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Heated Rhetoric on the Campaign Trail; Man Who Tried to Assassinate President Ronald Reagan Now a Free Man; Fifteen Years After 9/11; Will Lawmakers Reach Consensus on Zika Funding?; Russia Flexing Military Muscles; Heroin Addiction Growing in the U.S. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired September 10, 2016 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:18]

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: See how their journey unfolds on a river in Montana. You can watch their full story at cnnheros.com.

Top of the hour. I'm Poppy Harlow in New York. You're watching CNN. And we begin this hour with politics and the rhetoric on the campaign trail heated as ever. Both candidates unleashing pointed on camera attacks at one another last night.

Hillary Clinton now apologizing for how she characterized Donald Trump supporters. Here's the comment that she now says she regrets.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: To just be grossly generalistic, you can put half of Trump supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables.

(LAUGHTER)

(APPLAUSE)

CLINTON: Right? The racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, islamophobic, you name it. But that other basket of people are people who feel the government has let them down, the economy has let them down, nobody cares about them, nobody worries about what happens to their lives and their futures. And they're just desperate for change.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Well, Clinton said in a statement just a short time ago, quote, let me read you part of it. "Last night I was grossly generalistic and That's never a good idea. I regret saying half. That was wrong. She goes on to say it's deplorable that Trump has built his campaign largely on prejudice and paranoia and given a national platform to hateful views and voices including by retweeting fringe bigots with a few dozen followers and then spreading their message on to 11 million people." Now to Trump's latest attack on Clinton. The Republican presidential candidate last night speaking at a rally in Florida suggesting that Clinton could commit an act of violence in public and not face any consequences.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Because she is being so protected, she could walk into this arena right now and shoot somebody with 20,000 people watching right smack in the middle of the heart, and she wouldn't be prosecuted. Okay? That's what's happened. That is what's happened to our country. I never thought I'd see the day when this is happening to our country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: The dueling insults from Clinton and Trump getting strong reaction today. Let's bring in our political panel to talk about all of it. CNN Political Commentator and Washington Correspondent for the New Yorker, Ryan Lizza is with me. Also with us again, A. Scott Bolden, the Former Chair of the Washington D.C. Democratic Party and a Clinton supporter.

On the other side, Scottie Nell Hughes, CNN Political Commentator and Donald Trump supporter.

Ryan, let me begin with you before we get to the partisan divide over all of this. Where does this fall compared to Romney's 47% comment or Obama talking about supporters -- Republican supporters clinging to their guns and religion? Where does this fall in that line of gaffes, if you will?

RYAN LIZZA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I mean I think both of those were big issues for -- the Obama thing about the bitter clingers was a big issue for conservatives. The Romney thing about the 47% was a big thing for liberals. But I don't think either comment had the consequences that people seem to suggest in hindsight. It did not cost Romney the election as some people argued after that election.

If you look at the polls after the 47% comment, they never -- they didn't really change. That being said, look, I think as we were talking about previously I think that Republicans will -- some Republicans will use this to argue that Hillary Clinton doesn't understand the common people who are supporting Trump. That she's elitist.

And, I think the Democrats will use this as an opportunity to point out, wait a second, yes, there are racists and bigots who support Trump let's not be so politically correct that we cannot point that out. Maybe it's not half, but it is some number. So I think, you know like a lot of these things it's fodder for a debate on both sides. Which I'm sure we're about to have.

HARLOW: It's interesting because -- we are. But our Jeff Zeleny is reporting from the campaign just now that the reason that Hillary Clinton came out so quickly and said she regrets -- she didn't used the word apologize but regrets saying half of Trump supporters are racist, xenophobic, et cetera, is because they want -- the campaign wants to have this ongoing conversation and debate over how racist the Trump campaign is or is not. But until they had her apologize or say she regrets saying half of his supporters are that way, they couldn't get past that, to have the discussion they want to have.

[16:05:03]

HARLOW: Look, the reaction to this from the Trump camp has been swift and strong. Let's pull up two things; first, Donald Trump Jr., Trump's son tweeting this, "you know what hashtag is deplorable, attacking hard working Americans upset because their jobs have been sent abroad by politicians like Hillary."

Then you have Trump's campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, coming out and saying Hillary placing people in "baskets" slandering them but admitting after eight years later they are desperate for change.

This -- you know Mike Pence just said the same thing moments ago, he said you know these are hard-working Americans, let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE PENCE, (R) VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Hillary, I've got news for you -- I've got news for you. I'm traveling across this country every day. I'm meeting the men and women who support Donald Trump in big cities and small towns. The people that represent the millions of people who support my running mate. They're good hard working Americans. They're factory workers and coal miners. They're farmers and business owners. They're law enforcement officers and veterans. They're students and they're seniors. They're moms and they're dads. They're people who believe in freedom and in the god given liberties enshrined in our constitution. Hillary, they aren't a basket of anything. They are Americans, and they all deserve your support and respect.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: So Scott, as a Clinton supporter, look this has been a campaign about insiders and outsiders. Did Clinton with these remarks paint herself as sort of the ultimate insider?

A. SCOTT BOLDEN, FORMER CHAIR, WASHINGTON D.C. DEMOCRATIC PARTY: No, actually I don't think so. In fact she was talking to that group of Clinton -- Trump supporters that are hardworking, that are Americans, that believe the economy has been left behind them. That's who she was really talking to. And she's trying to drive a divide between them because many of them are very concerned about the alt-right and the white nationalist movement that seem to dominate Donald Trump's campaign.

HARLOW: What do you mean Scott? Because just to be clear for our viewers today, the context she was speaking at a fundraiser here in New York City last night. Raised $6 million. A lot of wealthy people were in the audience who she was speaking to. But you are talking about the second part of her remarks where she said sort of the second basket of people are those who feel the government has let them down, the economy has let them down.

BOLDEN: Absolutely. And, there were wealthy donors there but there were non-wealthy donors there, too. And she's going to double down on --

HARLOW: --how is that the case? Some paid up to $50,000? Just to be clear for our viewers the audience.

BOLDEN: Okay, and some paid far less than that. I don't want to get -- I'm not -- I wasn't there so I don't know what the debate is, but in most fundraisers you have a wide range of people giving because they're supporting Hillary Clinton. But she hasn't looked down on them or she hasn't ruled them out.

What she's trying to do is those who are uncomfortable with the racist and xenophobic aspects of Donald Trump's campaign, she's talking to them because she says I've got a jobs program. We're going to rebuild America. And we know, and we've heard that you feel left behind and we're going to fix that.

So that's a strong message to them. And she is trying to drive a divide between those two groups. But the half, that number, that was -- that was inappropriate. And that's what she regrets. And that's what she says she was wrong about.

HARLOW: So we've just got a statement from Donald Trump. Let me read you part of it. From him himself, not his campaign. "Isn't it disgraceful that Hillary Clinton makes the worst mistake of the political season, and instead of owning up to this grotesque attack on American voters, she tries to turn it around with a pathetic rehash of the words and insults used in her failing campaign?" Then he ends it by saying, "I will be President for all people, and together we will make America great again."

Scottie Nell, to you. Some would say all right she didn't use the word apologize. She used the word regret. But she came out pretty quick and said she was wrong. And Donald Trump doesn't do that.

SCOTTIE NELL HUGHES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, it's interesting you just read Mr. Trump's statement because it reminds me a lot of Barack Obama's tweet that he did after Mitt Romney's 47% when all the backlash was going rightfully so against his comments. Barack had said retweet if you support the candidate who is fighting for all Americans, not one writing off half the country and that was in September of 2012.

So, you know, you can see the parallels right here. I think when you call -- you call a spade a spade. This was wrong for her to say across the board. And there's two reasons you see the Democrats people like Scott defending it. One, I agree they want to engage in this very desperate conversation right now about race. Not necessarily offering solutions but stirring up the emotions that go along with the race issues we have in this country.

But, two, they're doing damage control. They learned a lot in this last primary when Hillary Clinton said we're going to put a lot of coalminers and coal companies out of business in that Town Hall un March of 2016. They had a lot of push back. In fact a lot of people thought that's the reason why she lost a lot of votes in some of these states like West Virginia over those comments when she was confronted by one of those men in tears who might lose his job because of her words.

They're trying to keep this from getting absolutely -- the focus is going to more on race and a distraction on race rather than the middle class workers she insulted.

[16:10:07]

HARLOW: Quickly Scottie -- why do you call this a desperate conversation about --

BOLDEN: Right, what are we desperate about?

HARLOW: -- about race? Because I mean, you've even seen some of the supporters at Trump rally after Trump rally after Trump rally that make clearly racist comments. And I'm putting them into any baskets and I'm not talking about any percent. But I'm saying why is it a desperate conversation about race, why isn't it an important conversation to have.

HUGHES: Because it's a very small -- very minor crowd that have been highly condemned at these if they have been that way. There's been more actually more on the outside than on the inside of these rallies of racists. And those of you -- we can go case by case, and I can tell you when a man sitting there and flicking off the rest of the crowd and insulting a man's wife unfortunately actions have consequences.

Mr. Trump has time, and time again said that he does not -- he absolutely condemns racism of any type, any sort of violence that happens at his rallies --

BOLDEN: -- Poppy, please let me jump in here.

HUGHES: That's not the conversation this is about.

BOLDEN: -- please let me jump in.

HUGHES: This is about Hillary Clinton insulting middle class good all American workers like Mike Pence stated. This had nothing to do with race, which is what she wants to distract once again by.

BOLDEN: That's just untrue.

HARLOW: But it does have something -- it does have something --

Ryan Lizza, it does have something to do with race. Regardless of the half comment or not, which is very important, right? But there is a conversation about race that needs to happen here. And the merit to what she had to say, or not.

LIZZA: Look, there's just no doubt about it that the Trump's campaign has attracted and organized a group of Americans that was isolated and marginalized in politics, a group of Americans that are racists.

You know, that's -- there's no doubt about it. There's a reason that David Duke in Louisiana is in love with the Trump campaign, right? I mean, we can't whitewash that out of the election. It's an important phenomenon that is out there. And just because you know it makes some of Trump's other supporters uncomfortable, you know, we need to point it out.

Now, did she paint too broad a brush here? Maybe. But look, there's a reason that white nationalist websites are supporting this campaign. There's a reason that he's become the candidate of that group of Americans. And you know, it needs to be understood and explained.

HARLOW: I think -- she's made it clear that she painted with too broad a brush by saying she regrets it. But just hold that thought guys. I have to leave it there and get a break in. Ryan Lizza, A. Scott Bolden, Scottie Nell Hughes, thank you very, very much.

And also I do want to point you to this. Tomorrow morning on "State of the Union," an exclusive interview with Hillary Clinton. Our Chris Cuomo sat down with her. You'll hear that tomorrow morning, 9:00 a.m. eastern and pacific, only right here. Stay with us, you are live in the CNN Newsroom.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

[16:16:27]

HARLOW: Breaking news just in to us at CNN. The man who tried to assassinate President Ronald Reagan in 1981 is now a free man.

A short time ago John Hinckely Jr. left the psychiatric hospital where he has spent the past 35 years. He is 61 years old now and will live with his 90-year-old mother in Williamsburg, Virginia under some restrictions.

He tried to kill President Reagan to impress actress Jodie Foster, a woman he was obsessed with at the time. Hinckely fired six shots as the President left a D.C. hotel, one bullet coming within an inch of Reagan's heart. Also wounded a secret service agent, a police officer, and Reagan's press secretary James Brady was shot in the head and partially paralyzed.

Over the last ten years a federal judge has allowed Hinckley to take increasingly longer breaks away from the hospital to visit his mother. In July, the judge granted Hinckley full release, beginning today.

Tomorrow, marks 15 years since the 9/11 attacks on this country. This weekend, nearly 3,000 lives were lost on that fateful day and they will all be remembered tomorrow morning at commemorations here in New York City. In our nation's capital, and outside of Shansville, Pennsylvania.

In a column titled "15 years after 9/11, Muslim Americans are poised to overcome hate" Dina Badia writes "To put it simply on September 10th, 2001 I went to sleep a white American, on September 11th, I became a hated minority.

What is it like to be a Muslim living in America 15 years after 9/11. Let's discuss it with the man who wrote that. Dean Obeidallah is with me of the Daily Beast. And also with us is Saba Ahmed, President and Founder of the Republican Muslim Coalition.

Guys thank you for being here.

And Dean, you watched as the towers came down. You were standing on the corner of 8th Avenue -- 8th Street and 6th Avenue here in New York. And you write this, let me quote. You write, "before that day I had little connection to my Arab heritage or to the Muslim community. I truly identified as a white guy." And you go on to say, "as a white person, I never was called for to answer for the bad acts of a few white people. Now I've become somehow responsible for any bad act committed by any Muslim anywhere in the world."

How do you square that with saying you're optimistic today?

DEAN OBEIDALLAH, CONTRIBUTOR, THE DAILY BEAST: Well, I think right now frankly it's never been more challenging to be a Muslim in America. We've seen a spike in hate crimes, we've seen polls that are alarming, politicians on the right have demonized our community in ways we never heard before.

But I'm optimistic for a few reasons; one, the history of country tells us to be optimistic. Jews and Catholics also are demonized and try to be marginalized. Second, more Muslims than ever are involved in politics and the media. Which I think are the two best ways to define our community and empower us.

That's why I'm glad Sabbah is a Republican. I'm a Democrat, we need Muslim's on both sides of the aisle to get involved in politics, to change politicians and get involved in the media to tell our story and to push back against the hate. That's why I'm so optimistic.

HARLOW: Saba, not only are you a Republican, you're a Donald Trump supporter and you've spoken out on this show in that capacity many times. As a Trump supporter, has his campaign made it easier or harder for you to be a Muslim in America?

SABA AHMED, FOUNDER, REPUBLICAN MUSLIM COALITION: I think trump provides great opportunities for Muslim Americans. He has toned down on his Muslim ban. And, I've been watching his rhetoric and he is supporting a lot of Muslim-Americans and our civil rights and all peoples of faith.

He's talking about repealing the Johnson Amendment and talking freely about support for Muslims. And on the back end we are meeting with his campaign. We met with Mike Pence. We're meeting with him. We hope to change his perspective towards Muslims and Islam. But, it's not going to happen unless Muslims get involved in Republican policy circles.

[16:20:13]

HARLOW: So which is it because you said that his rhetoric has really toned down, that you know that he's changed his position on Muslims coming into this country. But then you said we're meeting with him and trying to change his position.

AHMED: Yes. I mean yesterday we heard from Rudy Giuliani and Trump was here in Washington, D.C. as well. They have serious national security concerns from radical terrorism. But at the same time we need to distinguish that from Islam. We need to take that back debate from terrorists. 9/11 was not done by real Muslims. It was people who twisted a peaceful religion into their perverted teachings. It's absolutely horrifying that we are all to be blamed for the acts of a few criminals.

I don't think it's fair to blame all Muslim-Americans. We need to take back the narrative and we need to repel evil with good. We have to be -- we have good -- we have nothing to hide. We have to defend our religion, we have to defend our country, and get involved in policy circles to make a difference.

HARLOW: Dean, you write in this piece about Muslim-American children, and that they have born much of the hate of the last 15 years.

OBEIDALLAH: Sadly that's very true. There was a recent poll by (??) California. Over 55% of Muslim students there said they had been harassed and bullied simply because of their fate. And here's the worst part. 20% of the time they were bullied by their teachers in front of their classmates. It's shocking. And the words of politicians matter.

You know Saba, I'm so glad Donald Trump is dampening down some of his hateful comments about our community. But we're not going to forget. You can pivot on policy but not when you're demonizing our community. When Donald Trump says thousands of Muslims cheered on 9/11 New Jersey, which absolutely was not true, it makes people hate us.

When Donald Trump says in this campaign Muslims are not turning in and working with authorities, which is not true. We are working with authorities. It makes our lives more difficult.

HARLOW: So Saba, you're a Trump supporter, do you -- let me jump in there. Do you agree with Dean on some of those points or no?

AHMED: No, I think he was being ill advised by certain people at that time. But he has toned down, he has learned that message, clearly. But it's also because there's hardly any Muslims involved in advising him on national security debates. We have to take back the narrative.

And, you know I was 16 when 9/11 happened. I had nothing to do with it. Yet growing up in Portland, Oregon, I was -- I saw a lot of people treat me differently right after 9/11. Being at school, wearing a head scarf, all of a sudden I couldn't tell why my friends changed, why my teachers treated me differently. Somehow all Muslims were blamed and that's not fair to any of us. We need to change that and we need to make this a better place for everyone.

HARLOW: It's interesting Dean, you start your radio show on Sirius XM by saying I am your Muslim friend. And you write -- OBEIDALLAH: I want to be your Muslim friend. I'm not sure of the

argument, I want to be your Muslim friend.

HARLOW: -- but you -- but you do say on a serious note in this opinion piece that you wish you could assign everyone a Muslim friend. What do you mean.

OBEIDALLAH: I would like everyone to have a Muslim friend. Saba is here, a Republican, I'm here more of a progressive, because polls have shown that people, and I cite it in my article that people who know a Muslim like Muslim's more.

In fact, even Republicans, which gives me optimism. In this poll, about 22%, 23% of Republicans had a favorable view of Islam. If they knew a Muslim very well, that's the term they use in the poll, it went up to over 55% favorable view of Muslims and Islam. So, that's why I want to be your Muslim friend. Saba, wants to be your Muslim friend.

AHMED: I want to be the friend for Donald Trump, and all Republicans.

OBEIDALLAH: That would be great. And, the point is we are a human counter-balance to misinformation to the images you see in the media which are generally negative about us and you don't hear us telling our story. That's why one on one connection plays a big role.

HARLOW: All right guys, I have to leave it there. Dean Obeidallah, host of the Dean Obeidallah Show on Sirius XM Radio, and Saba Ahmed, Head of the Republican Muslim Coalition. Guys, thank you so much important discussion to have.

Coming up next, lawmakers in Washington it looks like could finally be close to a compromise to funding to fight the Zika virus. We're going to talk about that. And also what you do to protect yourself in the meantime as we've learned more than 80 pregnant women in Miami now have Zika. Next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:28:00]

HARLOW: A growing number of lawmakers believe congress will soon finally pass a billion dollar package to combat the Zika virus to fund a vaccine. This follows months and months of back and forth over just that. And frankly, no funding for exactly what is needed.

There are 84 pregnant women now living in Florida who have contracted Zika. We just learned this from the CDC. This disease is extremely dangerous for expectant mothers because of the devastating birth defects it is linked to. In total, 671 pregnant women have contracted Zika across the united states. 17 babies have been born with Zika related abnormalities and five pregnancies have been lost as a result.

Our Dr. Anthony Fauci, is with us. He is the Director of the National Institute of Health. Thank you so much for being with us.

When you talk about these 84 pregnant women in Florida with Zika, I mean I cannot imagine being in their shoes and how they must feel waiting to know if something will happen to their unborn child as a result. Is it an important distinction that these are all travel- related cases these; I mean they're not cases that they caught in Florida from local mosquitoes there?

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF HEALTH: It's true. They are travel-related cases. But as we are also seeing there's an increasing number of locally transmitted cases in Florida. There are now about 56 locally transmitted cases in Florida.

Now, that's a relatively small number when you think of the hundreds and hundreds of pregnant women who have been infected during their pregnancy. But if we don't get good control over the locally transmitted case we may start to see women who have been transmitted locally, meaning they never left the continental United States that you'll start seeing abnormalities. The reason you're seeing it in the travel related cases is because there are so many of them. As you mentioned Florida has over 600 travel related cases.

HARLOW: It does. And look, one of the big concerns right now, I think is the fact that the guidance keeps changing. Right, the CDC comes out and says men and women have to wait x amount of months before they have unprotected sex because they could spread the virus. And then the World Health Organization came out this week and said actually you have to wait longer, you have to wait six months.

[16:30:15]

HARLOW: So, what are people supposed to do? Because it seems like the guidance on this keeps changing so quickly, as frankly, the experts learn more and more about the disease.

DR. FAUCI: Well, Poppy, I don't think the guidance changed. The CDC original guidance was that if a man is in a situation where he is in an area where there's possibility he may be infected or doesn't have any symptoms that you should wait eight weeks before you have unprotected sex. But if you're infected or strongly suspicious of being infected the recommendation is six months of either refraining from sex or having condom protected sex.

HARLOW: Well, and that's what the World Health Organization now is coming out and saying. Even if you are not symptomatic, right? Because 80% of these cases are asymptomatic then you still should wait six months. I think the broader question here is just, things are changing very quickly with Zika, and the knowledge about the disease keeps changes.

DR. FAUCI: Well, it does, I mean we learn more and more. I think the extra safe way, which the WHO is saying, is six months no matter what, because you're not sure if you're infected. That's why they made that declaration of six months. Which is not that incompatible with the CDC's recommendation.

HARLOW: Zika is in Florida now, and we've seen it spread from southern Florida, up into Tampa and Orlando and further north. I mean, Dr., what can we expect -- what can Americans expect in terms of where Zika will spread and where mosquitos that carry it can actually live. I mean can they live up north? Can they live in Massachusetts? Can they live in Vermont?

DR. FAUCI: If you look at the range of the mosquito that is the major transmitter of Zika, it's the Aedes aegypti mosquito and they're more concentrated along the southern part of United States, along the Gulf Coast states, a little bit up the east coast and maybe a little bit out west but not further north.

You will see infections in areas in which the density of this mosquito is the highest. And, in which the climate is essentially semitropical, which is the reason why the most vulnerable part of our country are the Gulf Coast states including and specifically Florida. Florida has a large number of travel-related cases. And, when you put that together with copious mosquitos that are able to transmit it, you see what we are actually seeing in Florida right, is namely, locally transmitted case.

I wouldn't be surprised if we'll continue to see these until we get to a situation where we can get better control over the mosquitos, either by directly attacking the mosquitos or as the weather changes and makes the density of the mosquitos less than they are right now in the middle of a hot summer.

HARLOW: Yes, or until we get a vaccine and funding for one from congress.

DR. FAUCI: Yes.

HARLOW: I have to leave it there. Doctor Fauci, important conversation. Thank you so much.

DR. FAUCI: Good to be with you.

HARLOW: Still to come -- flexing military muscles in Crimea.

Flexing its military muscles in Crimea, Russian war games making a statement to the world. You will see it firsthand next. You are live in the CNN Newsroom.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:36:15]

HARLOW: Russia right now reminding the world of its military presence and power in Crimea. 12,000 troops staging a series of exercises there on land, in the air, and in the sea near the border with Ukraine. You may remember Russia seized Crimea two years ago in a military move many call violation of international law. CNN's Fred Pleitgen reporters.

Russia is sending a clear message with this show of force.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FRED PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Moscow putting on a huge show of force. War games from land, air, and sea.

In Crimea, the territory Russia annexed from Ukraine a little over two years ago. The Russians are sending a very clear message with these large scale and complex military drills. Their forces are entrenched near Crimea, and they're ready to fight any time.

The maneuvers are called "CAFCASS 2016" and take place not only in Crimea, but in Russia's entire southern military district, right on the border with Ukraine.

The drills involve more than 12,000 soldiers, dozens of fighter jets flying mock dogfight missions, strike aircraft hitting ground and sea targets, and land forces in an amphibious assault. Still the defense ministry spokesman insists it is not a provocation.

This is not at all a provocation, he says. I want to stress that this is a planned event. We announced these drills last November. The troops have been preparing for a long time.

But they come at a time of heightened tensions with the U.S. and NATO over the annexation of Crimea and other issues. The Russian Air Force intercepted a U.S. P-8 naval aircraft in the region just as the drills were getting underway. And only three weeks ago Russia accused Ukraine of trying to smuggle operatives into Crimea for sabotage operations. A claim Kiev denies.

The CAFCASS military drills will likely cause more unease in Ukraine and eastern European NATO member states. Russia's military Chief of Staff says the initial assessment is that they went smoothly.

We need to fully analyze everything he says. But these drills were very beneficial to the southern military district and for the troops from other districts involved as well.

With Russia and the west at odds over Syria and Ukraine, Moscow is continuing to advance and refine its armed forces for all the world to see.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN at the Opuk military base in Crimea.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: Fred, thank you very much for that.

Straight ahead two big names in the intelligence community sending a stark message to Donald Trump. Why they have today penned an open letter to the Republican candidate challenging him to speak out against Vladimir Putin, next

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:42:40]

HARLOW: All right. You have heard it more than once this campaign season. Donald Trump complimenting Russia's President, Vladimir Putin. Let's listen. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: But she talks about me, oh, Donald Trump likes Putin. And Putin likes Trump.

(LAUGHTER)

TRUMP: Honestly, I don't know the gentleman. But you know what, he has been nice the me. If he's nice to me -- if we got along with Russia, that wouldn't be so bad.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: In today's Washington Post, two intelligence experts warn Trump about what his comments mean on the world stage.

Mike Morell and Mike Vickers have served at the highest levels of Republican and Democratic administrations. Both now support Hillary Clinton though and in this open letter they write, "at the Commander in Chief forum on Wednesday you said that as long as Putin says nice things about you, you will say nice things about him. That is not a standard on which a candidate or a president should make policy decisions. That shouldn't enter your calculus. Your only question should be what is in the best interests of the United States." They go on to write, "So, here's a challenge: demand that Putin some his aggressive behavior overseas. Demand that he stop his dictatorial moves at home. Tell him that you will live up to our NATO commitments and defend the Baltics if need be. Tell him that you want to work with him on solving the problems of the world but that he must behave in order to do so. That is what a true Commander in Chief would do."

Let's bring in Global Affairs Analyst, Kimberly Dozier, she joins me now. Look, first of all I want your reaction to this letter. This comes from two men very high up in the intelligence world who serve both Republicans and Democrats. Are they right?

KIMBERLY DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, I think what you are seeing Poppy is a culture clash between two men who have read confidential intelligence reports that show all of Russia's worst misdeeds. Versus candidate Trump, a forearm businessman, who is using the language of, say, "The Apprentice" flatter your adversary, get them to like you, get them into the right position, and then you go in for the kill. It's a sort of a deal making kabuki dance. But the messages that he's sending these intelligence professionals believe are ones that signal weakness, the ability to influence Trump rather than a stiffening of his spine in a future Trump administration.

[16:45:00]

HARLOW: So clearly, Putin is flexing his muscles with -- let's look, I mean, these military exercises that have been playing out in Crimea. We just saw them in the Fred Pleitgen piece. He does that during the same week that Donald Trump comes out and says that Putin the a stronger leader in his regime than President Obama is in his government. I should note, Trump said I don't like the Russian system of

governance but still, Putin is stronger there than the President is here. What do you think those two things together on the global stage mean right now? How important are they?

DOZIER: Well, I think what Trump is trying to do is echo some of what he's heard in Republican circles, complaints that the Obama administration withdraws forces while the Putin administration sends them in to battle to protect Russian interests at various points on the globe.

So I can understand why he's trying to echo Republican voters who have said, we look weak, Putin looks strong. Unfortunately for him, and I think it's from inexperience, when you send a message like this while Putin is doing something that is actively defiant, actively undermining NATO efforts, U.S. efforts to help countries in that area stand up to Putin, well, he sounds like he's working with the opposition.

HARLOW: Well, here's a really interesting thing though. The Washington Post had a piece on Thursday that stood out to us. Because they cite this 2014 Quinnipiac Poll that actually shows that when American people, the voters, were asked two years ago about who is a stronger leader, Obama or Putin. They were tied. And then when they asked about strong leadership qualities more thought Putin had them than Obama.

What, I mean is Trump echoing the feelings of the American people?

DOZIER: Well, I think there -- what you're picking up on, what the American people are picking up on is Putin is very good at telegraphing power and being in power, even when he is on his back foot.

When the country is suffering -- his country is suffering under the effects of sanctions, what he does is blame them on another country, go on a campaign like sending troops into Syria to protect his Syrian ally, and look where they are now. A year later the U.S. is agreeing to work with Russia to try to get them to bring Syria to heal when the U.S. had been up to this point saying there was no way to work with the Assad regime unless Assad stepped down.

To the Russian people, it looks like Putin got one over on the United States. And you can see from the American perspective it probably looks that way to people who don't follow this closely as well. I mean, Putin is always willing to in a game chicken go the extra mile take the extra gamble and he's rewarded for that back home.

HARLOW: Kimberly Dozier, our global affairs analyst, important conversation. Thank you so much.

DOZIER: Thank you.

HARLOW: Coming up, an incredibly, incredibly disturbing story. Heroin addiction reaching huge levels in the United States. If a picture is worth a thousand words, one small Ohio town has just spoken volumes in its fight against the drug. With this picture, of a passed out mother and father with their child

in the back seat, their 4-year-old in the back seat. That story next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:52:05]

HARLOW: One small Ohio town is bringing awareness to the heroin epidemic in the United States by putting a young human face to it.

City officials in East Liverpool, Ohio, posted this photo with a warning, a graphic warning on its Facebook page. What you are looking at is an image of a man and a woman passed out in the front seat of their car. Their 4-year-old child, their son, is sitting in the back seat. We have blurred his face out. The picture, taken by a police officer during a traffic stop there.

Our Polo Sandoval is covering this story for us and has more.

I have seen the photo of that little boy not blurred out. And it just -- it breaks your heart. He is just looking like a dear into headlights. What is going on? What has happened to my parents? Why is the city saying they posted this photo? And I mean what's the message here they're trying to send.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And, Poppy, you don't necessarily have to be a parent to really look at that grim appearance on that child's face to really get the message. And that's what the city of East Liverpool wants the rest of the public to know.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: They say that they are doing this for several reasons, and willing to face some of the criticism. That's because they feel that it's important to show this image to drive the point across that this wide epidemic is affecting not just the addicts, but also innocent men, women, and in this case a 4-year-old child as well.

I want to read you a portion of a statement that was posted on the city's website as they tried to defend their position here and why they decided to indeed post this.

The city there of East Liverpool saying "We feel it necessary to show the other side of this horrible drug." This is actually another portion of that quote, too, Poppy, I can read this for you as well. They say "The poison known as heroin has taken a strong grip on many communities, not just ours. The difference is we are willing to fight this problem until it's gone. And if that means we offend a few people along the way, then we are prepared to deal with that."

The rest of the portion that I was reading a little while ago, Poppy, it's also very important. They say "We feel it necessary to show the other side of the horrible drug. We feel we need to be a voice for the children caught up in this horrible mess."

(END VIDEOTAPE) SANDOVAL: On social media, yes, there are plenty of supporters, people who feel that perhaps yes this is the graphic image that's necessary to drive that point home. But there are others who are criticizing the city, not so much for posting the picture, but as you mentioned for not blurring the child's face. We did do it though to protect the child's identity.

HARLOW: Yes, of course. It is a heartbreaking image. It certainly says a lot. Polo Sandoval for us, thank you so much for that reporting. We'll be right back.

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[16:59:42]

HARLOW: Top of the hour, I'm Poppy Harlow in New York, you're watching CNN. And, we begin this hour with an apology from Hillary Clinton for what she said about a large group of Trump supporters last night. This, as Donald Trump paints Clinton as the ultimate insider.

Clinton now apologizing for how she characterized those supporters. Here are the remarks for which now she says she regrets part of.