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Reports: 80 Plus Killed in U.S.-Led Airstrikes in Syria; Nobody Hurt When Bomb Explodes on Charity Run Route; Sanders Urges Ohio Millennials to Vote For Clinton; Former CIA Chief Supports Trump, Reacts Live to News Out of Syria; FBI News Conference on Explosion at Race in Philadelphia. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired September 17, 2016 - 17:00   ET

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


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[17:00:30] POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Poppy Harlow in New York. We begin this hour with breaking news out of the Syria, reports of American-led coalition air strikes that may have hit Syrian troops and vehicles and may have killed dozens of Syrian army forces.

The United States Military Central Command now releasing a statement on these airstrikes. On the phone with me, our Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr. Barbara, this comes amid a critical cease-fire between the United States and Russia. What do we know about happened and where?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (on the phone): Well, this Poppy was in Eastern Syria. A place called Deir Ezzor. The U.S. military, the coalition, thought it was striking an ISIS target pushing troops and vehicles that they have been watching for some time. They had actually under pretty standard procedures spoken to the Russians ahead of time and giving them a general area that they were targeting but not specifics but about 25 minutes into these series of air strikes, the Russians apparently called back and said you are hitting Syrian forces not ISIS.

At that point the U.S. military said it immediately withdrew its aircraft and struck no more targets there. They are certainly looking into how this all happened, where the mistake was made and so, we will have to see. It has not happened before. In Deir Ezzor, in Eastern Syria is a place where ISIS has been, the regimes have been. The Russians have been. So it's a very complicated picture on the ground there. The U.S. not officially formally saying it struck Syrian troops, but the statement makes it pretty clear the U.S. has every reason to believe that in fact that is what happened.

HARLOW: And I understand what happened is about 25 minutes into the air strikes, the Russians called the U.S. and said look, you just stop, you're hitting regime forces, you're hitting Syrian troops. Put this in context for us in terms of, Barbara, what this does to the delicate cease-fire agreement that appeared to be holding for six straight days.

STARR: Well, that of course is perhaps best thought of as being much further to the west in Northwestern Syria near Aleppo, that involved U.S., Russians and the regime of course in getting the regime and the Russians to stop bombing civilians in getting Syrian to let aid in. That has been somewhat problematic, the aid is not flowing, at least not on any regular basis. Much of the violence has stopped but not all of it.

So, the Obama administration making clear it wants to see seven sustained days, seven days in a row of no violence. And the aid flowing into that area around Aleppo, which is at the other end of the country but you're absolutely right. I mean, this is a cease-fire agreement that was already in trouble. So, what has now happened over in Eastern Syria, we'll going to have to see how the Russians react and how the Syrian regime react.

HARLOW: Barbara Starr reporting for us. Our Pentagon correspondent Barbara, stand by.

Let me bring in Fred Pleitgen, our CNN international correspondent who is inside of Syria this weekend with rare perspective on all of it. Just to be clear for viewers, you're in the West, you're in Aleppo, this happened in Deir Ezzor which is in the East so we can pull up. But what are you hearing in terms of reaction on the ground to what appears to be, you know, an error here potentially. If indeed those Syrian forces were hit, not ISIS.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on the phone): Yes. There are some pretty angry reactions coming from the Syrian military, Poppy. They put out a statement that was released by the (INAUDIBLE) news agency, which is Syria's government-run news agency, saying that there was an air strike on Syrian troops in Deir Ezzor, that is some 83 Syrian troops were killed in that air strikes. A hundred and twenty were wounded. Now, we have to keep in mind about Deir Ezzor that Deir Ezzor is a town that is mostly held by ISIS but where the government troops have a few areas of that town left that are actually under siege.

It's called the largest -- areas here inside Syria, and so the Syrian government troops trying to hold that area obviously and they say that because of these U.S.-led coalition air strikes that ISIS would actually able to advance into an area very close to the airport of Deir Ezzor, which is the only way to get supplies in and out of the government-held parts of Deir Ezzor. Now, we heard later from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, they say that the actual airstrikes than then later targeted those ISIS, their troops after they had taken those areas and then the government actually to be able to retake some of those areas back.

[17:05:26] So, certainly, a lot of air activity there over Deir Ezzor, but obviously a lot of anger here on the part of the Syrian regime, they're saying, look, basically what happened there is that their fight against ISIS was undermined, their troops there will under siege by ISIS in the first place and then got bombed by this coalition aircraft. So, a lot of anger there on the part of the Syrian regime and the part of the Russians as well, saying that if this was indeed an erroneous strike, they're saying that it was because of what they call, quote, "unwillingness to coordinate airstrikes with the Russian." As reported here from Barbara, apparently there was some coordination there that the Russian certainly also making their displeasure at all that is very well known.

HARLOW: Fred, thank you so much, stay with me. I do want to bring in now retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Rick Francona. Let's talk about what Fred Pleitgen just said. And he just said, the anger among the Russians at this as a quote-unquote, "lack of coordination," if indeed this was an erroneous strike where the regime, Syrian regime forces were killed and not ISIS. There was, according to this statement, you know, some coordination but clearly the Russians are angry believing there was not enough coordination before this U.S.-led coalition air strike began. What is the political fallout if that's the case?

LT. COL. RICK FRANCONA (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, this might put in danger this joint implementation center that the U.S. and the Russians are supposed to set up here in the next few days. To coordinate just these kinds of strikes against ISIS and to prevent just what happened from happening again. I think the Russians are probably angry that we didn't give them the exact coordinates of the strike, we don't normally do that.

And as Barbara said, this is the first, this is the first time we've killed Syrian troops, and this has been a serious airstrikes when we killed that many people. So, I'm curious as to how that target was validated. Because the target signature for an ISIS group and a Syrian army group is much, much different. So, there will be some Monday morning quarterbacking to figure out what went wrong.

HARLOW: Just to be clear here. The U.S. has not officially said at this point Colonel that it did, that its coalition forces did indeed strike these Syrian regime forces. That is not officially from the U.S. government. We do have Barbara Starr reporting on it though. What do you mean that their markers are different, that they are viewed differently from the sky when they decide to do this strike? What does that mean?

FRANCONA: Yes. When you have intelligence reconnaissance assets, you know, either be they're drones or manned platforms or overhead imagery. You know, the Syrian army has a distinct signature, we know what kind of equipment they have. We know what kind of formations they have. And we pretty much know where they are. ISIS totally different kind of army, totally different kind of equipment and different tactics. So, they look different from the air. So, I'm surprised that we would make this kind of error if in fact --

HARLOW: What about this area of Deir Ezzor, because what we know is it's incredibly complicated in terms of who is on the ground there, you've got the Syrian forces, you're got rebel groups and you're got extremists like ISIS there, that complicates things, does it not?

FRANCONA: Right. It does. Most of the, what we would call the anti- regime, non-Islamist rebels have been moved out of the area. What you've seen now is ISIS controlling most of that area, it's on the Euphrates River, it's the center of Syria's oil country. So, it's very important for ISIS to maintain. The Syrian army, the Syrian government controls basically the air base and little bit of the town surrounding it. And they're under siege. The only they were supplied is by air. So, ISIS has been trying to close that gap and get them out of there. But they just don't seem to have the enough power to do it. And the Russians of course, anytime ISIS gets -- makes a threat to that Syrian garrison, the Russian air power has come in there and pretty much stopped.

HARLOW: And again, just to reiterate, the significance of this, if the United States does confirm that this was U.S.-led coalition air strike killing Syrian regime forces, this would be a first, correct?

FRANCONA: Yes. Yes, it would. Although, we are in favor of the removal of the Bashar al-Assad regime. We are not at war with the Syrian army.

HARLOW: Right. We are there to defeat ISIS.

Thank you so much, Colonel Rick Francona. For us also, our Fred Pleitgen inside Syria tonight. And our Barbara Starr from the Pentagon. A lot more ahead this hour.

A New Jersey Beach City on edge after a bomb exploded there today in a trash can right on the path of a charity run.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What the intentions of the individual we don't know at this point, whether it's criminal or terroristic. I mean it's obvious it was meant to affect the run. The fact that it went off at 9:35.

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HARLOW: The FBI now taking the lead in that investigation, set to hold a news conference at any moment. We will take you there live.

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[17:13:38] HARLOW: All right. We're following another breaking news story right now about an explosion on the Jersey Shore this morning it happened. Let's take a look right here. That green trash can on the left, that is where a pipe bomb exploded. The reason it mattered so much is the fact that this timed and set to go off as runners pass in a marine charity run scheduled for this morning. We are learning the outcome could have been a lot worse. That is because the run was delayed and there were no runners there at the time when the pipe bomb exploded.

Our Shimon Prokupecz is our CNN crime and justice producer. He is in Seaside Heights, New Jersey. We're waiting for this press conference. The FBI has taken the lead. What else do we know about the motive here or who could have possibly set this?

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE PRODUCER: At this point, you know, investigators are sort of working to find out who did this. They don't know much. Certainly, the person who did it left a lot of clues behind. We have three pipe bombs, two of which did not explode. So, within that will be a lot of clues for investigators to work with. Certainly don't know the composition of the explosives, don't know, may perhaps there was a timer used, so don't know, you know, how the timer was constructed. But all we know, the person may have left its fingerprint behind. So, you know, a lot of that is going to be done at a lab.

So, they have a lot to work with there but in terms of motive and, you know, who did this at this point, we don't know. They are treating this. The FBI is treating this as an act of terrorism and that is only because they just don't know what else it could be. You know, like a race going on, charity race for the military, that seemed to have been targeted. Runners were targeted. Definitely when you have three pipe bombs set to, you know, tied together to explode, look, it could have been a very powerful, powerful explosion and could have hurt many, many people as a lot of people concerned.

And so now, the FBI and local authorities there in New Jersey are going to go through everything they can in the neighborhoods, the surrounding neighborhoods to try and find out, you know, who did it. And, you know, they'll look for video, they'll talk to witness to see if anyone saw anything suspicious but certainly they has raised a lot of concerns for authorities there and the FBI which is now leading the investigation.

HARLOW: Shimon, when you talk about a route like this and you think of the aftermath of the Boston marathon bombing, I mean, wouldn't a route like this be completely swept before any race was to go by? Bomb-sniffing dogs that would have detected explosive powder, et cetera, it just seems, seems odd to me that this would have been there frankly right on the route of a major military run.

PROKUPECZ: I think that's a really good point Poppy, and it's a really good question. Yes. You would think someone would check it. But it is Seaside Heights, you know, a small town. This was a 5k, just over three miles, so it's not a big race. I don't know if they were expecting so many people there. Because again, the race started late because they got so many people interested in the race and so many people came to register so it started late. So maybe they were not expecting that many people.

It's a small town, perhaps, I mean, it's hard to say. You know, when there are large races, any marathon, in New York, in Boston, there is so much security that goes into it. And certainly since the Boston bombing, security at these races has changed and you would think someone would just kind of take a dog and just go through three miles of a race. So how much really is that? Not that much. You probably would have discovered it. Because it was just sitting right there in this trash can and probably could have been prevented the explosion. But I don't know what they're thinking is. And maybe it's perhaps, it is just a small town and kind of a small race and no one really thought that anything, you know, bad would happen there.

HARLOW: Yes. Shimon, thank you so much for your reporting. I'll let you work your sources and we will bring you that press conference and what the FBI says live as soon as it does began. I do want to return though next to the campaign trail and a comment from Donald Trump that is raising eyebrows today, what he said about Hillary Clinton's security detail, next.

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[17:21:28] HARLOW: Donald Trump in Texas today speaking about illegal immigration at an event in Houston. He really stuck to the teleprompter and stayed on script, as the change from what we've heard in the past few days when he broke out with comments like this. Let's listen.

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DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I think that her bodyguards should drop all weapons, they should disarm. Right? I think they should disarm. Immediately. What do you think? Yes? Yes. Yes. Take their guns away. She doesn't want guns. Let's see what happens to her.

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HARLOW: With me here in New York, our political panel. CNN political commentator and Donald Trump supporter Scottie Nell Hughes. In Washington, Symone Sanders, a former national press secretary for Bernie Sanders and now Hillary Clinton supporter and Ryan Lizza is with us, a CNN political commentator and Washington correspondent for the New Yorker.

So Ryan, his comments last night about Hillary Clinton and her Secret Service and disarming them are what are getting a lot of attention today, not so much the immigration speech that he's just made. Because it's not the first time that he has said something that some read as inciting violence. Right? That certainly have the Clinton camp is reading it. These follows him a few months ago saying that Hillary Clinton he says, wants to abolish the Second Amendment so its Second Amendment people who can do something about it. What do you make of this? This is off script, but does it help him, does it hurt him? What do you make of it?

RYAN LIZZA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, a couple of things. First, just to fact check, I don't think that Clinton's position on the Second Amendment is that it should be abolished.

HARLOW: You're correct.

LIZZA: His, you know, look, what he was trying to say, the most sympathetic reading of it is, what a lot of gun right supporters say, which is, if you take away everyone's guns, then people that need to be protected can't be defended. Right? Which is a completely fair point and it's made all the time. Obviously, the problem here is he was doing it in the context of the Secret Service and the presidential candidate who like all presidential candidate has serious death threats against her, that is just part of life at that level in politics just as Donald Trump has death threats against him.

The last time he got into conversation like this, the Secret Service themselves actually talked to one of their own protectees about, you know, toning that language down. I don't know if that happened in this case. But it's just not something at that level in American public life that you should even try and make a political point about. There are crazy people out there. And the more you talk about things like this, the more you give some nut case license to do something stupid.

HARLOW: Look, I mean to that point --

LIZZA: So, I was surprised, even though you shouldn't necessarily be so surprised because, you know, Trump is Trump.

HARLOW: To that point, our justice correspondent Evan Perez spoke today with every law enforcement officials who said the concern is that they have, is to talk like this could lead to a Secret Service agent or a law enforcement officer getting shot or killed, right? Because they would be the one between the candidate and the gun fire if you will.

So, Scottie Nell Hughes, do you think that what Trump said last night including the let's see what happens to her about Clinton was appropriate?

SCOTTIE NELL HUGHES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Something word choice that I would personally use but that is because of my family history with gun violence. But the question though, what you're bringing out was the continued position of Hillary Clinton is the do what I say, not as I do. That she can sit there from her podium that is been 20 years protected by someone with guns, and say, you know what, I need guns to protect me, but you don't.

HARLOW: So, that's not what she said. She's never talked about abolishing the Second Amendment or she talked about Secret Service officers or people whose job it is to protect others, to not have guns.

HUGHES: But she did say that she would appoint Supreme Court justices that to repeal the Heller act which would basically gut the Second Amendment. She's also said that she's advocated for gun manufacturers being held liable in mass shooting cases. Those are two things that have big stipulation.

HARLOW: Heller does not gut the Second Amendment. What Heller does is talk about the rights of individuals to be gun owners.

HUGHES: That would gut it. She wants it repeal. Well, that was the big case of Washington, DC. And so, the NRA has always said the Heller Amendment needs to stay, the Heller case needs to say and Hillary Clinton said she wants it repealed.

HARLOW: The questions about whether or not there are limits on individual -- certain limits on individual's rights to bear arms. Limits. It is not gutting it.

HUGHES: Well, but if that once again, if you repeal it, then you're opening up Pandora's Box to gut the Second Amendment. And now as I say you're right, technically she did not want to repeal the Second Amendment. HARLOW: But he says she does.

HUGHES: She wants to take all of the power away from her. She wants to weaken it somewhere and put stipulations on it which I don't remember they are being disclaimers under our Second Amendment based on my personal observations.

[17:26:23] HARLOW: All right. Let's move on to another important topic. And that is the fact that the polls do shows among Sanders that Donald Trump has really tightened up this race. He is now ahead of Hillary Clinton by five points in Ohio, he is ahead by her by three points in Florida. So, your guy, Senator Bernie Sanders stumping for her in Ohio, really trying to rev up and energize millennial voters for Clinton. Let's listen.

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SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I), VERMONT: So, when you go out and you talk to your friends and they say, oh, God, I am not going to vote. It's a waste of time, everybody is terrible. Ask them how much they're going to leave school in debt with. Ask them about that. And tell them that Secretary Clinton number one is going to make public colleges, the universities tuition free for all those under 25,000. And second of all, has a very significant and important plan to lower student debt.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Symone, this new Quinnipiac poll just found 44 percent, almost half of young voters between 18 and 34 planning on voting for a third party candidate. What does that do to Clinton if that holds?

SYMONE SANDERS, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: You know, I saw -- I think that's a little alarming and that's why the Clinton campaign has revved up the millennial outreach efforts. The Democratic National Committee has stepped up their millennial outreach efforts and lot of outside organizations and individuals are stepping up those efforts. Because young people just don't seem as fired up about this election. They were extremely fired up about President Obama.

Folks were excited about Bernie Sanders because of what he was talking about. And I think we've had a lot of back and forth in the media about Trump and not the issues that young people want to hear about. So, I do think that the Clinton campaign, Secretary Clinton as well as Senator Kaine and surrogates are going out there talking about the issues and I think we're going to see those numbers move.

HARLOW: What would you do, Symone? What would you do? Right? They were energized about your guy and you were, you know, his head of his entire press team. What would you do if you were helping Clinton in these last 50 days with those young voters?

SANDERS: Well, what I am doing is I am going out there and I am talking to millennial voters and I am revving up other millennials through initiative called #Wevote. So, we're going out and we're talking to people directly on the issues saying that if we believe that criminal justice reform is the civil rights issue, the 21st Century, if we believe. And all those great things that Bernie Sanders was talking about on the campaign trail, then we got to get help, get Secretary Clinton elected and not just her but candidates up and down the ballot.

And I think that's what it's about. Talking to young voters about the issues and getting them still feel that way. Because lots of young voters, they feel detached from party politics. And so, if you'll look at the numbers, young voters are overwhelmingly independent. They are not Democrats or Republicans, so they want you to appeal for them on what you are going to do for them and what their issues are.

Not necessarily that you're just a Democrat or Republican. So, that's what I've been beating the drum saying, I think that's what the campaign is also going out there and continuing to do. But it's going to take some compounded efforts to see those numbers move.

HARLOW: And it's exactly what we heard Michelle Obama doing, when she spoke yesterday there in Virginia trying to rally and energize the youth vote. Guys, I to leave it there. We have a lot of breaking news to get to this hour.

Thank you all. Ryan, Symone and Scottie Nell. Thank you.

Coming up, Donald Trump scores a big new endorsement. This comes from someone who served under President Bill Clinton. I will ask the former head of the CIA why he thinks Donald Trump should be the next president. We will also get him to react live to this breaking news out of Syria, U.S.-led coalition forces appearing to strike Syrian regime forces instead of ISIS. What he had to say about all of it. Next.

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[17:30:00] HARLOW: I'll ask the former head of the CIA why he thinks Donald Trump should be the next president, and he reacts live to the news out of Syria, U.S.-led coalition forces appearing to strike Syrian forces instead of ISIS. What he has to say about all of it.

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HARLOW: We're following breaking news out of Syria with reports of U.S.-led coalition war planes striking Syrian regime forces. If that's the case, it would be a first. Reports are that more than 80 Syrian military members have been killed in this strike. A U.S. official tells CNN, about 25 minutes into attacks, they thought they were targeting ISIS militants. The Russians called the U.S. and said the strikes were hitting Syrian troops. The official says that's when the U.S. immediately withdrew. Russia now blaming the deaths on the United States, quote, "unwillingness to coordinate strikes with Russia." And according to Reuters, Russia is now calling for an emergency meeting with the U.N. Security Council, which could happen today. Reuters quoting a Russian foreign ministry spokesperson saying, quote, "We are reaching a really terrifying conclusion for the whole world that the White House is defending the Islamic State. Now, there can be no doubt about that." I want to speak with former CIA director, James Woolsey, about that.

He served under Bill Clinton, and just this week joined the Trump team as a senior advisor.

We'll get to the politics of it and Donald Trump in a moment. But first, because I have you here with expertise, Mr. Woolsey, what does this mean for the delicate relationship between the United States, Russia and Syria, the fact that a spokesman for Russia's foreign ministry, according to Reuters, says the White House is defending the Islamic State.

JAMES WOOLSEY, SENIOR ADVISOR, DONALD TRUMP PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN & FORMER CIA DIRECTOR: I think that's silly. Of course, the White House isn't defending the Islamic State. But situation in Syria is so complex with the shifting alliances and support for the three or four different groups in the capitols, it's quite likely things will get messed up. And they are getting messed up in no small measure because of the decision that the Obama administration made back several years ago to draw as they said a red line and keep Syrian forces from attacking their own people. And when the red line was crossed with chemical weapons, we shrugged, and we have not been taken seriously I think in Syria now for several years. And I think that was the genesis of it.

[17:35:43] HARLOW: So CNN has now confirmed that emergency meeting requested by Russia of the U.N. Security Council will happen tonight as the United Nations General Assembly kicks off in New York this week.

Getting back to the severity and implications here, Mr. Woolsey, of the fact, this would be the first time the U.S.-led coalition has struck Assad's forces. What are the ripple effects?

WOOLSEY: I think what we're seeing is they had not for many years been much of a player in the Middle East, having gotten kicked out in one way or another by several states. But they really long to have the kind of status that the United States had in the Middle East for years and throw their weight around. And they're doing it. And they want to manifest it with a security meeting and they'll try something else the next time. But it's Russia's effort to say, I count, I'm big guy on the block.

HARLOW: Let's talk about the politics of all of this in the context of this election. You just joined Trump team as senior adviser and you just said you believe the Obama administration failed when it comes to Syria and drawing a red line and not acting. What are you do you believe Donald Trump's foreign policy credentials that make him superior in dealing with foreign policy issues like what we see happening today.

WOOLSEY: His involvement in foreign issues is not there. But he has experience negotiating agreements. That gives him as much of a handle as a lot of people have had moving into the presidency with respect to dealing with foreign policy. You know, we'll see if he is picked to be the next president, see how that all fits together. But I think there's a reasonable chance he'd do a good job. HARLOW: Is a reasonable chance he would do a good job enough for you?

Because we all know that negotiating business deals successfully is very different than diplomacy, Mr. Woolsey. Does he have has much a handle on it as the former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton? Even if you don't agree with her policies and actions, does he have enough of a handle on foreign policy and the delicacy that a lot of this diplomacy takes?

WOOLSEY: It depends on what she uses the handle for. One of the e- mails by Colin Powell in the paper two or three days ago and hasn't been started much by much of the media was Powell's statement that Hillary Clinton screwed up everything she touched, including and -- especially moving into "hubris," which is self-arrogance in Greek tragedies that leads to your downfall. That's not a real good recommendation. So Colin, I think, was critical of lots of folks but especially the two presidential candidates. But he didn't leave without writing a word about her.

HARLOW: He was very critical of Donald Trump as well, as you stated. Robert Gates, former defense secretary under Bush and Obama, critically of both of them in his op-ed today in the "Wall Street Journal." He took Trump to task. He said Trump is, "beyond repair, stubbornly uninformed, and unqualified and unfit to be the commander- in-chief." Why is he wrong in your assessment?

WOOLSEY: Well I don't -- I think Bob is a tough grader. He's an able individual who served a number of presidents quite well. I think that his judgment on this, with respect to the potential for Donald Trump serving well as president, is wrong. I think --

(CROSSTALK)

[17:40:10] HARLOW: Why specifically?

WOOLSEY: I think he can do the job. And I will just have to see how well it goes. I'm not in the business of assessing candidates overall, particularly with domestic matters.

HARLOW: But you are -- aren't you assessing?

WOOLSEY: I just make recommendations --

(CROSSTALK)

WOOLSEY: -- and ideas with respect to foreign policy and defense.

HARLOW: By being the former CIA director, who is backing Donald Trump on foreign policy, coming onto his team to advise him --

WOOLSEY: I'm advising him.

HARLOW: OK, you're advising him. But he has your support over Hillary Clinton, isn't that the case?

WOOLSEY: Well, Hillary hasn't called and I don't think she will.

(LAUGHTER)

HARLOW: If she calls, will you be receptive?

WOOLSEY: I think that's fanciful.

HARLOW: Should we not read this as an endorsement of Trump?

WOOLSEY: That's fanciful that I would get a call from the other party.

HARLOW: But I'm asking is, you're advising Donald Trump, are you saying you're not endorsing him?

WOOLSEY: Functionally, of course, it's an endorsement. I don't put stamps on things and endorse candidates. It's not what I do. I help people with advice. And I'm not in the American political system as a selector of presidents.

HARLOW: One of the issues that you and many other experts have called one of the biggest threats to our globe is global warming, climate change. This survey of 750 experts from the World Economic Forum found that a catastrophe caused by climate change could be biggest potential threat to the economy. You wrote a forward to a book about this. Donald Trump has called global warming, "A hoax, a lot of it." That's his quote, "A hoax, a lot of it." How do you reconcile your position with his?

WOOLSEY: I think you have to look at details of some of the studies. Some of them were not responsibly done. But as a general proposition, I think we do have to get down our leakage of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, various things taking place, particularly that to likelihood of climate change. But it's not a simple proposition. Most people who are worried about climate change are totally worried, and most people who are not, are totally not. And to get the discussion going between the two sides and say, look, here's what's sensible, the way Reagan and George Schultz put together a sensible policy to deal with the South Pole --

(CROSSTALK)

HARLOW: But Trump called it a hoax.

WOOLSEY: People use strong language when they feel strongly about something. That's -- we'll see if it ends up being that way. That's his view. Mine is different. But some people involved in the climate change discussion do operate on the idea of it's a hoax. There is something there and we need to figure out a way to deal with it.

HARLOW: It's not what the science tells us.

James Woolsey, I have to leave it there.

WOOLSEY: It's not --

(CROSSTALK)

HARLOW: Go ahead.

WOOLSEY: There's several approaches coming out in science.

HARLOW: The majority of scientific studies.

Thank you very much, Director Woolsey. Appreciate your time today.

WOOLSEY: Thank you.

HARLOW: I have to get to some breaking news in Seaside Park, New Jersey. Let's go live to that press conference after that pipe bomb was found on the route of a military race. Let's listen.

BRAD COHEN, ACTING SPECIAL AGENT, FBI: Thank you all for coming here today. I'm Brad Cohen, C-O-H-E-N. I'm acting special agent in charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Newark, New Jersey. By my side is Police Chief Francis Larkin, of the Seaside Park Police Department.

The information that we have is as follows. This morning was scheduled to be a Marine Corps 5K run scheduled at 9:00 a.m. this morning. Due to a subsequent delay, it was not able to start at 9:00. At approximately 9:30, an explosion occurred in a trash can along the raceway. No reported injuries or death as a result of that. We are working side by side with out law enforcement partners and the federal, state and local officials. We're working together to find out who is responsible at this time. Again, we're working closely with our federal, local and state officials. We're out there conducting interviews, securing evidence, and making sure there is no stone left unturned.

We encourage everybody in the area to stay out of the area to allow law enforcement to render it safe and to collect evidence. Talk to us. Anyone out there with information, we encourage you to call your 100 number, 1-800-CALL-FBI. Select option number one.

[17:45:23] Leading the investigation is the Federal Bureau of Investigation, our Joint Terrorism Task Force, and we're working closely with partners from federal, state and local area.

At this time, because this is an active investigation, we're not taking any questions. I'll repeat that again. This is active investigation. We're not going to be taking any questions. We're also unaware of any known threats to public safety at this time.

What I'll do now is turn it over to the chief because a number of you from the local municipality are wondering when you can return home. And the chief will give an update in reference to that.

Thank you.

FRANCIS LARKIN, CHIEF, SEASIDE PARK POLICE DEPARTMENT: Thank you, sir.

We have good news for residents displaced in Seaside Park today because of the unfortunate events that happened. As of 6:00 p.m. this evening, all residents can return to homes. In the area of C Street, D Street and E Street, up where the investigation is under way, up on the ocean blocks, residents of those streets will have to produce I.D. to officers to access homes at that time. Beaches are closed on C, D and E Street until further notice on ocean AFB.

I'd like to thank the county, state and federal agencies for the quick response to this unfortunate incident. We know they're here to help us through this difficult time.

Thank you very much.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: How concerned should residents of the shore be right now?

HARLOW: There you have the press conference out of Seaside Park, New Jersey,

Let's bring in Tom Fuentes, FBI former assistant director and CNN law enforcement analyst.

This was a 5K run for the Marine Corps. They found one pipe bomb. Three made and one detonated. The rest didn't go off. You heard the FBI took over the investigation, and treating as potential terrorist -- investigating it as though it were terrorism. They're asking people to call in and give any information they have. They're conducting interviews. Walk me through what they're going in, in the hours after this pipe bomb detonated.

TOM FUENTES, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST (voice-over): I think, Poppy, right now, it's top priority to render the area safe. Make sure no other explosive devices anywhere in any of the dumpsters, trash cans or mail boxes, any where one could be hidden. They'll do that before they let the people back.

Secondly, the bomb experts will be analyzing the device, the way it was wired together, put together, the way several explosive devices were attempted to be banded together, look at the way it was made, how it was made. And that gives an idea of whether it's amateurish or how sophisticated it might have been. It'll possibly help them identify people out there with the skill set. And then they're checking local media and seeking public help, and if anybody who made threats prior to today or has taken credit since the bomb went off, please notify the FBI to follow up.

I'll add one more thing. The fact they're calling it a terrorism case, with the FBI this charge, means it could be domestic terrorism. It could be somebody with a grievance against the U.S. military, possibly the Marine Corps specifically, and have nothing to do with overseas inspired attack like ISIS.

HARLOW: Right.

FUENTES: So it still could be terrorism without being international, al Qaeda or ISIS or other affiliated group.

HARLOW: Good point. The suspect still at large, Tom. As Shimon Prokupecz was reporting earlier, there's a lot of evidence they can gather that can lead them to this person. Obviously, fingerprints, what did they leave behind, what does surveillance show. It's a fairly populated neighborhood. What are they doing to track down the suspect?

[17:49:31] FUENTES: That's what they're doing. They're analyzing the videos, analyzing to determine how many they have, get people together to review the material, and look at intersection cameras throughout the surrounding area. Maybe he went through a red light or something trying to get away in a hurry. That might have a lead for them. There's a lot of just normal investigative work that goes into this. Unfortunately, pipe bombs are not that sophisticated. There are a lot of people that have that skill set. You can obtain everything that you need at a local supply store, possibly with the exception of black powder that they're using, but you could get that at other places as well. The materials would be readily available. And the information on the Internet would also be available for people to figure out how to put it together if they didn't already know.

But there's a lot of material for them to go through and they'll take time to analyze what they have and try to collect as much information as they can.

HARLOW: Tom Fuentes, thank you so much.

We'll get a quick break in here. Much more on this breaking news ahead. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:55:38] HARLOW: All right. We do have breaking news. Russia has called for an emergency U.N. Security Council meeting tonight that will be held at the U.N. here in New York. United Nations diplomat telling this to CNN, the meeting has been scheduled for 7:30 p.m. tonight. The context of this is the U.S.-led coalition air strikes in Deirezor (ph), Syria, to the east of the country today, that the United States said it was meant to target ISIS, reportedly striking Syrian regime forces. The U.S. not yet confirming that, but that is according to multiple reports. Russia calling the U.S. to task, saying the United States failed to coordinate with Russia on these air strikes. And now we will have a U.N. Security Council meeting tonight in New York to discuss all of that. Much more.

Russia is claiming that those air strikes demonstrate U.S. collusion with ISIS. And will have much more ahead on all of this breaking news at the top of the hour, 7:00 p.m. eastern. Stay with us for that.

"SMERCONISH" starts in just a moment.

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