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Trump Back on Message and Ramping Up Attacks; Iran Has Executed Nuclear Scientist; Mike Morell Doubles Down on Clinton Support; Economy Top of Mind for Voters; Golf and Politics. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired August 07, 2016 - 15:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:03:29] FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, again. Thank you so much for joining me, I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

Donald Trump back on message and ramping up his attacks on Hillary Clinton as his poll numbers continue to sink. A new "Washington Post" ABC news poll release today shows Clinton with an 8 percentage lead over Trump. Last night in a rally in Windham, New Hampshire, the Republican candidate lashed out at his rival, Trump even questioning Clinton's mental health.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: So I wrote this yesterday, and I mean it from the bottom of my heart. You saw that, all right? I'd would say, Hillary Clinton, and you know that, you did saw that where she basically short-circuited. She said, she did -- it wasn't a press conference because that's around 250 days, but it was in front some friendly reporters, they asked her a very easy question and she short-circuited. And she got a problem.

WHITFIELD: All Right. Let's get more on all of these developments with Scott McLean.

So, Scott, what more about the days ahead for Donald Trump and his mission?

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Fredricka. So Donald Trump is putting Hillary Clinton back in the crosshair, hoping to make up for those falling poll numbers. You heard Donald Trump in New Hampshire calling Hillary Clinton a liar, unhinged and a horrible human being.

[15:04:58] As you heard, the Trump campaign is also playing of Clinton's defense of comments that she made that FBI Director James Comey had said, her public comments on her private e-mail serve were truthful. But those comments have been widely debunked because Comey never actually pass judgment on that specific point.

On Friday, Clinton tried to defend herself, but in the process, she said she may have short-circuited her answer. The Trump campaign doesn't want to let that answer go, so they have released this video on Facebook, making light of Clinton's comments. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I hope you will compare what I'm proposing to what my opponent is talking about.

I'm telling you right now, we are going to raise taxes on the middle class.

So I may have short-circuited.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCLEAN: So, Fredericka, important to point out, that video was posted on Facebook, but the Donald Trump campaign at least so far isn't actually putting any money behind it, to actually to get it on the air waives.

WHITFIELD: OK, all right. Scott, thank you so much, I appreciate that, all right.

Let's talk more about the state of race with our political panel, Brian Morgenstern is a Republican Strategist and Ellis Henican is a Political Analyst, all right. So, where do we begin on this one?

Brian, you first, so, you know, Donald Trump moving on from calling her, you know, "crooked", to now saying she is, you know, mentally unstable, why is this more effective likely?

BRIAN MORGENSTERN, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Well, some of those similar allegations were coming his way. I guess he's knocking the ping-pong ball back across the table.

You know, and it took Trump a little while to get here. He took the scenic route to get in into the point, to have a gold star family and some other craziness. But now that he's here, the substance of what he's getting at is important, about how Hillary Clinton has handled the e-mail investigation in the house. She was, you know, taking care of classified information.

And it is bizarre, what she's been saying, look at what happened, Director Comey was asked directly, "Did she tell the truth when asked that she had classified information on that server?" He said, "No". You know, "Was it true that there was no information marked as classified," "No, that wasn't true." And a series of similar questions.

And so for her to then watch that video, and come to the conclusion, see, he just said I told the truth. I mean, that is bizarre. So I think for Trump to really call her out on that is good. He's doing it in a pretty unusual and I don't know, I guess, entertaining way.

WHITFIELD: It was a little entertaining, OK.

So, you know, Ellis, that ad, you know, kind of underscoring the direction or a direction that Donald Trump will go. I mean, she not too long ago, was talking about his, you know, or at least her supporters too, we're talking about his mental, you know, instability potentially. And now, he's doing the same thing with her.

I mean, is this the kind of stuff that will fatigue, you know, voters who are really want to hear some concrete issues? I know both camps are expected, both candidates are actually going to spell out their economic plan this week, but these seem like distractions, are they?

ELLIS HENICAN, POLITICAL ANALYST: Yeah, good luck on the policy, don't hold your breath on that one, Fred.

WHITFIELD: OK.

HENICAN: Listen, we keep hearing about this new Donald Trump that's supposed to be turning up, just any minute now. And yet, here we are, we're back in the Third Grade school yard again, right? When one kid ...

WHITFIELD: I know you are, but what am I?

HENICAN: Yeah, exactly, the social lover, you know. I mean, come on. Let me -- how about this low bar for Donald, at least come up with a fresh insult, don't just do so is your mama.

MORGENSTERN: To be fair, Ellis, as long as the candidates are parroting one another, Hillary campaign came out with the campaign basically accusing Trump using conspiracy theories to link him to Putin, being a puppet of Putin. I watched it. I laugh absolutely out loud because I said Hillary's pulling to Trump, he is doing exactly what ...

WHITFIELD: Straight to the entertainment factor. So Newt Gingrich was asked this morning on Fox about Trump staying on track and this is what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NEWT GINGRICH, FORMER SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: I think that, first of all, if you look at the last few days, I think he's gotten the messages. And he came out and endorsed Paul Ryan which he should have done in the first place. He endorsed John McCain which he should have done in the first place, endorsed Kelly Ayotte.

I mean, these are steps back into being, you know, it's very tricky if you have never run for public office, to jump from being a businessman to being one of the two leaders fighting for the presidency.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So, you know, Brian, couple of things there, is it, you know, it's excusable is one thing I'm hearing from, you know, Newt Gingrich because he doesn't have, you know, a lot of political experience, Donald Trump that is. And the other is, well, he's finally onboard by endorsing, you know, the establishment, you know, staunch Republicans who were looking and hoping for Donald Trump's support? MORGENSTERN: Yeah. I mean it's a good gesture, obviously. You know, it's sort of these icons of the party.

[15:10:00] I mean, John McCain certainly is one of them and for any presidential candidate to run in the Republican ticket. And not be supporting John McCain would be, you know, pretty weird. And so, I think, finally, that got through to him.

I think another point that the speaker maybe was underlying his comment is that, throughout Trump's career, he has had sort of this default that if somebody attacks me, I nuke them in return. And that has been a reflex.

WHITFIELD: It's called the counter punch.

MORGENSTERN: Yeah, that has been a reflex of his throughout his entire career, and when you're running for president, there can be collateral consequences to that obviously. And he's finding that out the hard way.

WHITFIELD: OK. Ellis, so this new CBC poll on the battleground state of Virginia showing Clinton leading among likely voters, 49 percent to Trump's 37 percent. And then, we're seeing some recent numbers with Georgia instead of it continuing to look very red, maybe it's a little purple right now, potentially, even blue.

So what can Trump do or how does he respond to these kinds of numbers and potential trends?

HENICAN: How about learn something about the issues and actually have some kind of sensible policy. You know, I got to tell you, I don't buy this notion that once he gets a little discipline, it's all going to be fine, right?

I mean, assumed that Newt Gingrich and Rudy Giuliani and the other enforcers are able to slap him around and get into kind of parrot a few more careful lines, what does that really tell us about the guy's ability to be president, that for a very brief moment he can say what the handlers are telling him to say?

I just think we got to go for high bar here. I mean, maybe Donald will get there, but I don't see any inclination even on his part to do that.

WHITFIELD: And it really is unusual, isn't not? Brian, I mean, you have so many surrogates and supporters of Donald Trump who keep coming up and saying, "Just be patient, it is coming." You know, he's going to get there, but, you know, because he doesn't have any political experience, it may take a little longer.

MORGENSTERN: Yeah, that may be somewhat aspirational, obviously, hoping that their guy will begin to take some advices, this process, charges along. And I think some of the advice to the surrogates had been, I think, giving Donald Trump via the television, I think should be well taken, which is that you're running against one opponent, it's Hillary Clinton. She has a long track record, 30 years in public life that you can really pick apart and you can really hammer her on her trustworthiness which is not there. People don't trust her.

And, you know, view her as part of the establishment. This is that year when they want knock over the apple cart. You can take advantage of this if you take our advice. And so, I think, you know, that's what his surrogates are tending to do, which is, well, we know he's going to watch TV about him, so we're going to tell him what we think he should know via the television sets.

WHITFIELD: All right, Brian Morgenstern, Ellis Henican, thank you so much, see you soon.

HENICAN: Sounds good, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Coming up, Iran says, it has executed one of its nuclear scientists accusing him of spying in the United States. We'll break it all down next.

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[15:17:22] WHITFIELD: Welcome back, I'm Fredericka Whitfield.

Iran says, it has executed one of its nuclear scientists for spying for the U.S. That's according to that country's news agency.

The Spokesman for Iran judiciary said, the scientist had access to the nuclear system's top secrets and "Had gotten connected with our number one enemy, the great Satan." This same scientist reportedly worked with the United States before returning to Iran and claiming he had been kidnapped by the CIA.

I want to bring in Lieutenant Colonel Rick Francona, he is a CNN Military Analyst and former Military Attache in the Middle East and CNN Intelligence and Security Analyst Bob Baer. He is also a former CIA Operative, all right.

So, Rick Francona, you first, you have been to this part of the organization before in your case, you know, a nuclear scientist, working for Saddam Hussein. So what do you think happen here when you hear these kinds of details?

LT. COL. RICK FRANCONA, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: You know, just reading through the different accounts of the story and you're trying to read between the lines because no one's going to actually admit what happened. It looks like to me like this guy had been already recruited working for the agency. His trip to Saudi Arabia and may have been a planned meeting, or it may have been his extraction to get out of there.

But there's so many unanswered questions for this, what happened to his family, did we try to get his family out, was his family threatened, is that why he went back after one year working in the United States with us after he completed the briefings. His story of torture and kidnapping, that would have been his defense to go back, and then they executed him.

There's just so much that doesn't make sense here. I don't know why they decided to execute him.

WHITFIELD: Yeah, it does sound very confusing. Bob, of what we know, how do you make sense of any of this?

BOB BAER, CNN INTELLIGENCE AND SECURITY ANALYST: Well, in 2009, he goes to Saudi Arabia, has brought to the United States and CIA did not kidnapped him nor do the Saudis. He came of his own free will. He probably gave up everything he knew.

But as so many times with defectors, they get lonely. They missed their family. As Rick said, their family is threatened. They change their minds and they are -- we cannot keep him here and they get back on a plane. No matter how much money you offer them.

And, you know, in Iran, if you give up those secrets and you go home, your fate is pretty certain and this is what happened to him. So his execution doesn't surprise me, and I'm sure the Iranians didn't buy the story that he had been kidnapped.

WHITFIELD: And then, Colonel, what about the timing of all of this here, you know, during the week. We -- it was dominated with the news of this $400 million in money that was returned by the U.S. to Iran because of jets that were not purchased back in the '70s, and then others, you know, were believing that it was ransom.

[15:20:05] So do you make -- is there anything to the timing of this kind of news to what dominated news last week?

FRANCONA: I don't think so. I'm still surprised that they executed him now. I mean, they've had him in custody for six years. They gave him a ten-year jail sentence. He was serving that and then they decided to execute him.

I thought they would execute him immediately when he go back. That's normally what happened. We saw that in the case of Iraqis that went back, other countries, as soon as they get back, they try to execute it. So in this -- this is all strange, the timing is really suspect, maybe they're just trying to just deflect attention.

WHITFIELD: And Bob?

BAER: Well, you see in Iran, you had a reaction from the right wing. They're going after Rouhani, the president there. They don't like the nuclear deal. They thought they got cheated, there's pushback, a lot of internal politics and the prosecutors in Iran are very, very far to the right and this may have something to do with internal politics. It's so confusing in Iran and we may never know why now they executed him.

WHITFIELD: All right. Bob Baer and Lieutenant Colonel Rick Francona, thank you so much, appreciate it.

All right, we're going to talk a little bit later on with Rick Francona and Bob Baer about another topic, including the former CIA Chief doubling down on his attacks against Donald Trump, and sharing some new words for the GOP candidate. And a reminder, don't miss the CNN special documentary "GOT SHORTY: INSIDE THE CHASE FOR EL CHAPO". You'll here from the people who search for and eventually captured the notorious drug lord. That's tonight at 8:00 Eastern, right here on CNN. We'll be right back.

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[15:25:56] WHITFIELD: All right, welcome back.

A former CIA Director is doubling down on his endorsement of Hillary Clinton days after his op-ed in the "New York Times." This morning former acting director of the CIA Michael Morell spoke in support of Clinton to ABC News. Morell vouched for his time with Clinton saying he trusts her with the nation's security.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL MORELL, FORMER CIA ACTING DIRECTOR: I worked with her for four years, very closely when she was secretary of state and I was at the CIA. I provided her, personally, provided her some of the most sensitive information that the Central Intelligence Agency has. She never misused it. She always protected it.

I would trust her with the crown jewels of United States government and more importantly, I would trust her with the future security of the country and the future security of my kids.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Morell been alleged that Trump is being manipulated by Russian President Vladimir Putin, all right.

Back with us, Lieutenant Colonel Rick Francona is a CNN Military Analyst and Bob Baer, a CNN Intelligence and Security Analyst. See, how quickly we reunite again, all right.

So Bob, we'll begin with you, so as a former CIA Officer, do you, you know, think a former CIA Director should be making public comments and statements and endorsements of a presidential candidate?

BAER: Frankly, no, Fred. I mean, this was really strong calling Trump an unwitting asset of Putin. That is really, really strong. I mean, Putin is, you know ...

WHITFIELD: His unwitting agent.

BAER: Yeah, an unwitting agent, that's the same thing. You know, he's been trying to manipulate American elections for the last year, e-mail hacks, praising Trump in the rest of it. Normally, CIA Directors step out of the fray during elections. I've never see anything this strong. It doesn't mean Morell is wrong, just that, you know, coming out like this swinging is, I've never seen it before, ever.

WHITFIELD: And, you know, Colonel Francona, you know, Morell, you know, also said, you know, he underscore the thought that others -- there been some other, you know, analysts who've said, they believe that Putin is manipulating Trump. He's unaware of it. But he's so blinded by the complements that Putin is essentially also manipulating this race to the White House?

FRANCONA: No, I think there is something to be said that, you know, Putin is trying to manipulate the election. Putin, you know, has a long history being a KGB operative. He know what he's doing and I think he is sense as an opportunity here. And I think, he's making a play for what he believes is in the best interests of this country.

But, and I do want agree with Bob. I think this is a little unseemly, and I think Mr. Morell might just be looking for a job and a new administration.

WHITFIELD: All right. So then this morning, Clinton's vice presidential candidate Tim Kaine was on "Meet The Press" and had this to say about the recent air strikes against ISIS in Libya.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TIM KAINE, (D-VA) VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I do not think we should be in an offensive war against ISIL without Congressional authorization, that's been my long held position. And Secretary Clinton has said, Congress should do its job instead of hiding under their desks and have a debate, and have a vote on military action against ISIL.

If we do that, I'm confident that Congress would support military action, but what we see is a Congress that doesn't want to vote yes or no. So I really put the fault of this more on Congress' shoulders, but I don't think that current legal authorities are sufficient to wage this war against ISIL. And even though there's some legal dispute about that, I also believe what the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dunford said, he said our troops deserve a no that Congress supports this mission, because they're out risking their lives and some have lost their lives already.

WHITFIELD: So, Lieutenant, do you agree that, you know, Congress should join in, authorized these strikes so a clear messages sent?

FRANCONA: Yeah. I think the legal authorities are there. I disagree with Mr. Kaine on that. But I think that it would be good for Congress to do this. It does give the troops a better sense that the country is behind them.

[15:30:01] I think we should do that. I think he should call for a vote. And I think all of these operations need to be blessed by Congress because we're supposed to be doing this as a country and everything takes on these partisan attitudes. And I think it would be much better if Congress was behind the president on this and the troops felt supported.

WHITFIELD: And Bob?

BAER: I totally agree. I think Congress should vote on this. Let us know where these wars are going to occur, let us know what victory is going to look like. I mean this open ended war against ISIL could, you know, the 100 years war unless we really sit down and talk about what we're doing here and we need Congress involved, no question about it.

WHITFIELD: All right. Bob Baer and Lieutenant Colonel Rick Francona, we'll leave it there. Thank you so much, all right.

Up next, the election and your wallet, why the state of the economy remains the central issue for Americans as they prepare to cast their vote in November, will Trump or Clinton drive more growth? Our panel debates, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:35:09] WHITFIELD: All right, hello again. Thank you so much for joining me, I'm Fredericka Whitfield.

A strong jobs report ended the week. The U.S. added 255,000 jobs in July and the unemployment rate remained steady at 4.9 percent. For this week, presidential candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton will be delivering, dueling economic speeches in Detroit, different days.

As the Republican and Democratic National Convention, the candidates outlined some of their visions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: In my first 100 days, we will work with both parties to pass the biggest investment in new good paying jobs since World War II. Jobs in manufacturing, clean energy, technology and innovation, small business and infrastructure, if we investigative in infrastructure now, we'll not only create jobs today, but lay the foundation for the jobs of the future.

TRUMP: I have a different vision for our workers. It begins with a new fair trade policy that protects our jobs and stands up to countries that cheat, of which there are many. It's been a signature message of my campaign from day one and it will be a signature feature of my presidency from the moment I take the oath of office.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So we assembled a panel of women who all agree with Pew Research showing the economy is top of mind for voters. Michaela Angela Davis, Kayleigh McEnany, Kelly Wallace, Anushay Hossain, and Christine Romans gave me their blunt assessments on trust, believability and economic forecasts.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

WHITFIELD: Is there a forecast, Christine, that's more believable?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: OK. So you have two very different world views about the economy, right? I mean, just completely night and day, where there's overlap between these two candidates is infrastructure. They both want to do an infrastructure build.

And there's a lot of enthusiasm for that. Donald Trump says he's better to do it because he's done these projects before and he doesn't have the typical government waste. Hillary Clinton says, you know, she has got the connection. She can do it because she knows how government works.

You know, when you're voting for one of the other of these candidates, you have to understand where we have come from. I mean, seven years ago, with an absolutely disaster. The economy has added lots and lots of job. The Trump campaign, I'm sorry, will never ever admit it. But things have gotten an awful lot better, but Hillary Clinton doesn't get much tailwind from that.

WHITFIELD: How about these jobs report?

ROMANS: The Donald campaign will say there millions of people who are left out of the labor market. Well, there are people who left out of the labor market. So what policies are going to bring this, you know, what are we going to do, building a wall and tariffs are not going to bring jobs back right away, right?

So that's not a short-term fix. And Hillary Clinton's plans for raising the minimum wage -- well, if you're out of the labor market, raising the mini wage doesn't help you either.

WHITFIELD: And Clinton doesn't necessarily want to separate herself from Obama's policy on the economy. And in fact, she also says she hopes she use the support of her husband because of his track record.

ROMANS: A lot of people called him the jobs president, although they've got to be careful about his legacy, because he's also got what they call NAFTA attached to his name too. And you've seen this white blue collar sort of worker outraged about being left behind by globalization.

WHITFIELD: Kayleigh, I mean, that he is using that to his advantage, Donald Trump?

KAYLEIGH MCENANY, TRUMP SUPPORTER: Yeah. That's absolutely right and especially, you know, Hillary to have shifted on the Trans Pacific Partnership which begun under her State Department and now rejecting NAFTA which she previously supported.

You know, she has a lot of convincing to do the voters, that she is, you know, for fair trade, you know, not just free trade but the trade that's fair to the American worker.

Donald Trump has a track record going back 30 years of being against NAFTA, being against some of these trade deals. So I think she got some important work to do.

Starting to get louder is the one around, Donald Trump, his own track record of jobs, and I heard it at the first time at the DNC, that she labeled everything he makes and where he makes it and I think that narrative is going to get even louder, the line if America great again, make things in America again.

MICHAELA ANGELA DAVIS, CULTURE CRITIC AND WRITER: I think what the NAFTA that starting to get louder is one that around Donald Trump's, his own track record of jobs. And this -- and I heard for the first time in DNC when she labeled everything that he makes and where he makes it. And I think that now sort of going to get even louder, to make the line about it if we want to make America great, make things in America again.

WHITFIELD: The CNN ORC poll asked who would better handle the economy. 50 percent believe it would be Clinton, 48 percent Trump. She gained some steam after the conventions, what do suppose happened there?

MCENANY: And this is a strong issue, but a combination of the convention and him getting off message this week, with some of the, you know, issues we've seen like the Khan situation. I think that all kind of contributed, the bounce and then, as we've seen, you know, this week getting off message. So he's got to get back on in order to bring that number up.

[15:39:58] WHITFIELD: Another thing that very interesting about these campaigns, whether it's Donald Trump, whether it's Bernie Sanders, whether it's Hillary Clinton, is everyone got to see on full display a very strong, powerful women, Jane, you know, Ivanka Trump, Clinton, of course, and many of her surrogates.

The when you look at the landscape of the economy and businesses, and we're talking about 21 companies that are Fortune 500 companies that are led by women, yet there remain corporations in offices who say they don't necessarily have programs in place, a real advocacy to see women kind of catapulted or have this, you know, very impressive trajectory. How do you see the symbolism, you know, of what we've seen in these campaigns translate into business big corporations in America, driving business, helping to drive this economy?

KELLY WALLACE, DNN DIGITAL CORRESPONDENT AND EDITOR-AT-LARGE: Yeah. I mean, I just love that you brought that number because as much as we sort of celebrate, having a first woman of a major party as a, the numbers are not good, right?

I mean, so few women CEOs, I still think it's like under 20 percent of women board seats and in corporations around the country, only about 25 percent of women are the executive or senior levels, or companies around the country where is women are, what, 50 percent of the labor force. So we have a long way to go.

I think what it does is, one, you know, obviously, we were talking about it, you know, you can see it and you can visualize it, and if it's OK to lead the United States, to be lead by a woman, well, why can't more Fortune 500 companies be led by a woman.

DAVIS: I remember my mother not trusting a female news anchor, because if it was legitimate, it was coming from men. So this is something that women have to contend with either president of the United States or president of the school board, that woman in leadership in general, is still something we're having to teach the culture that we're boss. You know, that we can run this.

And I think no matter what side that you're on, women tend to have a larger capacity for empathy, and a larger capacity for understanding that I can hear your view. I may not agree with you, but I'm not going to bomb you because I don't agree with you.

WHITFIELD: Well, we heard Barbara Mikulski underscore the commitment of Hillary Clinton ...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BARBARA MIKULSKI, (D) MARYLAND: As a senator, she championed the economic security of American family.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: When you talk to Donald Trump, you know, up rise himself on women advancing women in his company, I spoke with Louise Sunshine who is a former executive vice president for the Trump Organization who said ...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LOUISE SUNSHINE, FORMER EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT TRUMP ORGANIZATION: Donald Trump, doesn't between women and men, he distinguishes -- he looks for talent, he looks for trustworthy talent.

(END VIDEO CLIP

WHITFIELD: Does either candidate really show great potential once in the White House of having a track record that advocates for women because of what they've already done?

ANUSHAY HOSSAIN, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, ANUSHAYSPOINT.COM: I feel like around the world, America has been viewed as kind of the feminist movement has been won and there really isn't anything more to struggle for. But when you look at American really analyze it, we have major issues of women in power, not only in Fortune 500 companies. So America's rank 75th for the number of women in government, obviously never had a female head of state.

And, you know, Hillary Clinton has already said that she's going to have half of her cabinet, her administration women. And I think, you know, Ivanka Trump tried to kind of rebrand her father by saying, he is gender neutral and color blind. But Trump announced to his economic advisory council, not a single woman.

And I think it's great in you, you know, gender blind maybe on his show what's called "The Apprentice" but in politics, in life, I mean, I don't know, why wasn't there's not a single woman named and he is being watched now, you know, he's a presidential nominee.

MCENANY: His closest advisor is his daughter. She just said the other day, we're on the phone three or four times a day. This is the person who is empowered and his company. It's his closest (compound) by many accounts. He was the first in the real estate business who uplift women to big positions. He has a very good track record with woman.

And I think it's also important, just quickly going to our discussion about women achieving heights within companies. It's important to put the spotlight on the right phrase and I think Ivanka did that in her speech, the motherhood is what is keeping a lot of women from obtaining these heights.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

IVANKA TRUMP, TRUMP'S DAUGHTER: Gender is no longer the factor creating the greatest wage of discrepancy in this country, motherhood is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCENANY: Young women, my age, in New York, we actually make more than our male counterparts. We are graduating at higher rates than our male counterparts, but when women make the choice to be a mother, as Ivanka pointed out, that is what stops them from attaining, that's why we need to look at child care, making that more affordable, making it easier for women to have children and not sacrifice having a family but also achieve these heights.

DAVIS: When I'm having a hard time negotiating is, when you look at someone who's worked with Marian Wright Edelman versus someone who trusts their daughter. When we are looking at that like in so equal things, I think we're in a dangerous political place. I trust my daughter too, but she is not -- I'm not running for president.

[15:45:00] So I feel like we have to be careful in how we're comparing. We have a sane smart daughter, who is trying to clean up -- she's his mule too. Like on the bridges of, you backs, America is made, one backs of women. So even in his campaign, the women are doing the work to humanize him. I think that's dangerous to kind of -- if that's our bar?

(END VIDEO TAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, some very strong opinions there, next hour our panel is back, weighing in on comments made by the Trump family own sexual harassment.

And straight ahead, golf, ice cream and a break from politics? That's the seen in Martha's Vineyard right now as the first family indulges in some R&R there. We're heading to their vacation spot next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:50:04] WHITFIELD: All right, welcome back, I'm Fredricka Whitfield. So, golf is not usually the top of the agenda when talking politics, but it is today, as President Obama plays his 300th round of golf as president.

Our Suzanne Malveaux is live for us in Martha's Vineyard with the Obamas are on vacation. So, tee it up for us. There are while the president is on vacation. There are critics, aren't there. SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, there are some critics and you know that there are critics of every president when they go on vacation. George W. Bush when I cover it, used to get it a lot. He spent four week Crawford at his ranch.

But we did get a chance to catch up with Obama, this is about 1:00 in the afternoon. He is playing golf. It is his 300th round, history making he set for that golf club. Some of the people he is playing with L.A. Clippers guard Chris Paul, Cy Walker, he's a cousin to Senior Adviser Valerie Jarrett, also Joe Polson, he is Obama's body man.

And yes, we did hear from Donald Trump today, he has criticized President Obama before about golfing, and yes, he took a swing today.

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TRUMP: I think he plays more golf than professionals who play for a living on the PGA Tour.

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MALVEAUX: And, Fred, from his campaign as well a little bit more ribbing. It was CBS News, reporter Mark Knoller, he is the unofficial historian of the White House press corps noting about the 300 rounds of golf tweeting out that yes the president was going to be taking a two-week break working vacation if you will at Martha's Vineyard. And it was Dan Scavino, he is a social media coordinator of the Trump campaign, senior adviser, tweeting in response saying, "POTUS has it made. We should have a Trump rally on the Vineyard next week."

So far no signs yet, Fred, that that is going to happen, but just a little back and forth here as they give him little bit of a hard time.

WHITFIELD: All right, go to have a little of that, right? All right. So, we're also learning the real secret behind, I guess, President Obama and his golf handicap. What are we learning?

MALVEAUX: Yes, OK. And I have to tell you I'm not a golf expert here. So this is going to be really basic. But that has been a well kept secret.

Yes, well kept secret about the golf handicap. He said to the golf channel in an interview that he is an honest 13. That is better than what he used to be when he started off as president when he had a handicap of 17. And, Fred, should let you know that he is pretty much in line with his predecessors, we know it was Ronald Reagan as well as Richard Nixon who had handicaps of 12. And then, Bill Clinton, at his best, reportedly had handicap of 10, although some of his golf partners say they thought maybe he fudge the numbers a little bit just to set aside.

And then, Donald Trump, as you know, who owns golf courses around the world, is reportedly at a handicap of 3, that's according to the Boston Globe. So you know everybody is kind of lining up there. WHITFIELD: OK. Well, you know, golfing takes a lot of time. And if you're president of the United States, something tells me you have not a lot of free time, you've got to devote a lot of other time to other more important things. So maybe we should be happy that most presidents don't have, you know, an incredible record at golf. Otherwise, they got too much time on their hands, right?

MALVEAUX: Yes.

WHITFIELD: All right, Suzanne Malveaux ...

MALVEAUX: Yes, that is absolutely right. And Obama said that he got a little bit better because he, you know, played more golf as he was president, but yes, not a lot of time.

WHITFIELD: All right, Suzanne Malveaux, thank you so much, in Martha's Vineyard, all right.

Coming up next, Senator Marco Rubio sounding off on Zika, saying pregnant women who have the virus should have their baby no matter what. We're going to explain what all of this is about next.

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[15:57:02] WHITFIELD: A look at our top stories right now, Florida Senator Marco Rubio tells Politico that he does not believe a pregnant woman infected with the Zika virus should have the right to an abortion, even if she believes the child would be born with microcephaly.

His controversial comments come as health official launched another round of aggressive aerial spraying over a Miami neighborhood where there has been 16 mostly transmitted Zika cases.

And weekend protests in Chicago over the latest fatal police shooting to trigger outrage. And the police superintendent says, people have a right to be upset after seeing a video showing police chasing an 18- year-old unarmed black teen who was later shot to death by officers in -- and he was shot in the back but the superintendent also defended the job of police.

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SUPERINTENDENT EDDIE JOHNSON, CHICAGO POLICE: It's not easy to make a split second decision that may ultimately cost someone their lives. You know, it's just a difficult job.

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WHITFIELD: More protests over the death of Paul O'Neal are expected tonight after protesters staged a lie-in outside the Chicago Police Headquarters this weekend.

And sources say rebel factions in Syria have just broken a week-long government siege of crucial border City Aleppo. But little is expected to change for the people trap inside the city as the fighting still remains too intense for vital food and aid to be delivered.

And next hour of the CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.

All right, hello again, and thank you so much for joining me, I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Donald Trump trying to get back on message after a brushing week of public (scuffles), but the hits keep coming, this time in the form of new poll numbers.

An ABC News, Washington Post poll finds Hillary Clinton up by 8 percentage points over Trump among registered voters in a two- candidate match. Clinton maintains that edge even when you factor in the libertarian and green party candidates.

Meanwhile, Trump is refocusing his attention on Clinton, leveling a new round of harsh attacks going as far as to question her mental stability.

TRUMP: It was in front of some friendly reporters, they asked her a very easy question and she short-circuited.