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Clinton: Trump Offers "Zero Solutions" Aired; Sixteen People Dead in Texas Hot Air Balloon Crash; Wikileaks Founder Talks About Release of Emails; Is Russia Behind DNC, Clinton Camp Hacks Released by WikiLeaks; Aleppo Maternity Hospital Bombed, Starvation Near; Clinton, Kaine Hit Campaign Trail, Attack Trump. Aired 5-6p ET
Aired July 30, 2016 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[17:00:00] POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Top of the hour. Five o'clock Eastern, you are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Poppy Harlow joining you from New York. And it is down to 101 days. That is when this nation, all of you, go to the polls to vote for the next president of the United States. Hillary Clinton just made her first campaign speech of a three day bus tour of Pennsylvania and Ohio and analysts say the entire convention may come down to those two rust belt states.
Clinton is wasting no time taking direct aim at her Republican opponent Donald Trump, she says Trump offers quote, "zero solutions" and she went after him today for insulting a speaker at the Democratic National Convention.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: He lashes out. He loses his cool at the slightest provocation. Just yesterday, he went after retired General John Allen, who commanded our troops in Afghanistan. General Allen is a distinguished marine, a hero, and a patriot. Donald Trump called him a failed general. Why? Because he does not believe Donald Trump should be commander-in-chief. Well, I'd say that proves it. Our commander in chief shouldn't insult and deride our generals, retired or otherwise. That really should go without saying. But I'm going to respond on behalf of General Allen to those kinds of insults.
Let's bring in our senior political correspondent Brianna Keilar. She is on the phone because she is travelling with the Clinton caravan on that bus tour. Look Brianna. When you talk to the campaign, do you get the sense from them that they think Pennsylvania is more key than Ohio here or are those boast must-win states for them?
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (on the phone): I think they are sort of worried about the message it would send if they were to lose Pennsylvania and Ohio. And I think they are actually particularly concerned about Pennsylvania.
HARLOW: Yes.
KEILAR: Obviously they are looking at North Carolina. They are looking at Colorado, and they are looking at Virginia. And they are feeling better about that. But Poppy, to that comment about General Allen, I just want to add something. Because one of our digital producers who was able to see Hillary Clinton's teleprompter says there was actually a criticism of Donald Trump's -- of his criticize of Khizr Khan, the father of Humayun Khan, the Muslim American soldier who was killed in Iraq. His father of course gave a very moving speech at the Democratic National Convention. And Donald Trump really lit into him on ABC News today.
HARLOW: Right.
KEILAR: Hillary Clinton didn't end up saying that what's clear was that someone yelled out in the audience -- it was actually unclear whether it was someone yelling against Donald Trump or against Hillary Clinton. But she may have been distracted we are not sure. But that wasn't her teleprompter and she did not say that as well. But I think it's something that the campaign thinks -- you know, I think they would like to play it up because they think like it is something that is very hurtful to Donald Trump.
HARLOW: It was interesting to watch from where I'm sitting Brianna, Tim Kaine come up there to the podium with his sleeves rolled up, you know, his collar unbuttoned, no tie. Really looking like working class middle America. And then have her come up very polished, et cetera. And he talks to the crowd in way that sounded like I'm one of you. Does the campaign think he is most effective with these white working class voters?
KEILAR: Hillary Clinton picked him as her running mate -- I don't think they think they are going to turn it around completely when it comes to white working class males but I think they are looking at the appeal that Donald Trump has to some of them and they need to try to stem the bleeding and try to keep those margins, really, to -- you know, they want to sort of reduce them. I don't know that they think there is a possibility to surpass Donald Trump on that.
I think they realize that scenario of strength they can't overall compete with. But they just want to make sure that he doesn't completely wipe them out when it comes to that demographic group.
HARLOW: Yes. It's a very good point. All right. Briana, thank you so much. Brianna will join us a little later there from the bus traveling with the Clinton campaign. We are as I said 101 days away from Election Day. Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton battling for those important swing states. How do they see their path to that magic number of 270 electoral votes?
Our chief national correspondent John King takes a look at the different ways, the different states and paths that will get them there.
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Conventions are over. The big question now, who can get to 270? The magic number, 270 electoral votes. You have to say Hillary Clinton has the head start. The Democratic called it field (ph) advantage if you will. We give her at CNN 236 electoral votes. One hundred and ninety one for Donald Trump. Easy to score. Dark red, solid Republican, dark blue, solid Democratic. The lighter shading leans that way. So, how does Donald Trump get there?
[17:05:10] Well, he thinks he can win this state where we are right now, Pennsylvania. Donald Trump is going to spend a lot of time trying to prove himself in the rust belt. Hard lift, heavy lift, hasn't gone Republican since 1988. But if he can win Pennsylvania, then he is most likely winning Ohio. Where does that put Donald Trump? At 229. So, where do you go from there? He has to hold North Carolina. And Obama state in '08 but a Mitt Romney state in 2012. Donald Trump has to hold that. That would put Donald Trump at 244.
He's in play now, right? Boom, boom. Bang. If he can win the state of Florida, he is over the top. Pennsylvania, Ohio, North Carolina, Florida. Hillary Clinton says no way. I'm going to hold back. Now she thinks she is going to get Ohio too. But let's give to it the Republicans. Then we move down here. The state of Florida. Hillary Clinton 29 electoral votes. Tim Kaine speaks Spanish. Watch this one play out. If Hillary Clinton can hold Pennsylvania and win Florida and nothing else changes, guess what? She is already the next president of the United States and she thinks Virginia is a bonus that puts her up closer to 300. Watch the numbers here, here and here, then you will know how tight this is going to be come November.
HARLOW: John, thank you very much. You can catch John King of course on "INSIDE POLITICS" tomorrow morning, every Sunday morning right here on CNN.
All right. Let's talk about this swing state bus tour and the play for those voters that Brianna was just talking about, those white working class voters. Larry Sabato is with me direct from the University of Virginia Center for Politics, author of "The Kennedy Half Century." And back with us is Washington Post columnist Josh Rogin.
Larry, let me begin with you. Ron Brownsing (ph) wrote something interesting this week in The Atlantic. And he said, in some way the Democrats have been living on borrowed time in the rust belt. And you just heard Brianna say, look the Clinton camp doesn't think they can win a majority of those working class white voters but they want to stem the bleeding. Do you think Brownstein has a point, you know, have the Democrats been living on borrowed time in a state like Pennsylvania?
LARRY SABATO, AUTHOR, "THE KENNEDY HALF CENTURY": Well, Ron is absolutely right. Pennsylvania is more competitive than it has been certainly since 1988 when George H. Bush did in fact carry it. However, it's really important to stress that most of these blue collar workers that are going to Trump voted for him in the primary have been voting Republican off and on since Reagan. Those are of a certain age. And their children have taken up that Republican habit.
So you have to view the electorate as a whole. John King hit exactly right. Because the easiest way for Donald Trump to win is to carry all of Mitt Romney's states, which includes North Carolina, plus Florida, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. That's the easiest. There is one route he didn't mention, though, and I think the Trump camp is considering it. Forget about Florida. They may have trouble there for lots of machines. Focus on Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, have a pure rust belt strategy with blue collar workers, especially men, that puts you precisely at 270 assuming --
HARLOW: Right.
SABATO: -- you carry the Reagan -- all the Romney states as well.
HARLOW: So, when you look, Josh at the so-called blue wall, right? Or the 18 states that voted Democratic in the last six elections and you are the Clinton camp, are you saying Pennsylvania is more important for us right now not to lose than Ohio is to win?
JOSH ROGIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes. I think that's right. I think when you talk to Clinton aides, they feel confident, at least more confident about Pennsylvania than they do about Ohio. The reason for that is because of the just abysmal numbers Trump is polling with minority plays a bigger role in Pennsylvania. They feel that those minorities are generally under polled. We've seen in the past that that's the case. And also, you know, anecdotally as a lot of us spend just a lot of time in Ohio and Pennsylvania, it seems to be more in the Clinton camp than Ohio does. That being said they are not taking any chances with the bus tour this weekend.
HARLOW: But what about, Larry, I mean, what about the trade issue, right? I mean, Donald Trump, because he isn't a politician until now has never cast a vote on trade. And when she is speaking to those audiences, can she convince them that she will not flip again on TPP for example, which she wants called the gold standard? Can she convince voters that she is -- those voters that are anti-some of these free trade deals that she is fully with them?
SABATO: Poppy, that would be difficult because she has on both sides of the issue. Of course that's not uncommon in politics. But that is a problem for her. But I don't think that's the only thing driving that blue collar voter, that middle white middle class vote.
HARLOW: Right.
SABATO: It's general economic concerns. And so she's got to hope, frankly, that the third quarter GDP is better than the second quarter just released which was an abysmal .2 percent.
HARLOW: Right.
SABATO: Real matter here, the real economy matters and some things are out of the candidates' hands.
[17:10:06] HARLOW: But it's interesting Josh because the real economy in many ways is good for many Americans right now. Not all. Don't get me wrong. But you have got unemployment below five percent. You have got gas, cheap gas, you know, two bucks. And you've got a lot of the promises that say Mitt Romney made at the convention, you know, four years ago have come true under this Obama administration. At the same time you have the real pain of many of those who have lost those manufacturing jobs. How would it be most effective for Hillary Clinton to relay that message? ROGIN: Right.
HARLOW: Because Trump is saying, well, Clinton says it's Rosie and Peachy Keen and it's not.
ROGIN: Right. So, first step is admitting that there is a problem. The Clinton campaign has come around to the recognition of what the Trump people are saying which is that the economy overall has gotten better but its left a lot of people behind, right?
HARLOW: Right.
ROGIN: Median incomes are the same. Minimum wage hasn't really moved as much as it should. The challenge for the Clinton campaign and they know it is that they have what they think is a robust details, 37 point plan to fix the economy. But that doesn't translate into a speech, it doesn't translate into a bumper sticker. It's what one Clinton aide told the Washington Post, amounts to bringing that calculator to a knife fight. OK? So, the first thing they have to do is to figure out how to explain what they want to do to people in a very simple way that they can process.
The second challenge here is that, you know, they're telling people what they need to hear the Trump is telling people what they want to hear. And they have ideas to how to fix all of these things, investment and infrastructure. Retraining, they want to bring the people from the old economy to the new economy. That is not a message that these people are necessarily thrilled to receive. Right? And Trump is saying, no, you don't have to do anything. We'll just bring the old economy back. Which is probably not true but it is a message that these people are much happier to hear.
So, that's their challenge is, how to make it simple and then how to convince people that the way that it was is not coming back so here's what we need to do to meet the challenges of the new century.
HARLOW: You know, it's interesting Larry, when you this of the last two weeks of the two conventions, the DNC really struck themes that in many ways had been hallmarks of Republican rhetoric. Right? If you heard General Allen speaking, for example, so many people are contrasting the doom and gloom of the Republican convention with the sort of morning in America feeling the Democratic convention. And I just, I mean, even Eric Erickson, a conservative blogger pointed that out, and he said, it was a convention of patriotism for the Democrats and one of doom and gloom for the Republicans. Which resonates more now with those voters in the swing states? Because that's who it matters for in the end.
SABATO: Well, the important point is that both of the candidates are striking some themes that resonate with those voters and those voters in the end will have to weigh those themes and decide which is most important to them. But let's also remember, this campaign is actually the longest general election campaign since 1960. 1960 was the last year when both parties had July conventions. So, we have so many days left to campaign, so many ads to run, so many speeches to give that I suspect both candidates will be striking themes that resonate with these voters on all sorts of issues, not just the economy.
HARLOW: But final word to you Josh. I mean it does seem like we have had sort of a flip-flop here when you compare the tone of the DNC versus a Republican convention to the past, sort of rhetoric of the party.
ROGIN: Yes, well, on the National Security issue you are right. It has totally flipped. All of a sudden Democrats have the high ground on national security, which we haven't seen in decades.
HARLOW: And chants of" U.S.A., U.S.A.! "
ROGIN: Yes. And, you know, even Republicans that are disaffected with Trump sort of said that Democrats are now the party of patriotism. And that's a very new dynamic. But ultimately people don't on that. People vote on whose going to make their life better on a daily base. And in that respect, we have got two different versions of reality. We've got the Trump version and we've got the Clinton version. And in the end, Clinton has to convince people that her version is the one that is accurate. And they can't both be accurate.
Right now most people are sort of, you know, down on their personal circumstances and they're looking for a sort of way out of it. And Clinton has to convince people that optimism and, you know, that working towards the things that she is projecting is the way out of that rather than the doom and gloom that Trump is offering.
HARLOW: And Trump got a big bounce after his speech at the convention. We'll see in the polling come, you know, Monday morning if Clinton gets a similar bounce after hers. Thanks Larry and Josh. Nice to have you both. We appreciate it.
A lot ahead this hour. First obviously the breaking news of that deadly balloon crash that claimed the lives of 16 people in Texas. We'll have a live report from there.
Also amid the DNC hacking scandal, Wikileaks Founder Julian Assange whose groups released those emails spoke one on one with our very own Anderson Cooper. He says they still have more material to be released on the Clinton campaign.
And later a new film tackles the gender pay gap head on. I'll talk to the women of this film, "Equity" live, straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:18:39] HARLOW: We are continuing to follow the breaking news here on CNN. A terrible hot air balloon accident in Central Texas. It happened early this morning, just after 7:30 a.m. And witnesses say the balloon looked like a ball of fire before it hit the ground with 16 people on board. There you see the remnants of it near Lockhart, Texas, just outside of Austin.
Our Ed Lavandera is in Dallas. He is following all of it for us. And Ed, I know we don't have any official word yet from the NTSB as to what caused this. But police are speaking about what they think the likely cause is?
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They are. You know, obviously the official NTSB investigation is usually in these kinds of circumstances does take some time.
HARLOW: Yes.
LAVANDERA: So it's not an answer we are officially going to get today by any means. But we are hearing from two different sources, a law enforcement source and a county official there in Caldwell County just Southeast of Austin, Texas giving us a pretty good indication of what they believe investigators are going to be taking much closer look at there. And that is the power lines around the area where this hot air balloon -- we are getting some of the first images, aerial images there of the hot air balloon on the ground.
As you can see a red, white, and blue, blue with a giant yellow smiley face with sunglasses. Obviously the basket area we've blurred out there for you because of the gravity of the situation surrounding that particular area. But we are hearing from those two different sources that they believe perhaps this hot air balloon for some reason collided with those power lines, igniting the fire, causing the hot air balloon to crash to the ground there. A witness described what she saw as it fell to the ground.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARGARET WYLIE, BALLOON CRASH WITNESS: First I heard a woosh. You know, like a wooshing 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)
LAVANDERA: And so far, Poppy, investigators there and here in Texas have not commented or released the names of the victims who have died in this hot air balloon crash. Obviously a great deal of work notifying family members and doing all of that work needs to be done before the names are officially released -- Poppy.
HARLOW: Yes. I should note, we don't have any of those names as you said, Ed, of the victims or really any details about who was piloting or who was on board. Look, we are also learning that the NTSB back in 2014 made some recommendations, some safety recommendations about piloting these commercial balloons. Not to say that was involved at all in what happened here, but do we know if these additional safety checks, regulations, were ever enacted?
LAVANDERA: Well, we don't know. And obviously, this is interesting. If on line we have seen over the last couple of years a back and forth going on between the National Transportation Safety Board and the FAA. The NTSB back in April of 2014 calling for some stricter regulations on the hot air balloon industry. The FAA at the time kind of downplayed those recommendations saying that the risks posed to people would be too low, the NTSB was warning that they fear that there might be more tragic accidents with greater numbers of people unfolding.
So, we don't know exactly how will this play into this particular accident but this conversation and this debate between the NTSB and the FAA definitely something to kind of pay attention to --
HARLOW: Yes.
LAVANDERA: -- in the background here as something that's been going on the last couple of years and perhaps something that might shed light as this investigation goes forward into this particular accident.
HARLOW: No question. And this being now the deadliest hot air balloon crash ever in U.S. history.
Ed Lavandera live for us in Dallas, thank you, Ed.
Still to come. We're going to turn to politics and Hillary Clinton continuing her historic campaign for president on that bus tour through the swing states. The group that disrupted her party's convention leaking those e-mails just as the convention was getting underway, well, they are promising more damaging e-mails. What Julian Assange of Wikileaks told our Anderson Cooper, next. You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[17:26:39] HARLOW: All right. The FBI and the Justice Department right now investigating what appears to be a new computer hack. This one directly involving Hillary Clinton's campaign data. A spokesman for the campaign says this is related to the cyber-attack on the Democratic National Committee and also says that at this point the Clinton camp doesn't think that their internal computer systems or their emails were hacked. Still though very concerning this has to do with voter analytics data and the hack of those DNC emails last week by Wikileaks as you know stir up major controversy and the contents of those leaked emails infuriated Bernie Sanders' supporters at the convention this week.
So, our Anderson Cooper last night sat down and spoke with Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks about those e-mails and also what may still be to come.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In terms of the timing of the release of these, how much of this on the part of Wikileaks was -- I mean, clearly you timed it to the start of the DNC. Was that for maximum impact? For maximum, you know, sort of marketing?
JULIAN ASSANGE, WIKILEAKS FOUNDER: It was for -- that's when we knew there would be the maximum interest by readers. But also we have a responsibility to, you know -- if we had published after, you can just imagine how outraged the Democratic voting population would have been. So it had to have been before. It's quite a lot of work, as you can imagine, to verify such material, and to organize it, index it and put it into a searchable database, et cetera. I wanted to interview on where you said you had quote a lot more
material that you might release pertaining to the U.S. election. Are you referring to more e-mails from the DNC? Because I talked to Donna Brazile who as you know, has now replaced Debbie Wasserman Shultz in the wake of this who says that the hack went on for more than a year, they believe, and that there very well maybe a lot more things out there.
ASSANGE: We have more material related to the Hillary Clinton campaign. It is correct to say that. Of course we have very precise in recording my statements, but you are always very precise. And yes, it is extremely interesting. And we will see what will come of them in due course.
COOPER: There is a question whether you had a personal animus toward Hillary Clinton. You criticized her on a number of national security foreign policy issues. Obviously, she has obviously made statements against Wikileaks. You gave an interview to the British Network ITV back in June. You suggested that you are more concerned about Clinton at least in terms of press freedom than Donald Trump. Do you stand by that? Is this pace based on a personal animus?
ASSANGE: It is post reporting. You can go back and look at that interview. I never said that I wanted to harm Hillary Clinton anything like that. It was the presenter that used that word. And the "New York Times," is its, you know, is its candidate in this race and so this supposed to (INAUDIBLE) to try to get their candidate up.
COOPER: So, to the question of anger that you are interfering in the U.S. election, you say, this is what -- that your readers are American, and therefore it's okay?
[17:30:00] ASSANGE: Well, it's what our readers command. It's also our basic principles, the publication of true information.
And that's an important qualifier, true information about modern institutions. Allows us to understand what they are doing and therefore to reform them. If we don't understand what our institutions doing, we have no hope to reform whatsoever.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: Straight ahead, we are going to talk more about this. As you saw, Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder, says they have more information hacked from Hillary Clinton's camp. When could that drop? What could it show? Is this just the tip of the iceberg in this election season? We'll speak with an expert straight ahead.
You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARLOW: All right. Before the break, you just heard part of Anderson Cooper's interview last night with WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, talking about whether Russia was behind the hack on the DNC and this new hack on the Clinton campaign. Let's talk about it with Michael Weiss, a CNN contributor and an
expert on Russia, a fellow at the Institute of Modern Russia.
Thank you for being with me.
Let's just get right to this debate over whether or not Russia is meddling in the U.S. election, trying to help and support Trump by this DNC hack, by the hack of the Clinton campaign that we've now seen. The head of the DNI, James Clapper, had this to say in terms of ascribing motive or pointing a finger. Let's play that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMES CLAPPER, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: I don't think we are quite ready yet to make a call on attribution. I mean, we all know there are just a few usual suspects out there. But in terms of the process that we try to stick to, I don't think we are ready to make a public call on that yet.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: OK. So he says that, Michael, and then some other U.S. officials say there is little doubt Russia was behind this. Set the stage for us.
[17:35:00] MICHAEL WEISS, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Yeah, well, look, you can ask any Russia expert who has been monitoring this campaign, and the way that Donald Trump has been covered in the Russian state controls press, both the English language editions and the Russian language editions and they all come to the same conclusion. A guy who wrote a best selling book in Russia, essentially the text on modern day criminology, everybody surrounding Vladimir Putin had a good piece saying, of course, Russia wants to see Donald Trump elected, Vladimir Putin as a strong man. Dismissed claims that Putin or agents of the Kremlin are responsible for killing journalists. Just this week -- we saw it reported that the RNC removed any kind of criticism of Russia's annexation and invasion of the Ukrainian territory. And that's something that China won't even do for its own historical and national security reason.
Trump is -- I think it is overblown to say he is working with the Russians but his interests dovetail perfectly with those of the Kremlin. It's no secret Putin hates, reviles Hillary Clinton. Look at what the Russian press was saying about her when she was the secretary of state, even the reset that she was not the architect of, but the public proponent of it.
"The Daily Beast," where I work, we interviewed U.S. intelligence officials who are less coy than James Clapper and they said, look, we have no doubts this is the Russians doing it, and not just the Russians but the Russian government, using cut-outs, this Goosifer 2.0., who claims to be Romanian or Bulgarian. And there was a good piece in "Mother Board," a techie website, that said, look, people who talk to him say he can't even speak the native language, and he claims to be native from that country. This is classic Russian operations, little doubt about that. HARLOW: Let's me jump in and say Trump came out and said I've never
even spoken to him, even though he said otherwise in the past. He tweeted, "I have no investments in Russia." It's important to point that out. Paul Manafort, his campaign director, denies any connection here. But all countries spy. So I think the key question is, is this espionage? If it is Russia, is it really seen as espionage, or an effort to manipulate the U.S. election? I think that's an important distinction.
WEISS: Yes, it is. All countries do spy. And I think if the United States had the opportunity to hack Vladimir Putin's personal or governmental e-mails, they would certainly do. I think the timing is significant. Julian Assange, in his interview with Anderson Cooper, said our readers expect this of us and we wanted to have the maximum media impact and releasing this during the DNC just made the most sense. It's worth considering the relationship between WikiLeaks and the Russian government. Julian Assange said he personally, his organization, arranged for Edward Snowden, the NSA defector, to go to Moscow, once known to want to go to Latin America. Sarah Harrison, a woman who works for WikiLeaks, was with Snowden in Moscow at his press conference. How did she get a visa to a country that has no regard for transparency or shining a spotlight or sunlight on any kind of media operation when WikiLeaks is devoted, at least according to itself, to disclosing state secrets? Julian Assange's representative in Russia is a Holocaust denier and an anti-Semite. You can talk to former members of WikiLeaks who defected from the organization because they were so appalled by any association with people like this. And we know from the Ecuadorean Intelligence Service, based on what the Ecuadorean media reported, that Assange has been held up in their Ecuadorean embassy for the past seven years and, at one point, demanded a Russian security detail to protect him. The Ecuadorians were discomforted by this because they considered the Russians coming into their own embassy to be a, quote, "coup." You can read this again in the Ecuadorian media. This is not a pro-U.S. or Western conspiratorial claim.
There are a lot of questions that are unanswered about what WikiLeaks, is really is what it represents and whose interest it represents. Assange has a show on "Russia Today," which is the state media propaganda channel for the Kremlin. One of the first guests he interviewed on the first episode of that series was Nezrallah (ph), the general secretary of Hezbollah. I can tell you, people who support Hezbollah in Lebanon, Syria and elsewhere in the Middle East, can't get access to Nezrallah (ph), so how the hell did Julian Assange manage to pull that off? Again, a few questions it raises.
HARLOW: And the reporting continues on it. We'll see what the U.S. official line is when intelligence does come out with who they think it is.
Thank you, Michael Weiss. Appreciate the analysis and the background there.
Quick break. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [17:43:22] HARLOW: Horrifying scenes in Syria today as a Save the Children-supported maternity hospital in Aleppo was bombed. Two people were killed in the attack. This, as government forces encircled Aleppo, cutting off rebel-held areas and severing supply routes. With the humanitarian crisis looming for remaining residents there, Russia says it will open three aid corridors to allow civilians and unarmed rebels to leave. This, as the U.N. warns Aleppo will run out of food for all of its residents within weeks.
Our Clarissa Ward reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(EXPLOSION)
CLARISSA WARD, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is what remains of much of Aleppo, once Syria's most-populous city, now an apocalyptic moonscape.
(SHOUTING)
WARD: This video was released by the Syrian army as it celebrates cutting off rebel forces in the eastern part of the city.
Leaflets have been dropped on the besieged areas warning residents to leave. Syria's President Assad says he will offer amnesty to armed rebels who surrender. Russia claims humanitarian corridors will be opened.
But after months of relentless bombardment, many are too afraid to leave their homes. And recent history has taught people here to be highly suspicious of government promises.
ADM. JOHN KIRBY, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: What needs to happen is the innocent people of Aleppo should be able to stay in their homes, safely, and to receive the humanitarian access which Russia and the regime have agree, in principal, have agreed, certainly according to the U.N. Security Council resolution, to be supplied.
[17:45:05] WARD: We made the drive into Aleppo months ago. Berms of earth flank the road to protect the way from enemy fire.
(on camera): We now have to drive extremely quickly along this portion of the road because, on the one side, you have the regime and, on the other side, you have Kurdish fighters fighting against rebel forces. There are snipers all around here. But this is the only road now to get into Aleppo.
(voice-over): That road is now completely cut off, leaving some 300,000 people trapped. The U.N. paints a grim picture of life inside. Prices are up as much as 300 percent. Food will run out within weeks.
STAFFAN DE MISTURA, U.N. SPECIAL ENVOY FOR SYRIA: The clock is ticking for the commodities probably available in Aleppo are sufficient for maximum three weeks. WARD: For most here, the memory of the siege of Homs is fresh in
their minds. Government forces cut off all food and supplies as they continued to bombard the city for years. A siege in Aleppo would likely be even longer and uglier, though it's hard to imagine how much uglier it can get.
Clarissa Ward, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARLOW: Clarissa, thank you very much.
I want to turn this week's "CNN Hero." Families dealing with medical issues for their newborns have plenty to worry about without the stress of all the additional bills and paying for parking at the hospital which can add up to thousands of dollars. This week's "CNN Hero" is stepping in to remove that headache.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KERRY MCGEE, CNN HERO: These babies are in the NICU for not days but months at a time. When your child is going to be in the hospital for a long-term stay, you think of all the medical expenses or things of that nature, 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.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: You can see how Kerry McGee is helping all those families spend more time with their newborns. Go to CNNheros.com. While you are there, nominate somebody you think should be a 2016 "CNN Hero."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[17:51:22] HARLOW: Live pictures now of Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine's next stop on their bus tour through those swing states. They will be in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, tonight. This, as there are just 101 days left until the presidential election. The candidates making the most of this battleground bus tour.
CNN senior Washington correspondent, Jeff Zeleny, is following the two of them on the campaign trail -- Jeff?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Hillary Clinton is in the second day of her post-convention bus tour making her way across Pennsylvania. She'll end up today in Pittsburgh after talking to so many voters across the state about the economy. That is her central issue here as she tries to make her case against Donald Trump. Today marks the 100 day point until the general election. Her convention behind her now, she's making her case against Donald Trump.
(voice-over): The new Democratic ticket is taking its show on the road.
HILLARY CLINTON, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: As of tomorrow, we have 100 days to make our case to America!
(CHEERING)
ZELENY: Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine on a three-month sprint to Election Day.
CLINTON: What better place to kick off this campaign than right here in Philadelphia, where it all started 240 years ago!
(CHEERING)
ZELENY: After a convention steeped in nostalgia, their challenge now, tapping into the country's hunger for change.
CLINTON: I'm not telling you that everything is just peachy keen. I'm telling you, we've made progress but we have work to do if we're going to make sure everybody is included!
(CHEERING)
ZELENY: Their fight with Donald Trump is now fully joined as they try making him an unacceptable choice.
SEN. TIM KAINE, (R), VIRGINIA & VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The Republican convention was like a -- twisted and negative tour. It was a journey through Donald Trump's mind. And that is a very frightening place.
ZELENY: So the Democratic candidates set off on a bus tour of Pennsylvania and Ohio --
(CHEERING)
ZELENY: -- evoking memories of another journey back in 1992.
BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thank you.
ZELENY: With the Clintons and Gores. This time, the Clintons are alongside Tim Kaine and his wife, Ann, still focusing on the economy.
CLINTON: We're going to be visiting a few places where people are making things. Donald Trump talks about make America great again. He doesn't make a thing in America. Except bankruptcies!
(CHEERING)
ZELENY: A Democratic convention rich in history --
CLINTON: I accept your nomination! For president of the United States!
(CHEERING)
ZELENY: -- is now the script for how Democrats hope to defeat Donald Trump.
DONALD TRUMP, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & CEO, TRUMP ORGANIZATION: Russia, if you're listening --
ZELENY: He said she doesn't have the temperament for the Oval Office.
CLINTON: A man you can bait with a tweet is not a man we can trust with nuclear weapons.
(CHEERING)
ZELENY: Safety and security now a central piece of her argument.
CLINTON: Donald Trump says, and this is a quote, "I know more about ISIS than the generals do." No, Donald, you don't.
(CHEERING)
ZELENY: After a week in historic Philadelphia, Clinton made clear the history-making moment that matters comes in November.
CLINTON: I believe every time we break knock a barrier in America, it liberates everyone in America.
(CHEERING)
CLINTON: Every parent in this country could look at their son or their daughter and now say the very same thing, "You, too, could be president of the United States!"
(CHEERING)
CLINTON: Thank you all! God bless you!
(CHEERING)
[17:55:01] ZELENY (on camera): This bus tour also an effective rollout for Tim Kaine and Hillary Clinton as this new Democratic partnership. Campaigning together today in Pennsylvania, tomorrow in Ohio. And then they go their own way, spreading out in battleground states across the country here.
But it is the Rust Belt vote they believe could block Donald Trump from the presidency. His biggest path is winning these Rust Belt states, Pennsylvania, Ohio, possibly Michigan, on to Wisconsin. If they win here, they believe he has no path to the presidency. Of course, Donald Trump campaigning this weekend and next week hard as well.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARLOW: No question, Jeff. Thank you very much. It's all about that path to 270.
We'll take a quick break and be back live in the NEWSROOM in the CNN NEWSROOM. Stay with us. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARLOW: All right, coming up tonight at 7:00, my conversation with two women you will recognize, two famous actresses, who want to change how Hollywood does business. Their new movie just out this weekend is called "Equity," and it is not your typical film. It comes at a key moment in our history.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: When we first talked about this project, we were like, what if we could make this movie and it could cut out right when the first woman is running, and to be part of that conversation, that's happening in America, I mean, it is the American opportunity.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: You're also going to hear why they decided to pay women in the film more than men, sort of flipping the tables there. That's at 7:00 p.m. eastern, right here.
I'm Poppy Harlow, in New York. I'll see you back here at 7:00. Thank you so much for being with us.
"Smerconish" begins right now.
