert Redford told CNN this week? That racism was a factor in the shutdown?

And we are going to talk parenting, including a new law in the state that turns in one state, I should say, that turns the idea of traditional parenting on its head.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: This is new today.

The Senate confirmed JPMorgan Chase reach add $13 billion deal with the justice department to resolve several investigations of the mortgage business. A U.S. official tells CNN the deal provides that JPMorgan Chase would pay $9 billion in fines and penalties, plus $4 billion in consumer relief that includes loan modifications.

You might remember, Morgan's backed securities and derivatives helped trigger the housing market collapse that caused a huge financial crisis. And apparently, JPMorgan executives and workers could still face charges in the future. The officials tell CNN that the tentative deal does not include a non-prosecution agreement that the company had sought.

CNN's justice reporter, Evan Perez is tracking the story for us. He joins us now by phone.

So Evan, what does this mean to you and me and the people watching?

EVAN PEREZ, CNN JUSTICE REPORTER (via phone): Well Don, I think for JPMorgan, it's going to provide them with some measure of reassurance that they can drop some of this stuff up. They set aside $23 billion to settle various, I think about a dozen, investigations that are still ongoing. And for homeowners, there might be some of this money that will end up benefiting people whose mortgages are under water, for instance. There's about $4 billion in this tentative deal that is supposed to go toward consumer relief. Now, some of that is still being worked out this weekend. It's going to be a few days before this was announced. I think recently, a lot of investors were surprised to hear how much money JPMorgan was setting aside. And so, some of the markets, I think, have already taken into account what is expected here.

LEMON: OK. So, what does this mean? You know, we have been hearing about Jamie Dimon. What does this deal mean for Jamie Dimon who is -- will he personally get involved? He was the CEO. Will he personally get involved in recent days?

PEREZ: He did. Late last month, in September, Jamie Dimon was seen going into the justice department for a very rare face-to-face negotiation with Eric Holder, the attorney general. We are told by sources that the two men have been on the phone a couple times in the last couple weeks. Jamie Dimon has been insisting that the company get some kind of assurance that the criminal investigation that is still ongoing will be resolved.

In the end, in a phone call yesterday with the attorney general, he finally gave in on those demands. And that's why you see the investigation into that part of the investigation is still continuing.

Now, he, you said, you know, there's a lot of people that are angry at him and think the lawsuits, these fines have come on his watch and perhaps he should go. He's still got a lot of support among investors. The recent quarter was the first time the bank lost money under his watch. So, he still seems to have a lot of support on Wall Street.

LEMON: All right, now that explains how we got to this point.

Thank you very much, appreciate it Evan Perez.

The government shutdown, we have heard the opinions of whether the democrats or the GOP won the standoff, but about this claim that racism was a factor?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: I can't believe I'm saying this. I have been saying its shutdown so long, but now, the federal government is back at full strength, a lot of people are saying it is the Democrats who won the latest Washington showdown. Did anybody really win? Others say it's not so simple.

I want to talk about this particular aspect now with Professor Julian Zelizer of Princeton University and CNN political contributor Maria Cardona and democratic strategist and right here with me is Amy Holmes from theblaze.com.

Professor Zelizer, we are going to start with you. You posted a column on CNN.com on to the headline Republicans got what they wanted. You write, as the dust settles Republicans might find themselves pretty content with the outcome of this battle in terms of public policy. They have kept the president on the defensive and kept their main issue front and center.

Explain what you mean by that.

JULIAN ZELIZER, CNN.COM CONTRIBUTOR: The Republicans certainly suffered some political blows in terms of their approval rate, in terms of this internal warfare that is opening up in the party. But they have made deficit reduction. They made the deficit. The main issue, really, since 2010 and it made it extremely difficult for President Obama even after his re-election in 2012. The deal of anything else including immigration reform.

And the second thing that happened is tools that were once seen as somewhat radical shutting down the government and really threatening to default rather than taking the stand are becoming normalized in American politics. So, I think when we say Democrats won, it's too simplistic and I think Republicans were able to advance their agenda through this debate.

LEMON: I'm not sure that's good that it's normal to shutdown the government, at least in your estimation.

Amy, you know, the House speaker have said on WLW Radio quote "we fought the good fight, but didn't win." So, the professor says that he did win. Does Boehner not know who won?

AMY HOLMES, ANCHOR, THE HOT LIST, THE BLAZE.COM: Well, I loathe to disagree with fellow Princetonian particularly a professor. But I do disagree --

LEMON: But you will.

HOLMES: I will. I think the GOP lost badly. They are divided, defeated. They didn't get any concessions from the president either out of the shutdown or raising the debt limit. While I agree with the professor, a Bloomberg poll going into the debt limit, you know, deadline on October 17th found that six in 10 Americans wanted to see budget cuts coupled with raising the debt limit. That didn't happen. So, this is going to need to be re-litigated because they are kicking the can down the road, my favorite phrase and everybody is using. And I would also say that Obama was the winner because we didn't put this laser focus on the fiasco that is Obamacare.

LEMON: OK. Initially, that was the laser focus. But that wasn't working. That strategy wasn't working, so the Republicans sort of stepped back.

Listen, Maria, Amy mentioned the president. But the president's poll numbers also took a hit in the controversy. Not as much as the Republican numbers, but, I mean, can Democrats really claim victory because the president took a hit?

MARIA CARDONA, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Yes. No, I agree. And Democrats took a hit, too. Look. There's no question that politically, the biggest hit did come for the Republicans. And we have seen that in all the poll numbers. But at the end of the day, I don't think anyone really talked about this, Don, who are the big winners here? The winners are the folks who had been getting already the benefits from Obamacare, all those mothers with kids with pre-existing conditions who have said that their kids would not be alive today if not for Obamacare. They are the big winners.

The parents who can keep their kids until they are 26 on their plans are big winners. The 30 million who wants the Web site to fix would be able to sign up for Obamacare at rates that are decent will be the winners.

No one really talked about that. So, when you look at it from that standpoint, I think the first reason why this president and Democrats fought so hard for Obamacare, they are the folk that are winning here.

LEMON: OK. I want to get to this because I think this is very important. This is an interview that ran on CNN earlier this week. And I don't think it really got enough attention, and I want to delve into it because actor Robert Redford this week had some strong comments about the shutdown and the reasons behind it. Take a close listen. Sit-down.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT REDFORD, ACTOR: It is so decrepit. It is so paralyzed. And the worst of it is it's paralyzed by intention. There's a body of congressional people that want to paralyze the system. I think what sits under it, unfortunately, is there's probably some racism involved, which is really awful. Never mind that there's supposed to be an office representing the interest of the public. They are representing their own self-interest, which is very narrow and in some cases baited.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Narrow, bigoted. Amy Holmes, racism.

HOLMES: You know, I have thought about this a lot. And frankly, I haven't seen a Robert Redford movie since "The Way We Were" ran on cable. I don't really follow his political pronouncement very closely.

LEMON: But he is an American. He has an opinion.

HOLMES: He has an opinion. He has a right to one.

But I think it's unfortunate that Mr. Redford would slur so many Americans who made him very rich and very famous. I, you know, don't take his political analysis remotely seriously, but I think he should have a little bit more respect for fellow citizens.

LEMON: Professor? ZELIZER: Look. This has been a debate about Tea Party Republicans since the start. There's certainly always elements of racism in the electorate. And I'm sure we have seen evidence that it plays out as part of Tea Party politics. But I think that really downplays what conservatism is. It flattens a lot of opposition that exist not just to the health care act, but also to President Obama's broader, domestic agenda.

And I think there are many who are not racist or antigovernment or against his domestic programs who have very different motivations. But I think, in some ways, just saying it is racism really understates the threat and challenges that the Obama administration has faced. Again, it is part of the electorate.

LEMON: OK. Let me say this, it is part of it. There's no doubt that it is part of it. Anyone that denies it, I think you are living on Mars because you saw -- roll the video. The protests who were outside the White House last Sunday. People who are the some of them were with the Tea Party. The video clearly showed a guy with a con federal flag. That's one person. Yes, I understand. But that person is there. And anytime you see someone like that, you need to say get the hell out of here because you are destroying our message.

But many times, Amy, the Tea Party will not denounce those people and we see those people at those sorts of rallies and you hear the comments. You see the comments online. People who are calling the president. You have heard the guy saying oh, the president needs to put down the Koran. I mean, come on. We can't deny that racism isn't involved this.

HOLMES: I can't deny that there are cranks who go to put up a rally. And we have heard speaker John Boehner denounce remarks like this. We have Senator John McCain denounced remarks like this. But I would warn Mr. Redford and others that want to, I take this tact. But there are also doing though -- I don't think they are doing the president favors. Because what they do is that they alienate people that we could be persuaded.

LEMON: Maria, quickly, quickly.

CARDONA: Robert Redford was talking about the members of Congress. And I think that is a dangerous road to go down. I think that some of the supporters of the Tea Party, no question, when they call the president a Muslim, born in Kenya, the birthers, all that is based on racism.

But I don't think that there's really any difference between the strong dislike that conservatives have for the president to the strong dislike they have for Nancy Pelosi or Harry Reid. And so, I think that is based on ideology.

LEMON: It's interesting. You are right. He's talking members of Congress. And that's a whole different ball of wax.

CARDONA: That's right. LEMON: OK. We are going to continue with this conversation Maria, Amy and Professor. Stick around because during the shutdown, a number of potential 2016 presidential contenders were front and center. Did they help or hurt their chances? I want you to think about that and we'll be back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Back now with our panel. Now, let's put the professor Zelizer, a Princeton and he is a historian there, Maria Cardona, political contributor and also on the left, writer and Democratic strategist and then Amy Holmes who works for theblaze.com.

Maria, you brought us back on track. We have sort of veered off track a little bit talking about the Tea Party and the racist in front of the White House. You said its members of Congress, actually, that he is talking about. So, is he saying that people like Ted Cruz or Mitch McConnell are racist?

CARDONA: I think that's exactly what he was saying. And I do think I agree with Amy, that when he says things like that, he's not doing the progressive movement or the president any, any favors there because, you know, again, that is a dangerous road to go down. And you shouldn't accuse people of that unless you know for sure. He doesn't know what's in their heart of hearts.

And I think that, again, it's based on ideology. These folks really stood up because they really don't like Obamacare. As misguided as I think it is, they really don't like it strictly from an ideological standpoint, and that is what Ted Cruz's, you know, big crusade has been about from the beginning and apparently will continue to be about.

LEMON: Professor, you know, there are many people are home who will say well, listen, members of the Tea Party and who some people see a racist element to the Tea Party and the Republican tent, sometimes. They will say, listen, if he represents those people in effect, what he's espousing is racism.

ZELIZER: Well, again, it's part of the electorate. But it is too simplistic to say that's really what's driving most legislatures certainly. I think the Republicans are standing for something much bigger. They are essentially attempting to put a fiscal straight jacket on the government. And in some ways, I think they succeeded. And I just think that is an element of Tea Party conservatism.

But it doesn't capture what this is all about. You can go back to the mid-1990s and hear very similar rhetoric against President Bill Clinton, which was equally fierce as equally hostile with his healthcare programs, with this domestic program. So, I think we need to look more broadly to understand what the right is about.

LEMON: I want to move on, Amy, but I see you are nodding your head. People forget just how much Bill Clinton was hated. Oh my God, the right hated him.

HOLMES: Let's take a little short stroll down memory lane.

LEMON: As much, if it more than Barack Obama. And they may have hated Hillary Clinton even more and she wasn't even in office.

OK. Let's talk about Ted Cruz, about Joe Biden, about Paul Ryan and all this drama. And then there is always Hillary Clinton to talk about. I want to know how will the shutdown affect other potential candidates in 2016. And get you guys quickly.

First, let's talk about Ted Cruz and his strategy. How is it going to affect, Amy?

HOLMES: Well, he is a Tea Party darling. We know that. His popularity with the constituency has only increased over the shutdown showdown. So, in terms of GOP popularity, this has benefited Ted Cruz. But I'm not sure that it benefits him more generally in seeking the presidency.

LEMON: What about Paul Ryan?

HOLMES: Paul Ryan, well, he stayed pretty low key on this until the end. I think Paul Ryan, of course, his selling card is that he is a policy walk. He knows the budget details. I think we'll see Paul Ryan's star rise as we move to the debt ceiling negotiation and the budget deal.

LEMON: Quickly on the Republicans, Professor, how does this affect their 2016, in either people we mentioned here?

ZELIZER: I think Republican governors are smiling because Cruz and Ryan, they are giving them a gift every time they do this because someone like Chris Christie just keeps looking more moderate and more to the center, even if he's not and looks much better for a run in 2016.

LEMON: OK. So, Maria, Democrats we talked about Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, I mean he was seen as frozen out of the talks with Harry Reid. Any impact on his White House hopes?

CARDONA: I don't think so because you are right, he wasn't front and center in this deal. I think, in general, you are going to have a lot of people who support Joe Biden, but will always say, he's going to wait and see what Hillary Clinton does. We don't know if that's true or not.

And then, of course, you have everyone who supports Hillary Clinton. And I don't think she was affected by this one way or the other. She's been talking about how she is, you know, like the American people, she wants to everybody to come together to find solutions.

You know, today, she was at a rally for Terry McAuliffe and said all the right things. So, I don't think it affected her one way or the other, except for if she doesn't runs for president and she's running against the Ted Cruzs and Rand Pauls and Marco Rubios, there's going to be a big difference that I think people are going to see in her favor. HOLMES: If I could, I would like to jump in and add Hillary Clinton took the opportunity during the shutdown to make a dig at Joe Biden saying he did not support the raid on Osama bin Laden. So clearly, she's looking at the vice president as her 2016 rival.

LEMON: All right.

CARDONA: It's never ending.

LEMON: She's in Virginia right now. Virginia's governor race. Ken Cuccinelli and Terry McAuliffe. Does it affect, you can raise your hand. Raise your hand if there are wow cards I'm forgetting about. First Virginia.

HOLMES: Yes, indeed. (INAUDIBLE) of "the wall Street Journal" should pointed out that this benefited Terry McAuliffe because of all of those federal workers in Virginia who were furloughed. So, Terry McAuliffe, as Democrat Virginia, was benefited by the shutdown.

LEMON: Professor, listen. Raise your hand. Is there any wild cards? Anyone I'm forgetting here.

ZELIZER: The wild card, I want to go to Clinton for a second. The one way to hurt her in all this, generate some kind of disgust with the Washington establishment, how Washington is working, then it gives room to an outsider, one of the a Democratic governor to make a little play in 2016. She's a strong candidate, but she still represents Washington.

CARDONA: I can almost guarantee you that no democratic governor will jump in, if they think Hillary Clinton is going to.

LEMON: Can we do the political point? Should I wave?

CARDONA: Can I just say, can we all agree -- can we all agree the biggest winner in this whole fiasco was the pandas and the panda cam and they can now kill us with their cuteness again?

LEMON: Oh, God. OK, guys. Thank you guys. This is very good. This is a very interesting discussion. I appreciate it. Thank you.

I want to have you all back, loved it.

CARDONA: Thanks so much, Don.

LEMON: We have to talk about a serious story now. It is a serious topic. A 2-year-old son of one of the NFL's biggest stars dies. It was a son he didn't even know existed until a few months ago. Was his reaction appropriate? We are talking about it next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: All right, everyone, I want you to sit down and listen to the next conversation. It is a serious one and it is one we really need to have as a country. We have a couple of parenting topics to tackle this week that not only mean headlines, but captured a whole lot of attention.

First, the death of a well-know, a popular NFL football player's two- year-old son. And second, a new law in California that turns CID of traditional parenting upside down.

First though, the death of Adrian Peterson's son. Peterson is an MVP running back for the Minnesota Vikings. His child was allegedly beaten to death by his mom's boyfriend. Here is what Peterson had to say earlier this week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADRIAN PETERSON, RUNNING BACK, MINNESOTA VIKINGS: I'm standing strong. I am. You know, you know, my main focus has been on, you know, just my son and, you know, his mother. Their family down there in Sioux Falls and, just trying to wrap my head around things. And I'm just trying to stay focused and play ball as well. You know, so, you know, things have been tough but, you know, I can handle a lot, you know? Like I said, I'm built for anything that comes my way, you know. So, this, right here, will pass.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: I want to bring in now human behavior expert Wendy Walsh to talk about this and I'm also going to bring back Amy Holmes who is here. Amy is with theblaze.com. And Amy and I, this is a topic of discussion that Amy and I actually had the other evening as we were at an event together. This is a very serious discussion, I want to bring here in.

So Wendy, what do you make of the reaction to his son's death?

WENDY WALSH, HUMAN BEHAVIOR SPECIALIST: Well, it's interesting, of course, he's going through trauma because the trauma is about discovering that he even had a son because he didn't even know this young boy exist in a few months before.

But, this death, you know, is not unknown in the history of our species, Don. You know, we were gather for hundreds of thousands of years. And men were needed for protection of their offspring. And (INAUDIBLE) males, entered in encampment and the first thing they would do is try to kill the infants and toddlers to that they can have access to the females. This is in our veins, but so many guys are not around to do the protection piece.

LEMON: And then, so, Aaron Peterson is the known person. Excuse me, Adrian Peterson is the person known here. So, we talk about it. This happens all the time and we don't talk about it because it happens with parents who don't have headliner names.

HOLMES: Right.

LEMON: What do you make of his reaction? And again, we are not beating up on single parents as we are not beating up on Adrian Peterson. But there was a level of responsibility that clearly was not on this particular situation. HOLMES: Right. And I don't want to beat up on non-biological men in the households. My father was my adopted father and he protected and raise me and my brother very well.

What was troubling to me about this story is the more that we learn about it, that we learn this football player has multiple children by multiple women and that he is apparently doesn't spend time with them. He's not aware of what's going on in the household. And I'm sure Dr. Wendy can speak to this. That There are piles of data, social science research that show that children in single parents households are much more vulnerable to abuse. And that is across socio-economic crime. It doesn't matter rich or poor. It is a cross racial line as well. And unfortunately, this football player, through his irresponsibility behavior, is bringing kids into the world that as the doctor said, he's not protecting.

LEMON: Here's the thing --

HOLMES: A check is not enough, by the way.

LEMON: It is not enough.

HOLMES: No.

WALSH: Exactly, a check is not enough.

LEMON: A check is not enough. This, for some reason morphed into because I spoke about it on the radio program at the top during a morning show. This became, somehow, I don't know how, a racial issue. This is not about black and white. Adrian Peterson just happened to be a man of color. But there are men of all colors who had the same sort of behavior. It's not a black nor whitish shoe.

HOLMES: No. It is not and what is about. It's about children being brought into this world and they need parents looking after them. And as I say, a check is not enough.

LEMON: Wendy, here is the interesting thing. I am the product of a single parent, right, a mother. I was also abused as a kid. So, I know, I have insight on this. My mother says to me, to this day, that is not her fault. I don't blame my mother. But she says to me, I wish I could have been around more. I was out working. Perhaps it would not have happened to you or if your father was there. Because my father died when I was a young boy. If your father would have been there to make up the difference, perhaps this would not had happen to you. And you know what mom, I don't blame you, but I agree, had my parents been there, I probably would not have been molested as a child.

WALSH: Well, it is important to remember that this idea of a traditional nuclear family with two adults both biologically related to the offspring in the household is actually a rather new development in the history of our species. And it came only when we adopted farming and had to sort of sit still.

In general, women, parent, women and men parented in large groups of what anthropologist called aloe parents. And they will be aunties, cousins, sisters, uncles, et cetera, many people who had a biological interest in the child. So, part of the modern capitalism that is created such need from mobility for families is tearing away these important infrastructures that protected children for generations.

And although you have a lovely adoptive father, as mentioned by our other guest, and I think there are amazing stepfathers out there, an amazing adopted fathers. I do want to say that statistics do bear out. That if a child, one of the most dangerous places for a child to live in America is in a home with a non-biologically related male. Eight times the rate of child abuse, whether it's sexual abuse, physical abuse or emotional abuse.

LEMON: It is a (INAUDIBLE). I know we have to move on. Before we go to break, we can shorten the next segment, I want to get to this.

Why did this, Wendy, all of a sudden become about race? I don't understand that.

WALSH: Well, I think in the African-American community, you see it's more of a matriarchal culture. Women tend to be head of households. I say this carefully because there is a lot of strong black men leading great households or are being good partners in marriages. But that, historically is because the traditional black nuclear family was always under attack by the system, that babies were first torn out of mother's arms and sold to slave traders.

Later on, of course, social welfare programs only went to single mothers, not intact families. So, you know, I can see what people starting to pull race in there, but really, this is a social class problem where parenting and marriage are two distinct concepts. And now, we are seeing in America, Don, that 44 percent of American babies overall are born out of wedlock. That means the middle classes are now reflecting the lower classes.

LEMON: Instead of something that is combined, now, marriage and parenting are two separate things for some odd reasons, right?

WALSH: Exactly.

LEMON: OK. Amy, thank you so much for sticking around, I appreciate that.

HOLMES: Thank you, Don.

LEMON: Wendy, don't go away. I want to talk to you about another topic coming up. There's a new law in one state that turns the idea of traditional parenting upside down.

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LEMON: We have been talk about raising kids, human behavior expert Wendy Walsh is with us.

Wendy, the new parenting law in California, what is this about? Three parents? WALSH: It's a really exciting law, Don. It was passed last week and signed in to law. It basically says that instead of a child perhaps a child in a stepparent family having to choose between their biological parents who maybe off somewhere and the new adoptive father or mother, they can add on a parent. The law also benefits same-sex couples who may have other people who have a biological interest in a child. People who donated an egg or donated sperm that want to care about their well being. But now, they can legally become a legal parent. You know, three, four, five parents, Don, if you want to become parent, you know I'm a single mom to my daughters, I would be happy if you sign on. I got college coming up.

LEMON: I already feel like an uncle. So, let's stages here. But what are some of the challenges you see with this, Wendy?

WALSH: You know, I don't, except that those who believe, who have a traditional idea that, again, is recent in our evolution, that a family should only be one man, one woman, they should both be heterosexual and the baby should be genetically linked to both of those.

Now, that actually doesn't represent many people in America anymore with all the blended families and divorces and various sexualities. We are seeing a big range of families. It's actually more normal and more natural to our species. So, let's make it legal. Let the people sign on saying I care about the welfare children.

LEMON: Wendy, thank you. I appreciate that. See you next time.

WALSH: Thank you.

Senator Ted Cruz speaking out for the first time since the shutdown ended. You are not going to believe what he told CNN exclusively.

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