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Trump Criticized for Remark About Khan's Wife; Trump: "I've Made a Lot of Sacrifices"; Trump Complains Debates Conflict with NFL Games; Olympic Opening Ceremonies Kick Off Friday; Health Workers Going Door to Door to Test for Zika Virus; Four Floridians Infected by Local Mosquitoes. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired July 31, 2016 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:00:33] POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, everyone. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Poppy Harlow in New York.

We begin with this tonight. The father of a fallen Muslin-American soldier is calling on Republican leadership to reject their presidential candidate, Donald Trump, immediately. Speaking today on CNN, Khizr Khan says that Donald Trump has a, "black soul," and now Trump is firing back, putting this feud front and center exactly 100 days before the nation elects its next president. House Speaker Paul Ryan, Senator Lindsey Graham, and now former presidential candidate, Jeb Bush, all weighing in on the controversy that started earlier this week. It began with this moment at the Democratic National Convention.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KHIZR KHAN, FATHER OF FALLEN MUSLIM-AMERICAN SOLDIER: Donald Trump, you're asking Americans to trust you with their future. Let me ask you, have you even read the United States constitution? I will -- I will gladly lend you my copy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Today Donald Trump tweeted this. "Captain Khan, killed 12 years ago, was a hero, but this is about RADICAL ISLAMIC TERROR and the weakness of our leaders to eradicate it." Also, he tweeted, "I was viciously attacked by Mr. Khan at the Democratic Convention." Khan delivered an indictment of the billionaire businessman and presidential candidate, even holding back tears when he spoke about Trump's suggestion that Khan's wife, who had also been by his side on the stage, was not allowed to speak. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KHAN: She said you know my condition. When I see my son's picture, I cannot hold myself together. For this candidate for presidency to not be aware of the respect of a Gold Star mother standing there, and he had to take that shot at her, this is height of ignorance. This is why I showed him that constitution. Had he read that, he would know what status a Gold Star mother holds in this nation. This country holds such a person in the highest regard, and he has no knowledge, no awareness. That is the height of his ignorance. She is ill. She had high blood pressure. People that know her looked at her face, and she said, I may fall off the stage. And I told her that you have to assemble yourself and stand for the beauty of this tribute that is being paid.

This person is totally incapable of empathy. I want his family to counsel him. Teach him some empathy. He will be a better person if he could become -- but he is a black soul, and this is totally unfit for the leadership of this beautiful country. The love and affection that we have received affirms that our beliefs, our experience in this country had been correct and positive. The world is receiving us like we have never seen. They have seen the blackness of his character, of his soul, that he is void of recognizing, empathizing with people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: So the short time ago, the Republican House Speaker, Paul Ryan, came out and issued a statement. I want to read you part of that statement. It says, "Many Muslin-Americans have served valiantly in our military and made the ultimate sacrifice. Captain Khan was one such brave example. His sacrifice and that of Khizr and Ghazala Khan should always be honored, period." Let's talk about all of it with Sajid Tarar, the founder of American Muslins for Trump, and Wajahat Ali, the associate editor for Altmuslin.com. Thank you both for being here. Let's take a moment and listen to what Donald Trump said this morning on ABC when George Stephanopoulos asked him about why he made the comments about Khan's wife not saying anything at the podium.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: His wife, if you look at his wife, she was standing there. She had nothing to say. She probably -- maybe she wasn't allowed to have anything to say. You tell me, but plenty of people have written that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: So Sadid, as a Trump supporter, let me go to you first. What does he mean by that?

[19:05:03] SAJID TARAR, FOUNDER, MUSLIMS FOR TRUMP: First of all, thank you, Poppy, for having me. And I have said earlier, I salute Captain Khan's, his supreme sacrifice. And not only his sacrifice and all the sisters, and all the sons and daughters of American -- those that have given their supreme sacrifice our freedom. From the beginning, Donald Trump has not said single nasty thing or anything to criticize Captain Khan's sacrifice. But criticizing --

HARLOW: I'm so sorry to interrupt you, but I just want your answer to that, that statement. What did he mean by that, about Ghazala Khan?

TARAR: Ghazala Khan -- I mean, first of all, he didn't know her medical conditions. And if she was that sick, why they brought her on the stage to begin with? This politicizing and getting a political capital on it? That's not fair. This is showing -- HARLOW: Sir, Donald Trump said -- Donald Trump said -- sir, Donald

Trump said maybe she wasn't allowed to speak.

TARAR: Yes. At the same time, you can assume that the state of the Islamic countries right now, most of the countries, the women are very oppressed. They are not allowed to talk or even drive or even leave their homes.

HARLOW: That's just not the case that most Muslin countries, women are not allowed to talk. But I want to get Wajahat in here. What's your reaction to that?

WAJAHAT ALI, ASSOCIATE EDITOR ALTMUSLIM.COM: Typical of an orange thin-skinned bully who takes the bait and beats up on a Gold Star mother, Ghazala Khan, who, in her silence, had more dignity, more power, more passion and was more presidential than the man currently running for president. I love the fact, Poppy, let me say this, that there is a supreme brown car mick justice that a Muslin, Pakistani, American immigrant couple with funny accents and multisyllabic names with mocha caramel skin, right now are body slamming Donald J. Trump left and right and they are the couple reminding all Americans, Republicans and Democrats, about our constitution, about our freedoms, about our values, about our core values that are under threat if a demagogue like Donald J. Trump is elected. I love it.

HARLOW: Sajid, I want to get your reaction to what the Ghazala Khan, the wife wrote in an op-ed to "The Washington Post" this morning. Let's read part of it. "Donald Trump asked why I did not speak at the Democratic Convention. He said he would like to hear from me. Here's my answer to Donald Trump. Because without saying a thing, all the world, all America felt my pain. I am a Gold Star mother. Whoever saw me felt me in their heart." How do you think Donald Trump should respond to this? He did call their son a hero in a statement his campaign issued. Do you want to hear him come out and say that in person?

TARAR: Two things. First of all, "The Washington Post," the most liberal newspaper on a national level --

HARLOW: Wait, wait. This is an opinion piece.

TARAR: No, let me finish.

HARLOW: This is an opinion piece. These are his words, not "The Washington Post's" words.

TARAR: Let me finish. Please allow me to finish it. Plus, at the same time, not in a single time that Donald Trump has not accepted his sacrifice. Ghazala, nor his mother, and he has said -- and he didn't know her medical conditions. What's the big deal out of it to be honest with you? It's the liberal media trying to -- I think they are scared. They are -- Hillary Clinton is confused. She is nervous because Bernie Sanders and all these liberals are just so panicked. So this is the sign of panic, and that's what is going on. There's not a single time that Donald Trump has not accepted the sacrifice or not appreciated Captain Khan's sacrifice. All of us -- I have repeated probably ten times -- Donald Trump has repeated it, and they are just making a show out of it like DNC was, like "Alice in Wonderland." They are just living in a fiction. Who's going to fight this ISIS? Atheism, Barack Obama?

HARLOW: So Senator Jeff Sessions --

TARAR: -- safety is a forbid foreign policy. So who's going to fight ISIS?

HARLOW: Let me jump in here. Senator Jeff Sessions, a supporter of Donald Trump, came out this morning on "State of the Union, and Wajahat, I want you to respond to what he said in reaction to this as a Trump supporter. Let's play it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JEFF SESSIONS, (R) ALABAMA: I don't think anybody that says that we ought to slow down and be more careful about bringing in immigrants from countries that have terrorist tendencies and can't be vetted properly. I don't believe that that's a person that lacks a soul. In fact, millions of Americans, a majority of Americans favor that kind of policy with regard to immigration from countries that have histories of terrorism.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Wajahat, your response to that?

[19:10:00] ALI: What a shocking surprise. Jeff Sessions supports Donald Trump's anti-Muslin, bigoted call to ban 1.6 billion Muslins from entering this country. And then the Muslins who are here, including Sajid by the way, would undergo extreme vetting to make sure they we're safe and apparently neutered. Sajid, I think respectfully you're confused, because honestly, you were invited to the Republican National Convention as an American Muslin for Trump. And what happened? His base booed you for simply being an American-Muslin. That tells you everything you need to know. Donald J. Trump --

TARAR: No, you are misinformed, because I was there.

ALI: -- look, 91% of his comments according to PolitiFact are false. So we don't know what Donald J. Trump believes, but if policy is --

HARLOW: One at a time. One at a time.

ALI: Can I just finish? Look, Donald J. Trump's opinion of Khizr Khan is shared by ISIS. ISIS called Khizr Khan an apostate today. So apparently Donald J. Trump is in good company with extremists.

HARLOW: Sajid, final word.

TARAR: Yes, let me tell him, RNC, first of all I wanted to ask if there was not a single person, one person -- a matter of fact on the Donna Bash show that I was on CNN, she told me there was one delegate who booed. I didn't listen.

ALI: We saw them. We saw them booing you.

TARAR: No. You have to go and revisit it again. Plus, at the same time, that was my sole purpose to go there and show that all of American-Muslins, they are not terrorists. I wanted to portray a picture of it, a Muslin American who is in love with this country, who is not jihadi and who want to fight --

ALI: Sajid, come back to the good side. Leave the dark side. We want you back. We want you back, Sajid.

HARLOW: Sajid, Wajahad, Thank you very much. We'll have you back. Appreciate it. As we mentioned, Khan's comments really the focus of the Democratic National Convention right now. Hillary Clinton is responding to it on the campaign trail. Here's what she said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Nothing to do with Putin -- I've never spoken to him. I don't know anything about him.

I was in Russia. I was in Moscow recently and I spoke directly and indirectly with President Putin, who could not have been nicer.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Obviously that was not Hillary Clinton. That was Donald Trump weighing in on the relationship or not a relationship between him and Vladimir Putin. We're going to dive into all of that straight ahead. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: Welcome back. You're live in the CNN, and we are continuing to follow a story that has got the whole political world talking tonight, that's for sure.

[19:15:01] The parents of a U.S. military officer killed in Iraq, say Donald Trump has, "Sacrificed nothing and no one when it comes to America's wars overseas." Today Donald Trump responded and said they are wrong. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, ANCHOR ABC NEWS: How would you answer that, father? What sacrifice have you made for your country?

Trump: I think I've made a lot of sacrifices. I've worked very, very hard. I'm created thousands and thousands of jobs, tens of thousands of jobs.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Those are sacrifices?

TRUMP: Oh, sure. I think they're sacrifices. I think when I can employ thousands and thousands of people, take care of their education, take care of so many things. Even in the military, I mean, I was responsible along with a group of people for getting the Vietnam Memorial built in downtown Manhattan, which to this day people thank me for. I've raised and I have raised millions of dollars for the vets. I'm helping the vets a lot. (END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: All right. Let's bring in our political panel, Tara Setmayer, is a CNN political commentator, a Republican strategist. Boris Epshteyn, is a Donald Trump surrogate. Nomiki Konst is on the Democratic Platform Committee and was a delegate for Senator Bernie Sanders. And Reverend Leah Daughtry is a Clinton supporter, also was CEO of Democratic Nation Convention. Thank you all for being here. Tara, to you. It's interesting, you tweeted recently that you're not going to the polls for Trump or for Clinton. So I should just put that out there. But do you think that this back and forth, this controversy, really moves the needle for any -- for a significant block of voters, or does it just make those who are not supporting Donald Trump like him even less, or does this actually flip some Republicans away from him?

TARA SETMAYER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think it remains to be seen. The people who are strongly in the Trump side, they're going to stay there. I mean we've seen him make outrageous statements before. This has been going on for a year, and it hasn't really moved the needle. The only time we really saw that was during the Judge Curiel, Mexican judge comments back in June where even speaker Ryan came out and called it racist. So but I think this is such a missed opportunity for the Trump campaign.

Donald Trump can't help himself. Instead of coming out and hammering Hillary Clinton on her record and what she's done and the economy. We just found out 1.2 percent GDP, the worst growth for an economic recovery, and these are the issues that people really care about is their pockets and their families and the economy. Donald Trump is picking a fight with a Gold Star family. And you know, I stand with the Khan family, and I applaud them, and I absolutely agree with them calling out Speaker Ryan and Mitch McConnell to repudiate Donald Trump, which they haven't done. What do we stand for as the Republican Party if we continue to allow someone like Donald Trump to make a mockery of the process, of these families, of service, of the Constitution? I mean this is unbelievable, and this is part of the reason why people like me will never cast a ballot for Donald Trump.

HARLOW: So Donald Trump came out -- his campaign came out and issued a statement calling Humayun Khan, the Khans' son who died in 2004 in Iraq, a hero, making that very clear. He hasn't come out in person and said it. To you, Boris, as a Trump surrogate, what should your candidate do here? Should he come front and center? Should he come on the morning shows tomorrow and just say, this man is a hero, war hero, and it should be about him and his service to the country?

BORIS EPSHTEYN, DONALD TRUMP SURROGATE: The campaign has made a clear statement. It speaks for Donald Trump. A clear statement that the Trump campaign, Donald Trump and the whole country is unbelievably thankful to Captain Khan for his sacrifice, for the duty that he served, for his service and to his family. So that is a fact, and we stand behind that 100 percent as a campaign and representatives of Donald Trump. So that issue should be put to bed. Now to Tara's point, 14 million Republicans voted for Donald Trump in the primaries, more than ever in the history of the Republican Party. So that is why the Republican Party has nominated Donald Trump, because it's the voice of the people that has brought him there. Tara --

HARLOW: What do you make of the fact that leadership, that House Speaker Paul Ryan felt on a Sunday evening that he should come out, needed to come out with this statement making very clear the party support, his support for this family?

EPSHTEYN: He did not repudiate Donald Trump by the way. That was a mischaracterization by Tara, right.

HARLOW: He came out in defense of this family very clearly.

EPSHTEYN: What he said is that, again, he said the same thing that Donald Trump's statement said, is that Donald Trump and the campaign are unbelievably thankful and respectful to Captain Khan for his service and to the family for that sacrifice. Everything else is politicization of this issue, and again we should be talking about how we're going to keep Americans safe, and keep more Americans from dying as Captain Khan did.

HARLOW: Reverend Daughtry, as a Clinton supporter, as CEO of the Democratic National Convention, A, I'm interested in whether you knew the extent to which Khizr Khan would go after Donald Trump when he took the stage and if you expected this -- I mean he wasn't even in prime time as Ryan Lizza pointed out. If you expected this buildup after it as a result of his remarks.

[19:20:00] REV. LEAH DAUGHTRY: CLINTON SUPPORTER: Well, we certainly did not expect this buildup. I mean who would think that anyone would attack the family, a Gold Star family of a fallen American hero who died in service to his country? We believed, and the reason we brought the Khan family on, was to talk about their experiences, the experiences of their son, and the fact that Donald Trump has made their religion a point of -- an issue during this campaign. It's really beyond the pale that this has even become this sort of brouhaha. And I would think that he went on twitter to make these statements, he would go back on twitter to repudiate them and to correct himself or to apologize to this family. He has completely ignored their pain and their sacrifice. This mother who cannot even look at a picture of her son. He should use the same forum he started with to acknowledge their pain and sacrifice.

HARLOW: Nomi, as a DNC Platform Committee member, I wonder what you think the best response is long-term here from the Clinton campaign. She's talked about it on the trail today. But you also walk that line between, you know, what's respectful of this family in terms of putting them so in the spotlight. They've come out and spoken publicly on the shows, but I wonder how much you think that she and her campaign should focus on this?

NOMIKI KONST, DNC PLATFORM COMMITTEE MEMBER: I think what's important to keep in mind here -- and excuse my voice -- is that she has made the right statement so far about the Khan family, respecting a fallen soldier, respecting a Muslin family. Has come out courageously on stage and spoken on behalf of their son in behalf of the secretary -- HARLOW: There is a risk of politicizing it too much and capitalizing

too much on it.

KONST: Agreed. I think if there were some sort of political argument to make, it would be that Donald Trump does have his own drip, drip, drip effect. This problem is, is that this time he's not running against 17 people. He's running against one person. One person who was Secretary of State, one person who respects the Muslin community. Not respecting the Muslin community is a national security issue. And this is where I disagree with you, Boris. When you said that you wanted to focus on national security, this is exactly what you should be focusing on. When you start to ostracize the Muslin community and your own soldiers, that puts you in a position of weakness. If Hillary Clinton wants to reinforce the message she's the strongest person in this race when it comes to national security, that is it, without politicizing it.

EPSHTEYN: She failed keeping this country safe.

HARLOW: Nomiki, thank you, Boris, thank you very much. Reverend, thank you as well. And, Tara, as always.

Coming up next, we're going to dive into this. Lingering questions about Trump's ties or no ties to Russia. What is it? He said multiple things about whether he has spoken to or has never spoken to the Russian President, Vladimir Putin. We're going to dive into that ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:25:55] HARLOW: Donald Trump today pronouncing that Russian President Vladimir Putin will not make any move into Ukraine. He said that in an interview with ABC's George Stephanopoulos, who quickly reminded Trump that Putin has already invaded Ukraine and seized the Crimean Peninsula. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I have my own ideas. He's not going to go into Ukraine, OK, just so you understand. He's not going to go into Ukraine. You can mark it down. You can put it down. You could take it anywhere you want.

STEPHANOPOULOS: He's already there, isn't he?

TRUMP: Well, he's there in a certain way, but I'm not there yet, with Obama there. And frankly that whole part of the world is a mess under Obama. With all the strength that you're talking about and all of the power of NATO and all of this, in the meantime, he's going -- he takes Crimea. He's sort of, I mean --

STEPHANOPOULOS: But you said he might recognize that.

TRUMP: I'm going to take a look at it. But you know, the people of Crimea, from what I've heard, would rather be with Russia than where they were. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: This comes as questions persist over exactly what Trump's relationship is with the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, and frankly whether the two of them have ever even met. Trump insists they have no relationship.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEPHANOPOULOS: What exactly is your relationship with Vladimir Putin?

TRUMP: I have no relationship with Putin. I have no relationship with Putin.

STEPHANOPOULOS: If you have no relationship with Putin, then why did you say in 2013, I do have a relationship. In 2014 I spoke --

TRUMP: Because he has said nice things about me over the years. I remember years ago he said something many years ago, he said something very nice about me. I said something good about him when Larry King was on. This was a long time ago.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Yes, you said for three years, 13, 14, and 15, that did you have a relationship with him.

TRUMP: No. Look, what do you call a relationship? I mean he treats me --

STEPHANOPOULOS: I'm asking you.

TRUMP: -- with great respect. I have no relationship with Putin. I don't think I've ever met him. I never met him. I never met him. I don't think I ever met him.

STEPHANOPOULOS: You would know it if you did, wouldn't you?

TRUMP: I think so, yes. I think so.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: All right, let's bring in CNN political analyst and "Washington Post" columnist, Josh Rogin. Thank you, sir. You have been front and center on this story. You've written extensively about it. Let's just remind our viewers the significance of this when it comes to the shift in the Republican Party platform and in what happened at the RNC.

JOSH ROGIN, COLUMNIST, WASHINGTON POST: Sure. As I reported first in "The Washington Post," during the platform committee, an amendment was offered to give -- to support lethal arms for Ukraine as it fights an ongoing Russian intervention. And the Trump staffer in the room intervened in that process and negotiated out the language that would have provided Ukraine with lethal defensive weapons and changed it to appropriate assistance. It was the one thing that the Trump campaign really fought about in the national security part of the platform, and it worked, and they got their way. Now the GOP platform does not support arming Ukraine, which is exactly the position that Trump has espoused publicly even though today Paul Manafort denied some odd reason --

HARLOW: Right. So Chuck Todd asked Manafort about this a few times on "Meet the Press" this morning, and Manafort said he and the entire campaign had nothing to do with that.

ROGIN: Yes, I mean it's just -- I mean it's a lie. There's no real other word to say. You know, I spoke to three people in the room, two of who were on the record, plus it's very odd that they would even deny it considering the fact that this is the public position of Donald Trump and of Paul Manafort. It's what they agree, and it's what they've been saying. In other words, they have this position that the United States shouldn't be militarily involved in Ukraine. It's what they've been saying the whole campaign. Why he would deny it after it's already been reported and acknowledged to me privately by Trump's staffers is a total mystery actually.

HARLOW: Let's talk about big picture here when it comes to Crimea, which has been annexed, seized, call it what you want by the Russians. The United Nations General Assembly when they had a vote on this, voted 100-11, calling on countries not to recognize Crimea as part of Russia. Donald Trump has said in interviews like with Stephanopoulos this morning and other interviews that he would, "Look at it, look at potentially recognizing Crimea as Russian." The significance of that coming from the party's candidate?

[19:30:10] ROGIN: Yes, I mean he's contradicting not only long- standing U.S. policy that borders should not be changed with military interventions, especially in Europe -- that's been U.S. policy going back to world war II, also the policy of all of our allies. It just so happens that he's Trumpeting what is essentially a Russian propaganda line, which is that the people of Crimea supported the Russian takeover of their peninsula and would prefer not to be in the Ukraine. There were elections. The elections were held at the point of a gun. No one could really claim those were free and fair elections.

But setting that to one side, this sort of reinforces the sort of Russian version of events, which doesn't comport with reality. He said there are no Russian troops in Ukraine. But there are Russian troops not only in Crimea but also in the Eastern Ukraine -- it's been well documented. We have two issues. One is sort of that Trump seems to be getting his facts from the Russian propaganda machine, which is troubling by itself. Then there's the other shoe, which is that he generally believes that U.S. policy in that region should be oriented towards a more Russian perspective, and that's a fine position to take. It just happens not to be the position of his party or the Democratic Party or the administration or our allies.

HARLOW: Jeff Rogin, something tells me this is not the end of this discussion and you'll keep pressing hard on it. We'll have you back. Thank you very much, appreciate it.

Coming up, have you heard about the debate over the debate? Yep, coming up, the NFL calls a personal foul on Donald Trump. The debate schedule standoff that has them pushing back on the Republican presidential candidate. Brian Stelter with me next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:35:00] HARLOW: Welcome back. In a heated election cycle it should come as no surprise that there is now a debate over the debates. That's right. The Trump campaign is complaining that two of the three presidential debates take place on the same night as televised NFL games. The first debate is September 26th. That coincides with Monday night football. The second one on October 9th coincides with a Sunday game. We should note two NFL games also aired on the same nights as debates back in 2012. Listen to what Trump said this morning on ABC.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, I'll tell you what I don't like. It's against two NFL games. I got a letter from the NFL saying this is ridiculous, why are the debates against because the NFL doesn't want to go against the debates.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: All right. The NFL spokesperson, Brain McCarthy, has come out and said that no such letter was ever sent to Trump he tweeted this, "Well, we'd obviously wish the debate commission could find another night, we did not send a letter to Donald Trump." So who better to talk to about this than this guy, CNN senior media correspondent, host of Reliable Sources, Brian Stelter. When you first started reporting this yesterday, I mean there was so much buzz about it, and it continues because Trump said the NFL sent me a letter. They're saying they didn't.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Right, right. Now the Trump campaign says actually it wasn't a letter. It was a phone call from a source close to the league who told Trump about this scheduling conflict. This conflict was obvious, though, about a year ago when the commission set the dates. It's really hard to schedule four presidential and vice presidential debates.

HARLOW: And let's note the schedulers are Democrats and Republicans.

STELTER: That's right. It's bipartisan.

HARLOW: They decided this a year ago before we knew who the candidates would be.

STELTER: Yes, and the Trump campaign is right that there are two NFL games. There have been lots of NFL games scheduled during debates in the past as well. I just checked with the league with Brian McCarthy, he says no new comment today. There's no chance we're going to see a game rescheduled. And there is probably no chance we are going to see a debate rescheduled either.

The commission came out this afternoon and said we've been doing this for years. It's very hard to schedule these debates. We're doing the best we can, and we've never moved a debate before. So it's unlikely they would do it now. But the Trump campaign told me today they are going to try to get these dates changed. So we'll see.

HARLOW: To be clear, the NFL did not send a letter to Donald Trump?

STELTER: That's right. That's right. No letter.

HARLOW: Even the campaign admits that now?

STELTER: That's right.

HARLOW: You interviewed someone from the campaign this morning.

STELTER: Yes, Jason Miller, the senior communications adviser, and he focused on the idea that these are highly rated football games, which they are. I do think in 2016, especially compared to 2012 or 2008 or 2004, there's more ways than ever to watch both. I woke up every morning after the convention and re-watched some of the Republican and Democratic speeches right on my phone, right on YouTube. People have so many options now for how to consume both sports and news --

HARLOW: But that's very -- come on, you're not encouraging people not to fully listen to the presidential candidates, are you?

STELTER: Listen, that's another argument here entirely which is forget about football for the night and tune into democracy.

HARLOW: For the push back, why not put the debate on a completely different night? When there is no NFL game and I know there are a thousand games. I get that.

STELTER: It gets into these details about, for example, the commission likes to have different debates on different nights of the week, so if you work on Monday night during Monday night football, that way you can see a debate on Tuesday. They also try to avoid religious holidays. They try to avoid other conflicts that are kind of esoteric.

The point is they say they try really hard to spread these out, but the Trump campaign I think understandably does not want these to happen on the same day as football games, especially given Trump's audience. You think about some of his biggest supporters, middle aged white guys, people like me or my dad who always watch football, and are going to be unwilling maybe to turn the channel to the debates.

HARLOW: Something tells me you are going to be watching the debates, I'm just saying.

STELTER: I have three TVs at home so I can watch all at the same time.

HARLOW: Of course, you do. Still, though, when you look at this, we're seven weeks away from the first debate.

STELTER: That's right. HARLOW: Is this going to go on for seven weeks? When are we going to

get some sort of resolution?

STELTER: This is where it gets interesting. The behind the scenes negotiations have kind of officially started now. This happens every four years between the campaigns and the commission. They try to haggle over everything, even the air-conditioning in the room. We haven't heard about the moderators yet. We haven't heard about the topics yet.

There's a lot for the campaigns to negotiation with the commission, and I think what we're seeing this weekend is the Trump campaign starting that negotiation process. What's different about the Trump campaign though is they're doing it in public. Normally this happens privately. The Clinton campaign will have a lot of things to haggle about privately, but the Trump campaign is doing it in public.

[19:42:48] HARLOW: This gives you more to talk about on your show, my friend, Reliable Sources, Sunday morning, 11:00 a.m. with Brian Stelter. Thank you. Coming up next live in the CNN NEWSROOM, the Clinton bus tour steps on the gas, 100 days to go until the election. Clinton speaking out against Donald Trump while campaigning in a battleground state of Ohio, a must-win there. We'll bring it to you next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: Welcome back. The Clinton-Kaine rust belt bus tour wrapped up its campaign stops today in Columbus, Ohio. Our senior political correspondent Brianna Keilar traveling with the bus, and she shows us how Hillary Clinton is weighing in now on this ongoing feud between Trump and Khizr Khan.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Poppy, Hillary Clinton's approach to the Khizr Khan-Donald Trump controversy really seemed to evolve over the last day. During her first stop yesterday in Pennsylvania, there was a line in her teleprompter about it and she skipped over it. It wasn't until her last stop last night at about 11:00 p.m. where she even mentioned it and even then it was a passing reference. Fast forward to this morning. She went to church. She talked about it. When she talked to reporters, and she had some pretty sharp words.

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HILLARY CLINTON, DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He called Mexicans rapists and criminals. He said a federal judge was unqualified because he had Mexican heritage, someone born in the neighboring state of Indiana. He's called women pigs. He's mocked a reporter with a disability.

TIM KAINE, DEMOCRATIC VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Ridiculed a POW.

CLINTON: That's right.

KAINE: John McCain. CLINTON: Any one of those things is so offensive. And then to launch

an attack as he did on Captain Khan's mother, a gold-star mother who stood there on that stage with her husband, honoring the sacrifice of their son, and who has in the days since spoken out about the overwhelming emotion that any mother would feel as her son was being honored. And then to have Trump do what he did, I don't know where the bottoms are.

I don't know where the bottom is.

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KEILAR: There seemed to be a reticence yesterday for Clinton to wade in and perhaps make this even more political than it's become. But what may have changed the calculus between last night and today were a couple of things. Donald Trump's reaction that the campaign views that statement that was put out, the campaign viewing it as Donald Trump sort of continuing to dig a hole on this issue.

[19:45:06] And then Ohio Governor John Kasich condemning these things that Donald Trump has said. The Clinton campaign actually re-tweeting what Kasich had said, hoping that it will play well for those she is hoping to court here in Ohio, Poppy.

HARLOW: Brianna, thank you, on the campaign trail there with Clinton and Kaine. Coming up next, five days, five days until Rio with the Olympics right around the corner, our nation is taking extra steps to protect its athletes from Zika. Uniforms treated with mosquito repellent. We'll explain when our Sanjay Gupta joins us live next.

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HARLOW: Welcome back live in the CNN NEWSROOM. in just five days, the summer Olympic Games begin in Rio. The Zika virus is a major concern weighing on the minds of a number of the athletes travelling down there and the fans as well. When the opening ceremonies kick off on Friday, athletes from South Korea will be wearing uniforms specifically designed to help protect them from mosquitoes that might be carrying the Zika virus. Our Paula Hancocks reports.

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PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The national flag, the team logo and encouraging messages from people sewn into the lining. This is South Korea's Olympic uniform 600 are being made here just outside Seoul for athletes and officials to wear in Rio this August.

There's something else that makes this outfit unique. It is apparently Zika resistant. But aside from the long sleeves and the long trousers keeping skin off-limits to mosquitoes, the rest remains a bit of a mystery. The Zika resistant parts of this uniform is apparently top secret.

[19:50:09] Now all we've been told is that once these uniforms are finished, they are then shipped off to an unnamed company and they're they coat the uniforms with an insect repellent chemical. We are not allowed to film that part. We're told it works. No lab results or footage available.

Designer, Kim Soo-jung, says she was going for protection and comfort and something truly Korean. I wanted our athletes to look classy and stylish, she says, as they're on a global stage. Next, I wanted it to be in the unique Korean style.

Lastly, it had to be functional and comfortable. South Korean's Olympic Committee says so far, no athlete has dropped out through fears of the Zika virus, but medicine, insect repellant and mosquito nets are being prepared. As well as a uniform that leads little exposed for the mosquitoes to bit. Paula Hancocks, CNN, Seoul.

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HARLOW: Paula, thank you very much, let's bring in Dr. Sanjay Gupta, our chief medical correspondent. So Sanjay you were in Salvador when we spoke with you last night. You're in Rio where these games are being held, opening in five days. So many headaches for them, a lot of talk about whether the construction is done, are they ready, but Zika is front and center as a concern. Is the media making more of it than the people feel there? Or do you get the sense on the ground that there is a major concern ahead of these games?

SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It is one of those things. Poppy, I would say that you can understand the fear with something like this. It's a relatively new virus, and obviously it has this association with these birth defects in babies. Having said that, I think there's a couple things to keep in mind. First of all, the weather's cooler here now than it was several months ago. It's their winter, and as a result you have fewer mosquitoes.

And also if you just look at some of the studies in terms of prediction of risk, there was a study that came out of the University of Cambridge for example. It said you're going to have some 500,000 tourists. Out of all those tourists one or two infections they say is what they predict.

It's just not likely. Again you can understand the concern if somebody were to get the Zika infection especially if they were pregnant. You could imagine, I mean but for the vast majority of people, I think it's not a concern, and we're not hearing about that concern a lot from the people on the ground here.

HARLOW: And Sanjay, now that the state of Florida has identified these four cases of Zika from local mosquitoes in Florida, how much does that heighten the alert in the United States, add to the concern especially as you'll have Americans traveling back from Brazil to the States. And as you have noted about 80% of those infected with Zika are asymptomatic.

GUPTA: That's right. And that's really important because if 80% are asymptomatic, they don't know they might be carrying the virus in their system and they could be travelling around. To your point, I think that is some ways what is happening in Florida was very much predictable. The type of mosquito that carries Zika exists in many tropical climates, south Florida, south Texas, Louisiana.

It was just a question of the virus then appearing and the mosquitoes starting to transmit that virus around and that's what is starting to happen. So I think in some ways it's a bigger concern there right now given that the weather, given the time of the year that mosquitoes will actually start being more active. But, I think, you know, in the United States, simple things as I'm learning in Salvador, they don't have screens on the windows. They don't have climate control in some of these what are called favelas, which are the more slum-like areas, if you will.

Just simple sanitation is a big concern. In many of the areas for example in Florida, those aren't as big a concern. You have public buildings at least that have climate control, screens on windows. And as a result, Poppy, while can spread locally I don't think it will spread rapidly nor do I think it's going to spread widely.

We have an idea of how this mosquito's going to behave. And the news is sort of good in that regard. It may get worse than obviously just four people now, but I don't think it's going to be something we'll see across the United States.

HARLOW: Which is very good to hear, but Sanjay, when you think back to Ebola and our discussions then as you covered that, the fact that there weren't vaccines, there wasn't a cure. There wasn't enough readily available. For Zika, same issue. Right? Fights over funding for getting a vaccine and getting the cure for Zika.

GUPTA: No doubt. And I think that now that there are locally- transmitted cases within the United States that may change the debate around funding. Usually when things hit home people tend to be more likely to actually start to fund them. But, you know, to be clear. A vaccine for this type of virus is necessary, just like there's a vaccine for the flu.

And we're still learning about what exactly this virus does to the body and how exactly it causes these birth defects, and all the various birth defects that could be caused by this.

[19:55:03] We don't know all the answers to those questions yet. That does take time. It does take money and resources to be able to study that.

But still, I just, my caution in my voice is that, you know, 80% of people will have no or few symptoms. You know, I don't want to suggest otherwise. And even within the United States, because of the way this mosquito behaves, the way it travels not very far, I don't think it's something that travels very far north. It's not to diminish the concerns of people who live in those areas. It needs to be studied and addressed but what happened here in Brazil I don't think is going to happen in the United States.

HARLOW: Good to hear, Sanjay Gupta in Rio for us tonight, he will be there all week leading up to the Olympic Games. Sanjay, thank you so much. Coming up next a pause to remember the sacrifice of so many families in this country.

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HARLOW: Welcome back. A big focus in the political world today is the feud between Donald Trump and Khizr and Ghazala Khan. The gold star family who lost their son in Iraq in 2004. Their grief once private is now very public. And it is grief shared by many families, so for a moment tonight let's step away from the politics and remember what matters most. Those who have served this country and those who continue to serve.

And that brings us to tonight's number, the number is 472,045, that is the number of families listed right now tonight in the national gold star database. Each of those families has lost someone in conflict or in support of certain military operations. As the national gold star family registry says, the strength of our nation is our army. The strength of our Army is our soldiers. The strength of our soldiers is our families.

The Army recognizes that no one has given more for the nation than the families of the fallen. It is a sacrifice made by so many to keep all of us safe. I'm Poppy Harlow in New York, good night.