this is "cnn tonight." i'm don lemon. the mother of a hot car toddler has a message for all of us. leave me alone. her attorney says she is being unjustly harassed. are she and her husband already being tried in the court of public opinion? my legal experts will weigh in on that. i'll also talk to a couple who have suffered the hell of losing their baby in a hot car. they want to make sure it never happens again. plus, is eric holder playing the race card just because he says some of the criticism of the president is, you guessed it, about race? is he right? and who decides what you can and cannot say about president obama? also, dick cheney tells jake tapper this --

>> you have said that hillary clinton you think would have been a better president than barack obama. she and you -- >> jimmy carter might have been a better president than barack obama, and i didn't think i would ever say that. >> is that any way for a former vice president to talk about the commander in chief? and the princess dad. this guy is really raising the bar for birthdays. he is claiming a patch of east african desert so his 7-year-old daughter could be a real princess. whatever happened to a pony for your birthday? and as always, we want to know what you think. make sure you tweet us using the #askdon. first, here is my take tonight. when the attorney general of the united states talks, you listen. eric holder gave a wide ranging interview the other day. he discussed syria, airport security, isis in iraq, al qaeda, the war on terror overseas and at home, benghazi, same-sex marriage, the redskins, and sarah palin. but guest what everyone is still talking about? his comments on race.

he said his and the president's opponents on the right sometimes oppose them because they are black. i believe context is everything, and we should keep in mind that the attorney general was responding to a reporter's questions. we should also keep in mind that holder prefaced his comments by saying he didn't know what people were holding in their hearts, and that he believed that some of the opposition was based on race. not all. now some, mostly those on the right, are accusing holder of playing racial politics. it's amazing to think we have come so far in this country to have a black president and a black attorney general that we still get bogged down in black and white. we're going to dig into that just a little bit later on in this show. but now let's get to the new developments today in the hot car case in atlanta. martin savidge is here with the very latest for us. martin? the attorney for leanna harris, little cooper's mother, issued a letter on her behalf. what did she say? what did he say? >> i should point out, don, this is not the words of leanna harris but of her attorney. and at times it's fairly

strongly written. let me read you a portion of it. it begins like this. leanna harris is living every parent's nightmare. the child she bore and loved every moment of her life has died. for most parents, it is difficult, if not impossible to comprehend such a thing, but for leanna, that nightmare is all too real. she will never again be able to tuck him into bed at night and return later to check on him. that of course is a very emotional description there. so it's a powerful letter, but it's also blasting against the media as well, don. >> and there was no mention of her husband at all? >> no, there wasn't. and that was probably the most striking aspect of this entire letter was the fact that you would not even know that she is married. and of course she is married to justin ross harris, the man who is currently being held for the death of their son. but, again, no reference to him whatsoever, and so different from that eulogy at the funeral of the little boy where she stood up for her husband and said he was a wonderful father. of course, in between was a

court hearing in which authorities revealed he had been having an online relationship with several women, including on the day that the child died, don. >> yeah, several, at least a half dozen. so let's talk more about this statement. it is a plea for privacy. but it's also a warning against rushing to judgment. the attorney even mentions richard jewell. let me read again. dealing with their grief becomes more difficult as the days go on. however, because of the constant speculation and innuendo in the media, newspapers, television and online media have fostered a poisonous atmosphere in which leanna's every reaction or failure to cry in front of a cry is scrutinized for some supposed hidden meaning in much the same the government hounded richard jewell when he didn't behave has some thought he should. of course, richard jewell is pretty much a poster child i should say for those who claim

and know he was wrongly accused. remember, he was the security guard that found the bomb before it went off in the olympic park, saved many lives by pushing people away, but later accused by law enforcement and members of the media of actually having been part of the bombing plot. he was not. he was fully exonerated. but before he died in 2007, he always said that shadow had followed him for the rest of his life, don. >> martin savidge, thank you very much. i appreciate that. my legal experts are stand big to get into. this but first, here is a couple who found themselves living a nightmare when their baby died in a hot car three years ago. and to his horror, brett cavaliero forgot his daughter sophia for nearly three hours. now he and his wife kristie are working to make sure it never happens to another parent. and they join me. now thank you so much, guys for joining. i would imagine this pain never goes away. brett, you lost your daughter. you called her ray-ray.

it was a little more than three years ago as a result of a hot car accident. it must be painful to recount, but can you tell what's happened? >> it's excruciatingly painful. reliving the story, the events that happened on that day is very, very challenging. but for my daughter, in memory of my daughter, i've learned as much as i can about what brings on this type of accident. and i'm pursuing with my wife, trying to educate and let everybody know that these things happen to good, loving, caring parents. and i loved my daughter with all my life and all my heart. >> brett, how did it happen in your case? what happened? >> very common, it seems, but one element of it is -- i was --

woke up a little bit late. we were rushing out the door. and i drove my typical route to -- onward to work and to the day care drop-off. and i made a wrong turn. i don't know why. i'll probably never will know why i made that wrong turn. but i turned as if i was going to work. and my brain took over and call it an autopilot type of situation. and i drove to work, believing in my mind i drop mid daughter off. >> yeah. i can hear your voice shaking there when you recounted. kristie, when the realization hit you that ray-ray was still in brett's truck, what were you thinking? what did you do? >> i just had the -- it's like my heart stopped. he told me -- we were on our way to lunch for a lunch date prior

to me going out of town for a business trip. and he told me to speed back to the office immediately. and i turned around and i was at a traffic light. and he said run the light. i said what is going on? and he said i can't remember dropping ray off at day care. and i got to tell you, my heart just sank. so i literally floored it. i ran the red light. i drove the wrong way on an exit ramp to get around traffic. i instructed him to call the office manager on his cell phone to have her go check the truck. and at the same time, i got on my cell phone and called the day care and asked to speak with the teacher. and around the same time, we both learned that, number one, the office manager had remove herd from the truck, and the day care teacher said no, she wasn't here today. so i hung up and immediately called 911. and i think it was about 30 seconds later, the office staff

also called 911. so there were two 911 calls. but honest to god, it was just -- you know, your heart just sinks because you know it's not good. i didn't know how bad, but i knew it wasn't good. >> and i understand there was a trigger, because she wore a dress. i think it was a day care worker or the teacher had given her. and you asked your husband, she didn't mention anything about the dress because you put it on her that day, correct? and that was the trig they're brought it about. >> that was the trigger. because we were talking about how pretty she was that day. she really was. she had just celebrated her birthday ten days earlier. and her teacher, that teacher that day whom she loved, and the teacher loved her as well, she bought her this beautiful floral dress. and it was to be tropical day at school that day. so we dressed her in it and we were oh, wow. miss darling is going to be

really thrilled that she is in her gift. so we were just talking on the way to lunch about how pretty she was. and then brett became very, very quiet. and that's when he told me turn the car around. go back to the office immediately. >> oh my goodness. here is the question. how do you convince people that this could happen to anyone wholly accidentally? brett was never charged with any crime. how do you convince people? as we talk about this, i hear people saying i can't imagine ever leaving my people in the car. but then we have so many people who do it all the time. >> all the time. and it's good parents. it's parents from all socio-economic backgrounds. this knows no -- no socio-economic status, no race, no anything. this kind of disaster does not discriminate. and honestly, if you would have asked us on may 24th, 2011, the day before our tragedy if it was humanely possible for us to forget our child in the back of the car, we would have said absolutely no way, absolutely not.

one of the things we have learned since then, though, is forgotten back seat baby syndrome is an unintended consequence of us moving our children to the back seats. and in particular, the children who are in a rear-facing seat in the back seat, they have diminished visibility. so you can't see them as the driver. and then if they have fallen asleep as in the case of our child, as well as many other children who have died this way, you've also lost auditory reminders that the child is in the car. >> it's literally sort of out of sight, out of mind. i hate to be harsh with that. >> yes. >> i want to talk about because you have a foundation that is called ray-ray's pledge to try to prevent this from happening. >> yes, absolutely. >> what is the website? >> it's www.rayrayspledge.com. and we have a twitter@rayrayspledge. >> i have to ask you this. i don't mean to be heartless at all.

>> sure. >> it's a question everyone asks, brett, kristie. how do you go on? >> i live with this nightmare for the rest of my life. it will never go away. the bits and pieces that make me smile are when i can feel that i'm making an impact. just as i look at all the awareness right now on this issue. this issue has existed for a long time. i did realize i'm not alone. there is many, many fathers and caregivers just like me. and i'm really trying very hard with my wife to make a difference and let everyone know i'm not a monster. i loved my child. i would have given my life in a

heart beat for her. but now i have to help others understand and help me try to save some lives. >> it's an unfortunate accident that happens far too often. thank you again. it's ray-ray's pledge. >> it's terrible. >> thank you, kristie, thank you, brett. >> thank you. when we come back, the hot car story that will surprise you. the 3-year-old that saved a senior citizen. also, some think eric holder shouldn't be talking about race and politics, but no topic is offlimit here is. we're going to debate that. and the man who founded his own country just so his 7-year-old daughter can be a real princess. what could possibly go wrong? they tell their story. we want to know what you think. make sure you tweet us using the #askdon.

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welcome back, everyone. leanna harris' attorney says she is living a nightmare as she mourns her son cooper while her husband is charged with murder. but are both parents already being tried in the court of public opinion? joining me now, a man who knows a lot about that is jose baez, casey anthony's former attorney. also, mel robinson, commentator and legal analyst. and alex ferrer, a former police officer, a former florida circuit court judge and the host of the television show "judge alex." are people rushing to judgment you think on justin harris? >> i don't think there is any

doubt that is what is going on here? i think it's quite obvious. and once you have a story like this, as they say in the media has legs, it keeps going on and on and on. and before you know it, they're dragging in thanks, personal things and private things about this man's life that are frankly irrelevant to whether or not he did something intentional or not. >> you listened before. you heard what justin ross harris said. but do you -- have you seen anything in this that would lead you to believe there may be an innocent explanation for all of this? >> well, i actually do think there is an innocent explanation, don. and i wrote an opinion piece on cnn.com that went bananas, basically telling everybody, but you indict this woman, step back and take a look at the fax. the police keep say thanksgiving

have a mountain of evidence, don, but where it is other than the fact that unfortunately little baby cooper was left in the car. i know there are some things that the dad has done that we found to be offensive. but as jose baez is saying, and i agree with them, most of us are rushing to judgment to connect the dots where there may not be a guilty, like a guilty person here. this may have been a gigantic mistake. and he was horrible in trying to cover it up. >> the question is, is public opinion changing? i've been reading things saying he may be tried in the media, in some media. in the court of public opinion by some. but if you talk to jurors and if you talk to people probably like judge alex who tried these cases, it may be hard to convict him, because there is all the evidence is circumstantial, judge. >> that's true. but circumstantial cases can result in a conviction and often do.

it's not unusual at all. i will say this. i can't imagine anything worse than losing a child. my mother lost both of my brothers. i imagine it's 100 times worse when you are responsible for the death of your child. and the only thing that can possibly be worse than that if you're falsely accused of being involved in the intentional murder of your child. i understand where her lawyer is coming from. that being said, the police would be crazy if they did not suspect the parents in the case. you talk about a mountain of evidence. they're not going share it with us however, the hugely suspicious. >> so that they found in the father's work computer that he had been searching for how long it takes a child to die in a hot car, that he had searched about living a child-free life, that he searched how to live in prison hour, to survive in prison. that it took five minutes from him to go from where he was eating breakfast with his child to go to work. in those fife minutes he forgot his child was in the car. could it be innocent? yes.

but should it the police be focusing on the parents? both of them. because the mother supposedly when she was approached and told her child was never dropped off at day care responded with oh my god, he must have left her in the car, sway bit of a leap, but i don't know. also, when she visited him at the police station, and he was lamenting not that his child had died, but he might get tried with a felony, she said to him supposedly, did you say too much here? those are all very suspicious circumstances. and hair the reason why people and the police and police specifically are focusing on them as possible suspects. that being said, as everybody has pointed out, it might be innocent. >> all right. i want to move on and talk about another case. we've been talking every evening here about how much this happened. yesterday in katy, texas, two children pulled from a stifling car as their mother was inside a hair salon. a group of shoppers smashed the windows to free the children. the mother admitted she made a terrible mistake and pleaded

with the crowd not to call the police. should they have called police? >> absolutely they should call police. honestly, don, at this point, if you leave your kid in a hot car in texas, hello, and you're inside getting your hair done, you're putting your kids in a situation that any reasonable person would say is dangerous. and thankfully because of the media more and more people are realizing you should never leave your kids or your dogs in a car if it's 70 degrees or more anywhere in the united states. so, yes, yes, they should be looking into that. >> can we see a little bit more of that tape? and i want to hear what they're saying there now. because there are laws now. they're trying to put laws into effect where people are not prosecuted for doing this. >> and they were banging on the window. the question here, jose baez, it really comes into intent, doesn't it? >> oh, absolutely. i think if you have an issue

here where as you see, an issue like this beckons awareness. a lot of people are talking about this right now. so when you have that situation, lawmakers want to put laws on the books. you go into the slippery slope where you have to prove intent. and nothing could be harder than trying to prove someone's intent in a court of law. >> this is just tonight. tonight police in sandy springs, georgia, are searching for a woman who jumped in her car and drove off when another shopper discovered her children locked in a heated car. should she be pursued and prosecuted, mel? >> you know, look, don. i personally think if you leave your kids under a certain age inside a car without adult supervision, it is a form of negligence and child abuse, full stop. so, yes. i do think that we need to have a standard in this country where you don't leave your kids unattended. just like in many states in this country, don, you can't leave your kids at home alone without an adult or a responsible party

watching them. you shouldn't be able to leave them in a car. it's absurd. >> point taken. i want to do this next one. this is a good story now. bob king, east tennessee, alive and well thanks to a fast-acting 3-year-old. keith williams, who rescued him from a locked car. little keith got the pastor who was able to open the door and get king out. he went to the guy locked in the car, couldn't get him out, the kid goes to the pastor who gets him out. all these stories raise awareness of being locked in a hot car, whether it's an adult who can't help themselves or children. >> we're of course being directly focused on it by the media now. because it's a hot topic. but it happens every year. there is about two dozen deaths of children in cars every single year. that just is the ones who died. we don't get to hear about the ones where parents realized it and said oh my god and got there in time to save the child. it doesn't get reported or they left them behind at a restaurant.

i don't know that it's any more epidemic now than it has been. i think it's just being reported because of this horrible case. >> all right, thank you very much. thank you, jose baez, thank you, judge ferrer and mel robbins. hitting back at eric holder for saying some president obama's opponents are motivated by race. but is he right? we'll debate that. [ male announcer ] we know they're out there. you can't always see them. but it's our job to find them. the answers. the solutions. the innovations. all waiting to help us build something better. something more amazing. a safer, cleaner, brighter future. at boeing, that's what building something better is all about. ♪

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comments by attorney general eric holder have ignited a firestorm. he says race is behind opposition to some of president obama's policies. we're going to have our own debate in just a moment. but first, here is cnn's joe john. >> reporter: attorney general eric holder, speaking at historically black howard university today calling on congress to expand the protections of the voting rights act. holder once again wades into the issue of race. as it stands, our society is not yet color-blind, nor should it be, given the disparities that so afflict and divide us. we must be color brave and must

never forget that all are made better and more prosperous if all are given equal opportunities. >> reporter: provocative for sure, but it is his comments about race over the weekend that are getting all the attention. holder suggesting on some level race is a factor in the treatment he and the president receive from some segments of the public. >> there is a certain level of vehemence it seems that is directed at me, directed at the president. you know, people talk about taking their country back. >> reporter: the fact is democrats have also used that phrase, taking their country back, referring to republicans, including former president george w. bush. but holder is taking aim at those on the right, calling for the impeachment of the president and the attorney general himself. >> there is a certain racial component to this for some people. i don't think this is a main driver. but for some there is a racial animus.

>> reporter: radio host rush limbaugh slammed holder for the comments. >> president of the united states, attorney general of the united states, oh, poor guys. poor victims of a mean, racist america. >> reporter: but not all republicans are in attack mode. ohio senator rob portman on fox news was temp erred. >> i don't think it helps us. i don't think it takes us in the right direction in terms on making progress of dealing with this eternal issue we've got in america which is assuring we're doing everything we possibly can to fight racism. >> reporter: but the combative tone, much like sarah palin's call for impeachment of the president -- >> so it's time to impeach. >> reporter: has some republicans saying it's all playing into the democrats' hands in a midterm election year. >> impeachment is exactly what the president wants to talk about. just like he liked the republicans and conservatives to talk about him being born in kenya for five or six years, he is happy to have republicans talk about impeaching him. a bad thing to do. the politics of that are all wrong.

>> all right, cnn's joe johns. thank you. joining me now political commentator charles blow. ben ferguson is a cnn political commentator and host of "the ben ferguson show." and jason riley is author of "please stop helping us: how liberals make it harder for blacks to succeed." is eric holder right? do you think the statement taking the country back is different when it's used by a republican versus a democrat? >> well, i think that that part of the -- of his comments strays into something that is not necessarily supportable by data. however, the other part of this statement is supportable by data. what the phrase that he uses is so amorphous, so malleable, which is that some. that's not most. and in fact in his comment, he says he does not believe that most of the opposition they receive is animated by racism. however, he says some. how do you quantify some? what does that mean? and right now we don't have any data to back that -- to put a number to that.

you know, what percentage is that? is that 1%? 5%? 10%? whatever the percentage is. and i think the president has made a very strong argument in the interview that he did before the holder interview where he also said that some, though not all, or not even most of the opposition has some racial element. however, he says that he probably also gets a boost from the idea of race surrounding his presidency. i think we can't unweave the fabric of race from american society. >> i want to get jason in on this. jason, you wrote an op-ed. it's in "the wall street journal." here is what you said. in 2008, barack obama outperformed al gore and john kerry among white voters in states like texas and the carolinas. has it occurred to holder that criticism of the president might

be due to his performance and not his skin lore? wasn't president obama already elected in 2008 and reelected again in 2012? you said the same thing to me on cnn yesterday. do you think the white house is using the president's race as a scapegoat to deflect from his policies? and is that responsible politics? >> i think it's quite clear that that's exactly what is going on. he says not all of it is racially driven, but enough of it is to complain about it on national television. the issue here isn't whether racism still exists in the country. and the issue isn't whether it's ever appropriate for the president or the attorney general to talk about race. the issue is whether this administration is exploiting racial divisions in this country for political purposes, namely, to turn out minority voters in november. i think they are. and i think given this country's racial history, it's shameful. >> how would you have eric hold erred and the president answer a question, then, if he is asked about it in an interview. how would you have him answer it

without talking about race when he is asked about race? >> by not stoking the fire when it comes to the issue of race baiting. what he basically did is a shot across the bow saying if you criticize us too much, you might be a racist. i mean, that's what some means in that scenario. >> that is not what some means in that scenario. you just made that up. >> hang on, ben. hold on. stop, stop, stop, stop. >> let me finish. let me finish. let me finish what i'm saying. it's not disingenuous. you and i disagree on it here. the president of the united states of america is smart enough, and eric holder to know that when you come out there and you throw out some and go fishing well, when people say things like, you know, that this or like that, there could be a racial tone, like changing america. democrats have been saying that for years. republicans have been saying it for years, taking back this country. almost every democratic presidential candidate, you can

find a tape of them saying it. no one said they were being racist when they said it. and so that's where race comes in. >> isn't it all about context? >> no. it's all about they want it to be racist when a republican says it to use for political gain. it has nothing 20 do with context. when hillary clinton came out and she said i want to take this country back, she was running in a primary against barack obama who is african american. not one person said this white woman was being -- >> hang on, as i said, context was everything. she said she wanted to take the country back from the radical right. >> right. and here is where the facts are. >> and when the republicans say it do, you hear what they say? >> and disregard the fax. and i think ben has done it, and jason, you have done it basically by ignoring the fact that in the primaries with hillary clinton during the exit polls, particularly in states like ohio, they actually ask the question whether or not your vote was based on racial reasons. 20% of people in ohio said yes to that.

6% of those people voted for hillary clinton. the idea that you could say because barack obama increased the margins from carry in the previous election. >> let jason respond. >> just ignore that there is actual data that shows that race did show up in the electoral process is actually -- >> let jason get in. jason, go. >> here are some facts that the president and the attorney general are ignoring. in 2012, the black voter turnout rate exceeded the white voter turnout rate. even in states with some of the toughest voter id laws in the country. if republicans -- >> because of the tougher id laws. when you try to take something away from somebody, they exercise their rights. >> in the republicans are suppressing the black vote, where is the evidence? >> when you try to take away something from someone, it makes them want to do it more. and that is how those suppressive laws backfired on republicans.

so now what you see is they're trying to do even more -- >> so republicans are trying to repress the black vote. they're just incompetent. >> i've got to get to a break, everyone. >> what the justice department is doing is actually combatting that. >> i've got to get to the break. stay with me, everybody. when we come right back, dick cheney calls president obama the worst president of his lifetime, an even goes after a former president. more on that next. the cadillac summer collection is here. ♪

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are president obama's critics across the aisle hurting the president, or is all this talk about impeachment actually working for white house? back with me now charles blow, ben ferguson and jason riley. okay, let's talk again. jason, sarah palin calling for the president's impeach. karl rove thinking that's exactly what dick cheney wants. >> your successor as vice president nominee in 2008 sarah palin recently called for the impeachment of president obama. what do you think about that? >> i'm not prepared at this point to call for the impeachment of the president. i think he is the worst president of my lifetime. i fundamentally disagree with him.

i think he is doing a lot of things wrong. i'm glad to see that the house republicans are challenging him at least legally at this point. but i think that gets to be a bit of a distraction, just like the impeachment of bill clinton did. >> so jason, you think the white house wants to keep this impeachment talk going as a distraction? >> absolutely. i would go further than dick cheney, though. i think the lawsuit is also a distraction. these are attempts to criminalize political differences. and what republicans should be focused on is winning elections, not trying to drum up legal charges against the president or push for impeachment. i don't think anything that the president has done amounts to high crimes. >> here is something else dick cheney had to say that is making headlines. here it is. >> you have said that hillary clinton you think would have been a better president than barack obama. she and you -- >> jimmy carter might have been a better president than barack obama. i didn't think i would ever say that.

>> so his depth of dislike for the president is pretty clear there. is this something a vice president should be doing about two former presidents? george bush has stayed quietly above the fray. and should he be doing the same thing? >> yeah, i don't know if he is above it or below it or wherever, he sought of sight, though. and i think that's a classy move. i think the republicans have plenty of operatives who could be doing this. i don't think you need to have a former vice president, particularly the previous vice president to be constantly on the attack, constantly kind of nudging the current administration. there is something about it to me that seems rather unseemly. he must get something out of it. he must enjoy it on some level. he gets a lot of blow back from it. but he continues to do it anyway with his daughter. so he must enjoy it. but i don't think it necessarily helps the debate. i don't think it helps the republicans at all.

>> ben, that leaves me perfectly -- hang on, you'll get your chance, into the next sound bite that i want you to listen to. dick cheney explaining why he is becoming more vocal on political issues. here it is. >> i'm 73 years old. every day i get is up a gift. i was an in-stage heart failure two years ago. i got a new heart. it does wonders for your attitude. but from my perspective, i feel very strongly that these things need to be said. and if i don't say them, i don't know who else will from the standpoint of the republican party or somebody who has my background and experience over the last 40 years. >> ben, there something to saying you know what? you had your chance for eight years, or whoever long you're in politics, you're retired, you're out of it. now have a seat. >> two perks to being dick cheney. one, you're not the president. you were the vice president. >> that's arguable. >> so you are allowed to come out and still talk. i think that's one of the perks. the other thing is this. i love how we always wish that politicians would give blunt answers and not pc answers and answer the question they're

always asked about. we always complain about people who run around something and don't want to give their opinion. he is giving his opinion. he is being blunt. he is answering the actual questions, and then we still want to criticize him for it. i like it. i think it's a breath of fresh air. i think he is being bold and blunt. he is being consistent with his career. and he is the vice president of the united states of america. he is saying look, i almost died. this is what i've done with my life. you want to talk to me about it, i'm not going to dodge a question. and you may not like what he says. but i like the fact that he is willing enough to be man enough to do it and say it. i applaud it. >> people want to hear bill clinton all the time. he speaks out all the time. >> all the time. >> what are republicans, how do they feel behind the scenes about dick cheney speaking out? >> i sit around wondering what happened to the dick cheney wing of the gop. and i think we have a president who sort of said i want a light footprint. i want to withdraw from the world. and we see the result of that.

when you try as the leader of the free world not to lead, or to lead from behind. >> absolutely. >> i think it leads to very bad outcomes. we're seeing that play out. and there aren't a lot of people in the gop who sort of want to shoot spitballs at the president. but no one is coming up with an alternative, other than a few people. you still have your lindsey grahams you still have your john mccains. but lot of the gop i think has been a little bit cowed. and i wish that the cheney wing of the gop would make a resurgence. i think the world could use it right now. >> that's a damning statement about the gop. it came up in cheney's comments himself. if i don't say it at my age no one will. if there is no one in the entire republican party who is making the case who is actively engaged in republican politics now and an acted official who is a republican who could say what dick cheney is saying who is a part of the process in the game right now, that's a sad statement about the republican party. >> that's the last thought.

thank you, guys. we'll have to leave it there. thank you very much. if you ever used your couch cushions to build a fort back in the day, you had your very own little country, at least for a you minutes. next, i'm going to talk to one dad who is building his little princess a real kingdom. you know.... there's a more enjoyable way to get your fiber. try phillips fiber good gummies. they're delicious and an excellent source of fiber to help support regularity. mmmm. these are good! the tasty side of fiber. from phillips sea captain: there's a narratorstorm cominhe storm narrator: that whipped through the turbine which poured... surplus energy into the plant which generously lowered its price and tipped off the house which used all that energy to stay warm through the storm. chipmunk: there's a bad storm comin! narrator: the internet of everything is changing how energy works. is your network ready?"

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i guess you could call this a game of thrones. jeremiah heaton laid claim to 800 square miles of land in eastern africa so his daughter can be a real princess. there you see him. planting the flag right there. so joining me now is jeremiah heaton and his daughter, her royal highness princess emily. how you doing, princess emily? >> good. >> good. how does it feel to be a member of the royal family? >> exciting. >> she is a princess of few words. little girls often grow up, jeremiah, watching disney films and they one day becoming a princess, obviously. you made emily's dream come through by getting her an actual kingdom. how did you go about actually doing that? >> well, over the winter, we were in her room playing, and as children do sometimes, they go

into a very serious tone. and coy tell her demeanor had changed. and after a moment of silence, she looked at me and said daddy, will i ever be a real princess? and, you know, you never as a parent want to tell a child they can't be something. if she had asked a question could she be a doctor or lawyer, the answer most certainly would have been yes. so i responded as yes as a reply. and being a parent that doesn't like to make false promises to their children, after i had said those words to her, i knew that i had to act in some way to try to honor that. >> so you can actually make the claim to this land? doesn't someone already own it? explain the area to us and why you chose it? >> well, the area is along the southern egyptian border and the northern sudan border. and it's a by-product of a colonial -- british colonial dispute over a boundary. and basically, britain drew the line in 1899. and three years later, egypt decided that they wanted to move

the line to the 22nd parallel. and the piece of ground that is contested between the two countries is the halabi triangle. and because of the conflict and the way the boundary situation, the debate has been over the halabi triangle, which is a far more valuable and larger piece of land and bir tawil for over 100 years has been left in the dustbin of governance, and it has been unclaimed. it was very exciting to learn that it was still able to be the last piece of ground on earth that could be claimed. >> you went to bir tawil i think it was last month, and you planted -- there is a picture of you planting the flag on the rocky hill there. it's emily's seventh birthday. what does that feel like? i mean, it must be a pretty odd situation, a pretty odd feeling to claim, you know, a stake to this land and then to make your daughter the princess? >> well, there is no question

that in this modern age to be engaged in a process like this that we typically associate with the later period of time is very unique. and it was very surprising to learn that there actually was still a piece of ground on earth of this size that was ungoverned. and unpopulated. so, you know, it's been very interesting. >> you have certainly set the bar high for a lot of dads. a lot of dads in this studio oh, my gosh, a pony, i thought that was the ultimate. so and i'm sure a lot of people are asking, emily, your friends are asking their parents to become princesses too. so tell what's it feels like to be a princess and who do you want in your court? >> it feels exciting. >> again, it was exciting. all right. so who is the best dad in the world? i'll ask you that? >> my dad. >> your dad. all right. thank you, emily.

thank you, jeremiah. your highness. appreciate it. thank you both. >> well, thank you very much. and i appreciate your time. and thank you for having us on the show tonight. and we've got to take emily and get her into bed now. >> all righty. thank you. we'll be right back, everyone. >> thank you, have a great evening. defiance never grows old. citracal maximum. easily absorbed calcium plus d. beauty is bone deep. now get the unmistakable thrill... and the incredible rush... of the mercedes-benz you've always wanted. ♪ [ tires screech ] but you better get here fast... [ daughter ] yay, daddy's here! here you go, honey. thank you. [ male announcer ] ...because a good thing like this... phew! [ male announcer ] ...won't last forever. see your authorized dealer for an incredible offer on the exhilarating c250 sport sedan. but hurry, offers end july 31st. share your summer moments in your mercedes-benz with us.

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cnn tonight. tomorrow's storms packing heavy rain, making a mess for air travel along the east coast.

tonight it could affect travel tomorrow as well. thousands of flights canceled or delayed from the carolinas to new england. that's it for me. i'm don lemon. thanks for watching. a brilliant, young architect mysteriously died just before she testified in a criminal trial. her diary contained stories of sex, betrayal and intrigue. investigators needed to know if the stories were true. university park, texas, just outside of dallas, is better known as the bubble. it's a place of privilege and prestige, an address many would like to have but few can afford. >> it's kind of the beverly