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Trump Criticized For Shifting Immigration Stance; State Lawmaker Denies Calling Governor Racist; Aftershocks Hamper Search, Recovery Efforts; Examining Alleged Anti-Semitic Comments by Trump Campaign CEO in 2007 Court Case; Spike in Heroin Overdoses Discussed; US Medics Working in Iraq. Aired 12-1p ET
Aired August 27, 2016 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Tim Kaine linked Trump to racist ideals telling a crowd of mostly black supporters that Trump embraces the values of the Ku Klux Klan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[12:00:03] SEN. TIM KAINE (D-VA), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He has supporters like David Duke connected with the Ku Klux Klan, who are going around saying that Donald Trump is their candidate because Donald Trump is pushing their values.
Ku Klux Klan values, David Duke values, Donald Trump values are not American values, they're not our values and we've got to do all we can to fight and push back and win.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: RNC Chair Reince Priebus firing back saying, quote, "Tim Kaine sunk to new lows with dirty and deplorable attacks which have no place in this campaign."
Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton wrapped up her first classified national security briefing at the FBI office in White Plains, New York.
And we are learning new details around that clean bill of health from Donald Trump's doctor, Harold Bornstein, told NBC that he spent about 5 minutes writing the letter in which he called Trump -- he called him he would be, quote, "The healthiest individual ever elected for the presidency," end quote.
All while Trump's limo waited outside for the doctor to finish the letter. Well, Trump, of course, has not been elected president.
All right. Trump speaks later today at an event honoring veterans in Des Moines, Iowa, this after a week where his campaign came under attack for a shift in his immigration policy leaving questions over exactly where Trump stands on the issues.
CNN's Sunlen Serfaty joins me live from Des Moines, Iowa with more on this -- Sunlen. SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CORRESPONENT: Fred, Donald Trump is preparing to give a big speech on immigration next week to try to clarify exactly what his position on immigration really is. And clarity is what is seriously sorely needed here because this week he has been all over the map on his positions with almost daily recalibrations to where he stands.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SERFATY (voice-over): Donald Trump's rapidly evolving position on immigration seems to have come full circle.
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There is no path to legalization unless they leave the country and come back.
SERFATY: Trump is now ruling out a pathway to legal status for the nation's undocumented immigrants, a sharp departure from his comments made just two days ago.
TRUMP: There certainly can be a softening because we're not looking to hurt people.
SERFATY: On Tuesday Trump seemed open to providing legal status for undocumented immigrants, who had not been convicted of crimes but is walking that back now.
TRUMP: I don't think it's a softening. I think it's --
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, "AC360": But 11 million people are no longer going to be deported.
TRUMP: I've had people it's a hardening.
SERFATY: The GOP nominee is not clarifying how he would deal with those in the country illegally and whether he still intends to follow through on his pledge during the primary to deport all undocumented immigrants from the U.S.
TRUMP: We're going to see what happens, but there's a very good chance the answer could be yes, we're going the see what happens. Before if do anything, I want to get rid of the bad ones --
SERFATY: While he tries to define an immigration stance that can at best be described as moving target --
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: From the start Donald Trump has built his campaign on prejudice and paranoia.
SERFATY: Both Trump and Clinton are taking their bare knuckled fight over racial politics to new levels.
TRUMP: Hillary Clinton is a bigot who sees people of color only as votes.
SERFATY: Trump is standing by his labelling of Clinton as a bigot without specifying which policies of hers he believes have failed minorities.
TRUMP: She comes out with policies and others that believe like she does also, but she came out with policies over the years. This is over the years, long time. She's totally bigoted.
SERFATY: And digging in even more, resurfacing old comments of Clintons from the '90s. In this Instagram video, the Democratic nominee has since said she regretted.
CLINTON: They are often the kinds of kids called super predators. No conscience. No empathy. We can talk about why they ended up that way, but first we have to bring them to heal.
SERFATY: All this as the Trump campaign is facing scrutiny over its newly minted CEO, Steve Bannon. The newly surfaced revelations first reported by "Politico" that Bannon was charged with domestic violence in 1996 in a case involving his then wife, Bannon pleaded not guilty and the charges were later dropped.
The Trump campaign is also adding to its team today bringing on former Chris Christie aide, Bill Stepian (ph) as national field director. Stepian was fired in the wake of the emphasis Bridgegate scandal.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SERFATY: And Trump will be speaking here in Des Moines, Iowa in just a few hours. Notably this is an event hosted by Iowa Senator Jonie Ernst, who was once potentially rumored to be on his short list for a potential vice presidential pick.
Well, she has some pretty pointed words for both candidates, both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, speaking about this rhetoric that they're engaging in this week.
[12:05:05]She told "The Washington Post" that they both need to tone it down saying, quote, "They really need to take this into civil discourse. I say to both of them, back down -- Fred.
WHITFIELD: All right, we'll see. Sunlen Serfaty, thank you so much.
All right, I want to now bring in conservative columnist, Kristen Tate. She is a Trump supporter, and journalist and activist, Krystal Ball, who supports Hillary Clinton. Good to see both of you, ladies.
All right, So Kristen, you first, you know, is there likely to be more clarity on Donald Trump's direction if there's going to be more of what we're seeing this week between he and Hillary Clinton calling each other bigots or if there will be more specificity on the immigration plan which is, you know, the cornerstone of his candidacy.
KRISTEN TATE, CONSERVATIVE COLUMNIST: Right. Well, I think at this point 2016 is Trump's election to lose. He's got to focus on the issues. If he doesn't direct his, you know, populous style on the bold energy on the issues, if he keeps personally attacking his critics and talking about himself and complaining about the media, he's not going to win. If he focuses on the issues, clarifies his immigration policies, if he shows the voters what he, Donald Trump can do for them, he will win. Hillary is a very beatable candidate. She has a scandal ridden past and this really could be his election to win, but he could ruin it if he sticks to divisive rhetoric and personal attacks.
WHITFIELD: Krystal, how much of that do you agree with or dispute?
KRYSTAL BALL, JOURNALIST, ACTIVIST: The idea that at this point that is Trump's election to lose is a bit farfetched just looking at the numbers in and of themselves. I mean, Donald Trump really is the person who made this whole campaign about himself.
When you step on the stage at your own convention and say I alone can fix the problems facing this country, then you make this election a referendum on you, your personality, your temperament and your long history not only in this campaign but from the very beginning of your business career on racially discriminatory rhetoric and practices.
So look, I think from a strategic standpoint if you're the Hillary Clinton campaign, every day that this is a debate about Donald Trump and his temperament and which candidate is going to be better for minority communities is a day that you're winning.
WHITFIELD: Kristen?
TATE: Well, look, I agree with the comments about temperament. Hillary has to focus on trying to paint Trump out as a racist with a poor temperament because she really has no policies to run on, right? But I mean, if you want to talk about Trump's past? Trump has created many opportunities for the minority community.
He employs many black people and other minorities in his own company. He's elevated women. So I think he's got to focus on that. Again, stop with the personal attacks. We really got to focus on the issues here and I think both candidates have to stop personally attacking each other.
WHITFIELD: So then, Kristen, if that is going to be the best advice that both candidates have to stop attacking each other, there is this great waiting game, you know, taking place as it pertains to Donald Trump and his immigration policy or really any specificity on any policy for that matter.
At what point do you see, Kristen, that if not now, then perhaps next week as he's to unveil more of the immigration policy there will be more specificity on issues so that he can no longer be a party to playing the name game with Hillary Clinton.
TATE: Well, I think in the past week we've seen a Donald Trump that has focused on the issues. I loved his speeches last week where he did reach out to the black community, you know, told them that liberal policies have failed you. Here's how I'm going to provide a brighter future. He's got to --
WHITFIELD: What did he propose he was going to do in that respect? TATE: Well, if he makes things better for businesses, if he allows businesses to grow and create jobs that will lift the minority communities out of poverty and allow opportunity for all kinds of folks.
And he's also the -- he's proven to be the candidate of law and order. He wants to crack down on crime. That would be great for the minority communities as well. He's got to focus on the positive things he can bring to all sorts of Americans.
And again, if he can focus on that he can win. And I also want to point out with the polls, he's down in the polls right now. But we've got to keep in mind, a lot of average Americans are not really tuned in too closely to the race yet.
I think the turning point here will be the first debate. If he can do a really good job in that debate, again, stick to the issues and Hillary Clinton's weaknesses, he can turn this thing around.
WHITFIELD: So Krystal, 11 weeks to go until Election Day. Is it your feeling, whether it be starting this weekend or maybe next week, you know, Hillary Clinton will get back to laying out her plans as opposed to what right now she's embroiled in this tit for tat with Donald Trump, you know, trying to play his game.
[12:10:00]And we've seen from what the other 16 Republicans who were in the field with him during the primaries that nobody can play that game better than Donald Trump. So is the challenge for Hillary Clinton to now get back into her game of trying to spell out policy or issues as opposed to, you know, getting into the name game with Donald Trump, 11 weeks to go.
BALL: Well, first of all, Hillary Clinton has had plans on immigration and economics and policies that work for families from the very beginning. She obviously collaborated with Bernie Sanders to improve our college tuition plans.
So she actually knows where she stands on the issues and has laid out in detail for voters where she stands and what she would do if elected --
WHITFIELD: But do voters know it well enough that they don't need to hear it again or in some cases hear it for the first time?
BALL: No. I'm not saying that at all. Of course, she wants to lay out a positive message for the country, but I also think, you know, I don't think we should discount the fact that we also need to lay out the case for why Donald Trump, regardless of whether you're a Democrat or a Republican, is a frightening for this country in a really unprecedented way.
You know, going back to the comments, everybody always says that when they're going to defend him on race, he's created a lot of jobs, been a great businessman. But even if you look at that record, there's a brand-new "New York Times" investigation that just came out about his initial start in the real estate business where of course we know he was sued by the federal government for his company marking C for colored on applications.
He's also reportedly pulled black dealers off the casino floor. He is also reportedly said he wants Jewish accountants or implied that rather than black accountants. So we're not just talking about campaign rhetoric here, we're talking about a long history of actions, of real world actions that have negatively impacted minority communities.
And I think it's entirely appropriate for Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine to be laying that case out for the American people so that they know who this charlatan really is.
TATE: Do you want to talk about racism? Maybe we can talk about Black Lives Matter. How come Hillary Clinton never talks about Black Lives Matter, many whose members have called and acted on violence against white cops? They do this with impunity. It's never called out by the media or Democrats --
WHITFIELD: Well, actually we've had that discussion and I don't think that's really been proven in terms of whether it's been a charge or that was the mission of Black Lives Matter. But that's what this discussion is about.
This really is about messaging from these candidates and whether track records, I guess which is what, you know, Krystal you're trying to talk about whether track record is part of the dialogue for these candidates and what their positions are, at this point moving forward, right, Kristen?
TATE: Well, I think it's just -- it's a little stooping low for Hillary Clinton to be calling Trump, saying he's like the KKK while completely ignoring violence on the other side with the Black Lives Matter. I mean, it's almost as if she expects violence from the black community. It's almost insulting. She is not holding them to a higher standard while calling Trump --
WHITFIELD: I don't know if I'm with you on that one. I don't know if anybody can substantiate what you just said because that one comes out of nowhere.
BALL: All Kristen and other Trump supporters can really do here is try to change the subject because when Trump calls Hillary Clinton a bigot, he backs it up with nothing, his campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway can't back it up with anything. None of his spokespeople can either.
But when Hillary Clinton lays out this case, there are facts from this campaign and long before that are not in dispute. So yes, you can say all these comments are over the line, but no one can argue with the reality of the fact that he attacked an American judge with a Mexican heritage just because of his Mexican heritage.
You can't deny the fact that he launched this campaign by generalizing and stereotyping Mexicans as rapists. You can't deny the fact that he's stereotyped Muslim parents, a gold star family based on their religion. It's fine to try to change the subject and tar Hillary Clinton with something else that somebody else might have done or said. But on the fact, there is just no denying the merit here.
WHITFIELD: OK, we are going to leave it right there, but Krystal, Kristen, I know we're going to resume this conversation perhaps in a more concrete direction, but for now let's end it right there. Thanks so much, Krystal Ball, Kristen Tate. Appreciate it.
All right, join CNN's Jake Tapper on "STATE OF THE UNION" tomorrow. His guest is Republican vice presidential candidate, Mike Pence, that's tomorrow right here on CNN 9:00 a.m.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:17:39]
WHITFIELD: All right. Welcome back. Maine's governor is under fire after leaving a profanity laced and threatening voice mail for a state lawmaker. CNN's Phil Mattingly has more on this story. We warn you, we have bleeped some of it out because some of the language is still inappropriate.
PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fred, there's a pretty good chance that governors, state lawmakers, state legislators, they probably trade voice mails ever once in a while, right. That's just how it works when you're governing, but what happens when you're a state legislator in Maine and you upset the rather volatile Republican governor of Maine? Well, this.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED CALLER: I would like to talk to you about your comments about my being a racists you (inaudible).
MATTINGLY (voice-over): That's Maine Governor Paul LePage. His target, Drew Gattine, a state lawmaker LePage thought had called him racist. The governor did not hold back.
GOVERNOR PAUL LEPAGE, MAINE (via telephone): I want you to prove that I'm a racist. I've spent my life helping black people and you little son of a (inaudible), socialist (inaudible). I need you -- I want you to record this and make it public because I'm after you. Thank you.
MATTINGLY: And in a page right out of the 19th Century, the governor later challenges Gattine to a duel.
LEPAGE: That's how angry I am. And I bet -- I would put my gun in the air, guarantee you. I would not be Hamilton. I'd point it right between his eyes.
MATTINGLY: LePage is no stranger to controversy.
LEPAGE: I was Donald Trump before Donald Trump became popular.
MATTINGLY: Something he himself acknowledged in his endorsement of Donald Trump earlier this year. But the parallels go further, an outsider riling up the establishment, a fighter willing to go to the mat with political foes. LePage's daughter even works for Trump's campaign.
And yes, he's a politician with a history of not so politically correct comments from strong words to President Obama --
LEPAGE: And as your governor, you're going to see a lot of me on the front page saying Governor LePage tells Obama to go to hell.
[12:20:01]MATTINGLY: To punctuating a dispute with the NAACP like this.
LEPAGE: Tell them to kiss my butt.
MATTINGLY: And recently on the father of a Muslim-American soldier killed in action in Iraq.
LEPAGE (via telephone): Then there's the all mighty beautiful ones like Mr. Khan, which is a con artist himself and he uses the death of his son, who is an American soldier, which we respect and honor, and he used that to go after Trump, which I found very distasteful.
MATTINGLY: But its comments relating to the state's heroin crisis that have followed LePage for months.
LEPAGE: These are guys with the name Demoney, Smoothie, Shifty, these type of guys that come from Connecticut and New York. They come up here, sell their heroin and then they go back home. Incidentally half the time they impregnate a young white girl before they leave, which is the real sad thing because now we have another issue that we got to deal with down the road.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MATTINGLY: And Fred, it really does all go back to the comments from Governor LePage in January, comments that he doubled down on Wednesday during a town hall. These are comments that LePage himself has repeatedly stated were not racist.
They weren't meant with racism in mind, but they are comments that drew a lot of criticism as racially charge from civil rights groups, from Maine Democratic legislature.
Now LePage himself put out a lengthy statement after all of this. He apologized to quote, "The people of Maine for his comments for the language he used in the voice mail."
But he did not apologize for saying he would like to have a duel with the Democratic lawmaker and he also pledged that he would do everything in his power to stop the state representative from doing anything legislatively or politically going forward. So a little bit of a walk back. Not much of one -- Fred.
WHITFIELD: All right, Phil Mattingly, thank you so much. All right, up next we're going back live to Italy. The death toll is expected to rise again after the massive earthquake this week. Funerals have begun as rescue crews continue with their search.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:25:45]
WHITFIELD: Welcome back. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. A national day of mourning in Central Italy just days after a deadly earthquake hit a popular vacation area. Funerals also taking place for dozens of victims.
Italy's prime minister and president attending a service for some 35 victims today. The death toll now at 290. Many more are still unaccounted for.
The depth of the devastation across the region now sinking in as the critical window to find more survivors alive passes. Hundreds of aftershocks are hampering recovery efforts and 2,100 people are living in makeshift tents.
CNN's Atika Shubert joins us now live from Italy. So Atika, more than 6,000 rescuers are in the region. What's the latest on the search for other possible survivors?
ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, that search continues, but the longer it goes on, obviously hopes continue to dim. In fact, in the last hour or so, another body has been recovered. So that death toll has gone up to 291.
The good news for many of the residents and survivors here is that the aftershocks seemed to be waning a little bit, but they are still continuing. We felt another one last night. That's why you have tent camps like this, not just for those displaced, but the building behind me have huge cracks in the walls. There are still many damaged buildings.
Whenever there is an aftershock, everyone comes running out and they feel safer staying the night in tents like this. It is the process, the search that will go on still for some time.
In the meantime today it's a national day of mourning, state funeral with those 35 people buried. A way for the community and for the nation to come together, try to heal and to rebuild -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right. Atika Shubert, thank you so much for that update. We'll check back with you. Appreciate it. So for ways to help earthquake victims, visit CNN.com/impact.
Next, an offensive remark allegedly made by the CEO of Donald Trump's campaign. His name is Steve Bannon. His ex-wife said he didn't want his daughters going to school with Jewish girls. You'll hear the context next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [12:31:07] WHITFIELD: All right. Hello again. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.
Donald Trump's new campaign CEO Steven Bannon ranted to his ex-wife about their children having to go to school with Jewish kids. This was cited in court documents filed during a custody battle over their kids.
CNN National Correspondent Diane Gallagher, joining me now from Washington. So can you take us through exactly what Bannon allegedly said and then ultimately what he said? What's the issue here?
DIANE GALLAGHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Fred so like -- it's important to note, those charges of anti-semitism were from his now ex-wife during a child custody case that happened back in 2007. We went through those documents and, in them his ex-wife said that Bannon didn't want his daughters to attend a certain girls school they were considering due to the number of Jewish students there.
Those documents show her stating, "He said he doesn't like Jews and he doesn't like that they raise their kids to be 'whiney brats' and that he didn't want the girls going to school with Jews."
Now again it is important to point out that these are his now ex- wife's words from a court declaration that was involving a dispute over child support back in 2007.
CNN has reached out to Bannon and the Trump campaign spokesperson but we have not heard back. However Bannon spokeswoman did tell the New York Daily News which first reported this that Bannon never said anything like that and "Proudly sent the girls to archer for their middle school and high school education."
Of course, so Fred, all of this comes as a newly appointing campaign chair is already facing scrutiny about his background we learned this week that more than 20-years-ago Bannon did face a multiple charges including misdemeanor, domestic violence, stemming from an incident involving his ex-wife.
Now, those charges of course were eventually dropped.
WHITFIELD: And what is the record show about these allegations then as suppose to the response from those speaking on Bannon's behalf today?
GALLAGHER: The campaign -- those charges were dropped Fred, because the ex-wife did not appear in court.
Now, we've reached out to the Trump campaign. The Trump campaign has said that that incident is not going to affect its future or anything like that with the campaign.
At this point Kellyanne Conway stating at one point that the campaign manager that she wasn't even sure if Donald Trump was aware of any of those allegations or those charges from decades ago.
But the campaign seems to say that nothing is going to change in regards to that domestic violence charge that was dropped.
Again we're waiting on a response as far as the charges of anti- semitism from the ex-wife and those documents.
WHITFIELD: All right Diane Gallagher, thank you so much.
All right next, it's an American medical crisis. The opioid addiction problem is killing people every day and now the surgeon general is launching a program to save those lives. Hear from him next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[12:37:36] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These kids are excited about making chocolate pizzas their parents are pump up about KidPass.
SOLOMON LIOU, CEO KIDPASS: It's a website that helps parents easily discover and book kids' activities that will spark creative and curiosity.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The startup is a brainchild of four tech industry veterans.
LIOU: We started KidPass out of our own need as parents. We wanted to look for music classes for our kids and there was no place to go to there where you can easily search and then book and then just go to an activity.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Scroll through activities.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With KidPass monthly membership fees start at $49. Parents get credits to book all kinds of activities at more than 250 businesses across New York City.
LIOU: Sports and fitness, swimming, arts and crafts, music classes for newborns, even things like chocolate pizza making or building a robot.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Variety, flexibility, and the chance to try out the classes without commitment are attracting members.
CEYLAR YAZAR, KIDPASS MEMBER: Your child wakes up in one morning and you don't have anything planned for that day. What are you in the mood for? You don't have to sign up for a whole season. Because kids changed their minds, she loves yoga today, tomorrow she want another ballet.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Since launching in January, KidPass has grown to more than 1,000 subscribers and plans to expand through other major cities this year.
LIOU: We want to be the first destination that a parent goes to, when they're thinking about what to do with their child.
(END VIDEO CLIP) WHITFIELD: All right. Officials in multiple states are grappling with a sudden frightening spike in heroin overdoses and they think it's being caused by a dealer or dealers lacing the drug with an Elephant tranquilizer.
In Ohio there have been nearly 90 overdoses in just the last week and there have been at least 12 in Indiana. And last week in West Virginia, 28 people overdosed within a four-hour period.
One official there saying the amount of 911 calls pouring in was like a mass casualty event, taking a listen to one of the Indiana -- one of the calls out of Indiana right now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Probable opiate overdose.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. Stay on the line for an ambulance.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Probable opiate overdose.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is he awake?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Barely. Can't hardly get him to -- he's barely awake.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is he having trouble breathing?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just -- can you just send somebody?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[12:39:59] WHITFIELD: The drug crisis has prompted U.S. surgeon general to send a letter urging all doctors to use caution when prescribing pain medication that could become addictive.
CNN's Rachel Crane joins us now live from Cincinnati. So Rachel, what have you been learning about this epidemic?
RACHEL CRANE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, we spoke to one law enforcement official this morning who said that over the past week there have been more than 100 overdoses. And yesterday just in Cincinnati alone there were 36 overdoses.
Now in order to better understand the impact of the opioid epidemic on people's lives, we spoke to a family about their struggle with addiction and they were very candid with us.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm terrified. It terrifies me.
CRANE: A recent spike in heroin overdoses, nearly 100 in the last week alone. Have Lori Erion fearing for her daughter's life.
APRIL ERION, HEROIN ADDICT: I would love to get high. I would. Now, I'm a drug addict that's what I do best.
CRANE: April is 22-years-old and she's been using heroin for the last six years. In those years she says she's lost about a dozen friends.
APRIL ERION: Overdosing, there's kind of one of one of my friend die I think yesterday morning and she left four kids behind.
CRANE: officials suspect a batch of heroin laced with Elephant tranquilizers is to blame for the latest string of overdoses. But April says that's not enough to scare away regular users.
When you are addicted to heroin, when you're using, you don't care about dying. You're just chasing the next high. And for a lot of people, hearing that there is a souped up strain of dope on the streets, that's actually appealing.
APRIL ERION: Yeah, definitely. Absolutely, because you, you stop getting high, that's why they call it chasing high, because you stop getting high. You're just --you're staying well, you're staying not sick.
So when you hear that somebody is overdosed or you hear about these crazy new drugs, you know, you're thinking like "Whoa, all right. It's about time. I'm trying to get high," I mean that's you've been trying to do.
CRANE: So that means that with this new strain of heroin that's cut with an Elephant tranquilizer?
APRIL ERION: I am very sure that there are heroin addicts who are actively looking for it and thinking that the people that are dying are doing it wrong. They're doing too much. They're not, you know I mean? They're just thinking that they're going to find a way to get really high and not die. Or if they die, they don't really care. But they're definitely looking for it. I would be.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My son's on drugs and I think he's overdosing. I think he's overdosed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is he awake?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, he's awake, but barely.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's not breathing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. What's he OD'ing on?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Heroin. Ahhh, it's, it's I guess it's fentanyl.
CRANE: This fire house in Cincinnati responded to nearly two dozen overdoses in a single day last week, more than 10 times their daily average. And they don't know when the calls will stop coming in. But April's mom is worried about a different type of call.
LORI ERION, APRIL'S MOTHER: You know, we hear an ambulance and we always wonder if it's someone that we know or for our child. And that's something that we live with every day. You know, we go to bed at night wondering if we're going to get that phone call.
CRANE: April and her mom know better than anyone how difficult the struggle with opioid addiction is.
APRIL ERION: I'll do any drug you put in front of me. So it's definitely a struggle. It's really hard.
LORI ERION: It's difficult because we can't like love them out of it, you know, so we love them so much and it doesn't -- there's nothing that we can really do for them.
CRANE: April says getting sober is a daily struggle. But in her eyes, not using heroin is progress, even if other drugs are taking its place.
APRIL ERION: I'm definitely not. I wouldn't say I'm using. But I've used twice since I've been out, and I've been out for a month.
CRANE: How has heroin changed your life?
APRIL ERION: Well, I'm 22. I just did 11 months incarcerated. I'm back on probation with more time on the shelf. When in reality, I mean, I probably should have been applying for med school this summer. You know, that was what I wanted to do. That's where I should have been.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CRANE: While April is not applying to med school, she is in recovery. She told us that he's going to treatment about three to four times a week and that she's focusing on staying clean and just living life one day at a time, Fred.
WHITFIELD: Yeah, it's terribly sad. All right, Rachel Crane, thank you so much.
[12:44:54] All right, next we go to battle against ISIS in Iraq. You'll meet two American volunteer medics fighting to save lives.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Welcome back. The battle is on for the Iraqi city of Mosul.
Iraqi forces have now reached the distance outskirts of the city and say they expect to retake it from ISIS by the end of the year.
Two American medics who showed up in Iraq to support the anti-ISIS forces are now in a constant struggle to save lives. Here's CNN's Arwa Damon.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORESPONDENT: It's early morning and the Kurdish Peshmerga are launching a nature push into ISIS controlled villages.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're looking for a place to set up our medical triage area.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've had five dead, eight wounded.
DAMON: Jon Reez and Pete Reed these are two Americans on the medical front line.
(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right, we have two casualties. Let's treat them appropriately.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get him on.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OPA.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Black box.
DAMON: It's a chaotic frantic effort on this day, compounded by a language barrier, different culture and significant lack of resources.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I need four plastic, plastic.
DAMON: Jon, a trained emergency medical technician from Syracuse, New York is volunteering.
[12:50:02] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you airways OPA.
DAMON: Pete of Bordentown New Jersey is a former marine turned medic who works with a nonprofit providing medical training and assistance.
There is no advanced warning what the casualty is coming in, no time to prep before the next one arrives.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The toughest thing about being out here as a combat medic is when your patients don't live.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on, man. Stay with us. Come back to us man. Come on.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sometimes we, we can't fix everything, so I think that's the hard part for me personally, you know, you want to save everybody but you can't.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's a breakdown in communication between us, coalition forces, Peshmerga. And it's difficult when you're trying your best to work on someone but just -- the rest of the system isn't there. Or it's not working properly.
DAMON: They both say they had comfortable happy lives at home.
Was it guilt?
PETE REED, U.S. VOLUNTEER MEDIC: Guilt or sense of purpose. Sometimes those overlap, somewhere in the middle. JON RIETH, U.S. VOLUNTEER MEDIC: I can help people at home for sure and I do and I feel good for what I do there. But here that feeling is much greater.
(CROSSTALK)
RIETH: The Peshmerga need significant help. They need training. They need an actual combat medical unit. People are throwing ammunition and guns at this place all day long. And that's not saving lives.
REED: When I think of ISIS, I think of, you know, the Camarush (ph) the Nazis. There are very few times in history there's such a black and white good versus evil situation.
They've been carrying this war in this region on their backs with not nearly enough support. And people back home are upset about shootings and things like that and ISIS is involved there. And they don't have a clue what's like a day here or a day in Baghdad or in Syria. It's pretty horrible.
DAMON: Arwa Damon, CNN, Gazette, Iraq.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Gush, a powerful stuff there.
Let's talk more about the overall fight against ISIS. Let's bring in now Michael Weiss. He is CNN Contributor and the Coauthor of a book on The Inner Workings of ISIS and Colonel Rick Francona. He's a CNN Military Analyst and a former U.S. Military Attache in Syria. Good to see both of you.
OK. Wow. It's really powerful stuff to launch from that conversation. Those are some incredibly imagery and the sacrifices made are just, you know, indelible. So Colonel Francona, when you talk about the overall, you know, fight against ISIS and the reclaiming the battle for Mosul, Help us understand what is different here because it sure seems like we've been talking about this, you know, battle or reclaiming of Mosul for a very long time?
LT. COL. RICK FRANCONA (RET), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: And we're going to continue to talk about it for a long time. This is going to be a long drawn-out operation. The Iraqis have got to get the battlefield in shape before they can launch a real assault. And that means moving toward the -- more toward the east, moving from the south up towards the north, getting a lines of communication in place and they're going to have to marshal a lot of force to be able to take that city.
And at some point they're going to have to continue the isolation, go out to the west and cut that city off, because as long as there's a resupply route that they can move many material, ISIS will continue to do that.
WHITFIELD: Do you see that happening by year's end?
FRANCONA: I don't. I think they might be able to encircle the city but they're certainly not going to be able to launch an attack. I don't see it beginning until the end of the year, Fred.
WHITFIELD: Michael, this is big. I mean how do you see it and how do you see a potential time line?
MICHAEL WEISS, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: I agree with the colonel. I think that the Iraqis are too optimistic. Arwa did a great interview with General Najim Jabouri who is a former mayor of Tal Afar, one of the gateway towns controlled now by ISIS.
This guy was one of the most stalwart pro-American allies during the occupation and really single-handedly responsible for rallying that town against what was then known as Al Qaeda in Iraq.
I've interviewed General Najim Myself and about 2 years ago he told me look the problem we face in Iraq is you've got Pro-Iranian, Shia sectarian forces looking to take control of the security services.
And the appointment of Haider Al Abadi as Prime Minister was seeing as a good development for the Sunnis because they don't see him as secretary and I don't see him as a thug like Malachi. But the general Najim was very careful in that interview to say let's be cautious, let's not sort of get ahead of ourselves in terms of the retaking of Mosul.
I know it was a very complex area involved in this battle you have Kurdish Peshmerga who will probably go into Eastern Mosul but I doubt very much they want to go to Western Mosul, which have served the hornet's nest for the lion's den if you like of the Sunnian urgency.
Coming up from the south you have Iraqi security forces including I'm sure Elite divisions like the golden division, which is the counter terrorism strike forces of the Iraqi security forces.
[12:55:05] But now unfortunately, a disturbing development these popular mobilization units, Shia Militias many of them beholds into the revolutionizing guard quiveron are champing it a bit to get into Mosul.
Now, the problem with this is exactly what we've seen play out in Fallujah. You know, Sunni males, military age males get abducted, disappeared tortured and extra judicially killed. And Unfortunately the U.S. government likes to cover this up because the primary objective now is just delivering results in the battle against ISIS.
Geography, land, dead ISIS fighters that's it. The politics and the sectarian tensions and dynamics, that are at play here and the sort of day after scenario which could lead to a civil war in Iraq, all of that is being kicked down the street.
WHITFIELD: So then Lieutenant Colonel, hearing that, you know, it's a matter of retaking but then it's a matter of holding it as well. And so there in lie the question about resources and the ability to do that, even if it were to be achieved by the end of the year or into the following year, it's the, what's next that becomes a big worry as well. FRANCONA: And that's the problem. And Michael laid it out perfectly. You've got forces -- the Iraqis have the resources to take the city, they just don't have them in place yet. And they will commit whatever resources are necessary. I don't think the battle is in question. The Iraqis will take Mosul back then we set up the next war. Is it going to be -- are the Kurds going to retreat? What are the Shia going to? Or the Sunnis going to ally with the government?
Big, big questions, and I don't think we've addressed yet.
WHITFIELD: OK. Lieutenant Colonel Rick Francona, Michael Weiss, we have to leave it right there and thank you so much gentleman appreciate it.
All right, the next hour of the CNN NEWSROOM begins right after a short break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
