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Trump Needs to Improve Numbers on Non-White Male Voters; Flood Victims Waiting for Water to Recede; White House: Obama Will Visit Baton Rouge Tuesday; Zika Spreads to Miami Beach; Oklahoma Police Help Autistic Boy Celebrate Birthday; Clinton Foundation Headache for Hillary. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired August 20, 2016 - 15:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:01:22] POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, everyone. I'm Poppy Harlow in New York. I'm so glad you're with us. Today, we begin right here in the city where just a short while ago, Donald Trump hosted a roundtable with Hispanic supporters of his campaign.

The meeting held inside Trump Tower, one of the biggest plays that he has made yet for the Hispanic vote. It is a group that he certainly struggles with. He's polling right now just around 20% among Latino voters. That's in a -- in a survey taken this month.

This meeting is also the first time that we've seen Trump alongside his two new campaign heads, Breitbart chief Steve Bannon, and pollster Kellyanne Conway. The two were brought on to get Trump back on track and to keep him on message and, frankly, on his teleprompter, but today brought another provocative comment from the candidate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I say it again. What do you have to lose? Look, what do you have to lose? You're living in poverty. Your schools are no good. You have no jobs. 58% of your youth is unemployed. What the hell do you have to lose?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: All right, this is the second time we've seen Trump make a play for African-American voters this week, and he may do that again tonight when he speaks in just a few hours. We should note, the number that Trump cited in that, what you just heard, that black youth unemployment rate is misleading, according to CNN's Reality Check team. The Labor Department says that number is 18.7%. The unemployment rate for black youth, that's far below Trump's number, it is still double the unemployment rate for white youth in this country though.

Let's get through all of this. Let's talk to our political panel. With me now, CNN Political Commentator and Washington Correspondent for the New Yorker, Ryan Lizza, Amy Kremer is also with me, she supports Donald Trump, and she's co-chair of Women Vote Trump, and Democratic strategist and former DNC spokesperson, Holly Shulman is with us. She is a Hillary Clinton supporter. So nice to have you all here. Thank you so much. And, Amy, let's begin with you.

Look, Trump is polling at 1% among African-Americans. Hillary Clinton has 91%. That's an NBC/Wall Street Journal poll. But look, he made a huge push last night in Dimondale, Michigan for the black vote.

Do you think he will make that pitch tonight, and how does he do it most effectively to try to at least get the 1% a lot higher?

AMY KREMER, DONALD TRUMP SUPPORTER: Well, I think the good news is that there is room for improvement. He can't go anywhere but up, and I think he has to ask for the vote, and that's, I think, what he had started doing this week. And when you look at what has happened under this administration when there are more living in poverty, more African-Americans living in poverty, when the median income has fallen, when the number of African-Americans has increased almost 58% to over 11 million on food stamps, what he's saying is, you know, look, it's time for change. The definition of insanity is to continue to do the same thing over and over again and expect different results. And if we go live with a Hillary Clinton administration, this is going to be four more years of the same failed policies of Barack Obama and I think he is going to point that out.

HARLOW: So, Amy, there's no question that minorities, especially blacks and Hispanics in this country fared worse in terms of job losses, poverty, etcetera, during the great recession. However, it's important to point out that when you look at black teenagers between 16 and 24, their unemployment rate has dropped by more than half under the Obama administration, from the high point during the administration to now.

KREMER: Right. But, Poppy, what he said was last night when he said, "What the hell do you have to lose?" I think, you know, that can be said for all Americans. It's equivalent to, I think what President Reagan said when he said, "Are you better off now than you were four years ago?"

And are you -- I mean, every American should be looking at all of these candidates and looking at their policies and listening to the things that they say, and a vote is a very personal thing. Just because you've always voted Democrat or you've always voted Republican doesn't mean that you have to continue to vote that way. You don't have to tell anybody how you vote. It's very personal, just because your friend's family or whoever, you know, it's about what is best for you and your family. If you're head of household, what is best for your family? And that's how these decisions need to be made.

HARLOW: I wouldn't say the tone is exactly a shining city on the hill tone from Trump right now. But, Ryan, I digress. Let me -- let me talk to you. When you -- when you talk about this pitch that we heard from Donald Trump last night, saying, "What the hell do you have to lose," do you think, though, that's the most effective play that he can make for African-Americans? Or is it talking down to a block of voters?

RYAN LIZZA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, look, this is not the first time that a Republican has tried to figure out how they can do -- the Republican Party can do a little bit better among African- American voters. Donald Trump is not, you know, entering this debate for the first time. Republicans have been strategists, have been talking about this, and the party has been thinking about this for a very long time. And you know, he talks to most Republican strategists and they have some ideas about how to approach this community, which obviously they haven't done so well with in recent years. And most of those strategists would not recommend the way that Donald Trump did this.

For one, the first thing you want to do when you're talking to any audience is go to their leadership, go to the policy professionals and say, what is it that your community cares about and how can find some common ground. Two, you might want to go and speak before an African- American audience if you're appealing for their votes. His speeches recently are before overwhelmingly white audiences. So those are two things that surprise me.

And then the third thing is, he has a very, very simplistic view about how African-Americans are living in the United States. He seems to think that all African-Americans based on that quote that you played are poor, living in crime-ridden areas, unemployed, and -- that's obviously not true. There are unique problems in the African-American community, but he's just got the tone and a little bit off I would say.

HARLOW: Holly, as a Clinton supporter, I want you to listen to this.

TRUMP: The inner cities of our country have been run by the Democratic Party for more than 50 years. Their policies have produced only poverty, joblessness, failing schools, and broken homes. It's time to hold Democratic politicians accountable for what they have done to these communities. At what point do we say enough?

HARLOW: So, as a Democrat, as a Clinton supporter, Holly, to that, does he have a point? Do you think your party has done enough for African-Americans struggling in this country?

HOLLY SHULMAN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: You know, when he asked what people could lose by voting for him, it's exactly the wrong question. Because what people are looking for is, solutions to their problems. And Donald Trump simply doesn't have any. So --

HARLOW: So my question to you was about your candidate and your party. Have they done enough?

SHULMAN: Yes. No, of course. And, you know, there's obviously more work to do in this country, but we have supported and put into place policies that have helped raise the minimum wage in this country, who have helped put into paid family leave programs like in Philadelphia that we're seeing that will help all communities including communities of color where there's a gap there.

HARLOW: Donald Trump wants to raise the federal minimum wage to $10.

SHULMAN: Well, it depends on what day you ask him that question because some days he says he opposes it all together. So, honesty, I really don't trust his opinion there, but also Members of Congress have voted multiple times in the Republican Party to oppose raises of the minimum wage.

But, you know, when you look at equal pay, where the Democrats have supported equal pay laws to improve the pay gap, which is a problem that communities of the color even have a wider gap. And so I think that when you're looking at solutions, when you're asking, what are the solutions? You know, Donald Trump can talk until he's blue in the face about, you know, reaching out to communities of color, but until he has actual policies that are going to help, I'm really not sure it's going to help his campaign.

HARLOW: So, Amy, let's talk about the optics of last night, all right. He gave this speech in Dimondale, Michigan that is right outside Lansing. It is 93% white, according to the census. Our producers who were there said the audience was almost all white. He could have gone to Detroit, he could have gone to Lansing five minutes down the road, much more diverse. Not the first time he did that this week.

I mean, also when he spoke in New Hampshire, he spoke in a city that is less than 1% black. Why does he keep doing this, and do you think he should change the audience?

KRENER: Well, Poppy, I am not part of the campaign. I'm not involved in the decision making process about where he goes --

HARLOW: Right, but you're a supporter, so what would your advice be?

KREMER: Well, let me finish -- let -- well, this is the thing. These events are not thrown together at the last minute for the most part, and so I don't know how long they have had these events planned. But it is possible they've had the events planned and he's changing what he's talking about, his speeches, and I think that that is okay. I mean, at some point, he has to start reaching out.

I think that if he can go to the inner cities, if he can go to the black churches, by all means, he should. I mean, look, I, as a -- as a female, and as a woman, and as a minority, I mean, I -- it is an insult to me to think that, and it's offensive to think that I would vote for Hillary Clinton just because I'm a woman and because she's a woman. And I think Democrats or Republicans, no vote should be taken for granted. These candidates need to go out and work for the votes and they need to ask for the votes.

And you know what, if it's what he's been doing is not working and now he's got this -- a shake-up in his campaign or the changes, I think that's a good thing. Let's see what is going to work. And if he goes out there and asks for it, that's good. It doesn't matter where he is. He's speaking to the world because of technology.

HARLOW: Sure. Right, because of CNN, right, because we aired it. But let's talk about it. I mean, this comes on the heels of these poll numbers where he's really struggling in key battleground states. This comes on the heels of a number of headlines this week that said, you know, Donald Trump cannot win this election if he wins every single white working class vote in this country. By the way, struggling with white college-educated voters right now.

Ryan Lizza, to you, I want to play this moment from back in February when Trump was on with our Jake Tapper.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAKE TAPPER, CNN CHIEF WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: There are these groups and individuals endorsing you. Would you just say unequivocally, you condemn them and you don't want their support?

TRUMP: Well, I have to look at the group. I mean, I don't know what group you're talking about. You wouldn't want me to condemn a group that I know nothing about. I have to look. If you would send me a list of the groups, I will do research on them and certainly I would disavow if I thought there was something wrong. But you may --

TAPPER: The Ku Klux Klan --

TRUMP: -- have groups in there that are totally fine and it would be very unfair. So give me a list of the groups and I'll let you know.

TAPPER. I mean, I'm just talking about David Duke and the Ku Klux Klan here, but --

TRUMP: I don't know -- honestly, I don't know David Duke. I don't believe I've ever met him. I'm pretty sure I didn't meet him and I just don't know anything about him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: All right, that was the exchange about KKK grand wizard David Duke. I should note, Trump came out later, Ryan, as you know, he disavowed David Duke. But, how does he push for African-American voters in the face of something like that?

LIZZA: Yeah, I mean, that's -- it's sort of unprecedented in modern politics where a politician at that level to hear the word KKK and not just instantly be okay with condemning it. So, it's been -- you know, he's got a very, very blemished record when it comes to the African- American community and then I think he's going to have to do a lot to go to that community and explain, you know, why -- in his early days in the real estate world in New York, why did the federal government penalize him for discriminatory housing?

There was a famous ad in New York that he took out that a lot of people in the black community find -- found offensive. They were five teenagers convicted of a crime they didn't commit, and he called for the death penalty. It was very a big controversy, had all sorts of --

HARLOW: They were exonerated in 2014.

LIZZA: So, you know -- and you know -- you know the list of these things. And I'm sure, Holly, and Hillary Clinton's campaign is going to press that list and run ads in the black community to remind those voters of this history. That's a lot of baggage to overcome in that community. And, when his pitch is to go a white -- all-white rally and say, you know, you're living in misery, you got nothing to lose, vote for me. I just -- it doesn't sound to me like the most sophisticated strategy in the world.

HARLOW: Ryan Lizza, Amy Kremer, Holly Shulman, much more ahead with you. Thank you for joining us. Got to get a break in, but we have a lot ahead this hour. Louisiana we will go. Flood-ravaged Louisiana still coping with the worst natural disaster in this country since Superstorm Sandy. More rain continuing to fall and what it means for the tens of thousands of families just waiting to try to see if they even have a home left.

Also, a warning to pregnant women, do not go to parts of Miami Beach. How Zika is keeping people away.

And later, a wildfire is engulfing everything in its path, including a historic Route 66 landmark frequented by the likes of Clint Eastwood and Elvis Presley. CNN takes you there live, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: The worst flooding disaster since Superstorm Sandy has drawn the spotlight of the presidential race. We're talking about that horrific flooding that's been going on for a week now in Louisiana. Donald Trump and Mike Pence toured the damage in Baton Rouge yesterday. The GOP candidates met with flood victims, faith leaders and members of the National Guard. They gave out supplies to many, many people in need.

President Obama has been criticized by some for not cutting his Martha's Vineyard vacation short to visit Louisiana. The White House did announce yesterday the president will go to the flood zone on Tuesday.

Think about these numbers for a moment. Louisiana has received nearly 7 trillion gallons of rainfall in just a week. 13 people have died in the floods. Tens of thousands have been removed from their homes. Damages, at least, at least, reaching $30 million if not, far, far more. Our National Correspondent Polo Sandoval is with me from Ascension Parish.

You've got 40,000 homes that have been damaged at least. Many of them will not be recovered. You've got only about 12% of the folks who live there that actually even have flood insurance. What are they saying to you about going home, seeing if they have a home, how they rebuild?

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN NATONAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, that clean up will happen as soon as these waters continue to recede, and of course, when some of that rain continues to move on. Just a few moments ago, there was one of those downpours that really does add insult to injury, Poppy, when people have to deal with this. Yes, there are some neighborhoods just north of where we are that have dried out, if you can almost call them the lucky ones, if you will, because they are actually able to go inside their homes and now begin to assess the damage, see if there's anything that they can actually salvage. But then you have those that are still dealing with these kinds of scenes here, not even able to make it into their homes quite yet, including one woman that we met on this very spot a short while ago named Ellie Steven. Just down the road, she actually raised her family there. However, she has had to wait -- she continues to wait to actually go inside and find out what's left of her home.

I talked to her a little while ago. That smile that she works so hard to keep on her face, it did leave for just a few moments as she faced reality that it may be a while before she makes it back into her home.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: Standing here, you're so close, but yet you can't go yet.

ELLIE STEVEN: I can't go.

SANDOVAL: What is that like for you?

STEVEN: I was trying, really, you know, to see if I could go today to really, you know, see what the damages are, but the water is still there, you know, and might not be able to go in today as well. Yes.

SANDOVAL: Emotionally though, Ellie, how is it being so close and not being able to go. How is that for you?

STEVEN: Well it -- that's what I didn't want to do. It's going to be okay.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: It's going to be okay. That is her message to not only the rest of her community, her neighbors, but also the rest of the country as people continue to pick up the pieces. There is no shortage of hope here, but there is a need for supplies, cleaning supplies, water, food. One National Guardsman, Poppy, told me that the demand for food and water, those kinds of things, it's just as great as what we saw during Hurricane Katrina.

HARLOW: Absolutely. And I'll point people to it in a moment, but again, we do have ways you can help. CNN.com/impact. But before I let you go, Polo.

Donald Trump, Mike Pence came yesterday, they handed out supplies. They've been warned by the -- by the governor don't just come for a photo op. Help us. Hillary Clinton hasn't gone. She has called the governor and offered assistance. The president will go on Tuesday. What's the sense down there from folks? Do they care about the politics of it? Do they want the president there? What are they saying?

SANDOVAL: Yeah, it's a good question, Poppy. You'll find mixed reaction. Sure there are some individuals including the governor do fear that some of these visits could potentially remove some of these resources. Anytime you have to secure either a presidential candidate or the president himself, then, yes, of course, there is a diversion of some of these resources. But then you have others who have told me they welcome any opportunity to be able to share more of their story and anytime, anywhere that the president goes, the spotlight does follow him so it's an opportunity for the rest of the world to see what people are dealing with seven days after the first rain started to fall.

HARLOW: All right, thank you so much, Polo. We appreciate it. Polo Sandoval live in Baton Rouge for us. For ways that you can help the victims of the flooding, as we just said, just go to cnn.com/impact. Again, that's cnn.com/impact. A lot of ways that you can help there.

All right, coming up, the CDC is sounding the alarm on Zika, telling pregnant women not to travel in parts of Miami Beach after local transmission of the disease was confirmed there. Our Senior Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is live with me next from Miami. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: So the Zika virus, you've probably heard by now, it is hitting one of the most popular tourist destinations in the entire country. We're talking about Miami Beach. The CDC now advising pregnant women to avoid areas of Miami Beach where they found the virus, also to consider postponing all nonessential visits to all of Miami-Dade County. This, after health officials reported new cases of non-travel related Zika in Florida. That means local mosquitoes, not people who flew in and got it somewhere else.

We know a total of 36 locally transmitted Zika cases have been reported in the state. Our senior medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen is in Miami Beach.

Look, Elizabeth, when I heard that, first of all, I thought, wow. I mean, so many people go to Miami, huge tourist destination, the fact that it is there and will likely spread is one thing. But something that confused me is why they're only saying areas of Miami Beach. Because if this is from mosquitoes, are the mosquitoes really just contained to one part?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, actually, you know what's interesting, Poppy, is it's not so much the mosquitoes we're concerned about, it's the combination of mosquitoes and people. So for Zika to spread locally has it has here, mosquito has to bite someone with Zika and then has to go and bite someone else. So these mosquitoes, they don't fly too, too far. They maybe go a couple miles. The problem is that people go very far. So the concern is that someone with Zika might go to an area.

To your point, Poppy, yes, I completely hear what you're saying. And that's why many people are saying, you know what, we're expecting that this could spread even farther than it's already spread.

HARLOW: And I think the question also, Elizabeth, is having one of the -- I was reading about some of the people who contracted it in Miami. I mean, one of them already came up here to where I am in New York. So I mean, what's the say that this isn't just going to be a ripple effect and there are going to be multiple cases of Zika in Georgia, in New York, in Minnesota, California? What's your outlook on that?

COHEN: Right. So we live in a highly mobile society, especially here, because as you pointed out, this such a big tourist destination. What's important to remember though is that, you know, South Florida is really sort of, you know, ground zero for Zika in the continental United States. Are there mosquitoes in New York that could spread Zika? Yeah, there are, but there aren't nearly as many as there are in South Florida. So, actually, someone going up to a -- to a colder climate, it's less of a threat.

HARLOW: And finally, for pregnant women, I mean, for women who are just hearing this and they're pregnant and they are thinking, I was there last weekend, what do they do?

COHEN: Right. So if a woman was here in Miami last weekend or a couple weekends ago or whatever, and then they go back home and want to start a family, it's actually not really a worry because what authorities tell me is that our immune system gets rid of Zika pretty easily. So you'd go home, you'd wait maybe a month and then you would be fine to get pregnant. So it's that actually is a relatively easy issue to resolve.

HARLOW: But women that are pregnant should obviously see their health provider, right?

COHEN: Right. Exactly. So if you were -- if you are pregnant and you were visiting here in Miami, you would definitely want to tell your doctor, hey, I was in the area that they now have, you know, sort of described as a Zika zone, and they would want to keep an eye on you. Absolutely.

HARLOW: Okay. All right, Elizabeth Cohen live for us in Miami. Elizabeth, thank you so much. We appreciate it.

Coming up next, back to politics. Donald Trump making a play for African-American voters in a big way. Did you hear him last night?

Here's the thing, though. Is he missing out on another group that could be crucial come November? Our numbers show Trump trailing in a key voting bloc that Mitt Romney easily won. Next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:32:10] HARLOW: No question that Donald Trump is polling well with white working class men, though his edge with them has been flipping in recent days. But when it comes to female voters, African- Americans, Hispanics, Trump needs to do a whole lot better. But what about this group? What about college educated white voters? That should be a shoe in for the Republican candidate. Mitt Romney carried white college educated voters in 2012 by 12 points. Trump needs to shore up that block, and he needs to do it quickly if he wants to win in November.

Our chief national correspondent John King explains. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Make some magic. This is 2012. Four-point win nationally in the popular vote for President Obama but a thumping over Mitt Romney in the electoral college. So if you're Donald Trump, you not only need to change some of these blue states red, you need to change some dynamics of the election. One thing you cannot do, must not do is underperform Mitt Romney with key constituencies.

One of the big changes in this campaign, one of the reasons we know Donald Trump is in a ditch is because if you look at this constituency here, this is back to election day 2012. White college grads, Mitt Romney with a 14-point lead over Barack Obama. Now, Republicans always win the white vote. But Mitt Romney had a huge lead over Barack Obama among white college grads. A critical constituency. You find a lot in the key suburbs who tend to decide swing states. Big edge for Mitt Romney, one thing that makes this campaign interesting and it makes Donald Trump's challenge even greater in the final weeks.

Hillary Clinton leads. This is our national CNN/ORC poll. Hillary Clinton with an 11-point lead among white college educated grads. This is one of the reasons Hillary Clinton is winning in many of the big swing states, because of that same dynamic. Again, let's go back. The state of North Carolina, Mitt Romney won North Carolina in 2012. It was a big deal when Obama won it in 2008. It's one of the states Mitt Romney actually got back in 2012, and he won it by winning nearly 60/40. A 19 point lead among white college grads. They're big in the Raleigh Durham Research triangle, they're big in the Charlotte suburbs. Very important to win in a competitive state like North Carolina, and Clinton with a lead right now. A seven-point lead.

Mitt Romney won by 60/40. The Democrat has a lead now among this constituency. Again you cannot win North Carolina if you're getting crushed in this electorate. That was North Carolina. A state he must win. It's very similar in a state like Virginia, a state that Doanld Trump might have to win. Tim Kaine, Hillary Clinton's running mate, is from there. She has had a consistent lead in Virginia. She has a lead now in North Carolina. She has a similar pretty comfortable lead in Colorado. What do these states critical in the presidential map have in common? A very important constituency is college-educated whites.

[15:35:04]

KING: It's part of the growing population in the suburbs, the research areas, the high-tech areas of all three of these key swing states. It was a Republican constituency in 2012. It has been a Republican constituency traditionally. It's leaning Clinton's way now. If Donald Trump can't change that, Hillary Clinton will win the election.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: And that's a headache that no one wants right now in terms of not winning a group you need to win, right? Ryan Lizza is back with me, he's the Washington correspondent for the New Yorker. Why is he not doing better with this group? LIZZA: Well, there are a number of positions he's taken that this

traditionally Republican group is not that enthusiastic about, right?

Whether it's his talk on economics and trade, this is a group frankly in those states like Colorado, Virginia, and North Carolina. This is a group that has - this is a group of winners when we talk about the global economy and we talk about international trade deals, right? These are groups that have actually done well because of globalization. So that's one thing.

This is a group, you know, more educated voters who frankly are not pleased with the rhetoric that is coming from Trump that is alienating to non-white voters. You know there's one argument about Trump's outreach to black voters this week that is he's not so much looking for the votes of African-Americans but he's trying to prove to college-educated Republicans who were turned off by this that he's not racist.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LIZZA: And frankly, we saw that with George W. Bush in 2000. There was a lot of talk about how this is not -- it's called a bank shot strategy. You're not actually trying to appeal to the group you're talking to. You're trying to appeal to another group that likes the fact that you're reaching out to that group.

HARLOW: If that's the case, that would explain why he's made these speeches this week in front of almost wholly while audiences. But some of those people you bring up, I mean just look at Dan Ackerson, the former CEO of General Motors, a Republican who has come out against Trump this week. Or Meg Whitman, the CEO of HP Enterprise, a Republican who is now backing Clinton. Those are what you're talking about, college educated white voters, business leaders.

LIZZA: Absolutely. And this is a constituency that you know if Trump is the future of the Republican Party, and he's - and sort of Trumpism and these types of the coalition that he is tapping into, this is a big change if the Democratic Party becomes more of the party of college-educated independents who lean Republican but are open to the Democrats.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIZZA: That's a big change. Already, the Democratic Party has an advantage in the presidential race because of the electoral map, and because of nonwhite voters, the Asian Americans and Hispanics, two of the fastest growing groups. If they add college - if they add a big chunk of college-aged formerly Republicans, that is disaster for the Republican Party.

HARLOW: I mean, Ron Brownstein of the Atlantic put it this way, that really struck me right. 13 million votes or so in the primaries, what he got. The path from that to the 70 million plus he needs to win the general is as Ron put it lined with - lined with college-educated voters, millennials, people of color, unmarried women, secular voters, and this is just such a key component. We're still 80 days out right and he's got a completely new campaign staff at the top. Kellyanne Conway, whether you like her politics or not she's incredibly good at what she does and she's incredibly good at fundraising with some of the big money donors. Can he turn it around?

LIZZA: I think it's tough, frankly. I mean there are three big moment in a Presidential campaign where everyone pays attention and sort of - and it really helps define the candidate and the campaign. The first is your pick of your vice president. And that roll-out did not go so well for Trump. The second is your convention. And just by the data, we know that that convention was not a success. More people said they do not want to support Trump after the convention than said they were convinced to support him. All right, so that's 0 for 2 in the two biggest moments you have.

The next thing is the debates. So I believe there are two things that can turn it around for Trump. The debates, there are four of those. Three at the presidential level, two at the vice presidential level, and the other thing is just some dramatic outside event that none of us is expecting that comes along and shakes up the campaign.

Outside of that, it is really, really hard for him to change the numbers among these key groups. So I would look to the debates as the big game changer for him, if he's going to do it.

HARLOW: Who's going to be watching the debates? Who's going to be (inaudible) the debates?

LIZZA: Oh, it's going to be massive. I mean, the ratings for those debates will be --

HARLOW: I know.

LIZZA: The biggest in history I think we have to expect.

HARLOW: We'll be all over it - We'll be all over it. And we know Trump, Kellyanne Conway has said Trump is starting debate prep this weekend. So I would love to be a fly on the wall for either of the candidates preparing for the debate. Ryan --

LIZZA: Yes, I want to know whose playing Hillary Clinton in those.

HARLOW: Me too, me too, she wouldn't tell us when we asked. All right Ryan Lizza, thank you so much we appreciate it.

LIZZA: Thanks Poppy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[15:40:00]

HARLOW: Coming up, it was an icon of Route 66 since 1952, even Elvis Presley ate a hamburger in this tiny roadside diner. Next, how a ferocious wildfire took away this piece of California history. You're live in the CNN Newsroom.

(END VIDEO CLIP) (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: The Blue Cut wildfire has burned some 37,000 acres so far in southern California. Fire officials there say it's about 68% contained right now. We know that nearly 100 homes have been destroyed. Businesses have been lost as well, including a local restaurant just off Route 66 that is a legendary piece of Americana. Paul Vercammen reports.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CECIL STEVENS, RESIDENT: The wine rack and a lot of other stuff, an old gum ball machine over there.

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Cecil Stevens, longtime owner of the Summit Inn before he sold it a month ago can't believe the Blue Cut fire torched his life's work.

STEVENS: It makes me sick in my stomach. It's awful because I know every button in that restaurant that was there, I know every light switch, every pipe. After 50 years you had to repair half of that stuff.

VERCAMMEN: That's right, a half century of owning a favorite hangout on Route 66. Stevens bought the Summit Inn and Restaurant Friday the 13th in 1966. Shut down the Motel and focused on food and the history of the fabled route from Chicago to the Pacific Ocean. Cecil and his wife of 41 years Debbie became the mom and pop of a nostalgia stop for classic car crazed patrons, Route 66 worshippers, even locals obsessed with both.

[15:45:03]

STEVENS: There's been many a times I would sit at the bar right there having coffee when it was snowing and just said I'm not going to work.

VERCAMMEN: Smoldering tales in these ashes have it that celebrities rolled in, too, including Elvis Presley. The king reportedly saw Cecil's jukebox didn't offer a single one of his records.

STEVENS: Well he kind of stood back and kicked the jukebox lightly and said, maybe next time I come in here you'll have one of my records on it. And you can believe when I came back, I went out and got a record right away and it was on the jukebox.

VERCAMMEN: Music serenaded generations of people who pulled off the road to eat everything from Ostrich burgers to banana splits to the popular Hillbilly burger. What's a Hillbilly burger?

DEBBIE STEVES, FORMER OWNER, THE SUMMIT INN: It was sourdough bread with hamburger and lettuce, tomato, onion. It was really good. Delicious.

VERCAMMEN: It was a meal - it was a meal in itself.

STEVENS: I mean it was huge. VERCAMMEN: The kitchen is now a pile of charred heartbreak, but

perhaps a good omen, The Summit Inn sign still stands and the new owners tell CNN they plan to rebuild and try to recapture every charming inch of Cecil Stevens' American treasure.

Paul Vercammen, CNN, Hesperia, California.

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HARLOW: What a loss. We'll go there though when they rebuild.

All right, now to this week's CNN hero. A man using his love of horses for healing.

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HARLOW: Harry Swimmer was set to retire when he met a girl with cerebral palsy and she inspired him so much, that he decided to transform his farm into a horse therapy camp for special needs children.

HARRY SWIMMER, OWNER HORSE FARM: Horses are very special animals. People just don't realize it. What do you say now?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Walk on.

SWIMMER: That's my girl.

SWIMMER: We had a child on a horse who had a seizure, and that horse stopped dead in his tracks. When nobody else noticed it, the horse caught it first.

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[15:50:40]

HARLOW: When Hillary Clinton squares up against her opponent Donald Trump in that first debate on September 26th, she wants to make sure he has as little ammunition against her as possible. Make no mistake the Clinton campaign is in damage control from questions about the Clinton Foundation to the e-mail scandals that she can't seem to shake. Our Joe Johns looks at the lingering questions that she is trying to clear up.

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JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Former president Bill Clinton trying to avoid any actual or the appearance of conflicts of interest announcing he will resign from the board of the Clinton Foundation if his wife, the former Secretary of State wins in November. The Foundation taking an additional step saying they'll also no longer accept corporate or foreign donations.

TRUMP: The book by "Clinton Cash" by Peter Sweitzer" documents how Bill and Hillary used the State Department to enrich their family and Americas - and at America's expense. She gets rich making you poor.

JOHNS: The Foundation has come under scrutiny for its close contact with the State Department while Hillary Clinton was secretary.

TRUMP: Has Hillary Clinton apologized for turning the State Department into a pay for play operations where favors are sold to the highest bidder.

JOHNS: The Clinton campaign flatly denies any pay-to-play allegations. In fact the candidate has defended the foundation's work.

HILLARY CLINTON, U.S. DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We have so much that we are proud of and I will put that up against any of the innuendo and accusation coming from Donald Trump. Because the work that has been done as garnered accolades and appreciation from every corner of the world because it has been so far-sided, visionary and effective.

JOHNS: But Republicans jumped on the new announcement. The RNC releasing a statement saying if everything was above board while Hillary Clinton ran the State Department as the Clintons have said, then why change a thing? Also of note, Mr. Clinton, who had already stopped giving paid speeches said Thursday night, he'd keep it that way if she's elected.

The Clintons have amassed a whopping $135 million combined from paid speeches since leaving the Whitehouse in 2001. All this as new details are emerging on Mrs Clinton's controversial e-mail server. The New York Times reporting that she told the FBI it was Colin Powell, her predecessor of the State Department who advised her to use personal e- mail.

The Time cites an excerpt from Joe Conason's new book about Bill Clinton saying that at a 2009 dinner party hosted by former secretary of state Madeleine Albright, Powell recommended Clinton use her own email as he had done except for classified communications which he had sent and received via a State Department computer.

Today Powell's office responding in a statement that he had no recollection of such a conversation but did write Clinton a memo regarding his use of a personal AOL account saying "at the time there was no equivalent system within the department. He used a secure State computer on his desk to manage classified information."

JOHNS: Of course, there are a couple of big differences between Colin Powell and Hillary Clinton's e-mail. Powell enter the office in 2001 when e-mail wasn't as popular as it was in 2009 and Powell never had his own private server.

Joe Johns, CNN, Washington.

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HARLOW: Joe, thank you very much. All right, coming up next, the story you need to see.

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HARLOW: A group of officers go above and beyond to make an incredibly special boy feel just that on his third birthday.

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[15:57:55]

HARLOW: All right, now a heart-warming story out of Yukon, Oklahoma this week. Police there received an unusual call asking them to show up at an autistic boy's birthday party.

Our Martin Savidge shows us how these offices went beyond the call of duty.

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SAVIDGE: It began with an anonymous phone call to the police in Yukon, Oklahoma. Saying something was wrong inside this home.

LT CURTIS LEMMINGS, YUKON, OKLAHOMA POLICE DEPARTMENT: So I drive by. Sort of canvassing the area.

SAVIDGE: Things look okay, but just in case, Captain Matt Hofer approaches alone. A young woman answers.

CAPT MATT HOFER, YUKON, OKLAHOMA POLICE DEPARTMENT: And she has that look of oh, my (lanta). The police are at my front door.

SAVIDGE: Tara Hubbard is already having a really bad day. Plans for her son's birthday party are falling apart as parent after parent calls to say their child isn't coming.

TARA HUBBARD, BRADEN'S MOM: I mean, I would get, oh, I can't come. Oh, this just came up. Oh, this and this and this and this.

SAVIDGE: Tara believes it's because they feel uncomfortable around her 3-year-old son, Brayden, who has autism. And now, the police are at Tara's door. But Officer Hofer's words change everything.

HOFER: I heard that there was a birthday party for Braden today. And she says, she starts to smile. She says, yes. And I asked her if we could participate.

HUBBARD: And I was just speechless. Speechless. Nothing would come out.

SAVIDGE: Yukon's finest had come to get this party started, and more kept arriving.

LT ZACH ROBERSON, YUKON, OKLAHOMA POLICE DEPARTMENT: We all went over there and we doubled the party.

SAVIDGE: They lined the street with their cars. What were the neighbors thinking.

ROBERSON: Oh, they were driving by really slow and staring at us.

SAVIDGE: Braden's party went from zero to heroes.

HUBBARD: Just to see them interact like that is truly, truly amazing.

SAVIDGE: And for mom, the timing couldn't have been better.

HUBBARD: Yes, It's been a really tough time. You know, you get backed into a wall, like, what else do you do? What else do you do? And any autistic mother or special needs parents know that feeling.

SAVIDGE: Yukon's finest saved the party and the day while proving police officers cannot only answer the call but occasionally also a prayer.