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Hot Air Balloon Crashes Kills 16; Hillary Clinton Gives Speech from Campaign Trail; Robin Leach Talks Donald Trump; Clinton-Kaine Bus Tour Echoes 1992's Clinton-Gore Tour; New Spraying, Blood Screening for Virus in Florida. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired July 30, 2016 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:00] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But when you end up with the reality that this parking is going to cost you so much money, it's just not something that people expect. It's definitely a significant burden on families. And there are a lot of babies who are alone a lot of the time.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Top of the hour, 4:00 p.m. Eastern. I'm Poppy Harlow joining you from New York.

We do begin this hour with breaking news. An early morning accident in Central Texas leaving no survivors. Police South of Austin say a hot air balloon appears to have hit a power line. It caught fire, it crashed to the ground. And there were 16 people on board. All of those lives, we're told, have been lost.

Let's go straight to Dallas. Our Ed Lavandera is there with more. Look, it's early hours of this investigation. I know that not a lot is confirmed at this time. But there are investigators on the scene. What have they said so far, Ed?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well we've heard from a couple different sources now, a law enforcement source and a county official there in Caldwell County, which is just Southeast of Austin, Texas. And it appears that one of the things that investigators will be taking a very close, early look at is the role -- if you look, when you look at the video from the scenes there -- those high power lines in that area, and how that might have contributed to that accident.

We've heard from two different sources now, who tell us that they believe -- it's believed that the hot air balloon might have collided into those power lines, igniting a fire before it crashed to the ground there, killing all 16 people that were on board. This by no means an official cause of the accident at this point. But it appears to be what investigators and officials there on the ground are taking a very close, early look at in this horrific accident that occurred just before 8:00 this morning in Central Texas. Poppy?

HARLOW: Do we know anything about the 16 people who were on board? Who they were, were there any children? What do we know about them? And also why so many were on board. It seems like a lot.

LAVANDERA: It does. And as you heard from an official in the last hour, saying the number of people on board inside this basket was the limit and -- of what can be transported in a hot air balloon. So obviously a lot of that will be looked at to make sure that everything was done according to guidelines. And whether or not this was just some sort of tragic accident. But back to your original question, we don't really know much at this point of exactly who was on board.

Were these all 16 people together? Or presumably also this toll includes the pilot of the aircraft, as well. But we don't know if this is various small groups of people who were all on board this hot air balloon together. We don't know any of those details at this point.

HARLOW: All right, Ed, stay with me because I believe we have some sound just into us from one of the witnesses, someone who saw this happen early this morning. Let's listen to that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARGARET WYLIE, ACCIDENT WITNESS: First I heard a whoosh, you know, like a whooshing sound. And then it just -- a big ball of fire up. And I'd say it probably got up as high as those lower electric lines.

I didn't see the balloon hit, I just heard the popping. And I heard the popping and then the next thing I knew is the fireball went up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: So Ed, obviously some witnesses saying what they saw. What are officials waiting for to make a final determination of what caused it?

LAVANDERA: Well I think at this point we've got logistics. This is in a remote area. This isn't a place where you're going to quickly arrive. And those NTSB investigators, sounds like there were a couple who might have been in the area originally, but they're still waiting for that team to fully get on the scene there. That will be the agency that does all of this. So they're working on that now.

HARLOW: All right, Ed Lavandera for us in Dallas. He'll bring us more as he has it. Ed, thank you very much. I want to take you back to Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Democratic presidential nominee, Hillary Clinton speaking. Let's listen:

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Grandfather came as a small child from England, an immigrant, to Scranton with his family. He worked in the Scranton lace mills factory his entire life. Because he believed that he could produce a better life for his children. And he did. And every time I come to Pennsylvania I think about the many journeys we made from where we lived outside of Chicago to Scranton every single year.

We would go every summer, we went some Christmases. I was brought back, as were my brothers, to be christened in the little Court Street Methodist Church. We really have a great deal of love and affection for Pennsylvania. My father, plus one of my brothers, played football at Penn State. So it's always a joy for me to be here. And to come to Johnstown, a

place that I've been to before, and look forward to coming back and being here. And having this opportunity to come and visit with you.

I want to thank Ron and Jim for welcoming us. Nick, thank you for explaining some of the work you do and telling us that. Nick was a Marine at Camp David when Bill was President. We've actually met him in his prior life. So that was a very special treat.

[16:05:35]

I want to thank my friend, Leo Gerard (ph). A man who has fought for justice for working families in America, in North America. And who sets a great example, as does this company, where business and labor work together. And Ron and Jim told me about something called gainshare. Where when you get more productive, don't have as much scrap, those gains are shared. That's what I believe we ought to be doing in every single business in our country.

So on Thursday, I was incredibly humbled and grateful to accept the Democratic Party nomination. I have to tell you it was pretty overwhelming to be out there and to think about the awesome responsibility of taking on the challenges facing our country. But I'm an optimist. And I'm confident. Because I think if you'll look at American history, that's how we get things done.

It's not the whiners, and the complainers, and the insulters who move our country forward. It's the workers and the builders. It's people who get up everyday and try to figure out what's going to be better for them and their families.

So then yesterday Tim and I, and Anne (ph), and Bill hit the road going across Pennsylvania. Sorry we were a little late, the rain was really heavy and we had kind of a long convoy. So I apologize for that. But we are visiting places that prove what Americans can do. We are the most productive competitive workers in the world.

We just need to give our people the chance to succeed. So from Philadelphia, to Hatfield, to Harrisburg, and now here in Johnstown. That's exactly what we're doing. We're talking to people, meeting people who have each other's backs. And you truly are the reason why I have so much confidence that America's best days are still ahead of us.

So it's in stark contrast to the vision that Donald Trump is laying out. Because I don't think we're weak. I don't think we're in decline. I think we can pull together because we are stronger together. And if anybody like him spent a day on the factory floor here, they'd see what teamwork looks like. They'd understand what it means to create and build.

Every day you are showing that America is home to the best products, the hardest workers, the most innovative entrepreneurs in the world. And so as we are honest about our challenges here at home, and abroad, let's start from understanding that this country and our people have what it takes to get ahead -- and stay ahead -- if we have the leadership that gives us that chance.

And most of all, we know better than to believe anyone who says, "I alone can fix it." Right? Those were actually Donald Trump's words at the Republican convention in Cleveland last week. And I think they should set off alarm bells for everybody. Because by saying that, he's forgetting what all the rest of us do everyday.

He's forgetting our troops on the frontlines. Our businesses who see possibilities in every problem. Our unions who fight for working families everyday. He's forgetting companies like this one that invests in employees. Americans don't say, "I alone can fix it." We say, "OK, how are we going to fix this together."

How are we going to raise our family, build a business, heal a community, lift a country. And that's why we have to stand together. My grandfather, as I said, worked at the Scranton lace mills from the time he was a teenager until he retired at age 65. It was dangerous work in those days. But he was one of the kindest, and gentlest men I've ever known.

He knew that hard work in America meant that his family would get ahead, that it would pay off. And he was right. My dad, as I said, made it to college, made it to Penn State. Now if he were still alive, he'd tell you it was because he played football. But that's OK, he got an education, he was proud to get it.

[16:10:45]

He started working as a salesman, enlisted in the Navy after Pearl Harbor. And when the war was over, he started his own small business printing fabric for draperies -- and it was a really small business. He would recruit my mother, and brothers, and me. He had a print plant. It didn't have any natural light, it was a pretty dark place. But it ...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: All right there you have it. Presidential nominee on the Democratic ticket, Hillary Clinton, speaking to voters that she is trying to woo in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Right now telling the story of her father, interestingly (ph) born in Scranton, Pennsylvania. And playing to the white, working-class voters at a factory there, on their bus tour of the swing states of Pennsylvania and Ohio.

Let's talk about all of this, what we've heard so far, with our panel. Larry Sabato, who is the Director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics, and author of "The Kennedy Half-century." Democratic strategist, Hilary Rosen, who supports Hillary Clinton is with us. Washington Post columnist, Josh Rogin, as well. And South Carolina's former Lieutenant Governor, Andre Bauer, a Trump supporter.

It's interesting, Josh, because she has to walk this line between not playing into what Trump said, which is she said the economy is peachy keen, but also saying it's not doom and gloom, right? She came out and she said, I'm not satisfied with the status quo. I'll do everything, and I'm telling you we've made progress but we have work to do.

How effectively does that play to these folks that have manufacturing jobs that are on the line?

JOSH ROGEN, COMMENTATOR, WASHINGTON POST: Right, well she's got a trust deficit to make up with these very voters. And she knows it and that's what she's trying to tackle right now. It's an uphill climb, right. So she's not seen as the candidate that has these voters' interests at heart. Because previously she was pro-trade because she has relationships with Wall Street.

So what you see her doing there is first connecting with these voters, right? She didn't go into her 37-point economic plan, which is very robust and makes a lot of sense if you look at it. Her first job is to say, "I get -- I feel your pain." It's sort of a Bill Clinton approach, right? After that, maybe later in the speech, she'll get to what she wants to do.

Which is to raise the minimum wage, although not as much as Bernie Sanders. To raise the corporate tax rates -- I'm sorry, to raise the tax rates for the wealthiest Americans. To invest in infrastructure. To invest in college support. To invest in family support so workers can get new training.

These are very detailed proposals that she -- her team has worked a long time about -- on. But when they were working on them, they weren't preparing for Donald Trump. They were preparing for a wonk, somebody like Jeb Bush, or Marco Rubio. And now they're faced with Donald Trump who just rolls in and tweets and says, "I'm going to bring all the jobs back, it's going to be great. I'm going to make the economy better. Hillary Clinton doesn't understand you."

So she's pivoting, and she's adjusting, and she's trying to just first of all connect with these voters on a human level. I think that's the right approach, whether or not it will work, we'll have to wait and see.

HARLOW: You know, Andre, as a Trump supporter -- you know what I think is really interesting is -- we heard her do it on stage on Thursday, and she's doing it again now. Saying Trump says "I alone can fix it," that's not the case, harkening back to her book in the 90s, "It Takes a Village." But there's a nuance here that's really important, isn't there? Because Trump is saying, "I alone can fix the government. The government is not working for the American people."

She's saying, and arguably some would say, "is she spinning it a little bit?" Saying Trump is saying the country isn't working. Do -- is that an important distinction between how she's relating Trump's remarks?

ANDRE BAUER, FORMER LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR, SOUTH CAROLINA: Look, I think Donald Trump's got his finger on the pulse, the heartbeat of America, she's got a finger on their wallet. She's already said she wants to raise taxes. She says she's going to bring new businesses here. Yet she's going to raise taxes on the very job creators. She's totally out of touch with reality. She's a policy wonk, she

doesn't get it. She's hooked her trailer to the Obama administration who hasn't been able to get it done in the last eight years. And all of a sudden she's a change agent after 40 years of being a bureaucrat.

People want to push all of them out. The reason why Donald Trump won in a 17 person field is because he said, "I want to get all the bums out. It's not Republican, it's not Democrat, I'm sick of Washington and that is where the people in this country feel they're not being looked after. They feel like all of them haven't looked after them.

HARLOW: So to the Clinton supporter, Hilary Rosen, do you -- you know what's interesting optics to me as we watch them live right now? Tim Kaine came out, sleeves literally rolled up, no tie, looking like the working-class guy. How strategic is this for the campaign? To put him out there as the one who says, "I really get you. I'm not a multi-millionaire like Hillary Clinton is. I really get this."

HILARY ROSEN, CLINTON SUPPORTER: It's much of Kaine's appeal and further that she has a surrogate in Leo Gerard, who's a well-respected union leader at a company where union workers are respected, and has set a precedent, as we heard Hillary Clinton say. But -- and you know, here's the interesting pieces that she is actually talking about. Real things, real people, and how policy does connect to that despite Andre's attraction to Trump, who says nothing.

The story that is most interesting to me, and should be most frightening to Americans, is when Donald Trump met with Paul Ryan and the House Republican leadership. And they wanted to know where he stood on various policy issues. His answer basically was, "eh. I'm going to leave all that to you. Just get me elected and I'll let you do whatever you want."

I mean that -- it's like, this guy has zero interest, zero interest in policy and how to make things better for workers. There is just -- he spends his day being his own political analyst, and I think you see the contrast of Hillary Clinton going to a plant. When was the last time Donald Trump actually visited with real people? His campaign events are all about making a big rally, doing a big rally speech, talking about how great his poll numbers are.

He doesn't ...

HARLOW: Right, but ...

ROSEN: ... he doesn't actually engage with real voters. And that will be a [sic] ongoing contrast.

[16:16:55]

HARLOW: But here's the thing, it has worked for him so far. So Larry Sabato, to you, as both of the candidates are on the path to 270, and the critical states to get there of Ohio, and Pennsylvania, who do you think, Larry, is actually up for grabs? Meaning how many of those white working-class male voters that did support Trump in the primary, can Hillary Clinton expect to take? LARRY SABATO, DIRECTOR, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA CENTER FOR POLITICS: There's zero chance, Poppy, that she's going to win male blue-collar workers. It's that simple. But she doesn't need to. She's doing very well with minorities, overwhelmingly so. She's doing very well with millennials but she has to worry about the turnout. She's doing very well with women, but not well with men, in general, and certainly with those white, blue-collar males.

Having said that, what's important here, Poppy, is, what two states did they choose to come out of the convention and campaign in? Hence -- and Ohio, if Donald Trump cannot carry Pennsylvania and Ohio, there is no path to victory. None. If he can carry one of the two, it's possible, but it's tough. If she carries both, the election's over.

So she's right to be there. She ought to go back frequently, and she should send Tim Kaine alone. Because, as you pointed out, he does have a connection with some of these voters. He is a middle-class guy, his father was a welder. This makes sense.

HARLOW: Yes, it was just really fascinating to see the comparison of the two of them, side-by-side speaking to that audience. And clearly that was a play when she chose him as her VP. Was to play to those working-class voters.

I thank you for being with me. I've got to get a quick break in. Larry, Hilary, Josh, and Andre. Coming up next, a lot ahead this hour, live in the CNN Newsroom. Long before Donald Trump was the Republican nominee for president, he was on -- you know the show -- Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.

Well the host, Robin Leach, will join us live to look back at the campaign wishes and caviar dreams that carried Trump to where he is today. And rolling like it's 1992, Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine set out on that bus tour. We just showed you them speaking live on part of it. We're going to look at the echoes of her husband's first presidential campaign on the road with Al Gore. Straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:22:40]

HARLOW: All right if you were rich and famous in the 1980s, there is one place that you wanted to show up. The show, "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous." We all remember that one, right? So no surprise, Donald Trump was a guest frequently. Here he is back in 1983.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: At an age of 37, I don't believe anyone's really ever built more things than we have, in terms of the business that I'm in.

NARRATOR: Even his peers, few that there are, hold him in awe. He puts deals together like other people play Monopoly.

(END VIDEO CLIP) HARLOW: So the host of "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous," Robin Leach, interviewed Trump more than 20 times during the show. He got up close to Trump long before the brash real estate tycoon even entered the political arena. But was he thinking about running for president back then? Let's ask the man, himself, Robin Leach. Thank you for being with me, my friend. Especially from 119 degree Las Vegas.

ROBIN LEACH, HOST, "LIFESTYLES OF THE RICH AND FAMOUS": It sure is hot here in the fabulous entertainment capital of the world.

HARLOW: I believe it. So let's ...

LEACH: Yes.

HARLOW: Go ahead.

LEACH: I was going to say, you know Donald back then, 20, 30 years ago, had all the makings of a presidential candidate. You sort of knew that the world that he was operating in was a world that was going to wind up being too small for him. He would finish recarving the landscape of New York City's skyline, and he would take on America. And he would take on the world.

You just knew that this was a man who was never satisfied until the project, or the goal was even larger. And look, all this criticism that gets fired at Donald over the course of the last 6 months, he is a man who pulled off everything he said he would do. From the skating rink in Central Park to the rebirth of Atlantic City at that time. And then that largest, largest condo development on the West Side of New York that was a project that was so big, everybody said it could never happen. And he proved that he could do it.

And Donald has said to me many times, he is a builder. He's a builder of communities, he's a builder of cities, he's a builder of people getting together to make their lives better. And he's pulled it off every time. No reason why he shouldn't do the same now.

HARLOW: It sounds like you're a Trump supporter. You, are you voting for the man?

LEACH: I'm an Englishman, Poppy. So I can't vote.

HARLOW: Ah, no vote. All right. Let's listen -- let's listen back to this interview you did with Trump in the 80s. He was talking about trade, listen.

[16:25:35]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: The American people are more and more being dominated by the Japanese monetary system, and the Japanese policies, and that's a disgrace. And this country should never have let it happen. And it can be changed. Yes, I believe strongly in free trade. But when Japan makes it

impossible to sell -- they say we're open, but you can never get your approvals, you can never get your certificates. In the meantime they come to New York, buy all the real estate in the world. They come down to Wall Street, they buy the brokerage houses, the this, the that. You try buying a brokerage house in Japan. Right now they have no respect for this country, none. And they shouldn't have. Because we're a whipping post.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: So he was very clear with his views on trade back then. Did he talk about other social issues? Did he talk about immigration, did he talk about his views on abortion? When you think about some of the comments he's made on the Muslim ban these days -- did he talk about those social issues back then?

LEACH: Not really, because that -- quite frankly that wasn't the real format of "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous." I just find it as an interesting observation hearing him talk. From 1983, that message has not changed. And that message that you just encapsulated there is the reason why he's running today. Because it hasn't been fixed.

He's right, government has failed America. And so he is going to take it on with ...

HARLOW: What ...

LEACH: ... with his version of government, and change the rules of the game.

HARLOW: Let me ask you this, what has changed from the Donald Trump you knew and interviewed so many times back then, to the Donald Trump you know and you see on television today?

LEACH: Great question. I think that he's far more comfortable in his own skin today. I think that he's far more outspoken today. He has more courage of his convictions today. I believe that he really, really feels deep down in his heart that he can make the change that we were promised eight years ago.

It's not a case of megalomania or self-obsession. This is a man who wants to get things done. And in the past he's always gotten things done. So this presidential bid, this desire to serve America, is really at the heart of what he's all about.

HARLOW: See, before I let you go, very quickly, if you were Hillary Clinton right now, if you were her campaign manager, how would you take on the Donald Trump that you know?

LEACH: Fire up your Twitter account, to start with. It's difficult, I mean Mrs. Clinton has some major problems to deal with. Because Donald speaks the language of the people. He speaks it clearly, succinctly. And she's doing Washington gobble talk. It's really interesting ... HARLOW: But isn't that fascinating, that you're saying the

billionaire, you're saying the billionaire man speaks the language of the people.

LEACH: I am saying that. Look, he said it there in the clip that you just played. You compare it to the clip that you just played from Hillary talking -- in other words -- in a sense, Hillary is giving Donald a free commercial. She's saying, "there are problems. There are things that government has failed in the last eight years." Otherwise, she can't run on a track record of failure. So she's got to run on some form of admission that Donald has complained about for many, many years.

HARLOW: All right, Robin Leach, it's so nice to have you on. And so interesting to hear your perspective on the man that you knew and interviewed so many times before any of us certainly did. Robin Leach, thank you.

LEACH: Thank you, Poppy.

HARLOW: Coming up next, lessons learned from the 1992 playbook years after Clinton-Gore launched that bus tour, you remember that one. Now it's Clinton-Kaine, same thing. In fact, these are live pictures of them in Pennsylvania right now on their bus tour. We'll discuss the strategies, the media, the optics, all of it ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:33:40] HARLOW: The year was 1988. The movie, "Rainman" ruled the box office. And George Michael's "faith" topped the charts.

What you might not remember from that year, it's also the last time that Pennsylvania went red in a presidential election. That is a fact not lost on Hillary Clinton. She and her running mate Tim Kaine are on a bus tour rolling through Pennsylvania and Ohio at this moment. They're in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, and the Clinton camp believes that Trump can't win the White House without those two very important swing states.

So, they are hitting the road, hoping to cut into Trump's base of those white working class voters.

But this bus tour also has echoes of 1992, when Hillary Clinton's husband, former President Bill Clinton, and this then-running mate Al Gore boarded their bus to take their message on the road. Do you remember that? Hillary Clinton was there for that tour as well, just a day after the '92 Democratic Convention.

It worked for the Clinton then, stirring up a lot of publicity. A lot of local news markets covering that. Times have changed. The media has changed. Can it work this time around?

With me right now, historian and Princeton University professor Julian Zelizer. He's also the author of the book, "The Fierce Urgency of Now", and our senior media correspondent, host of "RELIABLE SOURCES", Brian Stelter. Thank you, gentlemen, for being here. It's interesting to watch side

by side the two bus tours, very similar.

[16:35:01] But you have a very different media environment now, which we'll get to in a moment.

But, Julian, you've said that this shows the weight that the Clintons put on real time face to face politics, back then and now.

JULIAN ZELIZER, HISTORIAN & PROFESSOR, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY: They do. I mean, back in 1992, they wanted to draw a contrast with George H.W. Bush who didn't carry about the economy and they wanted to go into the heartland and showed that they did. They believed retail politics don't matter.

And Hillary Clinton is the same way. When she ran for the Senate in New York, she did her listening tour I think there is an element to them that believes everything isn't different than it was 30, 40 years ago.

HARLOW: Brian, one of my team members the other day was saying, but does this lack creativity because they are doing the same thing all over again? It worked then, we'll see if it works now. The media environment around it has changed, though. It's not just about local news anymore. It's about --

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean, going back to basics is not a bad thing and local TV does still matter. They are reaching key markets in Pennsylvania and Ohio. But it is much more of a cable news election.

HARLOW: Right.

STELTER: We saw that with the ratings and the conventions. Cable news is higher than ever in some ways. Whereas networks not so much.

So, the media game has changed in a number of ways. I think it makes sense for the Clinton campaign to be doing this. They want to talk about policy. So, much of the election is a culture war, it's about race and gender and class and other issues, but they would like the talk about policy. They would like to talk about the reasons why they say they are running. And so, to be able to go to these small locations and talk about that makes a lot of sense.

HARLOW: So, one of the Clinton supporters on my panel in the last block said, Julian, when are we going to see Trump touring a factory? That's never going to happen. And it made think, are we going to see Trump board a bus and do something like this? It's not really Trump's style.

Julian, does that matter? He has clearly found a different way to connect with the very average Joe American.

ZELIZER: Yes. I mean, there are underlying concerns about how much his heart is in the campaign. He likes to sit in Trump Tower. He likes to do this through a tweet. HARLOW: But it has worked. It works.

ZELIZER: It has worked.

STELTER: And on Monday, he is in Harrisburg. And on Tuesday, Columbus. He is going to Pennsylvania and Ohio.

ZELIZER: Yes, and I wouldn't be surprised. I mean, he is in this now. He does love the crowds. And there is an element of him that wants to do a live show, not just an online show. So, I imagine he will replicate though not to the extent they will.

The other part of this is the two of them. It's Kaine and Clinton. That's what the 1992 one was about.

(CROSSTALK)

STELTER: Pence is going to be in Nevada while Trump is in Pennsylvania.

HARLOW: They're not going to be together.

So, Brian, Trump obviously now thinking all right how I do take the spotlight off of Clinton, Kaine and this bus tour. He already did it. He already did it with the tweet about the debates calling the system rigged. So, he is already jumping in the fray despite a lot of the focus being on this bus tour.

STELTER: Yes, there he is on Twitter saying Hillary and the Dems are trying to rig the debates, the fall debates which were 58 days a way.

I'll tell you, this tweet isn't accurate. Hillary and the Dems are not rigging anything. The debates are set up by something called the Commission on Presidential Debates.

HARLOW: Bipartisan and set a year ago before we knew who the candidates were.

STELTER: That's right. A year ago, these debates were set on the calendar. The commissioner just issued a statement a few minutes ago. We can put it on the screen, that says that they are a non-partisan organization. They are not working with the Democrats or the Republicans to set this schedule.

But it does bring up something that has been under the radar, which is speculation that Trump will either want to skip the debates or want to add more debates to the schedule.

So, we saw this in January. He skipped one of the primary debates. We will see if he is going to repeat that again and create some drama in the general election.

HARLOW: That has never happened in modern presidential elections. Julian, what happens if Trump were to actually skip a presidential debate? ZELIZER: Well, we don't know. But I think you are right in that part

of what he does is create a drama about every event that brings the story to what he will do or what he won't do. He can do that.

You know, we didn't have televised debates for a long time. It's really a modern phenomenon. But he can't resist the lure of the television camera in the end.

STELTER: Yes, that's true. And this gives him more leverage. By fighting the debate people gives him more leverage. All the candidates behind the scenes trying to negotiate to get better podiums and more conditioning, all the details that go into the debates. That might be what Trump is doing here. But the fact that he is already talking about it and we're almost two months away from the debates I think is very revealing.

HARLOW: Absolutely. Much more on this story, go to CNN.com. Brian's piece is there now. Thank you both, Julian and Brian. Nice to see you.

Switching gears back to our breaking news this hour. Sixteen people have died in this hot air balloon crash this morning in Texas. A federal investigation now underway. Much more ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:42:52] ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

HARLOW: All right. An update now on this hour's breaking news. A terrible hot air balloon crash in central Texas. It happened early this morning just after 7:30 a.m. local time.

Witnesses say the balloon looked like a ball of fire before it hit the ground with 16 people on board. There are no survivors. All 16 people perished in the accident.

Police telling CNN the balloon appears to have made contact with power lines, that's how it caught fire.

Joining me now on the phone is Philip Bryant. He is an experienced hot air balloon pilot, also flight instructor. And he owns a balloon tour company near Houston.

Thank you very much for being with me, and condolences to everyone who lost their lives, their families, the pilot, the entire company there.

When you hear that it potentially ran into power lines, what does that make you think? How common is something like that.

PHILIP BRYANT, HOT AIR BALLOON PILOT (via telephone): Well, the first thought is of very deep sad innocence the loss of our friend.

HARLOW: Yes.

BRYANT: It's obvious that someone did not see the power lines. Pilot is the inference. That's hearsay. I wasn't there, didn't see it. Hopefully, the investigation will bring forth the facts. It's just a

hard day for us.

HARLOW: Of course. Sixteen people on board. We're told by authorities that's the maximum amount you could have. Does that seem like a lot to you? How common is it to have that bigger group of people going up?

BRYANT: Well, it's very common. They do it every day. The balloon he was flying I'm familiar with. It was rated for that number of people, certainly was not overloaded. Their designed and certified by the FAA to fly with that number of people.

So, you know, there is no issue with that subject.

HARLOW: What fail safes are there? I mean, when you run into something like that, if there is a fire on board, is there any -- any sort of backup system that the pilot can activate?

BRYANT: Well, you know, there is just so much a pilot can do, whether you are flying an airliner, or a helicopter, or a rocket to the moon. When something fails, the pilot is taken out of the loop. And at that point it's just simply too late.

Again, you know, we're talking as if that were the fact. I'm going to think that that was what it was because I know Skip. And something happened that he didn't see the power lines.

So I don't know what distracted him, but there you have it.

HARLOW: Sounds like you're saying you knew the pilot of this balloon; is that correct?

BRYANT: Yes, knew him. But you know we'll let the authorities announce who he is.

HARLOW: Absolutely.

When you talk about the regulations around this industry, you know, what are they? I know these pilots have to go through a lot of training in order to get licensed.

BRYANT: Yes.

HARLOW: And obviously, you know it is a difficult job that they do every day, that you do every day.

BRYANT: Correct. It's an FAA certification process. It's not a license. But every pilot, including the airliners have a pilot certification to fly the equipment they are flying. And he was no exception. And I knew him to be a safe, competent pilot. He has done this for a very, very long time.

The balloon he was flying had many hours on it. Not to be misconstrued that it wasn't airworthy, because I know that it was. And, again, I don't now what would distract a pilot from seeing what was in front of him. But in this case, that was apparently what happened.

HARLOW: Philip Bryant, thank you so much. My condolences to all of you in that community and the pilot obviously and his family and all of those victims. Thanks for being with us.

BRYANT: Thank you very much. We are a close community. And we appreciate the sentiment.

HARLOW: Yes, of course. All right. Thank you much, Philip.

BRYANT: Have a good day.

HARLOW: I want to turn to South Florida now, because that is where health officials have confirmed some of the worst fears when it comes to the Zika virus. The state there reporting the first non-travel related cases of Zika in the United States.

Blood centers there in South Florida are now screening all of their donations. Health officials are going door to door in North Miami and Broward County screening residents. They are especially concerned about Zika's link to devastating birth defects. It has been circulating in dozens of other countries. And now, there are new concerns that just as the 2016 Olympics days from opening in Rio, major concerns about Zika virus there.

Our Sanjay Gupta joins us from Salvador, Brazil.

Sanjay, obviously you have been reporting on this for months and months, since the outbreak down there began. Let's talk about where you are. You are in Salvador. This is really ground zero of the epidemic.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It really is, Poppy. I mean, you know, when this started to happen, when this virus was moving into part of the word, they had no idea that it was coming, first of all. And they had no idea it would be linked to these birth defects that you mentioned, microcephaly, which basically means micro, small, cephaly head. So, small heads, but also the brain development so different, so different in these babies who being born with these infections.

As a result, though, they have been caring for these children for some time, trying to put the pieces together, exactly how does this virus cause these sorts of birth defects. And what are their lives like? I spent some time with some of these babies yesterday. There is a baby ten months old in this area and maybe the first baby born with microcephaly at least in this region of the word.

And they are trying to understand by understanding that baby's life what it means for other babies and may be born with microcephaly due to the Zika virus.

It's really extraordinary work. They are the detectives here, Poppy. As you were talking about Florida going door to door.

HARLOW: Yes. GUPTA: They have been going door to door here for a couple of years trying to get better answers to these questions.

HARLOW: And, Sanjay, when we talk about this country and we talk about the United States, just talk about the significance of the fact that now these four cases in Florida have come to be known by officials as local cases, meaning they come from local mosquitoes. They weren't brought into the United States from someone who had traveled to Brazil, for example.

How much does that change the game when it comes to the risk in this country?

GUPTA: Well, I think everyone who has been sort of following this for some time, Poppy -- and I think you and I have calked about, even, knew this was likely to happen. We know that Zika virus was likely the start being locally spread in the United States for a couple of reasons.

One is that the type of mosquito known as the Aedes Aegypti, you don't need to know that particular type of mosquito already exists in the United States. It has existed in the United States for long time. It also spreads diseases like dengue. So, we knew the mosquito was here. It was a question of people with Zika virus in their blood and then being bit by one of these mosquitoes, that mosquito then traveling around and subsequently transferring the virus to somebody else.

[16:50:05] That local spread was likely to happen.

But I will tell you that, you know, being here in Salvador. It's a very populated. It's the third most populated city in Brazil, one of the most impoverished cities in the world.

And you can understand being around here why the virus spread so quickly. There are hardly any screens on windows in many buildings. There is no climate control, there is a lot of standing water. Those sorts of conditions in combination with the poverty in this care really make it challenging to control mosquitoes.

So, to say that, you know, I wasn't surprised there was local spread in Florida, but I doubt it's going to spread widely like we've heard about in Brazil and El Salvador and Colombia.

HARLOW: That's reassuring to know. But quickly, before I let you go, Sanjay, just important to tell viewers, there is no vaccine, there's no cure, and there is a big fight over funding in this country to get one right now.

GUPTA: There is a huge fight over funding. And I will tell you, again, Poppy, something that you and I have talked about, with Ebola, you remember there was hardly any attention paid to Ebola in the United States until there was a massive amount of attention paid. After we started to see patients with Ebola in the United States, the entire thing changed.

I think with Zika, it's sort of almost human nature it seems that we don't pay a lot of attention to something until we're confronted with it directly in front of our faces. I think what is happening in Florida with this local transmission will increase awareness and probably increase the amounts of funding as well, because it is a situation where you know we do need to come up with some good therapies, a potential vaccine. And to try and understand this impact when it comes to these pregnant women and their unborn babies.

So, that requires research and it requires funding. So, my guess is that that's going to start happening now, that we can officially say Zika is in the United States.

HARLOW: Let's certainly hope so. Sanjay Gupta live for us in Salvador, Brazil. He will be there all week reporting on this deadly virus. Sanjay, thank you very much.

Coming up next, we're going to turn back to the election and we're going to bring you what undecided voters thought as they watched Hillary Clinton accept the nomination on Thursday night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Who after watching this speech found Hillary Clinton more approachable? Who found her more likable after this speech?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:56:09] HARLOW: All right. So here's the thing. The battle for the White House likely hinges on a relatively small number of voters in those all important swing states.

Donald Trump got a pretty nice bump in the polls after the gone convention in Cleveland. But how did Hillary Clinton fare after voters, those undecided voters watched her on Thursday night in Philly.

Our Randi Kaye watched Clinton's historic speech with a group of those undecided voters in the battleground state of Florida.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: The choice is clear, my friends.

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: For some voters, that may be true. But in the swing state of Florida, the choice is anything but clear for this group of undecided voters.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm like disgusted with everyone.

KAYE: Watching Hillary Clinton's convention speech, nearly all of these voters agreed Clinton came off softer around the edges.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I thought it humanized her. In Q&A's and debates and everything else, she seemed robotic.

KAYE (on camera): Who after watching this speech found Hillary Clinton more approachable? Who found her more likable after this speech?

(voice-over): The biggest hang up for these voters? Trust.

Most find Clinton dishonest and calling. And her speech didn't change that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was looking for what a lot of the pundits were saying was show us why we should trust you. That's what I was looking for. And nothing she said --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was nothing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nothing she said makes me want to trust her and believe in her.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why is she still lying or avoiding when we know that she lied about so many issues.

KAYE: They were hoping the former secretary of state would address the mixed messages about the attack in Benghazi and her various explanations about her private e-mail server.

KIMBERLY KELLY, UNDECIDED VOTER: She has said nothing and she has had ample opportunity to present that to us. And I think that that's holding me back.

KAYE: This voter needs to know more before deciding though he did like hearing about Clinton's formative years.

JASON WOODSIDE, UNDECIDED VOTER: How her mother struggled as a child and how her mother taught her to be a voter.

KAYE (on camera): But you are still not ready to vote for her?

WOODSIDE: Well, it's a long way to November.

KAYE (voice-over): Clinton's attempt to convey a sense of unit and hope fell flat.

CANDY LOWE, UNDECIDED VOTER: I did not buy into that whole --

KAYE (on camera): So you didn't believe her?

LOWE: I didn't -- no.

KAYE (voice-over): So did her laundry list of experience.

JAMES KELTLER, UNDECIDED VOTER: When you talk about experience, she's got a lot of it, but it's not been very successful.

KAYE: Still statements like this held traction with some.

CLINTON: We'll fix it together.

MELANIE ALVIN, UNDECIDED VOTER: I was drawn over to her because she says "our". And she always mentioned "our" it wasn't "I am", or "I'm going". To it was "our".

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We.

ALVIN: We, making it inclusive.

KAYE (on camera): Can she do that? Can she bring America together?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are 13 million Bernie supporters that don't trust her. So, that's Democrats.

KAYE (voice-over): In the end, Clinton did make some headway.

(on camera): How many after watching the speech decided to vote for Hillary Clinton? Three.

(voice-over): Though one of her new supporters told us his vote for her is really just a vote against Donald Trump.

DARIN BAHL, DECIDED TO VOTE FOR CLINTON: She won my vote tonight. And it's more not what she said, but it's what Trump said yesterday.

KAYE: This voter decided after the speech to support Trump after giving Clinton one last chance.

GABRIELA RYAN, DECIDED TO VOTE FOR TRUMP: I really wanted her to admit her wrongdoings and she would have my vote from that, because she has the experience over Trump. She has the self-control over Trump.

KAYE: Three months to go until election day, and here's the tally. Two for Trump, three for Clinton, with eight in our group still undecided and unhappy about their options.

Randi Kaye, CNN, Tampa, Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: Top of the hour, 5:00 Eastern. You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Poppy Harlow, joining you from New York. And it is down to 101 days.