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Supreme Court Deals President Obama Big Blow; U.S. World Cup Team Advances

Aired June 26, 2014 - 15:00   ET

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

DONNA BRAZILE, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Get ready. That was one of the more powerful songs.

And, of course, I love me some Nina Simone...

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Oh.

(CROSSTALK)

BRAZILE: ... because, Nina, she had that anguish down.

And, of course, this weekend, we talked about -- this week, we talked about Mississippi, and she had a very powerful song about Mississippi.

Harry Belafonte. Of course, I mentioned Sam Cooke, but Aretha Franklin, little Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye. They all came of age, and James Brown. I talked to Clarence Avant, you know, the godfather of much of that music as the former chair of Motown.

They inspired us. They got us off our feet, and really made us run, march for freedom and equality and justice. And you know what? Tonight, you will see in this documentary they were brave men and women, men and women of valor. And we're so lucky, you and I, to still be able to talk to them, to be able to share their stories with a new generation, with their own music. And it's -- their music is just as powerful.

BALDWIN: You mentioned John Lewis, just -- not a musician, a congressman, just standing next to him, the many times I meet him, I always say, I'm standing next to history, Congressman.

Donna Brazile, thank you so much.

BRAZILE: Thank you.

BALDWIN: And, as Donna mentioned, please watch "The Sixties: A Long March to Freedom," tonight at 9:00 Eastern and Pacific, only here on CNN.

All right, here we go, hour two. You know the animation by now. Cue World Cup.

The U.S. is now officially going to the knockout round. This is huge. We have all the raw emotions after today's soggy showdown between the U.S. and Germany. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CROWD: USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: The fans were loud. They were proud. They were patriotic, even as the U.S. team lost today's heartbreaking match with Germany, just by one goal. It was 1-0.

And our commander in chief was just one of the millions of U.S. soccer fans around the world. Take a look. This is the president traveling to Minneapolis not too long ago, sitting around the table on Air Force One, watching. And the team, the team stood strong. Goalkeeper Tim Howard made jaw-dropping save after save in these clutch situations on a very wet pitch, as we mentioned.

And despite that loss, the World Cup dream for the U.S. is alive and well. And take a look at what the team just tweeted. Here we go, tweeting, "Celebrating as #onenationeteam today. Thanks for the support. #USA."

Here we come, knockout round.

We have our World Cup team standing by for you here at the top of the hour with coverage from where that USA match took place, Recife, Brazil, to viewing parties here in the United States.

Let's get started with Lara Baldesarra down there and in a less soggy, it looks like, Recife.

Lara, you were inside. You saw the slipping, the sliding. What did it look like, what did it feel like?

LARA BALDESARRA, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it was actually a much different match than, let's say, the Ghana match in terms of the actual atmosphere.

There were a lot more Germany supporters than I actually anticipated. At that very first match, everybody afterwards was speaking about just the overwhelming support of the USA fans in the stadium. But in this match, it was almost like there was a lot more German support, and the Germans, they are just so used to all of their songs and their cheering and how they go about with everything that they do during a match.

It was almost as though the U.S. fans were kind of standing in awe of them at some points. But the USA fans, they did -- they were loud, they were proud. I actually found one of the most intriguing parts of this match just the very beginning, during the American national anthem. The entire U.S. team, they stood there. They faced the American flag. They covered their heart with one hand. And then they all had their arms out, touching the player in front of them's shoulder.

It was actually a really neat scene. Now, from there, this match, it unfolded, I guess kind of the way I would have expected. I didn't really expect the USA to lose. I expected to see a draw. But the USA, they played pretty well. Germany just played that much better. And, luckily, you know, it was Cristiano Ronaldo in the Portugal match that actually saved the day for the USA, effectively knocking them out.

And so now, yes, we're looking forward to a round of 16 fixture, which will be either the USA and Belgium or the USA and Algeria. We're going to be finding that out later -- later this evening.

BALDWIN: So wait. We should be maybe in some weird alternate universe be thanking Ronaldo, I guess, for taking that team to a win, at least right now? We will leave it there, Lara. Thank you so much in Recife down in Brazil.

Lindsay Tarpley, let me bring you in, two-time U.S. Olympic women's soccer goal medalist. You are live for me in Madison, Wisconsin.

What was your biggest takeaway watching this match?

LINDSAY TARPLEY, U.S. WOMEN'S SOCCER PLAYER: I was just so proud.

I thought they did a great job. They showed a lot of composure in making sure the game didn't get away from them. And, at the end of the day, they advanced, and it's the World Cup. It's about finding a way to continue on and to continue playing.

BALDWIN: So now that, you know, the elation is still, of course, there, but we're looking ahead already to this next match, now that team USA is in this knockout round, which is the first time in history we have done this two World Cups in a row, as a player, help me, you know, behind closed, doors in the locker room, get in their heads. What are they thinking? How do they prepare?

TARPLEY: Well, as a player, I think you almost see it as two separate tournaments. So you have your first three games. Your goal is to advance.

And then now, in the knockout stages, it's going to be that one game. Your entire focus is on winning that game, rolling your sleeves up and finding a way to win. If it's extra time, P.K.s, it doesn't matter, So, just making sure that you're putting yourself in the best position to win each game.

BALDWIN: And what are these players doing in each between these matches? How much rest are they really getting?

TARPLEY: They are resting.

Hopefully, they're drinking water. They had a really tough turnaround from playing in the Amazon. They had one less day of rest. And I was so proud of the way they battled today. And even though they lost, they still advanced. And they did what they needed to do to keep going.

I'm happy that they have a few days now to recover. So I'm looking forward to their next game.

BALDWIN: When I was watching the match of all the many, many TVs that we have here at CNN working really hard, I couldn't help but hear the chanting, the cacophonous chanting, "USA," inside of that stadium. And I'm wondering, just as a player on the field, do you feel that? Does that help propel you to play better?

TARPLEY: I think you feel the entire country's support.

Just watching from TV, I just think it's such a support system, knowing how much -- how many people are there, cheering for you, and willing you on. And I think they feel it, you know, tweeting and the hashtags and everything. And we believe.

I just am really excited about their next game and cheering them on from here.

BALDWIN: Lindsay, thank you.

And to Rachel Nichols, let me bring you in...

TARPLEY: Thank you, Brooke.

BALDWIN: ... our host of CNN's "UNGUARDED."

You got it.

Rachel, OK, so as we look forward, do we know or when will we know who the U.S. faces next?

RACHEL NICHOLS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's going to be determined later this afternoon. It is most likely going to be Belgium on Tuesday, 4:00 Eastern time.

There's a chance Algeria sneaks into that part of draw. But let's go with the odds. Let's go and say that it's going to be Belgium, strong team, had a great run-up to the World Cup. And, yes, Belgium has beaten the U.S. the last two times the teams played.

But remember what the Americans had going for them here as they go into this knockout stage. They just survived what was dubbed the group of death, the hardest group in the entire World Cup, so they have got great confidence. And they did that without one of their best players.

Remember, Jozy Altidore went down with a hamstring injury in their very first game, hasn't played since. And coach Jurgen Klinsmann says he does expect Jozy to be ready for Tuesday's game. So, that's going to be a huge boost to them.

There's an interesting side note too, Brooke, if it does turn out to be Belgium. When they first got to Brazil for the World Cup, they were supposed to have a closed-door scrimmage with Belgium, of all teams, as their last bit of preparation before these World Cup matches. That ended up getting canceled because of all of the traffic problems Brazil was having. We heard about some of those with the weather today as well.

BALDWIN: Wow.

NICHOLS: Well, in that case, they just canceled the closed-door scrimmage. So, instead of playing really in front of no one and an empty pitch and getting ready for the World Cup, they're going to play Belgium in all likelihood in the World Cup, with this time the whole world watching.

BALDWIN: Wow. OK, so we will know definitively if it's Belgium tonight. Rachel, thank you.

And, as we have been watching and you have been watching and some you may be joining our correspondent George Howell if you were in the Chicago neighborhood today it Grant Park.

I mean, George, it's been so fun watching the masses of people coming out and supporting this team.

GEORGE HOWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, Brooke, and a lot of these people, maybe they should have been at work.

(LAUGHTER)

HOWELL: This did happen early in the morning and then midday.

But, you know, a lot of people skipped work. Maybe there were a couple of Ferris Buellers in the crowd today. Work brings me here to cover a soccer watch party. So, how lucky can you get with this?

But they expected some 25,000 to 30,000 people out here. The crowds were pretty big. And then watching this game play out, obviously, there was a lot of optimism and excitement going into it, then anxiety. People were nervous when Germany scored that goal.

At the end, look, people wanted the win, sure. But at the end of the day, the big picture is, the U.S. advances.

I think we have a sound bite of a person who really sums it up, if we can take a listen to that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I thought it was a great game. Didn't get the win, but we're still advancing, so that's all you can ask for.

HOWELL: What did you think?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was a great game, really intense. Germany is a great game, but we still got through. That's what we wanted.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: So there was this chant that I heard just as everyone was starting to leave, and it was, "Even though we lost, we still won."

So, that's what you're hearing here from Chicago, a lot of excitement, a lot of optimism moving forward, Brooke.

BALDWIN: And I like that. We have to watch these matches for work. That's our excuse, definitely. George Howell for us live in Chicago, thank you so much, my friend.

(LAUGHTER)

BALDWIN: And we will have much more this hour on the World Cup. We will take you back to Brazil for a live report with more on what the team was saying right after that match against Germany. So stay tuned for that.

But, coming up next, it's the story everyone is talking about today, the moment Nancy Grace, during this interview, informs this father his missing son was found in his own basement.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NANCY GRACE, HOST, "NANCY GRACE": Yes. We are getting reports that your son has been found alive in your basement.

CHARLIE BOTHUELL, FATHER: What?

GRACE: How could your son be alive in your basement?

BOTHUELL: Oh (EXPLETIVE DELETED). I have no -- I have no idea.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: I know. What is the father thinking? What's going through his mind? What's happened since the interview? What's the latest on the investigation? A lot of questions. We have to talk to Nancy Grace coming up next. This is her first live interview on television today. We will get the backstory next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Welcome back. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

And it is no secret HLN's Nancy Grace has covered all kinds of missing child cases. But the one you're about to see will probably for her go down in history.

She had the father of this 12-year-old boy on her show. The man hadn't seen his son since the child left his house almost two weeks ago. But just before she starts interviewing this father, she had gotten word that the son had been found. Watch as she breaks the news to this father.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Out to the father of the missing 12-year-old boy, Charlie.

With me is his father, Charlie Bothuell.

Charlie, we're getting reports that your son has been found in your basement. Sir?

Mr. Bothuell, are you...

BOTHUELL: What?

GRACE: Yes. We're getting reports that your son has been found alive in your basement.

BOTHUELL: What?

GRACE: Yes. That's -- if you could hand me that wire very quickly.

Yes, we're getting that right now.

Brahm (ph) -- Brahm (ph) -- yes. How could your son be alive in your basement?

BOTHUELL: Oh (EXPLETIVE DELETED). I have no idea.

GRACE: Now, this is just a report we're hearing out of Detroit that we're trying to confirm.

BOTHUELL: Oh, God, please.

GRACE: Everybody in New York, please get on it. Let me know when we get Charlie Langton from WWJ.

Sir, did you check your basement?

BOTHUELL: I checked my basement. The FBI checked my basement. The Detroit police checked my basement. My wife checked my basement. I've been down there several times. We've all been checking. I...

(CROSSTALK)

GRACE: OK. This is what we're hearing, that the missing 12-year-old boy has been found alive and well in his father's basement.

Now, this is what -- I don't understand why you guys would have reported he's missing, and all of our viewers have been on the lookout for him.

(CROSSTALK)

BOTHUELL: We have been -- we've been on the lookout for him. We searched that entire house repeatedly. The FBI searched. Detroit police searched. We have all searched. God, they brought dogs, everything. Everybody has searched. What -- oh, God, my son.

GRACE: Have you checked your cell phone?

BOTHUELL: My cell phone is dead.

I'm -- and I -- actually, getting down here, I left it in the car charging because it had -- it had died on me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: How about that back and forth?

Here she is, Nancy Grace.

Nancy, I don't know how many times you have watched or thought about that today. Of all of the missing children cases you have covered, was that a first for you?

GRACE: Yes, it was, Brooke.

And I can't even count the number of missing children, abused children cases that I have prosecuted myself, all the way back to 1987, and covered. And never once have I had a child that I have been personally working on the case, or covering the case, be gone that long, that I could recall, that had a happy ending like this, much less happening on the air.

And it all happened so quickly. When we first started the segment, I didn't even know this. And you can actually see, at one juncture, I'm holding my arm out getting them. I didn't want to take my eyes off the father. I was afraid to even blink, because I wanted to watch every single nuance on his face.

And I was trying to get them to hand me the wire, so I could find out what was going on.

BALDWIN: And there are so many different cases out there. Just hearing from one of your producers, they said that you were really passionate particularly about this story, because you had heard about this father in the Detroit area who was going door to door to door looking for his son.

And so now we have these details coming out, apparently about how the son was found behind these boxes in this massive five-gallon drum in this basement, and that at one point there was cereal and soda with him, which begs the question, was he hidden, did he put himself there? A lot of people have jumped on this father today, Nancy Grace. What are you thinking?

GRACE: I'm not ready to jump on the father yet. And I will tell you why.

I kept watching him. I watched him after the segment was over. I watched him as he unhooked. I was watching his face. At first, I was skeptical with his response back to me. It didn't seem real. But when you throw a civilian in front of a camera, and you give them news like this, I don't know how I would expect them to react.

Then, when he gets home, this is -- is very probative to me. He was laughing and crying at the same time and hugging everybody. He wanted to see his son. Now, this is what I don't like. Apparently, bloody clothing and some PVC pipe has been found in the boy's room. Reportedly, there are spots of blood elsewhere. What does that mean? I don't know. Also, police say that barricade had been made out of furniture like a

dresser, a 55-gallon drum, boxes. It didn't look as if this little boy could have set it up. There was also a pallet back there, where there was a little -- a very tiny nook where he was staying. In addition to cereal and soda, we now learn there was fresh chicken and Gatorade, very important. He had not been using the bathroom in the basement. So where did he go?

BALDWIN: Because it didn't smell foul, according to FBI and police.

GRACE: Not at all. And...

BALDWIN: If he had been missing for two weeks, it would have stunk.

GRACE: And I confirmed that the police looked in the basement. FBI looked in the basement. He and the stepmother looked in the basement.

I found it odd the stepmother would not give a polygraph to local police. But the father voluntarily gave one to the FBI. So it kind of negates there. Also, what I don't like is people saying, oh, this kid is a runaway.

Well, that is not entirely true. The one time, Brooke, that this child went ever missing, it was for a couple hours. I was first told it was between days and hours. But it was a couple of hours. The mother, the bio mom, his mommy, lives about two miles away. And he was by her house when he was found, apparently going to see his mommy.

I don't count that as an unruly runaway. So I have got to figure out, why did this child want to be away and lost for two weeks? Why? What had happened in that home? I know the father homeschools him. And apparently the father had told him that, in the fall they were moving, and he may have to go to a different school, possibly even a military boarding school.

BALDWIN: Ah, OK. So, some of it -- the dots still not fully connecting.

GRACE: No, they're not. They're not.

BALDWIN: Not at all, but we will watch you tonight. I mean, just a -- just a stunning exchange.

GRACE: The father is joining me. The father is joining me tonight.

BALDWIN: Great.

GRACE: But I would like to find out why the boy left the home.

BALDWIN: Stay on it, Nancy Grace. And we will stay in touch with you.

GRACE: Will do.

BALDWIN: Watch Nancy tonight 8:00 Eastern on HLN.

Nancy Grace, as always, thank you so much.

Coming up next: one of the rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court today a victory for Senate Republicans, Supreme Court justices saying President Obama overstepped the law. We will explain the context of that.

And can a city legislate whether you can buy large sugary drinks? Well, in New York City, we now have the answer. That's next. You're watching CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: President Obama loses a fight with Senate Republicans over what are called recess appointments. So the Supreme Court ruled today, unanimously, that President Obama did indeed overstep the law when he appointed those three people to the NLRB, the National Labor Relations Board, without Senate approval, while the Senate was on that brief break.

So senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin is in Washington to explain here what the court found that the president did wrong.

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: You know, Brooke, Germany was a very tough team. There is no doubt that, you know, we played them close, and we're moving on.

BALDWIN: SCOTUS, Toobin.

TOOBIN: Oh, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.

BALDWIN: SCOTUS.

TOOBIN: I'm just a little -- I'm a little distracted. I was like so involved in the game.

BALDWIN: It was exciting.

(LAUGHTER)

TOOBIN: The decision today is -- it's a big defeat for President Obama, because there has been so much intransigence on the part of the Republicans, refusing to confirm his nominees to various positions.

And now, not only can't he do it in the future, because the court has basically said the Republicans can keep the Senate in session, essentially as long as they want. The decisions made by the NLRB when those commissioners were in place are now all up for grabs again, and the NLRB is going to have to look at them all over again.

BALDWIN: They are? OK.

TOOBIN: It's a big mess.

BALDWIN: New York City, their attempt to ban those big old, you know, sugary drinks, the state appeals court refused today to reinstate that ban. Is that -- is this fight over? TOOBIN: It is, because this was really a signature initiative of

Mayor Bloomberg, who, of course, is not in office anymore, who was very concerned about public health. You know, he was a famous crusader against smoking.

And his idea was to sort of nudge people to get smaller sodas; 16 ounces would be the biggest one. Yes, you could buy two, rather than -- it wasn't to stop you from buying a lot of soda.

BALDWIN: You just couldn't buy -- he didn't want you to buy that one really big one.

TOOBIN: Exactly.

BALDWIN: Yes.

TOOBIN: But it didn't apply in every store. It wouldn't apply in 7- Elevens.

And the court said, look, if the state legislature wants to pass a law like this, it can be done. But the mayor of New York can't -- couldn't do it by himself. The new mayor, Mayor de Blasio, has shown no particular interest in this issue. So I think the 20-ounce soda is a fleeting legacy of Mayor Mike Bloomberg.

BALDWIN: OK. Jeff Toobin, and to end where we began, with the World Cup moments ago...

TOOBIN: Beat Belgium.

BALDWIN: ... President Obama weighed in on the U.S. advancing here into this knockout stage of this whole thing. He's at a town hall in Minneapolis. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I have to begin by congratulating our U.S. soccer team, team USA, for advancing next round of the World Cup.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: We -- USA! We -- USA!

CROWD: USA, USA, USA!

OBAMA: Absolutely.

And we were in what's called the group of death. And even though we didn't win today, we were in the toughest grouping. And, you know, we got through. And so we have just still got a chance to win the -- win the World Cup.

And we could not be prouder of them. They are defying the odds, and earned a lot of believers in the process. And I want every -- everybody on the team to know that all of us back home are really proud of them.

So, you know, I -- let me tell you something. I have been really...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: OK. So it's saying something when the president of the United States, off this plane, goes sort of off-script and talks about the World Cup.