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Clinton Expresses Regret Over Comments; Reagan Shooter John Hinckley, Jr. Freed; Deported Veterans Hope To Make U.S. Home Again; Clinton: I Won't Stop Calling Out Bigotry, Racism; CNN's "9/11, 15 Years Later Airs This Weekend; Starbucks CEO Talks American Dream. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired September 10, 2016 - 17:00   ET

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

[16:59:43] POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Top of the hour, I'm Poppy Harlow in New York. You are 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.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: You know, to be just grossly generalistic. You could put half of Trump's supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables. Right? The racists, sexists, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic. 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 are just desperate for change.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Clinton said in a statement just a short time ago, quote, "Last night I was grossly generalistic. That is never a good idea. I regret saying half. That was wrong." She goes on to say, quote, "It's deplorable that Trump had 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 spreading their message to 11 million people."

Donald Trump is responding a short time ago in another statement saying impart, "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." Clinton's comments generating strong reaction. Certainly a lot to talk about here with our political panel.

Joining me now, Hillary Clinton supporter, A. Scott Bolden, former chairman of the Washington, DC Democratic Party. And Donald Trump supporter Scottie Nell Hughes, political editor at RightAlerts.com. Thank you both for being here very much.

A. SCOTT BOLDEN, HILLARY CLINTON SUPPORTER: Thank you for having me.

HARLOW: Trump also tweeted this. While Hillary said horrible things about my supporters and while many of her supporters will never vote for me, I still respect them all. Look you have had some Democrats coming out, Scott, calling this a big business mistake for Clinton. You had Bob Beckel who managed Mondale's campaign in '84 saying this morning on CNN it is the wrong thing to say you had Obama's director rapid response and his 2012 campaign Lis Smith saying, "Basket of deplorables reminds of binders full of women." How big of a miss was this for Clinton?

BOLDEN: Well, it certainly wasn't the best language and she said it was wrong that she regrets it. She came out within 24 hours to do that. So, that's a good move. But let's be real clear. What she is doubling down on is the fact that his supporters are in those two groups. And while she shouldn't paint that with a broad brush they do exist and she was really talking at those who think they have been left behind economically and she is trying to draw that distinction and say that I have got an economic plan, a job plan.

And consider me because those other buckets of xenophobia and racism and sexism and all of those other ones, that makes a lot of those voters uncomfortable. She is trying to be an alternative. Now, I don't know why the Republicans aren't accepting her regret and saying she was wrong about it. But she has done that. That was something Donald Trump never does.

HARLOW: Scottie, now your response to that. I mean, he is saying, look, she was wrong to paint it with the broad brush which she came out quickly and said she regrets it. He did and Donald Trump is not known for saying he regrets things.

SCOTTIE NELL HUGHES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: That is true. Let me ask Scott this one question, do you believe that there are extreme fringes that exists on both sides of the aisle? Just like there is -- the right that there are extreme fringes on the left. Correct?

BOLDEN: Are you interviewing me now? Okay.

HUGHES: I just want to ask you a question. Do you think there are extreme leftists that --

BOLDEN: I think there are far more extremes that have been brought into the mainstream of the Republican Party with Donald Trump than there could ever be with the Democrats under Hillary Clinton. There is your answer.

HUGHES: OK. Well, let me say this week, we had --

HARLOW: Scott, if that's the point why shouldn't Clinton not just stand by her comment?

BOLDEN: Well, because I am not aware of any extreme support for Hillary Clinton. I don't know who all her supporters are. There may be. But she certainly hasn't accepted it and brought it mainstream.

HARLOW: How has Donald Trump accepted it?

BOLDEN: He has accepted it by hiring the CEO of Breitbart, Mr. Bannon, who peddles in the Alt-right, who peddles in white supremacy and white nationalism. And it's clear. This is all documented. Let me just say this, Donald Trump has driven this racially divisive dialogue from day one. All the Democrats and Hillary Clinton have ever done is just respond to it and point it out. And the Democrats and Hillary Clinton are going to continue to point it out because it's racially divisive, it's offensive and it's not the real America.

HARLOW: So, Scottie Nell, I mean, Scott is talking about the things like the comments about the judge of Hispanic heritage. Right? He is talking things like a ban on Muslims, he is talking about the comments that Donald Trump made in June of a year ago when he started running and talked about Mexicans as rapists and murders.

BOLDEN: And the birther issue as well.

HARLOW: Does he have a point?

[17:05:05] HUGHES: Well, let me just real quick go back to his original point. He hasn't seen any of these extreme factions come out and endorsed Hillary Clinton. Let me educate you this week. John Bachtell, the national chair of The Communist Party U.S.A. came out and endorsed Hillary Clinton. There is a Marxist socialist leftist page for Hillary Clinton page on Facebook. There are extreme leftwing. There are anarchists for Hillary Clinton. And a lot of people would say, those folks that encouraged the targeting of police officers are supporting Hillary Clinton.

But do sit there and hold all the broad brush or does Donald Trump broad brush all of her supporters as being that extreme leftist? No. That is rude. That is wrong. And it does not help find solutions to the problems we have in America.

HARLOW: Scottie, I think you are bringing up an important point. And there is a really important distinction to be made here. And that distinction is, is the candidate responsible for everyone who supports them on either side? No. But is there an expectation and the responsibility of the candidate to denounce factions, extreme factions on both sides? Scottie?

HUGHES: Absolutely. And we have not -- and we have not heard Hillary Clinton denounce the endorsement of the Communist Party U.S.A. that happened this week. But we did hear Donald Trump --

HARLOW: We have also not heard Donald Trump denounce any of his supporters who say, and echo what he has said for years up until a year ago, questioning whether Obama, President Obama, was born in this country, saying that for example, he sent investigators to Hawaii and, quote, "You wouldn't believe what they found." His camp came out this week and says they believe the President was born here. He still has not.

HUGHES: Well, and that is as we are continuing to develop. Once again, all this -- HARLOW: What, I couldn't hear? What Scottie?

HUGHES: You heard Donald Trump open the conversation back in 2012 and once again, I'm going to bring up the old history. It's not Trump that brought up the birtherism. It actually goes back to 2004 to the Democrat opponent, of Barack Obama running for Senate went on to Hillary Clinton but does support --

(TALKING OVER EACH OTHER)

HARLOW: Scottie, I wish you wouldn't do that. Because then I have to stop and make it very clear --

HUGHES: CNN reported in 2008 it was not Hillary Clinton --

HARLOW: You just said Hillary Clinton. So, who are you talking about specifically then?

HUGHES: That was a Hillary Clinton supporter.

HARLOW: Who?

HUGHES: He was the -- he is the one person that brought it up.

HARLOW: Who?

HUGHES: I don't have his name in front of me, Poppy. But a Hillary Clinton supporter in 2008 who actually passed this around. We had this argument a week ago. But that's not what I'm pointing out here. What I'm pointing out is that if you are going to sit there and hold Donald Trump accountable for bringing up the issue of the birther, then are those same supporters going to hold Hillary Clinton accountability for Barack Obama.

And Barack Obama, in his campaign came out, the shameful smear tickets when Barack Obama, they posted the picture of wearing, when he visited Kenya and put on the full garb, the traditional. And then Hillary Clinton camp sat there and said, we are not going to make -- you are the one making it a racist. And Obama campaign said this was a smear jab against -- by Hillary Clinton. Have we heard --

HARLOW: All right. Before I get Scott back in here and just to clarify for our viewers Scottie, there were people around Hillary Clinton in 2008. Not members of her campaign, not Hillary Clinton herself who did talk about an e-mail about where Barack Obama was born, not Hillary Clinton. Not her campaign.

HUGHES: I never said her particularly.

HARLOW: OK. Moving on.

BOLDEN: You used her name. Let me just say this very quickly.

HARLOW: Moving on.

BOLDEN: Let me say this quickly. Because in 2011 and 2012, and even more recently, Donald Trump drove this narrative of the birther movement, that somehow the first African-American president wasn't born here. And he not only put -- he put up $5 million. He sent investigators.

HARLOW: But back at the issue at hand, and the news of the day, you know, Donald Trump came out and he tweeted this, right? He tweeted, you know what's deplorable? Attacking hardworking Americans upset because their jobs have been sent abroad by politicians like Hillary Clinton. Scott, look, Mike Pence uttered the same words just moments ago saying these are hardworking Americans, these aren't people in a basket of anything. Scott, is this Hillary Clinton putting herself on the side of sort the ultimate insider and looking like she doesn't understand average America?

BOLDEN: No. Not at all. As a matter of fact, if you listen to her discussion at that fundraiser, she talks more about those who believe they have been left behind economically and giving them a choice than she does about the alt-right and those phobia -- buckets of phobia that make up part of Donald Trump's campaign. So, no, not at all. Not at all.

HARLOW: Final thoughts, Scottie.

HUGHES: Once again, it's Hillary denounce the national chair of the Communist Party U.S.A. endorsing her -- a leftist extreme wing of the Democratic Party who has endorsed her.

BOLDEN: Is Donald Trump going to admit that the President of the United States of America was born in the U.S. Not a surrogate, but Donald Trump. All he has to do is admit it. He can't do it.

HUGHES: You don't know that yet.

BOLDEN: Well, he has had years to admit it. Once the birth certificate --

HARLOW: All right, guys. I have got to leave it there. I have got to leave it there. Scottie Nell Hughes, thank you so much. Scott Bolden, thank you as well.

BOLDEN: Thank you.

HARLOW: We want to make sure you watch the CNN State of the Union tomorrow morning. An exclusive interview with Hillary Clinton. Our Chris Cuomo sits down with her. That is tomorrow 9:00 a.m. Eastern and Pacific only right here on CNN.

Up next, breaking news, the man who tried to assassinate Ronald Reagan today freed from a psychiatric hospital, you go hear his story.

Also later, military veterans who served in our country -- served our country in uniform, have been deported to Mexico waiting to see if they can return to America as citizens.

Kyung Lah reports on that. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:14:30] ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

HARLOW: Breaking news. The man who tried to assassinate President Ronald Reagan in 1981 is a free man today. John Hinckley Jr. released a short time ago from a psychiatric hospital in Washington. Hinckley who is now 61 will live full time with his elderly mother in Williamsburg, Virginia.

Our Richard Roth takes a look back at the shooting that shocked the country.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHARD ROTH, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was March 30th, 1981, and John Hinckley wanted to assassinate President Ronald Reagan. Hinckley waited outside the Washington Hilton Hotel with a revolver as Reagan exited following a speech. He fired six times. A U.S. Secret Service agent and a police officer were injured. Presidential Press Secretary James Brady was shot in the head. President Reagan was hit by a bullet that ricocheted off a limousine, the bullet lodging in his chest. And he was rushed to the hospital. Hinckley was charged with attempted assassination. And to the amazement of much of the country was found not guilty by reason of insanity.

Why did he do it? Hinckley was obsessed with teenage actress Jodie Foster. He had written her letters, phoned her, stalked her on a campus in Connecticut. He believed that only by killing a president would he be able to impress Foster. Hinckley was then confined at St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Washington for nearly 35 years. Eventually he was given supervised release privileges to see his parents in Virginia. Prosecutors at several points said he was not fit to be out.

However, eventually, a federal judge declared that he was not threat to himself or others. There were many ramifications to Hinckley's attempted assassination. One of them, the Brady bill, named in honor of James Brady, the presidential press secretary seriously wounded in the assassination attempt. Brady died in 2014, his death was declared a homicide. But John Hinckley would not be charged with that death because he had already been found not guilty by reason of insanity.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: Richard Roth reporting there.

Ahead, the United States military is made up of many people who are not citizens. Many of them still live in the country for which they fought. Yet others live in fear of one thing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But according to the ACLU there are thousands of other U.S. service men and women who could end up right here, deported out of the United States. (END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: But these veterans are starting to hear something from Donald Trump they hope could keep it from coming to that. We will tell you what next, live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:20:48] HARLOW: One thing we know is that hundreds of veterans who fought in the United States military are no longer allowed to return to this country. Why? Because they were undocumented immigrants. But this week, Donald Trump said something interesting. He said that he would consider whether or not to allow undocumented immigrants to openly serve in the U.S. military.

CNN's Kyung Lah reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: How many years has it taken to get to this point?

HECTOR BARAJAS, DEPORTED U.S. VETERAN: I have been deported since 2004. It's a little bit over ten years.

LAH (voice-over): More than ten years in Mexico to finally get into this line for a Mexican passport, the first in a very long series of steps to try and return to what he calls home. But not to Mexico. To America. Hector Barajas has served five-and-a-half years in the U.S. army honorably discharged. Life was tough after the military. Barajas was in a car when another passenger fired an illegal weapon. After a jail sentenced, the country he called home since age seven, that he served as a paratrooper where he had a family including a daughter pulled his green card and deported him.

(on camera): Is this what you thought would happen when you left the military?

BARAJAS: No. I never thought that I would be deported. I thought immigration would be like for somebody like my uncle that's coming across and gets caught.

LAH (voice-over): But it's not. U.S. veterans who run into legal troubles are also deported under current U.S. immigration laws. With Donald Trump now suggesting he would look at undocumented military members with an open mind, it is a surprising and welcome turn for Barajas.

BARAJAS: I don't approve of what he said about Mexicans and immigrants. But I do approve of anybody wanting to get veterans home.

DANIEL TORRES, DEPORTED VETERAN: Will he do it? I don't know. I really don't think so.

LAH: Daniel Torres doesn't buy Trump's promise. Torrez was a lance corporal in the U.S. Marines fighting in ground combat in Iraq. He was honorably discharged.

(on camera): How did the military figure out you were undocumented?

TORRES: Well, after I got back from Iraq, I volunteered for a one year deployment to Afghanistan.

LAH (voice-over): That's when the military figured out his papers were fake.

(on camera): Why did you lie to the military?

TORRES: I won't be able to say that I haven't done something for the country, that I've done something, you know, to earn my place in the United States.

LAH (voice-over): Lying was enough to get deported. He's pled his case in a U.S. court and just this spring became one of the few granted his U.S. citizenship. It is a path Barajas hopes others in his organization, the Tijuana base Deported Veterans Support House will travel.

(on camera): Barajas has more than 300 deported U.S. vets in his database. But according to the ACLU, there are thousands of other U.S. servicemen and women who could end up right here, deported out of the United States in this exact same situation.

(voice-over): Barajas now has new hope. After years of fighting, he has a court date to argue for his citizenship. Step one, a Mexican passport. Are you hopeful?

BARAJAS: I'm hopeful. I'm excited. I love my country. I love my daughter. And I just can't wait to be home.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: Kyung Lah reporting. Thank you so much for that, Kyung.

Coming up next, politics and Hillary Clinton apologizing in a statement today saying she regrets calling half of Trump's supporters in a basket of, quote, "deplorables." But she is standing by her premise saying she won't stop calling out bigotry and racism and those who support Donald Trump from those camps. But how do African-America feel? Is she calling out racism or creating a greater divide? Hear from both sides, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:27:30] HARLOW: Hillary Clinton saying today she regrets calling, quote, "Half of Donald Trump's supporters," from a, quote, "basket of deplorables." But insist that she will not stop calling out bigotry and racist rhetoric. In a new statement, Clinton notes Trump attacks against the federal judge, his remarks about a Muslim Gold Star family and his false claims that President Obama may not have been born the United States. A claim he started to make years ago.

Clinton is also responding to Trump tweeting that he respects all of Clinton's supporters. Clinton tweeting in response, quote, "Except for African-Americans, Muslims, Latinos, immigrants, women, veterans, and any so-called losers or dummies." This is an election that has sparked many conversations about race and minorities. So what impact could this have? With me now to talk about all of this is Clinton supporter, back with me, A. Scott Bolden. Also with us is Paris Dennard, Republican political commentator, former White House director of Black Outreach and a Trump supporter.

Thank you both for being here.

PARIS DENNARD, REPUBLICAN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Thank you for having me.

HARLOW: You know, it's interesting Paris. Let's get to something, and I think we've been pulling it up on the screen here that Donald Trump just re-tweeted -- he actually re-tweeted and this may be the first time that he's re-tweeted President Obama. But he re-tweeted something that President Obama tweeted in 2012. Let's pull it up. We need a president who is fighting for all Americans not one who writes off nearly half the country. That is what President Obama tweeted in 2012, and Donald Trump just re-tweeted it. How big of a mess is this for Hillary Clinton, assuming you think it is? And is this a correct response from Donald Trump, do you think this pushes his narrative further? Is this the right way to go at it?

DENNARD: Yes, Poppy. I think this is just a deplorable moment for Secretary Clinton and shows how desperate they are on the campaign. To have her say this in a scripted moment that was approved by the campaign. Had to have been. It was on the teleprompter for her to say this and discount and show her disdain from 14 million or at least half of the 14 million people who voted for Mr. Trump. And I think Mr. Trump's response, being the re-tweeting of President Obama was presidential and showed that he took the higher road because when you become president of the United States of America, you become president of all the American people.

Not just the Republicans that voted you in or the Democrats that voted you in or the African-Americans that helped you get there. It's all Americans.

[17:30:00] And so it's important for Secretary Clinton to realize that and to respect the fact that maybe just because people don't agree with you, they are not horrible people. We are not racist, we are not sexist, we just have a difference of opinion.

HARLOW: Guys, do we have this tweet? If the team in the control room can't pull it up -- we don't have it. OK.

Let me read it again. Donald Trump, Scott, re-tweeting President Obama, who tweeted in 2012, "We need a president who is fighting for all Americans, not one who writes off nearly half the country."

This puts Hillary Clinton in a tough position, Scott, does it not, given that she said half of Trump supporters are in a, quote, "basket of deplorables," and talked about people who are racist, xenophobic, et cetera. She said, yes, I shouldn't have said half. How tough of a corner is she in?

BOLDEN: Doesn't put her in a tough corner. Run the videos and the history of the Donald Trump campaign, which is rooted in racial divisiveness, whether it was the Birther movement, attack on Muslims, a Mexican judge, building the wall, you name it, he has an attack. The white nationalist movement that are supporting them, awful this is baked into what you get with Donald Trump. And all the Democrats and Hillary Clinton are doing are reacting to what is documented evidence, what is a big part of his campaign.

She was wrong about painting a broad brush. Of course, she was. But within 24 hours, she said it was wrong and she said she regretted doing that. Yet, the Republicans, who never do that, and Donald Trump, who never does that, still are un-accepting of that.

She is not in a bad position because 65 percent or more of all American voters believe that Donald Trump is connected to racist views or is racist himself. They didn't get it from out of the air.

HARLOW: Paris, respond to that. I mean, Clinton says she regrets saying half and that she is standing by her premise, that she will continue to talk about racism and bigotry on behalf of the Trump campaign, in her opinion. As a Trump supporter, as an African- American Trump supporter, do you believe that there is, you know, a significant group that supports your candidate who are racists, who are xenophobic, who are sexist?

DENNARD: I don't know them. And I think that any time that that has come up in the media, Mr. Trump has denounced them and disavowed any organization or person that has been affiliated with that.

But we cannot act as if the Democrat party or Clinton supporters are absolved somehow of all racist or sexist or people on the Democrat side.

At the end of the day what I believe this is a distraction. We have seen in recent days and weeks that Mr. Trump has had an increased effort to engage with the African-American community and because of, that we've seen a recent "Economist" poll as well as an NBC poll that Mr. Trump is at 8 percent with the African-American vote. So this is a distraction.

(CROSSTALK)

DENNARD: This is a distraction. And I believe at the end of the day, the American people will say, you know what, Mr. Trump is not a racist. And the people support him, more importantly, the people who support him, these are average Americans, soldiers, veterans, and just everyday Americans that are supporting him, are not the way she is trying to declare them to be. These that's deplorable.

HARLOW: The polling that meets CNN standards has Donald Trump polling at 2 percent among African-American. The 8 percent poll that you're responding to, it is a survey, monkey poll, an on line poll that doesn't meet your standards.

(CROSSTALK)

HARLOW: Paris, one second.

Outside of that, why, Scott, call out Trump supporters? Why do that? That plays right into the Donald Trump's hands. That gave him the ability to re-tweet what the president said, by talking about and writing off half of Americans in that way. Why not just go after the candidate?

DENNARD: Well, she certainly should not have talked about those supporters. She should have talked about that group and the second group because she was really talking about the second group who believe that they have been left behind economically. That is a smart strategy because many of them are uncomfortable with the racially divisive tone as well as an important part of the Trump campaign that is the Alt-Right and the white nationalists who are big supporters of his. That is a smart strategy but she shouldn't have painted them with a broad brush, and she regrets that. That's wrong in any venue.

HARLOW: A. Scott Bolden, Paris Dennard, thank you both.

DENNARD: Thank you.

[17:34:22] HARLOW: Coming up next, two filmmakers making a documentary about a firefighter, one of the first responders, on September 11th. The images they captured at what became ground zero, the only images from inside the buildings, it is extraordinary. It is something you will see on CNN this weekend, the story from the brothers who were inside the Twin Towers filming this all on 9/11, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: Tomorrow marks 15 years since this country was attacked on 9/11. As we mark that day, a new CNN/ORC poll shows that Americans are more worried about terrorist attacks now than they were just five years ago.

CNN will air the film "9/11, 15 Years Later," tomorrow night, at 8:00 p.m. Here's a clip.

But first, we want to warn you the images you are about to see are very difficult to watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED NEW YORK CITY FIREFIGHTER: We parked right in front of the awning of 1 World Trade Center. I remember asking, Chief, can I come in with you. I want to come in with you. He said yes.

UNIDENTIFIED NEW YORK CITY FIRE CHIEF: Yeah, you stay with me.

UNIDENTIFIED NEW YORK CITY FIREFIGHTER: Come in with me and never leave my side.

(SHOUTING) UNIDENTIFIED NEW YORK CITY FIREFIGHTER: I go in. And I hear screams.

(SCREAMING)

UNIDENTIFIED NEW YORK CITY FIREFIGHTER: And right to my right, there was two people on fire, burning. I just didn't want to film them. It was like no one -- no one should see this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Well, the French filmmakers are brothers. They are here with me now, Gedeon and Jules Naudet. And they are the executive producers of the film as well.

Thank you both for being here.

JULES NAUDET, FILMMAKER & EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Thank you.

HARLOW: You have updated the film. We'll get to that in a moment. This first aired a year after 9/11.

The reason you were down there is because you were here to film a documentary on a rookie firefighter. And it was 9/11, and you are down there with him as he is running into the building to try to save what would be countless lives saved, despite 3,000 lives lost on 9/11.

Why do you think it was important, Jules, for -- why is it important for people to see this footage inside?

[17:40:06] JULES NAUDET: In a way, after filming three months with these amazing people, they first responders, the firefighters, filming from the inside, I think gives a unique point of view to especially this new generation, which is so visual. And 15 years later, a lot of the new generation were either not born or too young to remember it. I think for people to see it, see from the inside what the firefighters live, what they fought through to save among about 20,000 people, some people say is amazing. I think it gives you a renewed sense of, I know for me, of being grateful what they do every day, but on that day in particular.

HARLOW: Jules, you also said, "I didn't help anyone, I didn't save anyone, but I could film."

JULES NAUDET: That was the only thing I had. I had my camera. I was -- you know, I was there without really a purpose except one that I could do, which was to document what was going on without realizing that this would become historic footage. But I knew that the moment I would stop filming I would go crazy because of the worry for my brother, the worry for what was happening. It was almost like a defense mechanism.

HARLOW: To keep filming.

It's also important to remember 15 years later, the impact of 9/11 still lives on with all of the victims, all of the family members. No one that was in this city or this country will ever forget. And the fire fighters and first responders are still dealing with the effects, dying of cancer from the air they breathed that day. I mean, this is still perpetuating.

GEDEON NAUDET, FILMMAKER & EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: It is incredible to -- for people to discover that 9/11 still even today. And it's terrifying too, for first responders that have to go to health checkups annually that it's like a lottery for them. They never know what they are going to get, if it's going to be the red flag of this horrible cancer that already so many have died of. I mean just inside the wall of Metro Tech, which is FDNY headquarters in Brooklyn, you now have a special wall with 117 names of firefighters who passed away due to cancers related to 9/11.

HARLOW: You have updated the film. And you have gone back to speak with the family members of the victims who died, the first responders who died. What strikes you the most from the stories they have shared with you now 15 years after their unimaginable loss.

JULES NAUDET: I think unfortunately we have lost another fire fighter, the retired chief who came back from home that morning to help. As he said, these were my city, my towers, my men. And died recently of 9/11 cancers.

But I think one of the most inspiring story that we followed was these so-called legacy kids. These are children of firefighters who have died either in the towers or because of 9/11 through cancers, and who have decided themselves to become firefighters. We follow three of them. One is Josephine Smith, the daughter of an amazing firefighter called Kevin Smith. And two others. And to show that level of dedication, to want to do the same thing that, unfortunately, cost their father in that case their life, is a tribute to what they do.

HARLOW: It's remarkable.

JULES NAUDET: Exactly.

HARLOW: It's remarkable.

To both of you -- you, Gedeon, first -- having been in the towers on 9/11, the day that they fell, how has that changed how you experience this day every single year in how do you experience 9/11 with that memory?

GEDEON NAUDET: With that -- it's very simple, whenever I feel sad, depressed, worried, I think of that day and the courage of those first responders. And it lifts me up. And it works every time.

HARLOW: Really?

GEDEON NAUDET: When you have witnessed so much courage and heroism, there is no way you can complain about life. And not wanting to find a solution. And --

HARLOW: That's a pretty remarkable thing that that's what you take away from it, not all of the loss and the pain and the horror. But you saw the beauty and the resolve of people to save others. GEDEON NAUDET: Yes.

JULES NAUDET: You always see that. I think that's the big lesson we've learn. At the moment when the world seems the darkest, that's where you have this rave light, this ray of hope that comes. For us, it was these first responders that saved us, or everyday Americans or people in the tower saving each other and helping each other.

HARLOW: I personally cannot wait to see the film.

Again, it airs tomorrow night.

Thank you both very much --

JULES NAUDET: Thank you.

GEDEON NAUDET: Thank you.

[17:44:44] HARLOW: -- for sharing your story with us.

Again, "9/11, 15 Years Later," airs tomorrow night at 8:00 p.m.

Coming up live in the CNN NEWSROOM, from the projects of Brooklyn to billionaire CEO, Howard Schultz found incredible success in this country. But I wanted to know if he believes the American dream is still alive in America today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Are we at a stage in America where your zip code determines your destiny for far too many people?

HOWARD SCHULTZ, CEO, STARBUCKS: The future of the country and the promise of America and the American dream can't be only accessible to people of privilege who are white who live in the right zip code.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: In this week's "American Opportunity," he is now a billionaire, but Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz was born in the projects in Brooklyn. I sat down with him this week and I wanted to know, does he believe that children born into the same situation today would have the opportunity that he had to succeed?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: So let's talk about where you're from.

SCHULTZ: Sure.

HARLOW: Would you have the opportunity today that you did then to achieve all of this?

SCHULTZ: Well, you know, I grew up in Kenarsy (ph) and the projects. As difficult and as hard as it was, it imprinted all of us who came from that part of the world a unique set of values and understanding that we live on the other side of the tracks. But my mother felt very deeply that our station in life did not define our future.

And I think the question you're asking is a very important one, especially as it's framed around where we're here today. There is almost six million young people in America today, ages from 16 to 24, mostly African-American and Hispanic, are not working or going to school labeled as opportunity youth. There are so many people in America, one out of six, going hungry every night. I think we have a situation where the chances and the percentages of those young people versus when I was a young boy, I think are a lot less to succeed. The question is, that is not an absolute. We are better than this. We must do things differently and we must have real solutions and a lot less partisanship.

[17:50:58] HARLOW: I was looking back at a column my colleague, Fareed Zakaria, wrote back in 2016, and he sited this Harvard-Berkeley study called "The Quality of Opportunity." It found that every year of exposure to a better environment, a better neighborhood for a kid improves their chances of success in a very material way. Just living in a little bit better place.

Are we at a stage in America where your zip code determines your destiny for far too many people?

SCHULTZ: I think the statistics and the evidence would certainly point to that direction. But, again, this is something -- the status quo is not something we should be accepting. We need to transform the economic issues that have created this kind of gap. The future of the country and the promise of America and the American dream can't be only accessible to people of privilege who are white, who live in the right zip code. The other issue is that we are foregoing, so much talent, so much resources, so many people who all they want is an opportunity who can contribute our society, who can pay taxes, who can build great families, who can buy a home. But if we fracture the hope and the promise of what the country has been built on, by leaving so many people behind, the country and the promise of America will not come true.

HARLOW: So let's talk about some of the things that Starbucks has done to try to achieve that. Ultimately, you're responsible to your shareholders --

SCHULTZ: Yes.

HARLOW: -- and to your board. At the same time, a few years ago, you partnered with ASU and their online college and now cover entire college tuition for employees as they continue working at the Starbucks to get a degree online. You have for years given full health benefits to anyone who works 20 hours or more, halftime, really. You just raised wages 5 to 15 percent for employees. What you say in terms of the wages, because it differs from state to state.

SCHULTZ: Above minimum wage in every city in America. HARLOW: In every city. But those things cost a lot of money. And I

just -- how do you square the two, when, ultimately, you have to answer to your shareholders. And I know some have is called you out before.

SCHULTZ: Well, I think, first off, the price of admission to significantly engage in this kind of social impact initiatives is financial performance. And the company has performed remarkably well. In 1987, we had 11 stores and 100 employees. Today, there's 25,000 stores, 300,000 employees, and a market cap of almost $90 billion. So we have performed.

The question is, how and why have we performed. We have performed because we have achieved the fragile balance between profit, conscience and social impact. We have also said that we must significantly make investment in our people and the communities we serve. We would have lower attrition, higher performance, and the equity of the Starbucks brand would grow, not because of advertising or promotion, but because of the authenticity of the experience.

HARLOW: How do you know that? When you're getting ready to report your earnings, how do you know that it's been additive to the company and -- I mean, it has to -- make a profit at some point. How do you square the two?

SCHULTZ: First off, the financial performance of the company would indicate that the equity of the just told you is indicative in terms of what we are saying. But I think we do a fair amount of research, domestically and around the world, and I think Starbucks is the kind of company and brand that people have come to trust. Now, with that comes expectations that we can't always meet. We're not perfect, we can't do everything. But I think we are living at a time right now, and this is so vitally important, where the rules of engagement for a public company today are very different. What I mean by that is, you can't come to work every day with the sole interest of only making money. You are not going to attract and retain great people. Your customers are not going to embrace that. You must demonstrate to them, with great authenticity and truth, that you're in business to do lots of things, including giving back to your people and serving your community. The result of all of that, even in a country like China, with 2,500 stores, it has come true. And this is a universal language of trying to do the right thing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[17:55:14] HARLOW: You can see much more off our interview with Howard Schultz. Just go to CNNmoney.com/Americanopportunity.

We're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back.

(CROSSTALK)

HARLOW: Each year, more than 70,000 young adults in this country are diagnosed with cancer. This week's "CNN Hero" has helped thousands face their fears with a life-changing outdoors adventure.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRAD LUDON, CNN HERO: Working with young adults with cancer. We see a lot of them feeling like they're the only ones in the world dealing with any of the things they're dealing with. It's really important to get them together to where they can realize that other people are going through the same stuff.

From day one on a river these guys can't paddle in a straight line, to the last day and they're paddling class 3 white water, we start to see a really beautiful transformation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: You can watch the full story at CNNheroes.com.

I'm Poppy Harlow. We'll be back live in the NEWSROOM in one hour.

Stay with me right here because "SMERCONISH" is next.