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S.C. Lawmakers Vote to Take Down Confederate Flag; Trump Takes Jabs at Hillary, Jeb; What Impact will Trading Halt Have on Market?; Who is Baby Doe? Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired July 9, 2015 - 07:00   ET

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


UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It isn't part of our future. It's part of our past.

[07:00:03] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is my sincere desire that this bill does not pass.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: ... members of the South Carolina state house overwhelmingly approving a bill to remove the Confederate flag from the capitol grounds.

This just weeks after nine black church members, including state senator and pastor Clementa Pinckney, were gunned down by a white supremacist at a Bible study in a Charleston church.

A group of lawmakers mounting opposition to the flag's removal, proposing dozens of amendments in an attempt to blunt the momentum of debate being backed by a group of bipartisan legislators. Tempers fraying into the night, an impassioned plea from Republican Representative Jenny Horne to fellow members of her party.

REP. JENNY HORNE (R), SOUTH CAROLINA STATE REPRESENTATIVE: I cannot believe that we do not have the heart in this body to do something meaningful, such as take a symbol of hate off these grounds on Friday!

And if any of you vote to amend, you are ensuring that this flag will fly beyond Friday. And for the widow of Senator Pinckney and his two young daughters, that would be adding insult to injury. And I will not be a part of it!

VALENCIA: A black flag draped over Pinckney's chair as debate came to a head.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's come to order, please.

VALENCIA: The final vote overwhelmingly in favor of the flag's removal.

The move to take down the controversial banner a stunning reversal in a state that was the site of the first shots in the Civil War and has flown at the state house for half a century.

HORNE: I am a descendant of Jefferson Davis, OK? But that does not matter. It's not about Jenny Horne! It's about the people of South Carolina who have demanded that this symbol of hate come off of the statehouse grounds.

VALENCIA: The bill now headed to the desk of South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, who praised lawmakers. "It is a new day in South Carolina, a day we can all be proud of. A day that truly brings us all together, as we continue to heal as one people and one state."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VALENCIA: Under the senate proposal, the flag will come down 24 hours after Governor Nikki Haley signs the bill. She has five days to get it done -- Alisyn.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Nick, thanks so much for that update. And in just a few minutes we will speak live to that state representative, Jenny Horne, who made the emotional plea.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: The head of the RNC with a plea to Donald Trump. Reince Priebus asking Trump to watch his tone speaking about immigrants, hoping to avoid alienating a Latino voter base that's largely supported Democrats in recent elections. Trump tackling immigration and going after the frontrunners in the race, Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush.

Here's now more of Anderson Cooper's interview with Donald Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: First of all, Hillary Clinton gave her first interview yesterday in a long, long time. The first national interview. She gave it to CNN. You give interviews all the time. You're out there. You're talking extemporaneously. Why do you think Hillary Clinton is not talking?

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, Anderson, she's got a lot to hide. She gets a subpoena on e-mails and she -- I mean, from the United States Congress, and she gets rid of the e-mails and her server and everything.

COOPER: She said yesterday in the interview, by the way, she didn't get a subpoena. There isn't a subpoena.

TRUMP: They said they issued a subpoena, but you're right. I mean, she handled it like, what's going on? How can you do that? She has a lot to hide. She doesn't want to talk to the press. Look, she is the worst secretary of state in the history of the United States.

COOPER: But you used to donate -- I mean, you gave a lot of money to her over the years.

TRUMP: Sure. Because I was a businessman. I guess I still am, but I was a businessman. I was with everybody. Everybody loved me. When I called them, they always treated me well, and that's part of the game. And that's part of what's wrong with this country. Because as a businessman, I could have gotten anything from anybody. And that is part of the problem. Lobbyists, donors, special interests. COOPER: Is that -- is that why you were donating money to the people

you donate? Because I think in 2006, you gave $20,000 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Fund.

TRUMP: And Republicans.

COOPER: You gave a thousand to the Republicans' senatorial campaign.

TRUMP: I've given millions to everybody.

COOPER: So do you give, though, based on principles or do you give based on who's going to do things for you politically?

TRUMP: They all love me. Let's put it that way. They all love me. I'm a very, very -- I did very nicely in life. And frankly, you give -- and it's part of the problem, and I talk about it all the time, part of the problem...

COOPER: So even though you're doing it, you're saying it's a problem?

TRUMP: I'm saying this. They won't necessarily do what's right for the country. They'll do what's right for their special interests, their donors, their lobbyists, et cetera. Not good for the country.

[07:05:02] COOPER: But you know when you get on the stage during those debates and your Republican challengers are going to say, "Look, you're all over the place politically. You say you're a conservative Republican, but you've given money to Hillary Clinton, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi."

TRUMP: I gave money to everybody. And that's part of the problem we have in the country.

COOPER: So you weren't giving them money based on political beliefs; you were giving them money based on courting favor, like many people do?

TRUMP: People love me. You know why? I've been very successful. Everybody loves me.

COOPER: Politically, the other thing that going to say is you're a flip-flopper politically. You say now you're a conservative Republican. Smoking Gun goes back to '87 with your registration record. You were Republican. Then you were Independent. Then you were a Democrat for eight years. Then you were unaffiliated. Then you're Republican.

TRUMP: You have to look at what Ronald Reagan did.

COOPER: He switched around, too.

TRUMP: Not so much different.

COOPER: Well, somebody says, though, "Look, you're the guy who says you're a stand-up guy. You're a decision maker. You seem to kind of be indecisive politically." TRUMP: You have to understand that I'm in New York City. It's

virtually impossible in New York City -- If you look, I think it's three to one Democrats to Republican. It's virtually impossible. So as a businessman in New York City and now all over the world, but as a businessman in New York City, I have to get along with Democrats. If I don't get along with Democrats, I'm sort of, like, out of business.

COOPER: Were you a Democrat when you said you were a Democrat?

TRUMP: I was a Democrat for a period of time early on, and then I was also an Independent, and then I became a Republican.

COOPER: You've been very vocal in media, very accessible; you're on Twitter. There was a tweet that caused you problems that was rescinded. It as a retweet about Jeb Bush's wife.

TRUMP: Yes.

COOPER: The original tweet said Jeb Bush has to like the Mexican illegals because of his wife. That was somebody else said that. You retweeted it. Did you authorize that? Do you regret that?

TRUMP: No, I didn't authorize it.

I don't regret anything. Look, we -- it was a retweet. It wasn't me. And it was actually, if you look at it carefully, it was a retweet of a Breitbart story that was a very good story, a very fair story, very strong story, very good story.

But, do I regret? No, I don't regret it. I mean, look, I would say that he would. If my wife were from Mexico, I think I would have a soft spot for people from Mexico. I can understand that.

COOPER: You think that influences his position on illegal immigration?

TRUMP: I think it could. I mean, maybe it should. If he loves his wife, and I know he does. I hear she's a lovely woman, by the way. So if he loves his wife and she's from Mexico, I think it probably has an influence on him, yes. I can understand that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: I'm glad he can understand it. That makes one of us. All right. So let's discuss more. CNN political reporter Sara Murray; and CNN political commentator and "Washington Post" correspondent for "The New Yorker," Ryan Lizza.

Let's leave Mr. Trump to the side for just one moment to get to another headline, which is Hillary Clinton. Ryan, what is your take? Did she get the fact that she had been subpoenaed about the e-mails wrong? Or do you think it was a legitimate misunderstanding of the context of a question?

RYAN LIZZA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I don't know exactly if she misinterpreted it. I think what she was trying to say, she was trying to defend her handling of her e-mail server on some very sort of technical, frankly legalistic grounds, saying that there was no law against the secretary of state having her own server, using that private e-mail address, although we do know that later on and while she was secretary of state, the official guidance from the State Department was that they did not want high-level officials to do that.

You know, it reminded me of Al Gore years and years ago when he said no controlling legal authority prevented him from raising money at that Buddhist temple. She was making a very technical, sort of legalistic argument saying that she was not prevented from doing that.

So you know, I think she was a lot more defensive about it this time around than, for instance, back at that U.N. press conference when she first addressed it and she sort of conceded that it wasn't the best thing to do. In this latest interview with CNN, she was much more aggressive in saying, "I didn't do anything wrong."

CAMEROTA: Yes. We'll see if that continues to resonate with voters.

And one test of what people will be talking about, Sara, is exactly four weeks from tonight. The first Republican debate will happen. It will happen on FOX. And the way FOX has decided who will be onstage is that they're going to crunch together the numbers of the top five major polls and see who the top ten candidates are, and those are the candidates who will be on stage.

So today, I'll show you the ten candidates who would be on that stage today. We have No. 1, Bush, then Walker, Carson, Rubio, Paul. And the next five are Huckabee, Trump, Cruz, Perry, Christie.

So what do you think of this -- this pool here, Sara? Because it cuts out -- while we're at it, let me just show you who will not be on stage. Santorum, Fiorina, Kasich, Graham, Jindal, Pataki. What do you think of how they're doing this -- this next debate?

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think there are certainly many candidates who are very disappointed by how this is being structured. Part of this is a reality of television and also just a reality of good debating. There's no way you can have all of these candidates onstage at the same time and actually have any one make any kind of point. There's just not enough time to do it.

[07:10:12] But I do think that there are plenty of people who will be disappointed that you won't see the broader, more diverse Republican field all on stage together. By cutting out Carly Fiorina, by cutting out Bobby Jindal, you don't sort of see the spectrum of Republicans that are running. And I think that's a disappointment to a lot of Republicans including a lot of Republicans at the Republican National Committee.

CUOMO: Ryan, do they think they wind up getting that spectrum of thought because you're going to have the Trump effect at play on that stage? And he harnesses so much of the more extreme views?

LIZZA: Yes, I think Sara made a great point. This is a big diverse field, especially for -- it is the most diverse field that the Republicans have ever had, and you are cutting out a prominent female and Indian-American Bobby Jindal, who's a, you know, long-time governor in Louisiana. You're cutting out John Kasich, a long-time congressman in successful government in Ohio.

And if you just do it on polls, the loudest person -- and right now the loudest person in the field is Donald Trump -- or the most famous person is almost definitely going to make it on that stage, whereas a sort of low-key governor, who might have a successful career and is a credible candidate, is not going to be out there, because they just haven't been in the news. And they're not registering in those polls, which frankly, at this point are mostly about who you've heard about, name recognition. That's why Bush and Trump, the two most famous names, are always on top.

But, you know, in defense of FOX and CNN, who has -- who have to run these debates, you have to have some criteria, right? And someone is always going to be disappointed by what the criteria is.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

CUOMO: Especially when you have 14 people.

LIZZA: Exactly.

CAMEROTA: Well, that's true. Is there a better -- I mean, was there a better way to do it? Is Carly Fiorina suggesting a different way to do it, Sara?

MURRAY: Yes. I think that there are a lot of candidates who suggested alternative ways to do this. And I've also talked to a lot of just sort of Republican strategists who have said, "Why not put everyone's name in a hat and draw kind of seven and seven? And whoever they get matched up with they get matched up with."

I think the reality is, there are a lot of people want to see the top- tier candidates on stage together, because they want to see if Marco Rubio has a good moment against Jeb Bush. They want to see how Scott Walker does when he is up against sort of the cream of the crop so far.

But I think the problem for a lot of these candidates is they say, "Look, our performance in the debate should drive the polls. The polls shouldn't drive whether we are allowed on that debate stage."

LIZZA: I think part of it is the RNC's fault, because they don't want a lot of debates. And the way to solve this problem is just to have more debates with a different group of contenders in each debate, especially when it's this early and people are just getting to know these candidates.

So the tension here is the RNC doesn't want a lot of these debates, because in 2012, they didn't think a lot of debates was necessarily a good thing for the party. And then the networks trying to figure out how to set up a fair system.

CAMEROTA: But it's so true. Why not just do the seven versus seven? I mean, I think they make a great point.

LIZZA: Yes.

CAMEROTA: This is how voters learn about the candidates. And so they're being cut out from that opportunity. They don't need to see Marco Rubio and Jeb Bush against each other yet. We're still so far out. I mean, doesn't that -- wouldn't that serve the voters? They have an argument to make that they would serve the voters better to see everybody.

MURRAY: I do think it puts candidates who are sort of lower in the polling in a very tough position. Because the way you move up is you punch up. You have that big moment in the debate against Jeb Bush, against Scott Walker, against a frontrunner.

And by putting them sort of onstage by themselves, which is what CNN is going to do, or in a separate forum, they just sort of miss this big breakout moment that they could have otherwise had and that propelled a lot of other people to the polls in the past.

CUOMO: Nothing is perfect. You know what I mean? There's nothing that would make everybody happy, as we've all been saying.

I think that Fiorina has not only some logic to other versions of doing this, but she also has a personal case to make. She's the only woman on that side of the field.

CAMEROTA: Of course.

CUOMO: And she's probably going to get boxed out. Not that gender is all that matters. But it certainly does matter.

CAMEROTA: Sure. It would make an interesting debate. I mean, I don't think -- nothing is perfect, but sounds like that's -- that would have been a good solution.

CUOMO: Not to mention she was the top of a major corporation. She has that perspective, as well.

CAMEROTA: Sara, Ryan, thank you. Great to talk to you.

LIZZA: OK. Thanks to both of you.

CUOMO: And a lot of wattage out of this Donald Trump interview because of how he says things but also what he represents. So Anderson Cooper himself is going to join us next hour to talk about that interview.

And of course, if you're following the election, and we hope you are, you can get all the latest political news if you just go to CNNPolitics.com -- Mick.

PEREIRA: All right. Let's look at the markets. They are looking to rebound today following that technical glitch that froze the New York Stock Exchange for hours yesterday. And this could not come at a worse time, with China and Greece being thrust into economic turmoil. She's watching it for us. Business correspondent Christine Romans breaking it down, what we can expect today.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, there.

Yes, we're looking at futures right now that are higher, so looking today, at least, as if there's going to be a rebound from what was a really bad day yesterday. Yesterday, the Dow fell 261 points. Now it's bouncing back in pre-market trading, because the market actually opens in a couple of hours.

[07:15:06] So -- so let's talk about what happened yesterday. An embarrassing glitch at the New York Stock Exchange for four hours, with two very big, important stories dominating the headlines. For four hours, the New York Stock Exchange had a technical problem, a configuration problem that shut it down.

They tell us they will be opening on time as usual this morning at 9:30 Eastern Time, in two hours and 14 minutes. So what's going on in world markets that are so important that everything is up and running and firing on all cylinders.

Right now you're having a rebound around the world, but in China, in China there has been a stock market crash. Look at this. Down 30 percent over three weeks. A very big story there.

The government in China, the Chinese government trying to stop a bubble from bursting and not having great success. The market bouncing back today, a very wild day in China. It's very important to watch that.

And also Greece. These are the last moments for Greece to get its act together with the European authorities and figure out how to reform and restructure the economy so it can stay in the euro. If IT falls out of the euro, it will happen very, very soon, and it will matter to you. Here's why. You could see the dollar rise sharply, the euro fall sharply as the Eurozone has an existential crisis. And that will mean for travelers to Europe, it will be good news, but for companies selling things to Europe, it will be bad news. And it could hurt your 401(k). So we're watching that very, very closely. We're in the final moments of that story, guys.

CUOMO: All right. Thank you very much, Christine. Appreciate it.

We also want to tell you this morning that FBI director James Comey was delivering a sobering warning to lawmakers. Comey says ISIS and other terror groups are using encrypted programs to communicate with possible recruits in the U.S., and this makes it very hard for our authorities to track possible terrorists before they strike. Comey says even companies that make the programs have trouble getting in, and he wants them to guarantee a way to access the data if they're given a search warrant.

PEREIRA: Funeral services will be held today for the young woman killed on a San Francisco pier, allegedly by an undocumented immigrant. Thirty-two-year-old Kate Steinle will be laid to rest in California. This is happening as Jeb Bush calls for an end to so- called sanctuary cities that harbor immigrants in the U.S. illegally. Jeb Bush calling to block federal money to police in those cities.

CAMEROTA: Take a look at this video: terrifying moments for a family nearly swept away by a rip current off of Nantucket. Eric Johns -- Erin, sorry, Johns was holding onto a selfie stick as the rip current catches her. Her father, Derek, a former Marine manages to help but has trouble when he tries to help his wife in the same rip current. As you can see, lifeguards and beach goers rushed to bring them both back to safety. All of them back to the shore. Basically, we're told that Derek's oxygen levels were so low he reportedly only had 20 seconds of breathing left.

PEREIRA: We often underestimate the rip currents. Right? I mean, I see warnings all the time at beaches. And we think the water looks calm but you don't know what's going on underneath the surface.

CUOMO: I remember being in "GMA" when Sam Champion went into a rip currents to show what can happen. He's a very strong swimmer and very capable guy. And he got sucked right out. And even though he had just been taught what to do...

PEREIRA: He still couldn't.

CUOMO: It is so hard. You're so panicked and you're getting taken farther and farther.

CAMEROTA: Are you supposed to swim parallel?

CUOMO: You're supposed to not swim. You're supposed to let it take you because it will eventually spiral out, and then you can try. Obviously, fighting it is not futile but exhausts your oxygen.

CAMEROTA: But totally counterintuitive to what you are used to.

CUOMO: Absolutely. Absolutely.

So big news this morning. Baltimore's police chief is forced out by the city's mayor. But she is the one who should be on the hook after the riots for Freddie Gray's death. Is that the question? We're talking to a Baltimore councilmember with some unique insight into what happened.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:22:12] PEREIRA: A tragic mystery in Boston is captivating the country. You've likely seen it in your social media feeds.

A little girl remains found along the shore line of the Boston Harbor just two weeks ago. Authorities have posted this computer-generated image of the little one in the hopes that someone will recognize her. The number of views online is soaring, some 47 million-plus. So far, though, no luck identifying this little girl who's become simply known as Baby Doe.

Robert Lowry Jr. is the vice president of the missing children division at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. You do God's work as far as I'm concerned, sir. Thank you so much for joining us today.

ROBERT LOWRY JR., VICE PRESIDENT, MISSING CHILDREN DIVISION, NATIONAL CENTER FOR MISSING AND EXPLOITED CHILDREN: Thank you.

PEREIRA: I think all of us are captivated. I know I was when you see a little one like this found. We should point out that this image that we're looking at, Bob, is a composite image, obviously. How identical do you believe these have gotten to be? I know the technology has come a long way.

LOWRY: Yes, it has come a long way. And I just want to thank you for having us on.

PEREIRA: Absolutely.

LOWRY: This picture has actually been generated from photographs of the child at post-recovery. Obviously, those pictures wouldn't be appropriate, so our staff artist at the national center actually took time. They use their talents to provide this composite to the public in hopes that someone out there would recognize who she is.

Again, we've got many years of experience in doing this, so -- but I think it is important to say it is not an exact photograph.

PEREIRA: Yes.

LOWRY: It is a likeness of the child.

PEREIRA: Well, and that's an important point to remember, because our goal in doing this segment is to spread the word, right? We want people to take a look at this image. We're going to keep it up as much as we can onscreen. Maybe it will jar a memory. Maybe it will jar a recollection.

Here's what we know, and you help me with this, as well, a 4-year-old little girl. She had long hair, brown hair, brown eyes, just a wee one, 3-1/2 feet tall. And that's pretty much all investigators have at this point, correct?

LOWRY: Yes, she was wearing white leggings with black polka dots. But you bring up a good point, is that we need the public to stay engaged. We need the public to pay attention to that photograph. And I have to admit, it's getting millions and millions of views, and I think this one has captured the hearts of many people.

PEREIRA: Why do you think that is? I was trying to think about that myself. Is it because she represents just the innocence of a little one like that, and it breaks our hearts to think that somebody would just abandon a child and dispose of her like she was a rag doll?

LOWRY: It's a terribly tragic case. And the age of the child, I think, has a lot to do with it. The fact of the way she was found, I think has captured our attention. And I think we're all pretty focused on trying to find out her name, because we certainly want to find out what happened to her. PEREIRA: Give us up-to-date information, at least what you can,

without compromising the investigation, on what they are doing right now. Obviously, they're going to look through missing persons records, talk to any families who have had their children go missing. What else -- what else is being done?

[07:25:12] LOWRY: Well, you know, the fact that we're getting so much attention in this case is overwhelming, too, at times. Lots of people are calling in with tips and leads, and we want that to continue. With that information, we're going out there and we're checking on the welfare of a lot of children. I think we've done over 24 actual welfare checks on children who resembled Baby Doe and others out there, as well.

At the National Center, we're sifting through our reports of missing children and so far there haven't been any matches. But it's important that the public, if they think they know who this child might be, to call, because I think then what we can do is use the DNA science to confirm or not confirm who this child is.

So we need the public's help. And again, I think we're all up against a vacation season where a lot of people are away, and there's a lot of assumptions, too, about were caretakers involved or not. And frankly, we don't know until we find that child.

PEREIRA: Well, I suppose you have to not make assumptions. Right? You can't assume that this is a Caucasian little one. This maybe could be Latina. She could also be from overseas. I mean, the family involved could be undocumented. You have to explore literally every possibility.

LOWRY: Absolutely. And the fact that we have really saturated the New England states with information about Baby Doe. When, in fact, you're absolutely right. She could be from a different region in the country altogether, if not Hispanic or possibly from Mexico or even Canada. So all those possibilities are out there, and so we don't want to close our minds to what we think might be or make assumptions.

Again, and the other assumption could be, as it was, were their caretakers involved, when, in fact, the caretaker or parent could be missing themselves. So we have to keep those kind of things in mind.

PEREIRA: And again, they don't know much, because they're weren't a lot of visible injuries to her body.

One quick last thought and I don't even want to consider this; what if nobody comes forward? Where does the investigation come then?

LOWRY: Well, we're going to continue to work until we do find out who this child is. While this is an unusual case, unfortunately, we've got 650 similar cases at the National Center we're working on each day of unidentified children. Some of these do take us a while, but in a case like this, we have new information and we're hopeful to get her name very soon and continue working hard with the Mississippi State Police until that happens.

PEREIRA: All right, America, come on we need you. Find out who this little one is and give her the dignity of a proper burial.

Bob, thanks so much for joining us. We really, really appreciate it.

So if you have any information, here's the numbers on your screen. Baby Doe, let's find out who she is. You can call the Suffolk County State Police detective unit, the Massachusetts State Police, or the Winthrop Police. The numbers there are on your screen.

CAMEROTA: Let's hope we can get something done with that case.

Well, Baltimore's police chief forced out by the city's mayor, but is she the one who should be on the hook for the riots after Freddie Gray's death? We're talking to a Baltimore councilman with some unique insight.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)