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Trump on Defensive After "Blood" Comment; Bernie Sanders Shouted Down at His Own Rally; U.S. Lawmakers Discussing Iran in Israel; U.S. F-16's Join Syrian Border Patrol; Arming Police with Body Cameras; CEO Raises Company Minimum Wage; Robin Williams' Son on a Mission to Help Inmates. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired August 09, 2015 - 18:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:00:25] POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Six o'clock Eastern. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Poppy Harlow. Thanks so much for being with me.

Donald Trump today saying he is not being treated fairly, that other White House hopefuls in his own party are ganging up on him in being politically correct. He has called them losers. And on Twitter today, he declared one of his Republican contenders as having, quote, "zero chance", in the race for the White House.

Sunlen Serfaty, CNN national correspondent, joining me from Washington.

Trump went on the debate, a clear Republican frontrunner in almost all of the polls. What are we expecting from the future polls after what the past few days have been like from him?

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Poppy, I think we can't discount that Trump, since he declared his candidacy, he survived other scandals as well. So, I think that should definitely factor in when we see how much effect this has on him.

But certainly there has been much backlash within his party. Many say that this really potentially could be the potential last straw for him, and that he really stepped out on this one. That said, Trump out on multiple networks today, defending his comments, refusing to back down and saying that he won't apologize.

And he took a small pivot, Poppy, where he was trying to take some of the attention, deflect it from him and put it on Jeb Bush, bringing up a past controversy about what Jeb Bush has said about women's health. I want to play a clip on Jake Tapper on "STATE OF THE UNION" today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (via telephone): I think it is amazing, because three days ago he was talking so negatively about women's health issues. I thought it was disgraceful and I think it will go down to haunt him, and be the same as Romney's 47 percent, which possibly cost him the election. Jeb was very negative on women's health. And when you're negative about women's health, you can forget about it.

And I'm the exact opposite. I cherish women, I want to help women. I'm going to do things for women that no other candidate will be able to do. And it's very important to me. So, you know, it's sort of interesting. He then went back and apologized the following day and said he misspoke. Well, he really did misspeak.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SERFATY: This does give an opening for other Republican candidates to come out and criticize Trump's remark, most notably Carly Fiorina, who has talked about how she's had to suffer the same sort of insinuation herself in the past. She called Trump's comments completely inappropriate and offensive.

Here is more of what she had to say today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARLY FIORINA (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think campaigns test character under pressure and over time. And so, it's the moderator's job to ask tough questions. All of those moderators asked tough questions of everyone. And so, there's no excuse for personally attacking one of the moderators for asking a set of questions he didn't like.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SERFATY: Now, Trump, meanwhile, already has fired back at Fiorina this afternoon with a taunt of a bit, by way of a tweet. Here is what he wrote, quote, "I just realized that if you listen to Carly Fiorina for more than ten minutes straight you develop a massive headache. She has zero chance" -- Poppy.

HARLOW: We'll see if she responds to that.

Sunlen Serfaty joining us from Washington this evening -- thank you very much.

To Democrats now, Black Lives Matter protesters shutting down Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, forcing him to leave his own rally in Seattle.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(CHANTIGN)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thank you, Seattle, for being one of the most progressive cities in America.

(CHANTING)

(BOOS)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: CNN politics producer Dan Merica was at the event in Seattle on Saturday, he joins me now on the phone.

Dan, when you look at this, just take me into the situation. This is in response to Bernie Sanders last month saying all lives matter. How much work does he have to do on this front in terms of what happened to him yesterday?

DAN MERICA, CNN POLITICS PRODUCER (via telephone): Well, he still has a lot of work to do. And you're right, Poppy, it was a pretty contentious scene from what you saw in that video. Senator Sanders was not on stage for barely a second, before two women hopped the barricade and effectively took over the stage.

[18:05:01] The protesters demanded attention, the audience, many of whom waited almost two hours to see the presidential candidate. And they criticized Sanders for not speaking up enough on race issues. They commended other Democrats for doing that and asked Sanders when he would put out a certain amount of platform papers that he has yet to release.

And at one point, Senator Sanders tried to take the mike, he was waiting for the protesters, he walked up, took the Mike, one of the women got in his face and he was forced to just turn around and wait back in the wings. And after a 4 1/2 minute moment of silence, the organizers of the event essentially said the gathering was over.

It was supposed to be focused on Social Security, almost like a birthday party for Social Security and they had to end it almost before Sanders really got to speak.

Before leaving, Senator Sanders waved to the crowd and jumped the barricade himself and walked through the audience, shaking hands, taking pictures, and many of the people urged him to get back on the stage and speak. He didn't do that and got in the car and left and had two more events in Seattle.

But you're right. This has been a nagging problem for Sanders. He was first confronted by Black Lives Matter in July. And basically they say he has not done enough to answer their questions.

HARLOW: Right, right, and clearly this is something that really derailed his campaign stop yesterday and is something that he and all the candidates have to face. And it's clearly becoming a huge issue.

Thank you very much, Dan. This is something again one year to the day after the death of Michael brown that sparked all of those protests in Ferguson. Dan Merica, thank you very much.

Let's talk more about this with CNN political commentator Marc Lamont Hill. He is in Ferguson today.

You heard what Dan just reported and you saw what happened at that Bernie Sanders event yesterday. This is also a man who has a history of supporting civil rights. He did say that all lives matter. It offended some last month.

Does it matter, his long history, does it matter to this movement? MARC LAMONT HILL, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I mean, it should inform

our analysis all factors matter, so to speak. But I think at the end of the day, we need concrete policy plans from Bernie Sanders right now.

Martin O'Malley even unveiled a criminal justice agenda. That's what we want to see from Bernie Sanders. We want to hear the race analysis attached to his economic analysis. I don't think Bernie Sanders is racist, I don't think he wants anything other than to see equal racial justice, but that means he needs to shape his policy to the needs of the people at this moment.

And I think too often, liberals, particularly white liberals will say, hey, I'm on your side. You don't even know who your enemies are, you should be mad at him or mad at her instead of us. That's the wrong way to think about this. It's almost that he's playing lefter than thou right now, as opposed to adjusting himself to the needs of the people. He needs to learn how to be a better ally.

That's for everybody. That's not particular for Bernie Sanders who I actually like and think is a strong candidate.

HARLOW: So, who do you think for -- as a candidate for president, is there one candidate right now in either party that this group, and it's hard to even say this group. This is a huge nationwide movement. But will rally around?

HILL: Well, I think that right now, we want to see a lay out of plans and policies from everybody. If you talk to leaders of the Black Lives Matter movement, whether it's the people who founded it or whether it's people on the ground and every city, they want these politicians to come forth with an agenda and then they will make a decision. But a big part of it isn't about coronating a particular candidate. It's making the conversation bigger and louder than it has been before.

And one year after Michael Brown's tragic death, we're seeing that. And that to me is a victory in and of itself.

HARLOW: Where do we go from here? You're on the ground in Ferguson, just give us the sense, the mood of the people there one year later.

HILL: There's a sense of optimism. You know, one of the biggest songs and themes on the ground right now is Kendrick Lamar's "We're Going to be Alright."

And I think there's a sense that we can win, that we can have victory here if we continue to organize, continue to struggle, continue to find, and continue to engage in acts of civil disobedience. The actions we've seen in Seattle -- what we saw in Texas rather, what we've seen around the country is exactly what we're going to see for the rest of this election cycle and really until we see justice on the ground, we're going to see unrest. We're going to see resistant and we're going to see a conversation about Black Lives Matter, not at the expense of others but a conversation about Black Lives Matter.

HARLOW: Marc Lamont Hill, from Ferguson for us -- thank you very much.

Coming up next, as a group of U.S. lawmakers head to Israel, President Obama continues to press his case for a nuclear deal with Iran.

Next, the CNN exclusive sit-down with the president.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:12:51] HARLOW: Dozens of members of Congress are in Israel right now discussing the controversial Iranian nuclear deal with the United States and five other major powers. Twenty-two House Democrats met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today.

Tomorrow, a group of Republican lawmakers will sit down with him anticipating a fierce fight in Congress. President Obama is continuing his hard sell on the deal.

Here is part of his interview this week with our very own Fareed Zakaria.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FAREED ZAKARIA, HOST, CNN'S "FAREED ZAKARIA GPS": One member of Iran's old guard certainly seems to be Ayatollah Khamenei, the supreme leader.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think he would qualify.

ZAKARIA: He would qualify, right? And he seems relentlessly anti- American. His Twitter feed has posted a likeness of you with a gun pointed to your head.

OBAMA: Yes.

ZAKARIA: Is this a guy you can really make a deal with?

OBAMA: Well, as I said, Fareed, you don't negotiate deals with your friends. You negotiate them with your enemies. And superpowers don't respond to taunts. Superpowers focus on what it is we need to do in order to preserve our national security.

Now, I'm not interested in a Twitter back and forth with the supreme leader. What I'm interested in is the deal itself and can we enforce it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: CNN White House correspondent Michelle Kosinski is live in Martha's Vineyard. That is where the president is on vacation.

But no doubt he's not fully vacationing, Michelle. He's keeping a very close eye on this deal (ph), these lawmakers are talking to the prime minister about in Israel. Take us behind how this meeting happened. MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, well, OK, so this is

organized and funded by the charitable arm of AIPAC, which is the American-Israel interest group that is staunchly opposed to the Iranian nuclear deal.

So, we know that this happens about every two years, and they bring about the same size of people, generally freshmen members, and they bring them there to meet with leadership, go to historic site, have conversations, things like that. So, we believe according to sources that this was planned well before we knew the timing of the vote on the Iran deal in Congress.

But that said -- I mean, they're meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu, him being one of the most vocal opponent to the deal in the world.

[18:15:05] You can imagine how that conversation went. Nobody is really saying much at this point about what was said, or how it impacted some of these members of Congress.

In fact, there was supposed to be a press conference tomorrow but now it seems like that's not going to happen. So, we'll just have to sort of wait and see what comes out of this.

HARLOW: Right.

KOSINSKI: Again, it's not supposed to be entirely about the Iran deal but it's hard to imagine that not being at this point.

These freshmen members are led by the White House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, he says that some have made up their minds. Others haven't. They really want to talk about the relationship between the U.S. and Israel, as well -- again, kind of reinforcing that this isn't supposed to be all about the deal. He said tensions over this deal are not going to really damage the relationship long-term, Poppy.

HARLOW: It's interesting in this interview with Fareed Zakaria, the president also said that the credibility of the United States to reach these international agreements is on the line right now with Congress, you know, some are really on the fence on this. He pressed that home very quickly.

How nervous is the White House at this point, Michelle, after you had New York Democrat, Senator Chuck Schumer, very powerful senator, saying, no, I'm going to vote no?

KOSINSKI: Yes. I mean, it's such a complicated situation. It's all about vote count. And nobody is really saying how many votes. The White House doesn't want to be the vote counter.

But what they have expressed throughout is confidence throughout, because what it seems to be, according to analysts, people within Congress, people watching that, is that even though there are a number of undecided in both houses, when it gets to the point of voting disapproval of the Iran deal, that could happen. That number is uncertain at this point. But what seems certain to a large degree, at least, is that there will

not be the votes to override a presidential veto. And that's what the White House does at this point feel pretty confident about, Poppy.

HARLOW: Michelle Kosinski, live for us this evening in Martha's Vineyard -- thank you, Michelle.

Ahead here on the show, does ISIS carrying out smaller lone attacks help the terror organization build up the capability that they carry out a mass casualty attack? I will ask a former CIA operative, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:21:08] HARLOW: A group of American F-16 fighter jets is now at an air base in Turkey, not far from the border with Syria.

CNN's Barbara Starr has more this evening from the Pentagon.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: U.S. military action over the skies of Syria is about to ramp up. But will it be enough?

(voice-over): U.S. airstrikes against ISIS and Syria could be launched from this Turkish air base within days, according to U.S. officials. This section of the border, U.S. intelligence calculates new ISIS fighters are still entering Syria as fast as the U.S. can kill them.

On the ground, U.S. strategy rests on the shoulders of just 54 U.S. trained moderate Syrian rebels.

LT. GEN. MARK HERTLING (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: What we're trying to do is protect this very small force as it's on the very early stages of building combat power.

STARR: The official Pentagon word? The group is "eager to fight" and thwarted a recent al Qaeda attack.

The reality? Up to half are missing. They may have deserted early on, fled after the attack last week or been captured.

One defense official admitting to CNN, quote, "They are no longer a coherent military unit."

SETH JONES, RAND CORPORATION: They're not a company by U.S. forces in the field, which means they're going to get limited training, some equipment. But the vast majority of U.S. train, advise, assist missions require imbedded forces in the field.

STARR: Privately, Pentagon officials say something has to change in how the U.S. aids the rebels.

JONES: This brakes basically every train, advise and assist rule that special operation forces have learned. STARR: And ISIS is still grabbing territory. Activists say in this

western Syrian town, more than 200 people have been kidnapped, up to 500 unaccounted for. CNN cannot independently verify those claims.

JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Today, actually, marks the one-year anniversary of the commencement of airstrikes in Iraq against ISIL targets.

STARR: There have been gains. But Iraqi forces are still trying desperately to re-take lost ground.

Here in Baji where there was a critical oil refinery, U.S. officials privately acknowledge ISIS is now massing forcing, gearing up for a new counterattack.

(on camera): One year after the U.S. bombing campaign against ISIS began, still, the same question. What will it take to roll back the momentum that ISIS still has?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: Barbara Starr, thank you very much for that.

With me now, Bob Baer. He is CNN's intelligence and security analyst, also former CIA operative.

Bob, good to see you this evening. Let's get right to it. I mean, this deployment of the American F-16s in Turkey. Can it -- as Barbara just posed that question -- can it roll back the momentum that ISIS has?

BOB BAER, CNN INTELLIGENCE AND SECURITY ANALYST: You know, flying out of the main base there, yes, it will help, but easier to hit targets. But you can't really win this war with an F-16. They're too fast. You hit too many civilian targets. ISIS has learned to disperse. They don't travel in large convoys.

And additionally, ISIS welcomes this, civilians are being killed not intentionally, but they're saying look we're the only ones defending you. It's not our fault. It's just the way the air campaigns go.

HARLOW: Jim Sciutto, CNN reporter Jim Sciutto also had a fascinating piece on CNN.com this week, posing the question of whether ISIS carrying out these smaller lone wolf attacks like we saw in the Charlie Hebdo attack in Paris, is it helping them to build capacity to carry out a mass casualty attack?

[18:25:02] Some of the experts are saying that. Do you believe that's the case?

BAER: I think that they are prepared to attack the West with mass casualties. I think they're capable of doing it. They don't have the infrastructure yet. They're trying to build it. They're trying to get it here through the West and the United States. I just have seen no evidence of it. What I think we need to worry about if ISIS does come under success,

typically a group like this will strike out, you know, on the home front against the United States. We really do have to worry about it. They have a lot of science, a lot of smart people, a lot of former military commanders working for the Islamic State who can put together a mission like this.

HARLOW: When you look at the region, the Middle East, and the complexities within the region, President Obama in the interview with Fareed Zakaria says it is possible he believes we'll see Iran and Saudi Arabia work together at some point if this Iranian nuclear deal gets through because he says they both face an ISIS chaos and the chaos that it creates in Syria and Yemen. And he says that is far greater than the rivalries that exist between Iran and Saudi Arabia.

Do you agree with that assessment?

BAER: I do agree with the assessment. Saudi Arabia is anxious about their future. But we have to keep in mind this legitimacy of the royal family.

The Islamic State poses a threat in the street of Saudi Arabia. The bombing last week killed the security officials, a dozen of them. That's what scares the Saudi royal family and that is what scares us, as well. You have a king that is old and you have his son, the crown prince. The defense minister, they're untried at this point. And we always worry about Saudi stability. And if these wars continue along the borders will it affect that regime. And we're just going to have to wait and see.

HARLOW: Yes, absolutely. Bob Baer, thank you very much as always for the analysis.

BAER: Coming up next, police body cameras. How this technology is changing. A fascinating report from our Samuel Burke, ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:30:16] POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Hundreds of people are in Ferguson, Missouri, tonight marking the one-year anniversary of Michael Brown's death. After a moment of silence, demonstrators marched through the street where Brown was shot and killed by a police officer. Since his death, police departments across this country have spent millions of dollars making sure that their officers wear body camera.

CNN Business correspondent Samuel Burke takes a look at the impact that it's having in Oakland.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SAMUEL BURKE, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is policing in Oakland, California.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, hey, hey, hey.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 226.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, hey, hey.

BURKE: This arrest, captured by our camera and by a police body camera.

UNIDENTIFIED POLICE OFFICER: Relax. Relax.

BURKE: All of the city's 500 patrol officers are required to wear one.

CHIEF SEAN WHENT, OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA POLICE: I think now, I mean, a lot of us wouldn't be comfortable going out on the street without it.

BURKE: Police in Oakland started wearing body cameras in 2010, long before the controversy surrounding the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.

In the aftermath of Ferguson, one year ago, this question caught fire, should every cop in America wear a body camera? Amplifying that debate? The death of Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, Walter Scott, Freddie Gray, Sandra Bland, and now Samuel DuBose.

MARK O'MARA, ATTORNEY & CNN LEGAL ANALYST: If there wasn't a video available, I do not believe we would have had an indictment.

BURKE: The officer pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and voluntary manslaughter in the July shooting death of DuBose. It was a body camera from Taser International that captured the incident. Best known for its stun guns, Taser said sales of its AXON cameras are up 154 percent this past year.

LUKE LARSON, TASER INTERNATIONAL: We now have over 190,000 cameras in the field. The body cameras are the fastest growing part of our business today.

BURKE: Body cameras can cost anywhere from $400 to $1,000 depending on the maker, and storing all that video can cost more than the cameras themselves.

WHENT: Cloud storage costs for a department this size would probably run $600,000 to $700,000 a year.

BURKE: For now, Oakland is saving money by storing footage on its own servers.

WHENT: Five years into the program, we're still less than a million dollars spent on it. But to see the kind of reduction of complaints in uses of force and lawsuits probably is paying for itself.

BURKE: For Oakland, body cams are worth the cost. Oakland says use of force is down 70 percent over the past four years and complaints against officers down 60 percent since 2012.

WHENT: Not only do I think the officers behave better, I think the people on the other side of the camera behave better as well. And so I think it has a civilizing effect on both sides of the camera.

BURKE: The Obama administration is pushing for more body cameras and offering federal funds, a potential windfall for companies like Taser and rival, Digital Ally. Stock prices are surging.

LARSON: We believe in the next few years every police officer will be wearing this technology.

BURKE: Body cameras also raise tough questions, catching people's most vulnerable moments. Just how much does the public have a right to see?

MAYOR LIBBY SCHAAF, OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA: Cities are continuing to struggle with this issue around technology. We have a lot of data. And it gives us an opportunity for a level of transparency. But it also had great privacy implications. You could allow the media to view the footage but not show the footage. That is a policy that we are contemplating right now.

BURKE: While Oakland's mayor said they are not a silver bullet, the police chief says body cams are here to say.

WHENT: We're getting to a point where there's a public expectation of this. And I think in a few years, it's going to be standard issue everywhere.

BURKE: Samuel Burke, CNN, Oakland, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: Bernard Kerik is with me. He is the former police commissioner from New York City, he is author of this new book "From Jailer to Jail."

Thank you for being here.

BERNARD KERIK, FORMER NEW YORK CITY POLICE COMMISSIONER: Thank you.

HARLOW: You also sat on the board of Taser at one point. That's the company that makes a lot of these body cameras. Where do you fall on this debate? You've heard the pros and cons.

KERIK: Honestly, Poppy, I don't think there's many cons. You know, look at -- and Oakland has been doing this since 2010.

HARLOW: 2010.

KERIK: OK? 70 percent reduction in use of force. A 60 percent reduction in complaints. That equals a lot of money saved in litigation. And that comes to mind with regard to taser. You know, wrongful deaths. You know, somebody shoots somebody with a gun and kills them versus hits them with a taser, you reduce that litigation enormously.

[18:35:03] HARLOW: I think one of the -- you say there's not many cons, one of the question marks, though, for some is that being filmed in your most vulnerable moment for someone -- in either shoes. The officer or the other person and sort of walking that line.

Oakland, you heard in the piece, contemplating whether to perhaps let the media view the footage but not always air it. How do you walk that line correctly?

KERIK: You know the one thing I was concerned with regard to the cameras, and I said this early on, you know, depending on when the cameras are activated, you're going to have cops talking to their wives on the phone, talking to their girlfriend, going to the bathroom. I mean, you know, you've got to be careful. But I think the mayor of Oakland has a good point and that is, you have to create policies and regulations where you're going to dictate on how and who gets to see this and why they get to see it.

You also have to look at evidence. How this stuff is produced in court. How it doesn't mess up the case before you get there.

HARLOW: Yes, and also making sure you have the entirety of the footage, right?

KERIK: Exactly.

HARLOW: On CNN today, on Jake Tapper's program "STATE OF THE UNION," presidential hopeful John Kasich was asked about this. A number of cases have come up in his state including the Tamir Rice case.

KERIK: Right.

HARLOW: The 12-year-old boy. And Kasich said that he would be open to police officers in Ohio being mandated to wear body cameras. He said people may feel safer as a result. He emphasized it's a two-way street and that officers have to feel safe doing their job as well obviously.

KERIK: You know what, I was one of the first ones in the country to put cameras in the cars, the highway cars.

HARLOW: Yes.

KERIK: The NYPD, and initially big fight from the union. After that first vindication, we had a female that made a complaint against a highway officer. It was a completely bogus complaint, was not true, was not accurate. After that vindication then the tables turned. The cops will see eventually this is to their benefit, as well.

HARLOW: Does it help to protect the officers because that's also an argument we've heard?

KERIK: I think it does, I think it does because you have a lot of people out there as the Oakland chief said. A 60 percent reduction in complaints. Why? Because you turn civil when you know you're being -- you're being watched by the camera. So, you know, you change your attitude. You change your -- you know, your appearance.

HARLOW: Do you think it will be -- if we're sitting here five years from now it will be mandatory in every police force in this country? KERIK: I don't know if it's going to be mandatory. But I think it's

going to be widespread. And those jurisdictions that can come up with the money I think it's to their benefit to do it. You save lives, I think. I think you're going to reduce complaints and you're going to save costs in litigation. Enormous costs in litigation.

HARLOW: Bernard Kerik, thank you very much.

KERIK: Thank you.

HARLOW: Congratulations on the book. Good to have you on the program.

KERIK: Thank you.

HARLOW: Coming up next, this story, your boss cuts their own salary, right? Gives everyone a raise, a pretty big raise, sweet, right? Well, the ups and downs for a company that did just that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:41:36] HARLOW: Welcome back, when Dan Price, the CEO of Gravity Payments, announced the minimum salary for his employees would be set at $70,000 and he took a pay cut himself, he received a lot of praise for addressing the issue of low wages and income inequality. He also, though, received some criticism from some of his own employees who thought it wasn't fair to give raises to workers who didn't necessarily earn it. Also some said he was using his company to make a political statement.

So we wanted to know how it has all worked out so far. Joining me is Dan Price, CEO of Gravity Payments.

Thank you for being here, Dan.

DAN PRICE, CEO, GRAVITY PAYMENTS: Thanks for having me, Poppy.

HARLOW: I want to play what you told my colleague Carol Costello just a few months ago when you announced it. Let's roll it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRICE: You know, I was getting pretty emotional, to be honest, as I got there and I lost it a little bit. And so I was watching other people. And I think they were trying to figure out like, is this a joke? Is this real? And some of them were like oh, my gosh, this is the most amazing thing ever. And there was just this long silence that lasted -- what felt like an eternity, and then everyone erupted and started screaming.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: People were really thrilled and really excited. But the road from there to now has been really tough. How has it gone?

PRICE: Well, I want to address the notion of whether or not the team really deserved it. My team at Gravity Payment which worked so hard they've actually saved hundreds of millions of dollars for independent businesses. And that is how it works, to give them better options on their credit card options. So I think they deserved it. But I also think that you have to look at the human impact and I think you have to look at it is it worth it to make a short-term sacrifice to create a long-term gain?

And I'm being criticized a lot for the short-term sacrifice that I'm making. People are, you know, in some cases poking fun at me or saying look at this guy, he's going to fail or he's failing but actually I think we can actually take pride in that sacrifice, and while, you know, the obstacles in front of us have gotten bigger our resolve hasn't changed. We're more determined than ever to make this work.

HARLOW: So here's why I mentioned that. Right? Because there was this long, fascinating "New York Times" on you about a week ago and it included two of your most valued employees quitting.

PRICE: Yes.

HARLOW: Right. And one of them told the "New York Times", quote, "Now the people who are just clocking in and out were making the same as me. It shackles high performers it to less motivated team members." What do you make of that?

PRICE: Well, I think it's a valid opinion. And you know, both of these team members are people that -- although they don't work at Gravity anymore, they're still valued friends and counselors that I speak to. And I value their opinion. I value what they had to say. On the other hand, for me, it's a non-negotiable. If we're actually able to pay everybody enough that they can live a normal life within a mile or two of our office, then to me there's a moral imperative to create some standard, some floor. And we all agree that there should be some kind of floor or most agree. It's just a debate about where that floor should be.

HARLOW: Well, let me ask you this, when you look at the debate over income inequality in this country, many times you hear people refer to how many times more. Some chief executives in this country make than their average employee, right? 200 times, 300 times, et cetera.

PRICE: Yes. Yes.

[18:45:03] HARLOW: Do you think that there should be a cap on how many times more a leader can make than their average employee?

PRICE: You know, I'm -- you're not going to get a lot of opinions on me on macro economic theory. Just because I'm not qualified to give opinions on those things. But what I saw was inequality was a huge issue in my small micro community at Gravity Payments. And when I talked to my friends who are really smart in economics, it didn't matter if somebody was libertarian, Republican, Democrat or socialist, everybody agreed that income inequality was growing and that that was not good for the country. On the other hand, I can kind of control my little micro group and so

for me to be able to do something to address the issue, even if it was bold, it was something that I felt like was the right thing to do. And I actually am really happy about the decision that I made in spite of the challenges I faced.

HARLOW: Let me ask you this. Could a publicly traded, behemoth of a company do what you did and set a minimum salary of $70,000 like you did?

PRICE: Absolutely they could. And not only could they, I think we'll see that many will. I got e-mail exchange with Sheryl Sandberg. She's the chief operating officer of Facebook. And they set a minimum salary that's different than what the jurisdictions that they operated would set. And it wasn't as high as mine but it was still a step in the right direction. And it proves it can happen.

I think one of the questions that you can ask is, what can we as a company do, and Warren Buffett, one of the best investors of all time, he says treat a business like a business, don't treat it like a vehicle to speculate on what the value is going to be. And so if you can see in your business that you can have better long-term structural integrity by paying everybody that works there a fair wage you might actually hurt the way Wall Street looks at you, but by having a better business eventually Wall Street and their perceptions are going to catch up to the health of you and your company.

HARLOW: Bottom line, Dan Price, would you do it again? I know it's been a bumpy road, but would you do it again?

PRICE: You know, the road has been bumpy, the challenges have been big, but our resolve and the team determination that we have is more than I could have ever imagined and I'm thrilled that we're taking on this challenge.

HARLOW: So nice to have you on, Dan, an important conversation to keep having. Thank you.

PRICE: Thanks, Poppy.

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[18:51:44] HARLOW: The sports and entertainment world in mourning today after football legend Frank Gifford passed away at the age of 84. He was the face of the New York Giants in the 1950s and '60s eventually making it to the NFL Hall of Fame. The Giants president described Gifford as everyone's older brother. He was married to "Today" show host Kathie Lee Gifford and a short while ago he tweeted this -- she tweeted this. "Deeply grateful to all for your outpouring of faith. We are set back in our faith and finding comfort in knowing where Frank is."

This Tuesday marks one year since legendary actor and comedian Robin Williams took his own life. His legacy, though, lives son through his oldest son. Zach But not through comedy, instead, Zach Williams is giving back by using his talents in finance to teach inmates at California's only death prison.

CNN's Laurie Segal reports.

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LAURIE SEGALL, CNN MONEY TECH CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Nearly a year ago, Zak Williams lost his father. And people all over the world lost their beloved comedian.

ZAK WILLIAMS, SON OF ROBIN WILLIAMS: Nothing's ever going to be the same. And understanding that, you just got to continue doing what you can to personally heal while giving back.

SEGALL: San Quentin. One of the only prisons in California that houses death row inmates. And it might seem like an unlikely place to heal. But it's become almost therapeutic for Zak.

WILLIAMS: Those companies will continue to make money.

SEGALL: This is the financial literacy class he teaches. Today's topic is the great debt crisis.

WILLIAMS: There's no longer be a euro in Greece. It would shift to the drachma.

SEGALL: The idea is to help inmates understand thinking, the economy, and how to value stocks.

(On camera): When you look at the reason why a lot of these inmates are incarcerated it has to do with relationship with money.

WILLIAMS: Whether they're nonviolent or violent crimes, a grossly disproportionate amount are money-related. Understanding and having a healthy relationship with money is absolutely core towards personal success in this life.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stock price does this, falls down to 98 cents --

SEGALL (voice-over): Zak's co-teacher is an inmate. They call him Wall Street, and he's known for his ability to pick stocks. He's serving a sentence of 54 years to life for murder and armed robbery.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Growing up, money was everything. I never had this concept that harming a person for money was bad. I believe that financial education is the cure for guys that are chasing money in this way. Where they're willing to, you know, kill someone for the sake of 20 bucks.

SEGALL (on camera): Can you actually invest when you're behind bars?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, yes, yes. A friend of mine was inside, he went home, I tell him what to buy, I tell him what to sell, he sell it.

SEGALL (voice-over): Wall Street spends 18 hours a day picking stocks. He wouldn't tell us exactly how much he's made but he says he knows how to pick them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: American Apparel, stock price 48 cents. This company called CBDO is OK. Apple is a more stable play, never go wrong with Apple giving back $200 billion in cash.

SEGALL: The class is helping inmates but it's also personal for Zak. He says it's something his father would have loved.

WILLIAMS: His capacity for compassion and love was limitless. However difficult that trait was for him to live with, it was something that brought him great joy, providing happiness and laughter for millions and millions of people.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: Great report, Laurie. Thank you for that.

I want to leave you with this tonight. Just an amazing feat. Kim Chambers has become the first woman to swim from the Farallon Islands to the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. That is 30 miles in cold shark-infested water. It took her 17 hours and 12 minutes to complete the journey. She says many times she was not sure she would be able to finish. She did. Joining only four other people, all men, in doing so.

Good on her.

Thank you so much for being with us. Get the latest news any time at CNN.com and of course on our mobile app. Ahead tonight after me, "THE HUNT WITH JOHN WALSH." That is next. A new episode of "THE HUNT" tonight 9:00 p.m. Eastern, followed by an all-new "DEATH ROW STORIES."

Thank you so much for joining us tonight. Have a great week, everyone. I'm Poppy Harlow in New York.

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