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Presidential Election In France; Congress Returns To Washington Tomorrow; North Korea Threatened To Sink A U.S. Aircraft Carrier; President Trump on Fulfilling Campaign Promises; Trump Approval At Record Low; Alisyn Camerota Sexually Harassed by Roger Ailes; Toddler Falls From the Back of the Bus; CNN New Series "Soundtracks". Aired 4- 5p ET

Aired April 23, 2017 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:08] FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Hello again, everyone. And thank you so much for joining me this Sunday. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

We begin with breaking news out of France. Independent candidate Emmanuel Macron and far right Atlanta Marine Le Pen are headed to the second round of the French presidential election, effectively shutting mainstream parties out of the vote.

I want to bring in CNN's Jim Bittermann at Le Pen's headquarters in northern France and CNN White House reporter Stephen Collinson is joining us.

So Jim, explain to us what is expected to happen next with their campaigning for the next two weeks?

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think there will be a bit more dancing here immediately following this election result tonight, Fredricka. They are really partying here hard up in northeastern France because there is victory for their candidate, Marine Le Pen.

What happens next is two weeks of very intense campaigning. And we talked a little bit earlier to the foreign policy advisor for Marine Le Pen. And he said that he expects the campaign in the next two weeks to revolve around a number of different issues, particularly around foreign policy, about membership in the European Union, around globalization. Globalization of course such as unemployment and immigration issues.

So I think those have become the main issues that are going to be of intense debate over the next couple of weeks. We have two very different candidates here. We have a very populist candidate who has been compared to President Donald Trump. And as well, her opponent is going to be Emanuel Macron, who is viewed as a - he is a former banker. He has never held elective office. He is viewed as kind of an urbanite here. And so it is going to be city versus country here. I think that in the next couple of weeks as they campaign for the final round of the presidency is on May 7th -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And then Steven, what are the potential ramifications for the U.S. if Le Pen were to win?

There are huge implications for the U.S., Fredricka, given that France is, you know, one of America's greatest allies in the fulcrum of the western security lives. If Le Pen were to win she said she would hold a referendum on whether to pull France out of the European Union and given that France along with Germany is a centerpiece of the European Union, that could in many ways really damage the European Union and raise fears about its very exist tense.

That I think has huge implications for U.S. foreign policy. I think there's almost a battle within the White House, I suspect, between the heart and the head in many ways, marine le pen has parallels with trump. Some of her rhetoric on immigration, trade protectionism, terrorism and Islam parallel many of the themes Donald trump raised during his successful election campaign last year.

But the sheer upheaval in the western world and what that means for stability of the western alliance if she were to be become president of France, I think would have a lot of people in the U.S. foreign policy community would be quite concerned.

WHITFIELD: And so, Jim, is there an explanation as to, you know, what people surmise as to why the mainstream parties would have effectively been cut out of this run-off, this second phase of the voting?

BITTERMANN: Well, I think, you know, there's some similarities to what happened with the Democratic Party in the United States in the sense that the mainstream parties just did not get in tune with the people, the needs of the people. They were, I think, in urban centers they felt they were doing pretty well. But out here in what is the rustbelt of France where I am, which is about two and a half hours by car to the northeast of Paris. Out here where there are steel mills that are no longer functioning. They have been globalized out of business where their minds that no longer work and where the unemployment is running 17 or 18 percent.

People feel a little bit differently about the whole idea of globalization and foreign trade. Kind of thing you heard in the United States and you hear from auto workers in the United States about migrants coming across the border from Mexico. For example, here you hear about migrants coming across the border from Poland, for example. Because here in Europe, a Polish worker can work in France and be treated exactly like the French employee, but probably paid less. So they price the French employees out of the market. So that is the kind of thing that you hear over and over again out here that perhaps the mainstream parties weren't listening to -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And Stephen, these candidates are neck and neck now, but is there a way to anticipate who has, you know, the edge?

STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Most people would think that it's most likely -- or more likely that Macron will emerge triumphant in the second round of the election simply because that's what's happened in the past in France where you have the mainstream parties or the less extreme parties rallying around in the case of taxable voting, the candidate who is most like them. And Le Pen is seen as extreme by many voters and the national front which she leads doesn't have that record of government.

Now the question is, we have seen many upsets in elections over the last year. Talk about the British voting to exit the European Union. Donald Trump's victory in the United States. So I think people who would be confidently predicting that less like to make those predictions just because they have been proven wrong so many times in the past.

[16:05:49] WHITFIELD: Stephen Collinson, Jim Bittermann, thank you so much to both of you gentlemen. Appreciate it.

Meantime, we have also learned that President Trump will be speaking with Japan's prime minister and China's president tonight. One likely topic, not France but North Korea. This comes after of the rogue nation arrested a U.S. citizen as the man attempted to fly out of that country.

And then today in a state-run newspaper editorial, North Korea threatened to sink a U.S. aircraft carrier and claims that it has weapons that can reach the continental U.S. The threat to strike a U.S. carrier comes as the "USS Vinson" strike group holds joint drills with Japanese destroyers in the western pacific. And on this morning "STATE OF THE UNION" CNN's Dana Bash asked homeland security secretary John Kelly how President Trump plans to deal with North Korea.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KELLY, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: The minute I would tell you, Dana, the minute that North Korea gets a missile that can reach the United States and put a weapon on that missile, a nuclear weapon, that instant that happens this country is at grave risk. I think Mr. Trump will be dealing with this in real terms before he starts his second term.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Let's discuss this now with CNN's global affairs correspondent, Elise Labott and CNN global affairs analyst, David Rohde.

So Elise, you first. What is the U.S. reaction to his North Korean threat, you know, of sinking a U.S. ship?

ELISE LABOTT, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think they are taking the threats seriously, Fred, but not literally. We heard from the Pentagon spokesperson, Gary Ross, just a short time ago saying we called on the DPRK, that's the official name for the People's Democratic Republic of Korea, to refrain from provocative destabilizing actions and rhetoric to make the strategic choice to fulfill its international obligations and commitments and return to serious talks.

And you also had the state department coming out with a much more forceful statement saying we are going to really put the economic, diplomatic and security squeeze on North Korea to make sure that it ends its nuclear ambitions and come back to the talks. So clearly, you know, North Korea, one of the most grave security

threats for the United States. Tomorrow members of the administration will be holding a classified briefing for senators about the threat in the region. As we said, President Trump will be speaking tonight to president Xi Jinping of China, and the Japanese prime minister. Clearly China here the central element in the U.S. policy towards North Korea. The U.S. feels China could do much more to use that economic leverage on North Korea to get it to stop its antics and get back to the table.

WHITFIELD: So David, is there a feeling that this is North Korea, you know, simply testing the Trump administration?

DAVID ROHDE, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Yes, I think it is. I mean, it is partly for domestic consumption. They want to remain defiant towards the U.S. to remain in political power in Korea itself. They can't sink as far as I know, they can't sink an American carrier. That's simply threat. But this other development, this arrest of an American, there are at least - this would be the third American in North Korea has detained. This is a tactic the countries use all over the world. Iran has at least three Americans it is holding. There's two held by the Taliban in Pakistan. So this is another challenge for the trump administration, how do they deal with an American citizen being arrested in North Korea.

WHITFIELD: And then David, how convincing of a conversation do you believe President Trump can have with the Chinese president and Prime Minister Abe tonight?

ROHDE: I think it is, you know, this is all about this relationship and we should give Trump time and you know, credit for what he says is a strong relationship with president xi of China. He is the critical player. It is important to -- I think he's calling Abe, prime minister of Japan, to show respect for Japan. But this is all about China, as Elise mentioned.

Will president Xi of China use their economic leverage to pressure North Korea? That's the key thing here, has trump somehow, through a personal relationship, gotten China to do more to pressure North Korea. That will be clear in the next week or two.

WHITFIELD: And then Elise, does the president also have that conversation about the American who was detained at the airport? Is that part of that conversation this evening as well potentially?

[16:10:06] LABOTT: Well, I got to say, it's never been in the past. I mean, obviously these things come up. But I think with President Trump, yes, you can assume that he will be raising the issue of this new American, this third American, that's been taken, a man who was teaching at Pyongyang University, detained on his way out in his late 50s. He goes by Tony Kim in the United States, full name Kim Song Duck. And then no one really knows what this man did, if he did anything at all. As David said, the North Koreans use this as a bargaining chip. But clearly President Trump is trying to pull out all the stops, whether it's a series of carrots, offering president Xi of China a greater trade deal or sticks threatening sanctions against Chinese companies.

He wants the Chinese to do more. I don't know necessarily if this American comes into play, but we have never really seen an American detained under President Trump before so it will be interesting to see how he deems with this. In the past he has spoken about, when we talk about the Iranians -- the Americans in Iranian custody, he would say that that had to be part of any deal to get them released. It will be very interesting to see how he treats this latest detainee.

WHITFIELD: Yes. All this within the first 100 days now that marker next Saturday.

Elise Labott, David Rohde, thanks so much to both of you.

All right. Also coming up, President Trump looking for a legislative win in his run up to that 1100th day in office Saturday. But, is he in for a showdown over his tax reform plan and health care? Amid a looming possible government shutdown, to boot?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:15:50] WHITFIELD: All right. Congress returns to Washington tomorrow with a whole lot to do. The top priority is preventing a government shutdown and coming up with a spending bill that everyone can agree on.

But there may be one tall obstacle in the way. Trump tweeting this morning quote "the Democrats don't want money from budget going to border wall despite the fact that it will stop drugs and very bad MS- 13 gang members eventually, but at a later date so we can get started early. Mexico will be paying in some form for the badly needed border wall," end quote.

A deadline falls right before the president's first 10-days March. CNN White House correspondent Athena Jones joins me live now.

So Athena, any indication that lawmakers will cooperate with the president's ideas?

ATHENA JONES, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fred. Well, not so far. We have already heard from Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer saying that Democrats -- that this border wall funding is a non- starter. Democrats also don't want to see this must-pass funding bill either.

But you had several members of the administration of other priority of this White House which is more money for immigration agents. Democrats don't want to see that in this funding bill either. But you have several members of the administration who in interviews in the last couple of days have stressed the importance of border security. Take a listen to what DHS homeland security second stare John Kelly, followed by budget director Mick Mulvaney, and chief of staff Reince Priebus had to say about this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: But will the president go to the match (ph) and insist on funding his border wall as part of his stop gap government funding measure?

JOHN KELLY, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: Dana, I think it goes without saying that the president has been pretty straightforward about his desire and the need for a border wall. So I would suspect he will do the right thing for sure, but I will suspect he will be insistent on the funding.

MICK MULVANEY, WHITE HOUSE BUDGET SECRETARY: We want our priorities funded. And one of the biggest priorities during the campaign was border security, keeping Americans safe. And part of that was a border wall.

REINCE PRIEBUS, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: We expect a massive increase in military spending. We expect money for boarder security in this bill. And it ought to be because the president won overwhelmingly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: So there you heard from those three administration officials, border security, the border wall, this is kind of the word of the moment. But what's interesting is that there's a little bit of a mixed message depending on which administration official you speak to or hear from. You heard Secretary Kelly say that he expects the president to insist on this border wall funding. But budget director Mulvaney and chief of staff Reince Priebus did not say the same thing. They did not say the president would refuse to sign a bill that did not have border wall funding. And so that's the big question mark going forward, will this be a sticking point that potentially leads to a government shutdown? That's the question mark. And we won't find out that answer until later in the week -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Athena Jones at the White House, thanks so much.

And we will be counting down to President Trump's first 100 days on a special prime time edition of "the LEAD with Jake Tapper." That's all starting tomorrow at 9:00 p.m. eastern, right here on CNN.

All right. A big question right now, as a possible government shutdown looms, could the president's border wall be the deal breaker. We will discuss.

But first, sure, we are looking for CNN heroes, people who go above and beyond to help their communities. We need your help. Meet people who nominated their heroes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I met my hero when we were volunteering. He is making a big difference for kids in our area.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She is my second mom. My mentor. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I felt like it was very important for people to

know about sister Tesa.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I feel honored I was able to honor her in such a significant way.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was so proud of myself. I was like oh, my goodness, for everything that she's done for me, I did something for her.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: To nominate, visit CNN.com/heroes and fill out the form.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:24:10] WHITFIELD: All right. Welcome back. It will be a runoff election for the French presidential candidates, far right marine Le Pen and this centrist candidate right here, Emmanuel Macron. We heard from Le Pen last hour. And now let's listen in to Macron.

EMMANUEL MACRON, FRENCH PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE LEADER (through translator): To my people, I want to say thank you. All those people who are here and those who are no longer here, because we have to remember where we came from. All my family and Bridget.

Always present and more than that, and without her I would not be me. From now on, from now on, my friends, it is going to be to rally the French even more to reconcile France in order to win in the two weeks and tomorrow the presidency of the country.

We will win. We will win. We will win.

During these recent months, and indeed today, I have heard doubt, anger, the determination of the French people to change. And the two greater parties which have been governing France over these last decades have now been displaced. I want tonight to address all the citizens of France. The France of the mainland and overseas. I know your expectations. I hope very much that in two weeks I will become your president.

[16:26:37] WHITFIELD: All right, this scheduled runoff just two weeks away now between Emmanuel Macron, the centrist candidate there. Both candidates, Marine Le Pen, far right candidate, also considered -- both of them considered outsiders in what is now going to be a very contentious race.

So what might this mean potentially between the relationship of the U.S. and France. Let's talk more about this, as well as the upcoming 100-day mark for the president of the United States. With me now, political analyst Ellis Henican and Republican strategist Brian Morgenstern.

All right. Good to see both of you.

So Ellis, you first. What do you see potentially the impact between this French election and the foreign policy still in the making for president trump?

ELLIS HENICAN, POLITICAL COLUMNIST: Well, the easy analogy is to try and compare Le Pen to Donald Trump, and in some way she is the Trump of France. But, you know, the match-up is a whole lot different. Macron is much more of an urban sophisticate type. So it is almost more of a city mouse versus a country mouse kind of race. But clearly, the Trump analogies are easy to see. And keep an eye watch on those Russians. They are messing around in this race the same way they messing around in ours.

WHITFIELD: And Brian, it's already been established that Le Pen, you know, has a fairly congenial relationship with Vladimir Putin. But yes, we have heard it reportedly how Russia has tried to kind of meddle with a number of European elections, including France.

BRIAN MORGENSTERN, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Yes. And it's not anything new. We have known about that, the sort of activity going on for a long time. And countries in fact often, the U.S. included, will go into a country and sort of try to plant stories with reporters and pushes the narratives, maybe the benefits that, you know, foreign state actor. It happens all the time.

Obviously it is a much more heated sort of environment now with everything going on with Putin being blamed for interfering in, you know, just everything under the sun these days I guess. But the main -- one of the main issues in this race I think that will have implications for the U.S. is that Le Pen seems to be more inclined, you know, towards sort of a French national identity and less towards the EU and NATO and having those big, strong alliances to face off against Putin. So that is going to be a bit of a diplomatic, I don't know, thorny thicket I guess that we are going to have to navigate.

WHITFIELD: All right. Right now they are neck and neck but we shall see the outcome May 7th.

OK. Meantime now, let's talk about U.S. politics. The president's 100 days in office. The marker point is just this coming Saturday. The White House is sending a very carefully crafted message about everything the president has accomplished. Here is his chief of staff, Reince Priebus this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRIEBUS: Look at the promises he made on immigration. You have border crossing is down by 70 percent. You look at TPP, one of the first executives orders the president signed, was getting out of TPP. Look at ethics, that was one of the bullet points you have. Every employee of the west wing signed an ethics pledge have said you're not going to lobby for five years after you leave this place and you are never going to lobby for a foreign country. Look at Neil Gorsuch, first 100 days a Supreme Court justice is sworn in. First time since 1881. And if you just give me one minute. And I won't draw on.

[16:30:00]

But this idea about major legislation not being passed within the first 100 days -- Barack Obama had a pre-baked stimulus package that started in October of the election year which was passed in February. It was pre-baked. George Bush didn't get any major legislation until June. Clinton, August 10th. Bush 41, a year-and-a-half later. Reagan, August 13th. Carter, 658 days after he took to office. Nixon, one year. Johnson, 225 days.

Here is the deal, the president signed over 28 bills already. Health care may happen next week. It may not. We're hopeful it will. As far as border -- you said the military. We have right now in the CR negotiating one of the biggest increases in military spending in decades. So, he is fulfilling his promises and doing it at breakneck speed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right, so Brian, you first. You know, should legislation be the barometer of successes or accomplishments for those first 100 days?

BRIAN MORGENSTERN, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: They're part of it. I mean there's no way you can just sort of just wholesale, get rid of the legislative conversation. And health care and tax reform are two huge items for Republicans that they've been campaigning on for years. So, those are obviously not going away and they're going to continue pursuing that legislation.

The fact that he didn't get two, behemoth sized, very complicated bills done in the first 100 days, I would agree with Reince that's not necessarily a bad thing. These are huge things that need to be negotiated throughout both chambers of Congress and like I said, they're not letting it go away. They'll get there someday.

WHITFIELD: So Ellis, how should this first 100 days be measured?

ELLIS HENICAN, COLUMNIST: Well, how about the standards that Trump set for himself, right? None of the major things that he promised in the campaign have actually been done. The border wall is going nowhere. The immigrant ban is tied up in a court in some island in the pacific, I keep hearing. The foreign policy is almost dramatically the opposite of what we had come to expect. And don't get me started on Obamacare. How's that going, right? Listen. He set the standard. We're just pointing to the facts.

WHITFIELD: Yes, meaning President Trump called it the Trump contract, Brian.

HENICAN: Yes.

MORGENSTERN: Yes. Well --

HENICAN: It's not looking too good.

MORGENSTERN: No, Ellis, you're being a really much more overly pessimistic than a lot of particularly conservatives who were skeptical of Trump. I mean, Neil Gorsuch was a home run. His joint address to Congress, one of his priority was very well received. The serious situation, the way he was able to sort of enforce a red line without getting us into a boondoggle.

He's got some real wins here and his, you know, sort of the pro business roundtable and reaching out to the business community and trying to create a pro growth environment. He's accomplished a lot. It's just a couple of these things are really hard to get done and it is going to take a lot more, you know, calf herding in Congress to get there.

WHITFIELD: So the calendar this week for the president is very full. Secretary Kelly, you know, says President Trump will be insistent that money for the border will be included in his funding bill, but Democrats are saying that's a nonstarter, you know. So, are House Republicans prepared to stand by the president and risk shutting down the government, Ellis?

HENICAN: I don't hear much appetite from Republicans on this. Paul Ryan doesn't seem too excited about it. Mitch McConnell seems to have pretty much shrugged it off at this point. There really is, you know, I don't think people out in America who like it but in Washington thers seems to be pretty much of a constituency won for this wall.

WHITFIELD: And Brian.

MORGENSTERN: No, disagree. And Ellis, remember in 2001, this law was authorized --

HENICAN: You don't even like it.

MORGENSTERN: -- with the votes of senators Obama, Clinton and Schumer. Now they're flipping it around because it's fashionable to oppose Trump. But this is a popular idea. You can't expect a guy who ran for a year-and-a-half with his crowds chanting "build that wall" to just roll over. So, you know, they'll have to --

WHITFIELD: But he said Mexico was going to pay for it but now he's saying that he'll be asking Congress to say U.S. will pay for it and somewhere down the line Mexico will pay for it.

HENICAN: He said we would be tired of winning about now. Are you feeling tired of winning yet?

WHITFIELD: So there's this new poll, well, you know from the "Washington Post" showing Donald Trump has a record low of 42 percent approval rating. But he still has strong support, you know, within the base. Does he risk losing that if he can't follow through, say on the promise of the border wall, Brian?

MORGENSTERN: Whether it happens in this continuing resolution, funding resolution or if it happens in a couple of months, I don't think that's going to just blow up his base of support. He's obviously still advocating for it. It's just a matter I think of how he continues to push forward into the future. His supporters are definitely not going to ditch him if he says, alright, we didn't get it today, we'll get it tomorrow.

WHITFIELD: Ellis. [16:35:00] HENICAN: You know, they seem stubbornly supportive, honestly. I don't know exactly where the ceiling is somewhere in the high 30s there, but I don't see any evidence that they're being shaken yet honestly.

WHITFIELD: All right, Ellis Henican, Brian Morgenstern, always good to see you every Sunday.

HENICAN: Great seeing you.

WHITFIELD: Thank you so much.

All right, coming up, stunning video of a 4-year-old girl falling out of the back of a bus. We'll talk to the heroic firefighter who rushed to her rescue, plus.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIAN STELTER, CNN HOST, "RELIABLE SOURCES": Did Roger Ailes ever sexually harass you?

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR, "NEW DAY": Yes, Roger Ailes did sexually harass me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: For the very first time, our very own Alisyn Camerota talks about the dark side of working at Fox News.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Welcome back. A stunning admission today from CNN's Alisyn Camerota. The anchor of "New Day" claims she was sexually harassed while at Fox News by Roger Ailes,

[16:40:00] the network's CEO who was ousted amid mounting harassment claims. Alisyn opened up for the first time about this telling her very personal story to CNN's "Reliable Sources" host Brian Stelter.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: It felt like there was a tipping point this week. When Roger Ailes was ousted in July, there was a lot of talk about what the culture was there. And now with Bill O'Reilly having been fired, it feels as though, if I take the Murdoch's at their word, they really want to know what was wrong there and what the culture was like, and I don't know how you get that from silence. So, it feels like this might be the right time to just have this conversation, let some daylight in.

STELTER: You said on the air Bill O'Reilly never harassed you. But you didn't say that about Roger Ailes. Did Roger Ailes ever sexually harass you?

CAMEROTA: Yes, Roger Ailes did sexually harass me. Let me be clear. Roger Ailes could be charming. He could be quite charismatic. He could be uproariously funny. He could also be a bit of a bully and mean. And, he also was often kind of grossly inappropriate with things that he would say. And I think that many of us experienced that.

He would talk about body parts. He would say, give me a spin. He would want to be greeted with a hug. But the time that I remember most was when I was first starting out at Fox and I was single and I remember Roger -- being in Roger's office and I was single, I wanted more opportunity. And he said, "Well? I would have to work with you."

STELTER: Work with you.

CAMEROTA: "I would have to work with you on that case. I would have to work with you really closely. And it may require us getting to know each other better. And that might have to happen away from here. And it might have to happen at a hotel. Do you know what I'm saying?" and I said, "Yes, I think I do know what you're saying."

And I just want to say that, I knew in my head at that moment, I'm never going to that hotel under any circumstances. But I didn't know what that meant for me and for my career, and I remember vividly that I had sort of an out of body experience hovering over us in the office and thinking, is this it? Is this the end of my time here? Will I be fired if I don't do this?

And I just want everybody to understand that when it happens, there is a visceral reaction that you have where you recognize -- my career and everything that I've worked for is under threat and I don't know what's going to happen next.

STELTER: And you end up then doing what?

CAMEROTA: Well, I just went home and I didn't tell anybody at the time because I was embarrassed and it is sort of humiliating.

STELTER: Embarrassed?

CAMEROTA: It's embarrassing. You know, when this man that you've gone to tell about your strengths and to sort of see if he thinks that you're doing a good job at work, you know, makes that sort of proposition. It is demeaning and it is humiliating. And so I was sort of embarrassed to tell people.

And I decided personally -- and everybody deals with it differently -- I'm going to ignore that. I'm going to pretend that never happened. He then changed his m.o. and when I say that there was -- that I experienced harassment there, it was different. And for me, it was no longer sexual harassment. It was harassment of a different variety.

STELTER: What do you mean?

CAMEROTA: It was sort of emotional harassment. Roger Ailes ruled with an iron fist and he wanted us all to fall in line and have his world view and say the things that he wanted us to say on Fox News. And he targeted me because he sort of figured out early on that I didn't share his world view and he said, "you're not saying the conservative things that I want you to say and you could be a real role model and you could be a real star if only you could sound conservative sometimes." And I said, "well, Roger, that's not my job. I'm not supposed to sound conservative or liberal. I am supposed to be a fair and balanced, in your terms, journalist. And I'm supposed to be open and I'm not supposed to take a side."

And that he didn't appreciate or particularly like. I was often, you know, sort of called on the carpet for things because he thought that I wasn't reflecting the conservative agenda. So he and I had a lot of interaction and sometimes arguments. Sometimes he would lecture me. Sometimes he would insult me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Brian Stelter reached out for a statement from

[16:45:00] Roger Ailes' attorney, Susan Estrich, and she denies Camerota's account saying, "These are unsubstantiated and false allegations. Mr. Ailes never engaged in the inappropriate conversations she now claims occurred and he vigorously denies this fictional account of her interactions with him and of Fox News editorial policy."

Alright. Still ahead, the disturbing video out of Arkansas. A child falling out of the back of a bus and left lying in the mid of the highway. Luckily for her, a volunteer firefighter is there to come to her rescue.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RYAN CIAMPOLI, VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTER: It was just unbelievable. One minute I'm just driving down the road and the next minute I see a little girl swing open the door on this church bus and fall to the highway.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:50:02] WHITFIELD: A truly heroic rescue out of Arkansas after a horrifying moment for a toddler and it is all is captured on video, but it is disturbing. We warned you. Take a look at these still images of a 4-year-old little girl who fell out of the back of this moving bus.

A volunteer fire fighter was driving behind the bus and he immediately jumped into action and then came to the rescue. I do want to show you the dash cam video of the horrible scene as it happened. There is no audio but you will see the images.

(VIDEO PLAYING)

WHITFIELD: So you saw the little girl falling out of the back of the vehicle, then the firefighter running over there. He picks her up as she's nearly motionless, but in an interview that I have with him that you're about to see, he describes how he was able to remain calm yet at the same time just really follow his instincts.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) CIAMPOLI: It was just unbelievable. One minute I'm just driving down the road, and the next minute I see a little girl swing open the door on this church bus and fall to the highway. It was heartbreaking, but instantly, you know, I used my EMS training and firefighter training and assessed the scene as best as I could. I realized that it wasn't a good place for her laying there.

You know, typically, you know in EMS we're not supposed to move the patient unless they're in a pretty dangerous situation. And because she was on a state highway there in Harrison, Arkansas, it was grounds to get her out of there. I couldn't stand for her to get hit by a car or someone hit us both, you know, and so I immediately got out of my car. I realized the pavement was going to be hot because it was like 80 degrees that day.

And so I -- as soon as I ran over to her and approached her, she was unconscious at first. But then she started to move her arm and kind of look up at me and so I picked her up as carefully as I could and held her in my arms and kind of assessed, you know, her little body to see what kind of damages had been done from the fall.

And, you know, it's hard to use a clear head, but I tried my best, you know. I have an 8-year-old son. I've got kids, you know, little girls and it's hard. So, just picking her up and getting her out of that situation, out of the middle of the road was priority one.

WHITFIELD: But god, Ryan, you did seem to have a clear head. So then, were you talking to her even though you said at first, you know, she was motionless and she seemed, you know, like she was knocked out. But were you talking to her? Do you recall what you may have been saying to her if so?

CIAMPOLI: The whole time I'm like, I'm here, sweetie, I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere. I just keep talking to her trying to get her to calm down because as soon as that adrenalin kicked in, she started kicking her feet, screaming, sitting up, you know, trying to sit up and I don't want her to move, you know, because it could have compromised, you know, a spine and neck and all that.

So, I just kept trying to just try to calm her down, which of course, you know, she just went through that horrible trauma. You know, so she was out of it, didn't really know what was going on. And bless her heart, you know. So, I just held her kind of like a baby until we walked over to the pick-up truck bed where I was able to lay her down and just kept telling her, sweetheart, it's going to be okay. I'm right here=.

She finally came to enough to where she started talking about her mom, you know, where's my mom? And if I wasn't so focused on that situation, I probably would have just been balling.

WHITFIELD: Oh, my gosh, Ryan Ciampoli. You are amazing and I understand that little girl suffered a broken jaw. Thank goodness that it wasn't something more serious. But clearly you did all the right things and you are indeed a hero, not just to that little girl, an inspiration to so many. Ryan Ciampoli, thank you so much. (END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: He is amazing.

Hey, that's going to do it for us today. Thanks so much for being with me this Sunday. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Much more of the NEWSROOM straight ahead with Ana Cabrera at the top of the hour.

But first, here's a look at our new CNN series, "SOUNDTRACKS."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (SINGING): I'm in a New York state of mind

DWAYNE JOHNSON, EXECUTIVE PRODUCER, CNN SOUNDTRACS: The music and the artists post 9/11, they're reflective of the many emotions we feel.

BILLY JOEL, MUSICIAN: We ain't going anywhere.

We played for an audience of police, firemen and emergency rescue workers and they needed a boost.

I put a fireman's helmet on the piano just to help me concentrate because if I didn't have that, I might have just lost it.

It is kind of an anthem for New York City. I didn't think of that when I wrote it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The events that transpired defined the music and made it bigger than it was intended to be.

[16:55:00] JOHNSON: The music will always remind us that it is possible.

RANDY JACKSON, MUSICIAN: Somebody's got to put this into words and emotions. That is what anthems are made of.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "SOUNDTRACKS: SONGS THAT DEFINED HISTORY," Thursday at 10:00 on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANA CABRERA, CNN ANCHOR: You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Ana Cabrera in New York. Thanks for being with us. We are following breaking news right now. It's happening overseas, but you can believe these ripples will be felt right here in the United States.

People of France voting for president today have just sent two people to the final round of voting. One of them will be their new leader. On one side, Emmanuel Macron. Now, he has never held elected office. On the other, Marie Le Pen, from the far right who's philosophy on the surface sounds similar to that of the new American president.

[17:00:00] Country first, suspending immigration, pushing out the establishment, the French version of drain the swamp. Here's why this matters to the United States and the rest of the world. France has a huge economy. The sixth biggest on Earth.