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Trumps Courts Minority Vote After Campaign Shake-Up; Worst Disaster Since Sandy Draws Election's Spotlight; Optics of Trump's Big Pitch to African-Americans; Trump Criticized for Not Speaking to Minority Audiences; IOC to Investigate Rio Gas Station Incident; Intelligence Briefings for Presidential Candidates Discussed; Dolly Parton Interview about Election. Aired 4-5p ET
Aired August 20, 2016 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[16:00:00] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Back into a wall. Like what else do you do? And any autistic mother or special needs student know that feeling.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yukon's finest saved the party and the day, while proving police officers cannot only answer the call but occasionally also a prayer.
Martin Savidge, CNN, Yukon, Oklahoma.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Top of the hour, I'm Poppy Harlow in New York. So glad you're with us. We begin this hour with what stands between Donald Trump and the White House? Minority voters.
Polling shows us he's got 1 percent of African-American voters on his side. 1 percent. But Trump is betting between now and November 8th that will change. We heard him last night go all in for the African- American vote in Michigan.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
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 percent of your youth is unemployed. What the hell do you have to lose?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: All right. We should note that according to the Labor Department in July, the actual unemployment rate for African-Americans between 16 and 24 was just over 20 percent. That's about a third of Trump's claim.
Not only is Donald Trump right now courting black voters, he is also laser focused on the Hispanic vote. Trump back on home turf today hosting a roundtable with Hispanic supporters of his campaign at Trump Tower here in New York. The backdrop to this meeting, a recent poll that has his approval rating at just 20 percent among Latino voters. And it appears all this minority outreach may be a case of cause and
effect coming on the heels of a major campaign overhaul. Campaign chairman Paul Manafort out this week. Right-wing Breitbart News executive, Steve Bannon, is in. Kellyanne Conway, the pollster, now leading the campaign as well. So will Trump's message be on message again today reaching out to minority voters?
We will soon find out. He is expected to speak live tonight in Virginia at a rally. That's where we find our senior White House producer Kristen Holmes.
Look, we heard, really, in many ways I think, Kristen, a new newly- shaped Donald Trump last night in his pretty much on teleprompter delivery to this group in Michigan, largely focusing on African- Americans in the most need in this country. Is that what we're going to hear tonight as well?
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN WHITE HOUSE PRODUCER: Well, Poppy, political analysts say that if Donald Trump wants a chance at winning in November, he has got to continue with that minority outreach. And that includes here at big rallies like the one we'll see tonight in Virginia.
Now as you mentioned today was the Trump's biggest play for Hispanic voters yet, meeting with the Republican National Committee, along with a group that they call the National Hispanic Advisory Council for Trump.
Now in a statement from the RNC, the goal of that meeting was to discuss strategies, ways for the Hispanic community to learn more about Donald Trump, to understand his proposals on several issues such as immigration or the economy. But as we know and as the poll numbers show that you just read, there is a huge disconnect there. Several members of the Hispanic community feeling alienated by Trump from the day he announced that he would be running for president when he said that people coming from Mexico were racist and drug dealers.
So that community is -- there has been a lot of flashback, a lot of push back from that community going forward. So along with the minority outreach which is something we're going to be listening for today. We will be listening again also for details on that meeting.
We are going to see if Trump, he's at main stream. As you mentioned the shakeup earlier in the week, Trump has been giving speeches, using teleprompters, arguably giving one of his best speeches of the campaign two days ago in North Carolina, staying on message, staying focused. And that's something that is very important here in this battleground state of Virginia. Remember in 2012, Mitt Romney lost by just four points. The latest Quinnipiac poll has Donald Trump down by 12.
HARLOW: Right.
HOLMES: Thirty-eight percent to 50 percent Hillary Clinton, so we do see teleprompters up there on the stage. We'll see if he'll be able to stay on message, use those prompters, and keep with that main stream message moving forward, Poppy.
HARLOW: It's interesting because of the battleground states where he released those ads yesterday and spent about five million bucks, he did not release them in Virginia. I think an acknowledgment of that poll you just cited down 12 points, not focusing there at least in this first batch of national ads.
Kristen, thank you so much. Much more from you throughout the evening.
As we await Donald Trump, let's bring in our political panel to talk about this. With me Amy Kremer, she's a Donald Trump supporter, co- chair of Women Vote Trump. Also joining me is Scott Bolden -- A. Scott Bolden, the former chairman of the Washington, D.C. Democratic Party and a Hillary Clinton supporter, and someone who again this weekend is lucky enough to be on beautiful Martha's Vineyard.
[16:05:08] Thank you for joining us both of you. And, Amy, let me begin with --
A. SCOTT BOLDEN, HILLARY CLINTON SUPPORTER: Don't hold it against me. Don't hold it against me.
HARLOW: I'm not. I want to be there. I want to be there, I will say that.
AMY KREMER, CO-CHAIR, WOMEN VOTE TRUMP: I do, too, Poppy.
BOLDEN: That's right.
(LAUGHTER)
HARLOW: All right, Amy, let me start with you, Amy, something that Donald Trump said last night that was not a part of his prepared remarks. So he did veer off teleprompter a little bit is this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: And at the end of four years, I guarantee you that I will get over 95 percent of the African-American vote. I promise you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: All right. Let's put this into perspective. Barack Obama, the first black president, got 93 percent of the black vote. John McCain got 4 percent. Romney got 6 percent in 2012 when you look at the exit polling. How is he going to do that, Amy?
KREMER: Well, look, I mean, he has a big goal that he is working toward and I think he's going to do that by appealing to African- American, and as a matter of fact, all Americans, about what he can do for this country and our national security, jobs in the economy, and health care, education, issues that are important to all Americans, but specifically with the African-American community, I think what he's been talking about is the policies that African-Americans -- that have not helped the African-American community. And under this president, more African-Americans are living in
poverty, the number on food stamps has increased by almost 58 percent. The median income has fallen and the number of African-Americans owning homes has decreased by 10 percent.
HARLOW: But the number of African-American youth, Amy, has dropped from the high under President Obama during the great recession by about half. It's declined by about half.
KREMER: It's still not good, Poppy. It's still -- it's still not good.
HARLOW: No question it's no good.
KREMER: But the thing about it is that the definition of insanity is to continue to do the same thing over and over again, and expect different results. And I believe and many people believe that under a Hillary Clinton presidency, it would be four more years of the same. Why not try something different? And it's not just African-American communities.
HARLOW: Look. Let's listen, Scott, as a Hillary Clinton supporter. Hold on. Hold on. I want you to take a listen to how Donald Trump addressed exactly what Amy is saying last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: The inner cities have been run by the Democratic Party for more than 50 years. Their policy 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?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: There is, Scott, an opportunity gap between many African- American youth in need in this country and many white youth in need. Obviously, there are opportunity gaps among all races but under Republican administrations and Democratic administrations, there has been this consistent trend of this opportunity gap.
BOLDEN: Well, yes, but let's remember, under the Obama administration -- this administration took over the worst economy since 1933. And that was done and put in place by the housing crisis and who was in the White House and who was in Congress? The Republicans.
KREMER: Scott, that was started --
BOLDEN: And what's amazing is the Republicans want to say, well, nothing has happened -- could I finish? Is that Poppy? I'm sorry. But what the Republicans say it's an anemic recovery, but they want us to give it back to them to help African-Americans and others when their policies put us in this original place in 2008. So it's just not credible.
Let me make one last -- one other point, too, in regard to Donald Trump. Donald Trump can talk at black folks and brown folks and women, but he's got to walk the walk. Not just talk the talk. And he's dug himself in a deep hole based on his personal attacks on what he said in connection to African-Americans. He has re-tweeted white supremist statements, he has criticized the citizenship of Obama. And he's been sue two or three times by the federal government for not renting to black people.
That's a big hole. And it's hard to listen to Donald Trump or any messages when he's got these buckets of racist, offensive comments that have personally hurt so many of us in this country. He's got a lot of work to do. But he's got to dig out of this political hole. And that remains to be seen. He's 12 points down in Virginia. That says it all.
HARLOW: All right. I just want to fact-check one thing there. Donald Trump back in his real estate heyday yesterday was sued by the federal government for housing discrimination and they ended up settling. That was one lawsuit.
Amy, to you, I want you to listen to this. This is something else that Donald Trump said last night in Michigan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[16:10:04] TRUMP: Hillary Clinton would rather provide a job to a refugee from overseas than to give that job to unemployed African- American youth in cities like Detroit who have become refugees in their own country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: What do you make of that, Amy? I mean, is that really an effective strategy to compare inner city African-American youth to Syrian refugees?
KREMER: Look. I think the Syrian refugee issue is a huge issue that all Americans should be concerned about, and I think Donald Trump is pointing out that, you know, we allowed the Syrian refugees to come into our country. There's no way to properly vet them all. No way whatsoever to properly vet them. And they are being, you know, provided housing, health care, their kids are going to our schools. All of this, and if you look at our inner cities, there are people suffering there.
(CROSSTALK)
HARLOW: But he's positing it, Amy --
KREMER: Let's lift our own people up. Let's help ourselves.
HARLOW: So I hear you. But he's positing it as a binary choice, as a zero sum game, as an either or. It's not.
KREMER: Well, Poppy, I think the number one issue about the Syrian refugees is our national security, when --
HARLOW: OK, but I'm talking about the context here. He's basically saying she is giving jobs to refugees, not to African-American youth.
KREMER: This is the thing, is that under a Hillary Clinton administration --
BOLDEN: That's not true.
KREMER: Under a Hillary Clinton administration, it would be four more years of the same and everybody talks about, you know, what Barack Obama has done and nobody talks about the fact is the first two years he was in office he had complete control of the Senate and the Congress. I mean, he could have pushed through anything he wanted. He could have pushed, you know, raise the minimum wage. He could have dealt with immigration then. He could have dealt with all this stuff in.
But nobody wants to talk about it. They want to push it all on -- you know, the Republicans' fault because they held, you know, the House and the Senate the past four years. Well, no, that's not the case. I mean, he has not helped.
HARLOW: Scott, final thoughts.
BOLDEN: That's -- yes, that's not the case? I can tell you, when Obama was elected and under his administration, Mitch McConnell made it really clear, that his job was to make sure that he had a four-year term and that the Republicans would block any and everything moving forward. And they have essentially tried and accomplished that. Lots of work to be done. Hillary is going to address those issues and hopefully down ballot because Donald Trump is such a bad candidate.
KREMER: Scott, where is she this weekend?
BOLDEN: That the Democrats can gain control of the House.
KREMER: She's not even in -- there's a national tragedy going on in Louisiana and she's nowhere to be found. Again, three days off the campaign trail. Where is she? She literally sold it in.
BOLDEN: But she's committed to Louisiana and --
KREMER: Then why isn't she there?
BOLDEN: Well, she doesn't do any photo-op and --
KREMER: Part of it is showing up. He didn't have a photo-op.
BOLDEN: It's better than doing a photo op and bring in no resources. Obama is going to be there on Tuesday. And Obama has sent resources.
(CROSSTALK)
HARLOW: Guys, I'm going to jump in here, two points of clarity, Donald Trump and Mike Pence brought a number of things to give to the victims down there. And also, I will also say, though, the governor, John Bel Edwards, did ask the president -- you know, did say that it takes a lot of resource away for the president to make a trip down there. The president is going on Tuesday.
Thank you, guys, very much. We appreciate it.
KREMER: Thank you. Thank you, Poppy.
HARLOW: Amy, Scott.
KREMER: Have a good time in Martha's Vineyard, Scott.
BOLDEN: But the feds are there as well. Thank you, Poppy.
HARLOW: Ahead this hour --
BOLDEN: Thank you.
HARLOW: As rain continues to fall on Louisiana the White House says the president will visit the flood on Tuesday. But is his trip too late?
Live to Martha's Vineyard next.
Also, as you just heard, Donald Trump making a play for African- American voters but his pitch was made last night in front of a virtually all white audience. Our Brian Stelter will break the optics of all of this, live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:17:12] HARLOW: The historic flooding in Louisiana this week continues with little relief in sight. Consider these number, nearly seven trillion gallons of rain have fallen there in just a week. 13 people have died in this flooding, 40,000 homes have been damaged. Damage estimates have reached at least $30 million. And an editorial in the "Advocate Newspaper" called out President Obama for not being there, saying, "Vacation or not, a hurting Louisiana needs you now, President Obama."
Donald Trump and Mike Pence touring the flood and the damaged areas yesterday in Baton Rouge. They met with victims and faith leaders. They brought supplies with them to hand out. Yesterday the White House then announced the president will visit Baton Rouge on Tuesday.
Our White House correspondent Michelle Kosinski joins me now from Martha's Vineyard.
Look, the president is there. He's going to finish out his vacation, Michelle. He's going to go to Baton Rouge. Some people look at this and they say, all right, Trump went with Pence. Did they force the president's hand? What's the White House saying?
MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Right. It's a difficult one, and you can kind of -- whenever something like this happens, and even if the president is not on vacation, you can kind of see the wheels turning within the White House. Are they going to go now? When are they going to go? How do we time this out? The White House as we all know likes to work incrementally. You know,
like they'd like to put in the resources first then decide when the president is going to go, and they don't like their hands to be forced. So what's weird about this time, and where the optics are not good is that the president happens to be on vacation.
So yes, people who are going to criticize are going to say, look, there he is on the golf course. And he was called out in big measure by this editorial in the newspaper in Baton Rouge, I mean, criticizing those pictures and calling it striking that he was golfing while people are losing their lives and their homes.
Also the fact that some Republicans called for him to visit. And now he has to follow Donald Trump, who criticized him not visiting while he was down there. So that works against the White House.
What works for them in this -- in this instance and what keeps the president from getting the kind of criticism that George W. Bush got even after he visited post-Hurricane Katrina was that President Obama has been on the federal response. We know that he has been updated every day. He declared it a disaster. He sends the FEMA administrator down there. He sent his Homeland Security secretary.
And so people are generally satisfied with the federal response thus far. I mean, even in that article, the editorial that criticized President Obama not visiting yet, they did praise the response. The highest ranking Republican here in the state, the lieutenant governor, also praised the response. And then you have the governor actually asking the president not to visit just yet.
HARLOW: Right.
[16:20:06] KOSINSKI: Telling him to wait a little while longer when it's more convenient. You know, there are people who are going to see this on either side. And for years now we've been hearing from White House insiders when the president is pressed to visit after a disaster or an incident is they kind of say, well, you know, what is he really going to do down there? What difference is it really going to make?
But they still make that decision down the road, is he going to visit or not? Look at the Flint water crisis t. The president did get some criticism for not visiting right away. I mean, day after day in the daily briefing at the White House, the administration was questioned. Is the president going to visit? When is he going to visit? Why has he not visited? And then eventually, he did visit and remember he drank the water out of the glass. So it's not as if the White House avoids going or avoids what they might even consider to be a photo-op. Sometimes the president is criticized for doing something like a photo-op. But in this case the White House feels that their response has been good and now they are visiting on Tuesday.
HARLOW: Right. And CNN will be there along with them. We will see what the president does. But again, he has been meeting much of the federal response that has been down there.
Michelle Kosinski, live for us in Martha's Vineyard. Thank you very much.
Donald Trump made his big pitch to African-American voters last night. You heard it in Michigan. Well, he spoke at a rally predominantly filled with white supporters. We're going to talk about the optics of Trump's new focus, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I'd 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 percent of your youth is unemployed. What the hell do you have to lose?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: All right. Donald Trump there making an all-out play for African-American voters, but an NBC/"Wall Street Journal" polls shows these numbers. Not good numbers for Trump. 1 percent of African- American voter support is what Trump has right now. Hillary Clinton has 91 percent.
Trump not the first Republican to struggle with that voting bloc. But his predecessors did better. 2008, John McCain got 4 percent of the African-American vote. 2012 Mitt Romney 6 percent.
Whether Trump's push will work is one thing. The optics of where he chose to make that pitch, that is quite another. Our senior media correspondent Brian Stelter, host of "RELIABLE SOURCES," is with me.
So he makes his remarks in Dimondale, Michigan. Look at the census numbers, Dimondale is 93 percent white. Our producers on the ground tell us that almost the entire audience was white. He could have gone a few minutes down the road to Lansing, more diverse or even more diverse gone to Detroit.
Does it matter where he said this? Because his supporters tell me, no, you all broadcast it so it doesn't matter where he gave the speech.
BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: But it does matter what backdrop you have for any speech, whether it's targeting African- American voters or anybody else. Campaigns usually spend a lot of time thinking about who is in the backgrounds behind the candidate. That's why the recent appearances of the Orlando attacker's father at the Clinton campaign, and the disgraced former congressman at a Trump campaign was so surprising because these optics do matter because of what shows up in the background.
HARLOW: Right.
STELTER: In this case this Trump rally wasn't much different from other Trump rallies. Generally speaking mostly white crowd behind him. HARLOW: It was interesting yesterday on THE SITUATION ROOM, Brianna
Keilar was speaking with Trump supporter and Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn. And she asked her about this, why Trump made the pitch to black voters in an all-white community. Here's her response.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MARSHA BLACKBURN (R), TENNESSEE: I don't know how they are choosing the communities that they go into or the facilities they go into, and it would be inappropriate for me to speak to that because I'm not a part of that decision-making team.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: If you were giving a speech about women's issues, would you speak to a room of men?
BLACKBURN: I would prefer to speak to a group of women. But there are times I've thought I probably should be speaking to a room full of men.
(LAUGHTER)
BLACKBURN: And telling them maybe what I thought about decisions that they have made and where I think they could have done some things a little bit differently.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: I mean, Brianna asked a perfect question. Would you address women's issues to a group of men? And the congresswoman made an interesting point, obviously, men need to know about these things, too, but now Trump has a new campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, who's incredibly savvy whether you like her politics or not. Why do you think she would let him do this in front of an all-white crowd?
STELTER: I mean, and she's also poll oriented, data driven, which is notable because one of the data points Trump keep referencing when talking about African-Americans is inaccurate. He keeps saying that the unemployment rate among black youth is 58 percent.
HARLOW: Yes, it's not.
STELTER: It's not. PolitiFact has been clear on this.
HARLOW: About 20 percent.
STELTER: It seems like the reason why he is saying that is he's using a broader metric for all black youth, including ones that are in school, in high school or college. He's lumping all of them in together and saying look how many black youths are not employed. That's unfair if some of them were in college, in high school, et cetera.
He keeps using that data point, even though it's been debunked for months. And it's an example of even though we're allegedly getting a more restrained Donald Trump, a more on message Donald Trump, some of the facts still aren't in alignment. I think that's one of the big reasons why this speech is being criticized. He seems to be painting with a very broad brush when talking about the African-American communities.
HARLOW: Then he says things like he said last night, that if I win, then four years when I run for re-election I'm going to get 95 percent of the black vote? Just completely objectively speaking the first black president got 93 percent of the black vote.
STELTER: It wouldn't be possible for him to get 95 percent of the black vote in 2020 despite his claim. On the other hand, I took it as hyperbole.
HARLOW: OK.
STELTER: And I think sometimes -- I wonder if he's going to put these comments out there. Watch as the media respond, watch as the media maybe make too much light of them, and then is able to point to the media and say the media is bias. You know, we should take him at his words, though, and that's why this statistics about unemployment rate is important to fact-check. He has a tendency to sometimes repeat these things that are misstatements and they need to be called out.
I'll be interesting to see in the coming days and weeks if he responds to the current criticism that he's getting.
HARLOW: Right.
STELTER: All over Twitter and Facebook for not speaking to minority audiences. You know, he is going to Mississippi for a rally next week, for example.
HARLOW: Right . Right.
[16:30:12]
STELTER: He continues to go to states that are not in play. He's going to states that are generally not in play when you look at the map in some states.
HARLOW: But it's interesting, I've got to leave it there, but when he released the names of his economic team, there were 13 white men, but then he released the second iteration of it that included nine women.
STELTER: By the end of the week there was a female adviser on CNN for his campaign. Exactly. So he does seem to react and change over time.
HARLOW: Brian thank you. Brian will be with us next hour. Still to come here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: Brazilian Police say this security video process U.S. swimmer Ryan Lochte lied about a robbery at gunpoint in Rio. Now it can cost him some time in the water. We will speak to a sports act about how he would advise Lochte, what's ahead for his? You are like in the CNN Newsroom. (END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARLOW: All right the incident at a Rio gas station involving Olympic gold medalist Ryan Lochte and three other U.S. swimmers will now be investigated by the International Olympic Committee as well as the Rio Police. The IOC has set up a disciplinary commission to determine if those swimmers will face punishment for that incident.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: Meantime, Ryan Lochte's future with U.S. swimming may be in jeopardy. Sources close to the investigation tell CNN contributor, Christine Brennan that Lochte will eventually be suspended after police say he lied about being robbed at gunpoint.
Now the 12-time Olympic medal winner is apologizing for his behavior that night but he stopped short of admitting to police, admitting that what police say insist happened on Sunday morning is vandalism at that gas station bathroom after a late night of partying.
Fellow swimmer Michael Phelps weighed in Friday when asked if Lochte could put this scandal behind him, he said, "we have good people taking care of it. So hopefully."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: Let's talk with the future here for Lochte and the swimmers, a sports agent and founder of Daily Agency, Doug Eldridge is with me. Thank you so much for being with me sir.
[16:35:01]
HARLOW: We had you on the program yesterday morning and you took a contrarian point of view from Christine Brennan on all of this. Look Lochte has come out now for this apologized for his behavior. Some see it as a bit of a half-hearted apology. How do you read it? Does it change anything for his future?
DOUG ELDRIDGE, SPORTS AGENT AND FOUNDER, DAILY AGENCY: I think Christine and I agreed on a couple of points.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ELDRIDGE: One think that I would say when you look at Ryan's apology as it were , we understand now that he is going to have a sit-down interview with Matt Lauer which I think strategically is the smart move.
When you look at Poppy the initial part of his apology, especially in juxtapositions to Gunnar Bentz and Jack Conger both of whom in the last 24 hours have come out and issued a formal statement. Ryan is rather lacking both in terms of substance and style. And here's why. Gunnar and Conger, both number one apologized. Number two, said that they were never a suspect only a witness. And number three, identified that they never provided misleading statements.
Now the first the apology is important in the court of public opinion. The latter two are important in the court of law. But obviously today we're talking about the court of public opinion. So it's going to be interesting to see how part two so to speak with Matt plays out moving forward.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: You know I think it's interesting because the police in Rio said look you need to apologize to the people of Rio, sort of the smear that this has left on our city in the eyes of the world. And Christine Brennan, our sports analyst pointed out that in Ryan Lochte sort of lengthy statement and apology, he first apologized to his sponsors before anyone else.
ELDRIDGE: Right. And there's probably a little bit of semantics there. I think there's no question that he should have identified responsibility, culpability and most assuredly remorse for a variety of things, not in the least of which is the focus that this has put on the people of Rio.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ELDRIDGE: I think Sally Jenkins in our Washington Post column this morning pointed out a couple of interesting facts that really put this into context. Number one in the month of June in Rio this year, there was 11,000 violent crimes. Number two, the unemployment rate is right around 11%.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ELDRIDGE: And number three, the median minimum wage per month is around $228. So you're talking about a country that is reeling economically and reeling from a spirit standpoint. So for them, this was an absolute PR black eye that just really heightened the negativity and the global impetus that was looking as the country as a whole.
HARLOW: Well undeserved because it didn't happen.
ELDRIDGE: Yes. My point ensuring that about Sally, because I think Sally is just a fantastic journalist. Is she identified some of the context that really - that really underscored and validated the Brazilian fervor around the situation.
Now to pivot for a moment and to look at Lochte's next steps. First of all I would agree with what Michael said insofar as the team around him. And what do I mean by the team? First and foremost the U.S. Olympic Committee. I think Scott Blackman on down they don't come any finer on a global standpoint than team USA. And number two, USA swimming. Chuck Wielgus and the team out in Colorado Springs at USA swimming is doing a fantastic job and not only holding our athletes accountable for those that messed up but really promoting the good deeds of those that carry the flag and really embody the Olympic spirit. So Ryan is going to have some consequences and some accountability to
atone for. And strategically I think it would probably be in his best interest not to fight the punishment albeit anything other than a lifetime ban.
HARLOW: If you were his agent, which you are not. If you were his agent and you were advising him on this Matt Lauer interview, what should he say first?
ELDRIDGE: At this point, Poppy, it's brutal honesty.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ELDRIDGE: First of all, acknowledge that he made an error, not only in action, but arguably more importantly in the subsequent days that follow how it was handled. As all of our moms told us growing up the cover-up is always worse than the crime. And I think in so many ways, this is what we're looking at here. It wasn't the initial action I mean that in and of itself as I said and I think Christine agreed with yesterday the action itself was indefensible. But it was how this was handled in the days that followed that has really drawn the ire and the global attention.
So insofar as strategy moving forward, you've got a great sounding board in Matt Lauer. Speak honestly and speak from the heart. This needs to be as much as it can be outside of the obvious legal hurdles that he is going to have to navigate in the days and weeks ahead. This needs to be as unscripted as possible and by that I mean as sincere. It needs to match in substance as much as it does in style. Lead with an apology, an apology, premised in accountably. Right. Until you acknowledge accountability and wrong doing, you can't move forward.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: Maybe no I'm sorry - maybe no I'm sorry but.
ELDRIDGE: Exactly. There should be no buts or no asterisks. Right there should be no comments, there should be simple -- a simple state of contrition and accountability. I do think though it's probably important to point out, you said I was contrarian and I would accept that, I would say objective more than contrarian. But I think objectively speaking it's probably important for us to acknowledge that sometimes there's a fine line between demanding accountability and contrition and demanding a pound of flesh.
At what point moving forward will Ryan have done enough to atone for his misgivings? A simple apology I think we can all agree is not enough but it's most assuredly the first step.
It's going to be how he serves as a role model and a mentor for future generations of student athletes, that's ultimately going to be the most important step.
HARLOW: All right, Doug, I'm getting the wrap. Thank you so much for being with us. We appreciate it.
ELDRIDGE: Thanks for having me Poppy.
HARLOW: And as Doug talked about at 7:00 o'clock eastern we will hear from Ryan Lochte himself speaking out for the first time since his story hit the headlines. We'll bring that to you right here.
[16:40:02]
All right, just ahead, normally, we don't hear a lot about intelligence briefings and presidential candidates, but
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DAVID PRIESS, FORMER CIA OFFICER: On the one hand, you have a candidate who seems to say what he thinks without a filter. On the other hand, have you somebody that the FBI Director has called out publicly for being careless with classified information. We've never had a situation like this before.
HARLOW: Donald Trump got his intelligence briefing this week. Hillary Clinton gets here soon. We will take a look at what goes on inside those briefings. You are live in the CNN Newsroom.
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HARLOW: Each election cycle the presidential candidates are given government intelligence briefings, this is a practice established back under President Harry Truman. Well this week, Donald Trump was the first of the candidates to be briefed this election cycle. So what kind of intel, exactly is shared? Our Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr tells us.
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BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: It's the Trump Tower version of a potential White House cabinet meeting. The key object, Donald Trump in the same position as a President surrounded by national security heavyweights, including former New York Mayor Rudy Guiliani and next to Trump, retired Lieutenant General Michael Flynn a key adviser. One attendee congressman Peter King answering the criticism that Trump has no foreign policy experience.
PETER KING, REPUBLICAN NEW YORK: Well, he has as much as Barack Obama had in 2008.
[16:45:03]
STARR: Soon after, another chance to appear presidential. Trump headed to the FBI's New York office for his long plan classified intelligence briefing from the Obama administration. Flynn, a decade long intelligence officer, now adamantly anti-Obama was also there.
Even before hearing the classified information, Trump was asked if he trusts U.S. Intelligence. DONALD TRUMP, U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Not so much from
the people that have been doing it for our country. I mean look at what's happened over the last ten years. Look what's happened over the years. I mean it's been catastrophic.
STARR: The plan to brief presidential candidates isn't new, but this year it is different, says former CIA Officer and Briefer David Priess.
PRIESS: On the one hand, you have a candidate who seems to say what he thinks without a filter. On the other hand, have you somebody that the FBI Director has called out publicly for being careless with classified information. We've never had a situation like this before.
STARR: The briefings include classified information on threats like ISIS, but don't include covert action details, the so-called crown jewels of intelligence.
PRIESS: Donald trump will present a challenge to a briefer, but a challenge that most briefers that I worked with back in the days would have relished. Here's a chance to try to get a message through to somebody who appears to take information differently than many other people.
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HARLOW: All right. That was CNN's Barbara Starr. All right, straight ahead, she's never been one to hold her tongue.
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HARLOW: So when it comes to the 2016 election, you better believe Miss Dolly Parton has something to say.
DOLLY PARTON: I watch it all the time. I think it's the craziest thing I've ever seen in my life. I think oh my God, what is happening.
HARLOW: What else she told our Christine Romans next live in the CNN Newsroom.
[16:50:40]
HARLOW: Miss Dolly Parton first hit the national stage some 50 years ago. You wouldn't know it by looking at her though.
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HARLOW: By now the singer, songwriter, actress and businesswoman she returns to her roots with the release of her 43rd, get this, her 43rd album called "Pure & Simple"
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HARLOW: Our Christine Romans caught up with the legend on everything from politics to a whole lot more. Hi Christine. CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDNET: Hi, Poppy, when
life is exciting, songwriters thrive, these days, Dolly Parton is thriving, writing about all the crazy stuff that's going on right now as she puts it.
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ROMANS: Friday she released her 43rd studio album and Dolly tells me from politics to the bathroom bills and equal pay. She is inspired right now.
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ROMANS: And she's no mere country music star. She owns restaurants, theme parks, a record label, film and T.V. production. Dolly Parton is a mogul.
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ROMANS: When you were starting, did you think, look, if I'm going to last, if I'm going to endure, and if I'm going to make sure the music business doesn't take advantage of me, I have to be in control of my image, my sound, my business, every angle of it?
PARTON: Well, you say it when you said the business. It is called the music business. So as soon as I could, I started my own position company, got my own record label now. And so I just try, I think it's important if you can to keep all of your goods, you know, close to home. Where you can control it and know what's happening.
ROMANS: How do you think that music has helped to push along the woman's movement over the past 40 years do you think that's been a factor?
PARTON: Music in general really have pushed through many ideas. Even in the 9:00 to 5:00 there is equal pay for equal work. And we've come a long way since then. But you know --
ROMANS: I think we're still at 83 cents to the dollar.
PARTON: We've got a ways to go, that's what I'm saying but we're working on it. I don't care whether it's your race, whether you're green, blue, black, red, or alien grey or whether you're male or female or transgender. If you do work you should be paid and appreciated for it and you should be respected and appreciated for what you are. Song writers you know actually have a field day when things in life are going on. I know I'm writing all sorts of thing about this crazy stuff that's going on right now, I get all kinds of thoughts.
ROMANS: You talk about the crazy things that are going on right now. Just give me - I mean maybe you keep your politics private but just tell me what you think is happening in the world right now? I just spent two weeks at these political conventions so.
PARTON: I watch it all the time - ROMANS: I'm curious what you think.
PARTON: I think it's the craziest thing I ever seen in my life. I think, oh my god, what is happening? But the only thing that saves us all is the fact that we do know we're great. You know, this is a great country it's not just up to one person, whoever gets in the White House, they won't be able to do it all. You know that's why we have you know all those people that work together. So I mean you just have to think, well, we'll just hope for the best and we'll just pray hard for them, whoever it is. But I usually don't talk politics about who I'm you know, who I'm voting for and all but I'll tell you, right now, I am not decided.
ROMANS: You are not decided?
PARTON: No.
ROMANS: You have not decided. So you've got another three months to watch all this.
PARTON: I'm just watching it close.
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ROMANS: And that's Dolly showing true business savvy, not willing to alienate anyone who could potentially buy this new album or go to her tour the biggest tour in 25 years in the U.S. She is someone who from day one has been a very business focused person, much more than just a singer, or songwriter, Poppy.
HARLOW: And call that smart politics and smart business. Christine Roman, thank you.
Coming up, Donald Trump taking the stage at a rally in Battleground Virginia, will he continue his pitch to African-American voters? We'll take you there live.
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[16:57:58]
HARLOW: It began as a simple question about Donald Trump's latest pivot in his presidential bid, but soon this turned into a social media sensation. Our Jeanne Moos on how a Trump supporter's interview with one of CNN's own dominated the political headlines.
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JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was a little like the old Abbott and Costello routine about the guy with the last name Who, playing 1st base.
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MOOS: Now imagine that in slow motion. An exchange between CNN's Brianna Keeler and Trump attorney Michael Coen has become an instant campaign classic.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: You guys are down. And it makes sense that there would --
MICHAEL COEN, TRUMP ATTORNEY: Says who?
KEELER: Polls.
COEN: Says who?
KEELER: Polls. Most of them, all of them.
MOOS: That led to an awkward five seconds of silence.
COEN: Says who?
KEELER: Polls. I just told you, I answered your question.
COEN: OK. Which polls?
KEELER: All of them.
MOOS: I watched it five times. It's hypnotic posted one person, her single raised eyebrow at the end deserves an Emmy on its own.
COEN: Which polls?
KEELER: All of them.
MOOS: That ended up on mock "Make America Great Again" hat. But the big take away seemed to be --
COEN: Says who?
MOOS: #sayswho became a saying. The after math of the interview "you're fired" says who? Who else says who either Trump's attorney was in denial about the polls.
The exchange even inspired we kid you not, knock knock jokes.
Knock knock.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who's there?
MOOS: Says.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Says who?
MOOS: The polls, all of them. #allofthem also picked up steam in this case with an Olympic theme. So you're losing this race?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Says who?
MOOS: The clocks.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Which clocks? MOOS: All of them.
There was even a poll pitting "says who" against "all of them". "All of them" won by a landslide. In the wake of Brianna's interview, Trump's attorney told Yahoo News, I think I unraveled her. Hmm let's take a poll on that.
Jeanne Moos, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
