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Report: Video of Bewildered Syrian Boy Haunts the World; Trump, Pence Tour Louisiana After Floods; CDC Warns Pregnant Women About Travel to Miami. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired August 19, 2016 - 15:30   ET

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


[15:30:00] BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: That is one part in bringing them into Europe that is one part of what is needed. But really the crisis, the disaster right now in Aleppo isn't solved by the months that it may take to get additional refugees out of there. It is about getting humanitarian relief supplies into Aleppo, Idlib, into these areas where both Syrian regime and Russian forces are continuing to bomb every day.

And why is the humanitarian relief not getting in? Because the aid agencies don't have the confidence they need that they must have that their convoys will be safe enough to even get in to these areas. So refugee flows are one thing. Very political. Very controversial. But I think every aid worker would tell you that disaster that is looming right now is so urgent and so dire, they can't wait.

BALDWIN: I think you are right on the sympathy versus action point. Also, we know in the last 24 hours there have been calls for an immediate humanitarian cease-fire in Syria. Just today Russia launched a new round of air strikes. What's the next move for the U.S.?

STARR: Well, you know, right now the U.S. is trying to work through the United Nations group on Syria, trying to talk to the Russians to deal with all of this and trying to get what they hope would be a verifiable cease-fire agreement in this area in the Aleppo/northwest Syria area in particular so they can get aid in.

But just in the last 24 hours there has been Syrian bombing in a whole new area of northern Syria to the east where the U.S. special operations forces are actually involved and they had to get out of the way very quickly when these Syrian warplanes rolled in. So right now it looks like combat is expanding. There is a lot of concern about at the Pentagon today about where the next moves may come from, where the next aircraft may appear in the sky dropping bombs, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Barbara Starr, thank you so much at the Pentagon today.

Coming up next -- Donald Trump just left Baton Rouge after he was meeting with families, officials there, different charities all affected by the catastrophic flooding really not just Baton Rouge but and all that part of the state. Hillary Clinton meanwhile is on the phone with the governor of Louisiana. She's expressing sympathy for victims as well. We will take you live to Louisiana next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Donald Trump making a real effort to look presidential. He's doing something presidents are known for, and that's visit disaster areas. Mr. Trump and his running mate, Mike Pence, there handing out supplies after wrapping up a tour of the flood ravaged region of Baton Rouge and surrounding communities. They visited a church. They met with volunteers.

They toured a flood damaged school. This is a flood of historic proportions. 13 people have died. Water has damaged more than 40,000 homes. Let's go straight to Rosa Flores who's been in Louisiana for the better part of the week. She is in Baton Rouge in the city of Gonzales. I know you have been reporting on this 18-wheeler. Trump donated all these supplies. How are folks reacting to that?

[15:35:00] ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm here with a resident who's actually taking some of those supplies to her community. I got to tell you, Brooke, we hear a lot of stories while we're out here of people whose homes were completely flooded. Eva Potts' home was not flooded. But hear what she's doing for an entire street of people. So tell me about what you're taking to people who have been impacted by this flood and why. Why since you are not impacted by this flood but you decided to help.

EVA POTTS, LOUISIANA FLOOD VICTIM: Well, first of all, I live on that street and the rest of the people who live on that street are all Latinos. And it's hard to translate to them that there is help out there during a disaster like this. So my sister actually -- they're her renters, most of them. And so my sister said, all right, sis, we've got to help these people.

And we were lucky this morning, two policemen showed up at my trailer at the very first -- beginning of the street, and they said, you know, there's plenty of help out there for your people down the street here. We said, well, go drive down there and first come back and tell us where we can come and get supplies for them. Because they're not going to do it because it is hard for us to translate to them -- there is help.

FLORES: At this church. So you decided to pick up some stuff for them. Show some of those things.

POTTS: I'm here getting whatever I can get. Those two policemen told me. They were very nice. They brought me water. They said bring your car down there. Down there, the church of Saint Amant, load your car up. That's what

these people are doing. It is awesome.

FLORES: Now tell me about how many people are impacted in this one street and you were mentioning that they have children, as well.

POTTS: [15:40:00] They have from 6 weeks old to teenagers. Babies are probably going to sleep on these blanket, however many I get. Diapers. They need cleaning agents. They need soap. They need food. I was just looking at this bag of potatoes, I was like, oh, my god -- I need some potatoes because they'll last a long time. My sister and I will probably be back a couple of times. As long as

they'll let us come. I'm going to try to get the young mothers to get in the car and actually come with me. Because there is baby food in there and I don't know what their babies are eating.

FLORES: Well, thank you so much for sharing your story with us. We appreciate it. Thank you so much for doing all of this for so many others. These are the types of stories, Brooke, that we keep on hearing here. People that are not even impacted by the flood, their homes did not flood, they decided to do something to help. In the case of Eva, she is helping her entire block by being here and gathering supplies for them.

BALDWIN: So awesome. I love it, a bag of potatoes, it seems so little but it goes so far in situations like these. Rosa Flores, just awesome job reporting on all this all week in Louisiana, thank you.

And let go ahead and just bring in Michael Smerconish to talk about what is happening in Louisiana, Trump in Louisiana and beyond a lot of headlines here hosted by CNN's Smerconish. So happy Friday, good to have you on.

MICHAEL SMERCONISH, CNN ANCHOR, SMERCONISH: Nice to see you.

BALDWIN: Let's begin with the fact that Donald Trump hopped a plane with his running mate. They are on the ground. He has donated everything from within this 18-wheeler. I know that you had made a point this morning saying, he's not a hero until he cuts a check. This is pretty generous.

SMERCONISH: Well, he cut the check. I was asked this morning on "New Day" what more need he to do. I said it would be great if he made a direct contribution. I am giving credit where credit is due.

Might I also say, Brooke, the campaign at least in the last 24 hours is beginning to look downright conventional. This is what candidates should be doing and expressing regret for some of their remarks as he did last night. It is also something that a candidate should be doing. It looks like the pivot, who knows where we are on Monday, but it

looks like the pivot that has been long overdue is now coming to the Trump campaign. What most surprises me is that Manafort is out. Manafort reportedly was a guy who wanted Trump to be more confined. Steve Bannon comes in and so where some had expected that the campaign would now really turn up the heat, instead it's more conventional.

So where it goes from here, I'm not sure but I can't wait to find out.

BALDWIN: So 81 days to go. This is crucial timing. A lot of changes. You hear different translations of all these changes from Trump folks. But I do want to play because this is a man who is notoriously unapologetic. Here he was in Charlotte talking about his regrets.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DONALD TRUMP, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Sometimes in the heat of debate speaking on a multitude of issues, you don't choose the right words or you say the wrong thing. Believe it or not, I regret it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So that's not a Trump we've really seen. Do you think -- are you surprised that this is in the Steve Bannon era? It is also in the Kellyanne Conway era as well.

SMERCONISH: True. Maybe there is a good cop/bad cop routine that's playing itself out and Kellyanne is winning thus far. On radio today we sort of parsed the video, some saw it as a hostage video that he had to do this and was being forced to say it. I'll take him at face value.

I know that I regret -- we're midway through the day now. I probably regret ten things that I've done today. I've never heard him express any remorse up until this moment. And I think that it is healthy. Because it makes you wonder about an individual who just is incapable of any circumspection.

BALDWIN: I know an expression of regret does not a pattern make to your point we will wait and see where the campaign goes Monday. Meantime, I understand you interviewed Mark Cuban ahead of your show. This is a man who -- I think he said he would -- before they had chosen their running mates for either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump, I think I read earlier this week that he would be willing to play Trump in Hillary Clinton debate prep. What did he share with you?

SMERCONISH: He wanted it clearly understood that his support of Hillary Clinton is not driven solely by some of his concern over Donald Trump. I wanted to know from him where did the wheels come off the bus. Because what I remember is that it was last September. He facilitated the use of the Dallas Mavericks arena, the American Airlines arena, to Donald Trump. 20,000 people showed up and he touted himself as a potential vice presidential running mate for Donald Trump.

But along the way, Cuban came to the opinion that Donald Trump as a candidate -- this is his word -- was lazy, wasn't read in, wasn't doing the work. He had real concerns about Trump and looked Secretary Clinton as being the better alternative. But I really like Mark Cuban because, Brooke, he's an independent thinker. He is not an ideologue. You don't where he is coming from, he's liberal on some things and conservative on other things.

[15:45:00] I think that's what the country needs more of.

BALDWIN: I can't wait to hear more of him this week on your show. Let me actually back up a second. We just got some breaking news announced from the White House, that the President -- they're having calls for the President to come to Louisiana despite the fact that the governor said, actually, please, sir, just wait a

week because they are stretched so thin. We now know the President will visit Baton Rouge next Tuesday, August

23rd. What do you make of that?

SMERCONISH: Well, I think it is a good thing. I'm sure this is probably perceived as good news by the Trump campaign, if I have to analyze this in stark political terms while these folks are suffering, I hate to do it but I'm sure the Trump campaign will say we forced his hand. But for us he wouldn't be going. Probably from the White House, their truthful answer would be -- Katrina. After Katrina, you got to go.

BALDWIN: Michael Smerconish, thank you. Good to see you. Please tune in --

SMERCONISH: You, too.

BALDWIN: Saturday, 9:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m.

Coming up, we have interview with the Director for the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta now after the news today, five new cases of Zika detected in Miami Beach. What he will tell pregnant women about traveling to this area, an unprecedented travel advisory here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: More breaking news out of Florida on the Zika virus. And now specifically Miami Beach. The CDC director is now telling issuing this travel advisory if you're a pregnant woman or a sexual partner, to consider postponing travel to all parts of Miami Dade County. This is after five new cases of the Zika virus were traced to this 1.5 square mile stretch of Miami Beach, Florida governor Rick Scott announced earlier there has been five new locally transmitted cases in that area.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICK SCOTT, GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA: The department of health has learned from their investigations that five individuals have already been confirmed as cases of local transmissions of Zika are connected to the Miami Beach area. This brings the total number of local transmissions to 36.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Dr. Sanjay Gupta is standing by. So, Sanjay, the floor is yours.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Thank you, and Dr. Frieden, welcome. If we can clarify this travel advisory off of the top here, these are unprecedented travel advisories, recommending people not travel in this case, pregnant women not travel to particular American cities. Is the CDC saying that pregnant women should not travel to all of Miami Dade County now?

DR. TOM FRIEDEN, DIRECTOR, CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION: We are saying very specifically are two one mile areas in Miami Dade county where there is confirmed spread of Zika. Pregnant women should not travel to those two areas.

We are also providing additional information about what has happened in the rest of Miami Dade so people can make informed decisions. Pregnant women and sexual partners of pregnant women may want to postpone or delay travel to other parts of Miami Dade. The issue there is that it is an area where they're looking hard for Zika. Finding some of it, there have been other isolated instances of local

spread of Zika.

And when Zika starts to spread, it may be two or three weeks before there is any way to be sure it is spreading. We are providing that information openly and transparently so people can make an informed decision.

GUPTA: A lot of the informed decision comes about I think as a result of conversations or having if a patient came to you or a family member came to you, Dr. Frieden, and was pregnant and said, I'm thinking about going to Miami Dade County, what would you tell them?

FRIEDEN: It really depends on why you are going. Anytime we travel anywhere we look at the risks, we look at the benefits and we make a decision that is right for us. We are saying that certainly for these two one mile areas we really urge you not to go, and for women living in those one mile areas do everything possible to avoid mosquito bites.

GUPTA: Let me ask you what is the risk, can you contextualize this now based on the best data. If a pregnant woman is living in one of these areas, or a pregnant woman visits one of these areas, gets bit by a mosquito that has Zika virus, what is the risk their child who is subsequently affected by that and develops a birth defect?

FRIEDEN: The risk is still low but the result --

GUPTA: Can you tell us how low?

FRIEDEN: -- but the result is catastrophic. I think you have to put both of those things into the equation. The risk is low, but the outcome is so horrific, that you really want to try to avoid it. But if you think that there could be 20,000 plus births in Miami Dade County and we are thinking of a very small number of women with infections. And then who are pregnant and then of that a very small proportion who might have children with microcephaly, it's a very low risk but a very devastating outcome.

GUPTA: Many people go to this area, I mean we're describing South Beach, the south part of Miami Beach, what about men? Men who travel to this area and then go back and may have gotten bitten by mosquitos, what is the advice for men who may travel? Should they also not travel to this area if they are thinking about having children?

FRIEDEN: Well, two things to be concerned about, if a man's sexual partner is pregnant, he needs to use a condom until the end of pregnancy. Second, if he and his partner are thinking of becoming pregnant, then he may need to wait at least two months, if he doesn't have symptoms. And at least six months if he does have symptoms after traveling to these places or more likely anywhere in the world where Zika could be spreading.

GUPTA: So even if someone does not develop any symptoms whatsoever, if you travel to Miami Dade, these areas in Miami, you should wait at least two months if you're a man before you have unprotected sex. Is that correct?

FRIEDEN: If you and your partner are trying to get pregnant, yes for these two specific areas, that is our recommendation/

GUPTA: How far north do you think this is going to spread? We are hearing about south Florida now, where does this go?

FRIEDEN: We don't have a crystal ball. But we know that anywhere the Aedes Aegypti is present it can spread, we are only in the middle of mosquito season now. And we are continuing to see large number of travelers coming back with travel associated Zika. The risk is still there that is why we are really emphasizing that pregnant women especially anywhere the Aedes Aegypti mosquito is present should use DEET or other mosquito repellant anytime they are out of doors or maybe getting mosquito bites.

GUPTA: And no problems for pregnant women to use DEET or these mosquito repellants in terms of toxicity?

FRIEDEN: No, it is safe even in pregnancy although we are very cautious about what is used in pregnancy. The EPA registered projects are safe in pregnancy and down to the age of two months for infants.

GUPTA: Thank you. I know we will be talking again soon.

BALDWIN: Sanjay, thank you so much. And just in the last couple minutes, a reminder to all of you, President Obama, this is from the White House, will be visiting the areas hardest hit by the flooding in Louisiana after a bit of criticism that he has yet to come down there.

The visit now scheduled for next Tuesday we are live from the flood zone, coming up next.