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Awaiting News Conference On NJ Explosion; Trump: Clinton's Bodyguards Should be Disarmed; Police Suspect Left Note Expressing Hatred of Police' Report: 80+Killed In Syria Airstrikes; How Would Trump's Economic Plan Impact Everyday People?; NFL Quarterback's Hometown Not Embracing Protest; "Game Of Thrones," "Veep" To Defend Emmy Crowns. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired September 17, 2016 - 16:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[16:00:03] POPPY HARLOW, CNN, ANCHOR: It will take you there live when it begins. I do want to begin with our CNN Crime Injustice Producer, Shimon, to tell us what he's learning, what is happening.

Shimon, this is supposed to be a marine race this morning. It happened to be delayed. And therefore, this bomb went off early. Before the runners would have passed that location. We're learning that there were three devices made from pipes, only one of them detonated and now, the FBI has taken over. What else do you know?

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN, PRODUCER: So, we know right now, really, they're just trying to figure out how potent these devices were. What were they made of? What the chemicals that were in these bombs, how they were made. Those are the types of clues that are going help them try and maybe figure out who was behind it.

The FBI just about a couple hours ago took the lead on the case, they are treating it as a terror - as a terrorist matter and that's, sort of, standard in these type of cases. You know, given that you said it was race, that was - a charity race for marines. So, that has people, sort of, wondering whether or not someone was intentionally, which it appears they were, targeting this race. Whether they were targeting people in this race -- and like you said, Poppy, I mean, thankfully this race started late.

So, obviously whoever did this, sort of, really, I think people got lucky. Had this race not started late, we would have been, you know, dealing with a very different kind of story. And I just think investigators right now are trying to learn more about the device. And the FBI now will go through, sort of, it's -- the way they conduct their investigation in trying to run down any leads. They're going to look at surveillance videos around Seaside Heights to see if they stayed - who left that area, who, maybe they'll go around, you know, talking to witnesses, see if anyone saw anyone suspicious.

So, now, it's going to go into, sort of, figuring out how was this device is made and also, you know, obviously, who was behind this. HARLOW: Shimon, thank you very much. If you stay with me, let me

also bring in on the phone former FBI Assistant Director and Senior Law Enforcement Analyst for us, Tom Fuentes. You know, one thing that stands out to me Tom, is -- it appears that this, you know, route for this race wasn't fully swept. I mean, as Shimon reported last hour, usually, anything like a trash can that could hold a bomb or anything like that after the Boston Marathrathon Bombing would have been removed. What could have happened here? Why would they have been able to place this here?

TOM, FUENTES, CNN ANALYST: Well, I think, Poppy, this is typical of public policy a couple of years go by, we don't have another race attacked like the Boston Marathon. It's not a high publicity type race like Boston Marathon or the New York City Marathon. And every little community race that's out there around the country, and there's probably thousands every Saturday morning throughout the country, came out - you know, after awhile, they're not just going to get that kind of scrutiny. And that's unfortunate but that's probably what we have here. And all of a sudden, everybody is - will start looking at race routes. And this is a very short race. It's not like trying cover 26 - 22 miles of a marathon route. So you know, that's typically what happens.

There comes a certain complacency and everybody warning about the possibility of a terrorist act, "Oh, they're exaggerating. You don't have to worry about it. It's ancient history." And that's, kind of, what happens.

HARLOW: Tom, stay with us. We're waiting for this press conference live from Seaside Heights, New Jersey where the FBI has taken over this investigation and is looking at it the possible act of terrorism. We'll bring you more as soon as we have it. I do want to move on to today's political headlines, because as always, there are a lot.

Donald Trump is on the campaign trail. He is staying on message today. He's staying on prompter at the rough patch over the past day or so. The republican presidential candidate, going back to his strong suit, attacking the Obama Administration's immigration policies.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Everyday, our border remains open. Innocent Americans are needlessly victimized and killed. Every day, sanctuary cities are left in place. Innocent Americans are put in harm's way. Every day we fail to enforce our laws in a day, and this is absolutely happening all the time, is a day when a loving parent is at risk of losing their child. And it's happening every single day. All across this country, dining room tables have an empty seat at the family table.

HARLOW: Trump stayed on that script when it comes to immigration, border control is an issue. The key is , frankly own this presidential campaign. But while he stayed on message today, a lot of the buzz today is around something he said last night at a rally. A comment some see as a renewed call for violence against his opponent, Hillary Clinton. TRUMP: I think that her body guards should drop all weapons, they

should disarm. Immediately. What do you think? Yes? Yes. Yes. Take their guns away. She doesn't want guns. Take theirs and let's see what happens to her.

HARLOW: Department of Homeland Security released the following statement. After that, it is a long-standing policy of both the department and the U.S. Secret Service that we do not discuss the protective apparatus, tactics, techniques or procedures around any protectee.

Joining me now, my political panel, CNN Politics Analyst, John Avlon. He's Editor-in-Chief of "The Daily Beast." Also with us, Julian Zelizer, Historian and Professor at Princeton. And finally, Lanhee Chen, CNN Political Commentator, and Mitt Romney's former Public Policy Director. Thank you all for being here.

JOHN AVLON: Thank you.

HARLOW: John Avalon, to you, this is not the first time he said something that some read as a threat to Hillary Clinton and connoting violence, this is the second time. Because a little bit ago, he called on second amendment folks to do what they could to stop her.

AVLON: Yes. Look. I mean, there's a steady drum beat of incitement around this campaign. But this is what happens when Trump goes off script. You know, you said, you know, "He's not on message. He's on teleprompter." That has been the secret to a lot of his success in addition to a lot of (INAUDIBLE) errors by Hillary Clinton the past week.

But he went off and he can't really resist drifting into these, sort of (INAUDIBLE) experiments about if Hillary really wants to take their guns away which a person's allegation and not really rooted in reality, that, you know, how about you start with her on secret service detail. You know, that is - that is an invitation to ugliness which is not in line with our best tradition (CROSSTALK)

HARLOW: Does it help him at all?

AVLON: No. Because it's - I mean, look. The whole - the whole she's coming to take your guns, destroy, abolish the second amendment, rather as he's used. Is, of course not related to reality. But a lot of his appeals are fundamentally about fear. These are simply off- the-cuff comments. I mean, let's not over-index them. But the fact that he doesn't realize there's a third rail there, when you start using with the microphone about what might happen if the secret service detail has their guns taken away, shows that he's not tightly wrapped in a typically way a presidential candidate would be 50 days out.

HARLOW: Right. To Lanhee Chen, the - I'll address this first (INAUDIBLE) speaking to law enforcement officials today who are saying, "Look,"-- I mean, their concern is that something like this could and would then lead to secret service or law enforcement getting shot at or killed if a candidate is targeted, right? If they don't have a self-defense mechanism. So, as John is saying, "Look, they're off-the-cuff comments, but at the same time it sort of repeated stepping over the line.

This is not something we saw with Mitt Romney. They are very different candidates but were around, you know, 50-odd days out now. Is Trump not going to be able to go off-prompter without making missteps like this?

LANHEE CHEN: Well, I think that the issue is that this is who Donald Trump is. This is the kind of candidate and the kind of campaign that he's run. And that's somebody who is going to speak off-the-cuff. You know, there's only so much control a campaign can exercise over a candidate. At some point the candidate has to execute the plan the campaign puts in place.

And so I think what makes Donald Trump Donald Trump is this, sort of, improvisational off-the-cuff remark. Now, unfortunately, in his case, I think those remarks do go too far sometimes. They do create issue for him and his campaign that don't need to be there. The reason that he's been rising in the polls is because he's been sticking to the prompter and sticking to message. But so far in this campaign, there's no evidence he's been able to stick to that.

HARLOW: But I will say, just spent this week in Ohio, talking to voters in that critical swing state. A lot of them, undecided. The number of them, lifelong democrats who are voting for Donald Trump. And what they like about Trump is, what he says "not on prompter."

CHEN: Sure.

HARLOW: So, they like that. Honestly, these comments -- but they like that. Julian, let's witch gears. Big (INAUDIBLE) journalist. This morning Bob Gates, former defense secretary under both Bush and - under both democrats and republicans, served for a long time, pretty scathing analysis of both Clinton and of Trump but worse for Trump. Let me read you a part of it. "Trump has yet to learn, when a President shoots off his mouth, there are no do-overs, a thin-skin temperamental shoot from the hoip and lip, uninformed commander-in- chief is too great a risk for America."

The thing is, he's not the first, you know, major voice in the defense community to come out and say something like this. We saw it, you know, last week in another op-ed. What do you make of whether this will move the needle at all? Whether Trump's supporters are actually listening to someone like this. The two served in both administration.

JULIAN ZELIZER: Well, it's been a consistent pattern of criticism within the party. So we have had a steady drumbeat by national security officials connected to their republican party.

HARLOW: (CROSSTALK) I think last week.

ZELIZER: Yes. And they criticize him on two ways. She's lot of substance and what the policies actually are. And the second gets back to temperament. You don't want a commander-in-chief who goes off script and says thing like he is saying about his opponent but in the world of diplomacy. Does it hurt him? So far, he has been able to rebound from this. And the polls are not where you think he would be given the number of national security personnel -

HARLOW: And James Woolsey, former CIA Director under Bill Clinton is here, supporting Trump. He'll join us later in the program. So, we've got some support from some big names too. Yes?

AVLON: Yes. But look. I mean, one of the things Gates does in this, you see, there's a lot of criticism from folks who were major figures within the republican defense establishment. Both candidates are flawed. But one is flawed, and the other is dangerous. That's an important (CROSSTALK)

HARLOW: That's an interesting dictation (CROSSTALK)

AVLON: That is a crucial distinction. Because you know what, however tightly scripted he is for the next 50 days, his character and what he does instinctively that matters when someone is in the oval office.

ZELIZER: And I think that's genuine. Unlike some campaign rhetoric, I think some national security officials, there is a fear that he might be dangerous and that he might do things which are beyond simply bad decisions.

HARLOW: So -

ZELIZER: And that makes it all different (CROSSTALK)

HARLOW: -- listen to someone who hasn't spoken a ton on the campaign trail, and that's Michelle Obama. Woman that they call the closer, right? For a reason. Let's listen to what she had to say yesterday.

MICHELLE OBAMA: We also need somebody who is steady and measured. Because when you're making life or death, war or peace decisions, a president can't just pop off.

HARLOW: That was followed by huge applause. It's one of - we haven't seen a stomping that much for Hillary Clinton. This was a major speech yesterday. How effective do you think it is Lanhee in rallying the, quote, unquote, "Obama Coalition," women, minorities and young voters?

CHEN: I think it's valuable for that reason. I think if you look at the surrogates that the Clinton campaign has, they are very strong at the top. I think the Trump campaign has got some surrogates as well, but the reality is, if you bring Michelle Obama and the President, and Bill Clinton, and all of these folks that they can trot out, you are talking about people that can appeal to different parts of the democratic coalition, right? So, you've got Michelle Obama, maybe appealing to the younger crowd, the minority crowd. You've got Joe Biden for example who can appeal to the working class crowd.

So that's what they're trying to do. They're trying to segment off the coalition they need to build to get Hillary Clinton over the top and deploy the appropriate surrogate. The question is whether the Trump campaign is going to be able to do the same.

HARLOW: Before I go, I just want to get your take John Avlon on "The Birther" controversy, So, two sentences after a half an hour plug for his hotel and support statements from military veterans yesterday. And Donald Trump, others -- two sentences that President Obama was born in the United States and I'm the one who closed the issue for you. Did that go anywhere towards healing the wounds of so many who saw it as five years of delegitimizing the first black president?

AVLON: Of course not. Look -- and he managed to lie even while he finally told the truth. The birther conspiracy theory was a lie from the beginning. And it was sold by Donald Trump enthusiastically for five years who made it the foundation of his national presidential aspirations. And for him to back off it because now it's inconvenient, the campaign wants it to go away, of course, those two sentences aren't enough. But what it really is is about how rotten to the court of people who pumped up this kind of nonsense. It's conspiracy theory and legitimize that on air and in politics over and over. They need to be held accountable on Donald Trump's (INAUDIBLE) list.

ZELIZER: He didn't close anything. It wasn't really a debate. And so, his is something that is generated by conspiracy theory as he did it in 2011 in particular. Raced it to the top of the political radar.

(CROSSTALK)

ZELIZER: This wasn't a debate. This wasn't a real question.

HARLOW: I heard it uttered by a number of those voters that I talked to in Ohio this week that believed it. So, thank you very much. Appreciate it. Got a lot of news to get this hour. Coming up. Breaking news at a Philadelphia, the suspect in that deadly rampage left a note expressing hatred to police officers. We will tell you what that note said. Also Donald Trump painting a very grim picture of the U.S. economy if Hillary Clinton is elected.

TRUMP: The only thing she can offer is a welfare check. That's about it.

HARLOW: The economy not working for everyone but is it really time to just throw in the towel and change everything? The man who claims he is an extremely successful businessman and a billionaire says only he can save us but do we need saving? Economist, Ben Stein, with me ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: Now to our breaking news on that deadly police rampage. The shooting in police officers in Philadelphia last night. Police identifying the gunman who ambushed the police officer in her patrol car, also open-fire into another car and then in a bar. Around 11:30 PM last night, the shooter's name, we now know is Nicholas Glenn, he was 25 years old. He killed a civilian and injured five others before being shot dead by a police. Philadelphia's police commissioner saying was, quote, "well-known" to the police department. And has a quote, "significant past." The commissioner says he left a note at the scene expressing his hatred for law enforcement. Our national correspondent Nick Valencia following the story. What else did we learn about the shooter and his motive? Why he went on this rampage last night.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Police Commissioner Richard Ross Jr. saying that this individual was, quote, "hellbent" on causing a horrific night there in West Philadelphia. And much is being made, Poppy about this note that was found on the gunman's body who is now diseased. This note being described as rambling and not very lucid letter but titled "Doom."

It was a lot about himself and it also express some hatred towards police officers, towards his own probation officer, you mention he was well-known by these police officers there in Philadelphia. Well, we know a little bit about his past, 2009, he was listed as a suspect in a gang rape, a year later, he was cleared from any wrongdoing but the police commissioner went on to say that this is a man that was, like you said, Poppy, very, very well-known to the cops in that area. This is something that Richard Ross Jr., the commissioner in Philadelphia spoke about at a press conference earlier.

RICHARD ROSS JR, POLICE COMMISIONER, PHILADELPHIA: To go down into so violently, fire on so many different people who basically have no issue with you and didn't have any encounters with you previously. And to do this - like this, I mean, it was just absolutely horrific. And so we were saddened by the loss of life of a 25 year old. But on the same token, we're just fortunate that more people, even our civilians, you know, didn't die from this gun fight.

VALENCIA: Commisioner Ross saying, they may never know exactly what the motive was that Nicholas Glenn, age, 25 years old, but we do know that they are confident in saying that this was an ambush on police officers. Poppy?

HARLOW: Unbelievable. Also, you know, talking about the restraint that those officers were able to use last night in pursuit of this gunman, not firing any shots that injured any other civilians. Nick, thank you so much for the reporting. Much more on that ahead.

Also ahead, politics in Donald Trump unveiling new details of that economic plan of his, on Thursday, how would it affect you, the average American, coming up at last, CNNMoney's Cristina Alesci, how his plan would affect all of us. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(UNIDENTIFIED MALE): This is CNN Breaking News.

HARLOW: Breaking News overseas right now in Syria where a declared ceasefire has more or less been holding for nearly a week. But despite that, we are now just learning of coalition air strikes and a significant death toll. On the phone with me is (Frederik Pleitgen.) He is inside Syria this weekend. I am seeing reports here of 83 regime forces dead, 120 others at least injured. Give us the details, the specifics on that. What do we know?

PLEITGEN: All right, Poppy, yes. There was a statement by the Syrian military this week that brought out, I would say about, maybe 25 minutes to an hour ago where they accused (INAUDIBLE) the US led coalition of bombing Syrian army positions near the town of Deir ez- Zor, or in the town of Deir ez-Zor, now you have to keep in mind that Deir ez-Zor is a city that's surrounded by ISIS. Naturally (INAUDIBLE) mostly by ISIS (INAUDIBLE) only has a few areas and also the and Syrian military says that because of the air strikes that took places that (INAUDIBLE) they're actually able to advance in those areas.

So, they're directly blaming the US-led coalition for helping ISIS advance. Now, the US (choppers) put out statement ago saying that there was an air strike today, they're on position near Deir ez-Zor, but they stated they're trying to hit a Syrian - ISIS armored vehicle. They don't dispute that they have may have accidentally hit the Syrian military. At this point, it was really unclear what exactly happened there and who exactly is responsible for the air strikes.

(INAUDIBLE) they've also come forward. They also stated that they believe that this was US planes that by accident, just struck these, you know, Syrian military positions. They blame the US for the lack of coordination. But America (INAUDIBLE) actually inform the Russians that they're going to conduct the air strikes around the area.

So, certainly, this is something probably that's not going to help the ceasefire in any way (INAUDIBLE) and is certainly causing a lot of anger here among the Syrians.

HARLOW: Absolutely. I just want to make clear for viewers, Fred, that the video we're showing right now is not of the damage from this air strike. This is video from a week ago of the devastation there in Aleppo but not of Deir ez-Zor. Not of the air strike. Quickly, Fred, before I let you go. This is (6 days) into the ceasefire agreement. A ceasefire that had been holding until now. Still though, it came with many troubles. The people that needed it most, the civilians there, still not getting the humanitarian aid they need despite the ceasefire. This air strike arguably makes their situation even more dire?

PLEITGEN: Yes, you're absolutely right. I think this is going to be -- make it very - a lot more difficult. So, the ceasefire to actually hold. We've already been seeing the ceasefire in trouble with some breaches taking place.

I mean, there are some areas in Aleppo earlier today, Poppy, where all of a sudden we also heard cannons go off. We heard machine guns fire. So, at all point of that, it was a very very uneasy ceasefire. But also quite frankly, because this aid has been delayed to a lot of these areas in Eastern Aleppo, that's made holding up cease-fire even difficult. Because, of course, getting aid to the people there in the perceived areas, is one of the main reasons to hold out ceasefire in the first place.

Now, the air strikes are certainly not going to help this cause at all because we were already going to work (INAUDIBLE) more and more in placement of that ceasefire. But again, this one, the US, the UN, and Russia, all say they think that the ceasefire (INAUDIBLE) still holding (INAUDIBLE) and being here in Aleppo, it does indicate that they are (INAUDIBLE) taking place as well.

HARLOW: Fred Pleitgen live for us inside of Syria this weekend. Thank you so much. We're going to take a quick break, we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:31:03] HARLOW: Donald Trump unveiled new details of his economic plan this week, you heard it, he did it live on Thursday. His economic proposal includes a lot of things including lower taxes.

He removes what he describes as destructive regulations. He wants an increase in U.S. energy production and he wants to negotiate new trade deals. You heard him say scrap NAFTA, deals that he says favor American businesses.

This was all part of a campaign speech on Thursday at the Economic Club and he talked about boosting economic growth up to 4 percent a year in the United States.

Just to put that in context, the U.S. economy has not seen that kind of growth since Bill Clinton was in the White House and it was the dot com boom.

Let's get a reality check, CNN Money correspondent, Cristina Alesci is with me. Look, 4 percent growth has happened. You know, it could happen. It was a very different time. That would be double where we are right now. How would all of these proposals put together affect the Average Joe?

CRISTINA ALESCI, CNN MONEY CORRESPONDENT: Where does the rubber meet the road? Exactly. It's very hard to see how his economic plan benefits the average person day one because what he's talking about is 25 million jobs created, that's what Americans really care about, over a ten-year period.

Well, first off, for context, we've hit that rate already under the Obama administration, not sustained rate, but you can see from the chart if we have it available, in 2014 and 2015, we had close to 3 million jobs a year created.

What he's talking about is 2.5, he's talking about sustaining that rate. And to your point, this is a very different economic reality that we're under versus the 1990s, the last time we that we had that kind of sustained economic growth, right.

We have aging work force. We have more and more automation, which is going to make it difficult to generate that kind of growth.

What we do know is day one the wealthy will benefit because they will get the disproportionate benefit of those barge tax cuts. Businesses will benefit because they'll get a huge tax cut too and less regulation.

But here's the thing, Poppy, and that all could be good, not saying it's bad, but all could be good, but there's no evidence that the saving that companies will make off of his plan will go to hiring more people.

HARLOW: Right. It's trickle-down economics 101, what have the past 20 years shown us about whether that works. He also talked about -- big part is scraping NAFTA and getting a better trade deal, which he actually could as president scrap NAFTA.

The question is you're probably going to infuriate your partners, Mexico and Canada, but he talks about Mexico and China ripping off the United States. What tactics would he use to get these new trade agreements?

ALESCI: That's a good question because we haven't heard too much around the specifics of how he would force China and Mexico to the negotiating table. And I actually spoke to one of Trump's economic advisers, Tom Barrack, who is putting together the trade policy for the campaign. Here's how he said we could get tough on China.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM BARRACK, TRUMP ECONOMIC ADVISER: So if you're dealing with China, Trump is right. I do a lot with the Chinese. I admire them and they're amazing and lot to learn from what they do, but they run over us. Having to be the biggest owner of our debt but they run all over us.

ALESCI: How?

BARRACK: They don't have a legislative process in which they have to go back and say, is my currency going to float or not? Am I going to enforce these pirating intellectual property rules or let Google in, they just do it.

People don't understand how complicated the trade negotiation process is. You need a stick and the stick is they need to sell goods to us. Everybody in the world needs to sell to us. North America is blessed by being surrounded by oceans. Amongst the three countries we could actually survive by ourselves.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[16:35:06]ALESCI: He also said that empowering the trade representative so it doesn't have to go -- so that person doesn't have to go constantly back to Congress is another way that America could be more forceful in its --

HARLOW: But the Obama administration sued basically some of China's agriculture processes this week through the World Trade Organization. Not like this administration isn't going at China.

ALESCI: Well, Barrack actually we talked about the whole process and what he said is that the problem is WTO has no teeth or no enforcement ability. He questions why we're part of it.

HARLOW: Cristina, thank you. Great interview. More online? See more there. Big name in business backing Donald Trump.

All right, coming up right now is Ben Stein, famed economist, a Republican, want him to dig more Trump's economic plan. Thank you for being here, sir.

BEN STEIN, ECONOMIST: Honored to be here, Madame, thank you.

HARLOW: Where does the robber meet the road as Cristina said, what's the reality? You called some of his plan a, quote, "bad joke" where taxes and trade are concerned. Why?

STEIN: It's a bad joke because we like free trade, it's good thing. Tom Barrack is a friend and he's one of the smartest people I've ever met in my life and a very, very successful man.

But we want China to sell us goods cheaply. Overwhelming mass of Americans are buying Chinese goods not making things to compete with Chinese goods. That's good for us. We don't really want to keep the Chinese from selling us goods inexpensively. That's one thing.

I'd like to take exception against your correspondent because it's really not a gigantic tax improvement for the rich or well-to-do, in the fine print you see many deductions that the well-to-do use, especially mortgage deductions are being taken away by Donald Trump or that's his plan.

It does lower the top rate on high income people very, very slightly, but the deductions hit very, very hard. I think the best thing that's in the -- sorry, I beg your pardon.

HARLOW: He also does lower the corporate tax rates significantly down to 15 percent, talking about big companies and possibly small businesses, although the "New York Times" points out there is a big discrepancy if he actually will give to small businesses as well. That's the argument that it would benefit the wealthy in terms of big businesses getting the tax breaks.

STEIN: The thing is people don't understand what big business is. Big business is owned by a hell of a lot of little people. Big business owned mostly by pension plans and university endowments.

If you cut out corporate income tax entirely, which I think would be a very good idea, the money would flow directly to the shareholders, who are generally speaking people preparing for retirement or sending children to college or higher education.

So there is no real good economic reason why we should have a corporate income tax at all. If they want to raise rates much higher on very wealthy people is fine with me, but the idea that somehow we are doing a bad thing if we lower corporate tax rates is nonstarter economically. There should not be a corporate tax rate at all.

HARLOW: You've heard companies like Tim Cook at Apple and GE, et cetera, talking about how much money they would to repatriate, they would bring back, Cisco saying it too, if we had a much lower corporate tax rate. Let me ask you this, in this speech on Thursday he talked about his plan as being deficit neutral.

STEIN: That's nonsense.

HARLOW: Look back to Reagan tax cuts, yes, they spurred growth but the deficit ballooned. Can Trump do it? What would be different this time?

STEIN: With the greatest respect, Mr. Reagan lowered taxes dramatically in his first years. The next seven years he raised taxes a lot after, every year, and in '86, he raised them in enormous amount.

The idea that somehow the Reagan tax years were all years of tax cuts is not factually true. There is no connection between lower tax rates and increasing performance. Mr. Moore, a wonderful, incredibly nice guy is one of Trump's big economic advisers is preaching that all day and night.

He's a great guy but there's no evidence that cutting taxes increases economic growth, as to Tim Cook or these other nice rich people bringing back money to America, we have a surplus of capital. We don't need to worry about not having enough capital. The country is awash in capital.

HARLOW: Trump says 4 percent economic growth. That's what you're going to see.

STEIN: Out of the question.

HARLOW: Why is it out of question? We saw it in '98, '99, 2000.

[16:40:03]STEIN: Because at that point we were starting to just reap the gains of mechanization of intelligence. We have now reaped those gains. We now have a very different work force. We have a work force that in large measure doesn't want to work.

We have smallest number of people actually working out of the labor age population than we've had in a very, very long time maybe ever. We just have a different world out there. It would be nice to have it but we don't.

HARLOW: What do you mean by that? You just said and I'm paraphrasing here, we have a large portion of the work force that doesn't want to work?

STEIN: We have a very large percentage of the people 18 to 65 years old who simply have dropped out of the labor force and not seeking work, very large and it's increasing all the time. That's been a plus statistically for Mr. Obama because it makes employment numbers look much better.

HARLOW: But what are you attributing that to, Ben Stein? I mean, there is a real big difference between giving up work because of the government benefits or someone looking at economy and saying I've tried for so long to find a job that I can provide for my family on. It hasn't happened, therefore they are not counted in the unemployment rate. There's a big difference there as to the why.

STEIN: I don't know what the why is, I wish I did because my son is one of those people. I wish I could know why and get him to go to work. But what we do know is that the government does pay an awful lot to people who aren't working.

In some states including my beloved California, a mother of three who is not married can get as much in the way of welfare of various different kinds as a starting school teacher or even a starting computer programmer.

So we are subsidizing people who don't work. Why other people don't work, I just don't know. It's happened quite dramatically and it's a very unpleasant characteristic of today's economy. We just don't know why it's not out there.

HARLOW: A lot to unpack there and a whole other segment we need go through that, but it's important to talk about it. We'll have you back to talk about that. Ben Stein, thank you.

STEIN: I would love to do it. Thank you.

HARLOW: Thank you so much.

Coming up next, switching gears, Colin Kaepernick's decision to drop to his knee during the national anthem is sparking another protest in his hometown. We'll go there live for reaction.

Also the influence that the quarterback is now having on high school football players. You're live in CNN NEWSROOM.

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[16:46:05]

HARLOW: Colin Kaepernick's decision to take a knee during the national anthem has stirred up a debate over whether it is a sign of disrespect to the country. Now students at some high schools across the country emulating the San Francisco's 49ers quarterback during the playing of the national anthem at their games, but as our Sara Sidner shows usone place the protest has not caught on is in Kaepernick's hometown.

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SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Political football has a whole new meaning. What began in the NFL with 49ers quarterback, Colin Kaepernick, is now showing up under the glare of Friday night lights from the land of Lincoln across the country to the golden state where an entire high school football team protested racial injustice.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We think about consequences that happen after the game. Boos and negative energy and stuff like that, but it really don't matter. If it's right, it's right.

JOEY THOMAS, WASHINGTON HEIGHTS FOOTBALL: We respect people in the Armed Forces, Army and Navy. Can't say it clearer than that. Not a disrespectful movement. I think it's a smoke screen not to deal with issues.

SIDNER (on camera): While the protest is catching on in some high schools across the country, that is not what has happened at Colin Kaepernick's old high school.

(voice-over): During his alma mater's game, the national anthem played, hands were over hearts and every player stood stick straight, but their hometown football standouts protest has sparked controversy and conversation in Turlock, California.

JOSHUA SMITH, TURLOCK RESIDENT: I think it was disrespectful and he's an idiot.

SIDNER: At Main Street Footers, the once popular Kaepernick dog has been stricken from the menu. Glen Newsome says it was a business decision that most of his customers agreed with.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One of the nice things about our country is you get to make choices, but we didn't want it to become a political football and we could already see would develop that way.

SIDNER: But down the street at Juros (ph) Pizza Parlor, Kaepernick's jersey is proudly displayed.

(on camera): Your own brother was telling you, arty, let's take it down. It's not good for business.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We wanted to satisfy our customers.

SIDNER: And you yourself sort of took a stand. Why do that?

PAPIOLA AGHASSI, BUSINESS OWNER: Here within Turlock, loyalty is a lot. Community is very loyal. So we're going to stay loyal to our hometown boy as his career continues.

SIDNER (voice-over): Papiola Aghassi says she's supporting their hometown guy, not the way he has decided to protest.

(on camera): Have you had customers that have decided I can't be in here?

AGHASSI: Yes.

SIDNER: Is his protest creating friction in this town?

AGHASSI: Yes. There are locals who support him and those who don't.

SIDNER (voice-over): Like Navy veteran, Veronica Mora, she hasn't abandoned her hometown pizza parlor, but she can't stomach Kaepernick's kind of protest. VERONICA MORA, NAVY VETERAN: I was very disgusted and disappointed. It hurt. Like I said, I believe in the flag, the United States of America.

SIDNER: Ultimately the hard-working growing town of Turlock, California is a microcosm of the rest of America. Kaepernick's protest making some uncomfortable and others proud.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's generated a decision and that's what he wanted.

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SIDNER: There are certainly some people in Kaepernick's town who really do support him and what he did, but they are more reticent to talk about it. A lot of folks worried about backlash but they say they understand he's simply trying to make America better in their point of view -- Poppy.

HARLOW: Fascinating report. Sara Sidner there for us today in Turlock, California. Thank you so much, Sara.

Coming up next, this --

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[16:50:03]HARLOW: "Game of Thrones" looks to reign supreme again at the annual Emmy Awards. Will any surprise newcomers take home a golden trophy? A preview ahead live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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HARLOW: The small screen's biggest stars gathering in Los Angeles tomorrow night for the 68th annual Emmy Awards. Our Stephanie Elam has a preview.

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STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Dragon -- and elections and O.J. The Emmy Awards celebrate the year's biggest achievements in television. This year's nominees couldn't be more varied. All eyes are on "Game of Thrones." The HBO saga is the most nominated program of the night with 23 total noms.

MICHAEL O'CONNELL, SENIOR WRITER, "THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER": It is pretty much on conclusion "Game of Thrones" is going to reign supreme on Emmy night.

ELAM: "Throne's" second consecutive best drama series win facing off against "The Americans," "Better Call Saul," "Downtown Abbey," "Homeland," "House of Cards," and newcomer, "Mr. Robot."

[16:55:05]In an election year, perhaps it's no coincidence the White House hijinks of "Veep" are ruling the comedy side. The Julia Louie Dreyfuss-led show nabbed 17 nominations.

O'CONNELL: Everyone loved the last season. I think it's a favorite to win comedy.

ELAM: But "Veep" has tough competition for best comedy series with "Blackish," "Modern Family," "Silicon Valley," "Transparent," and Netflix favorites "Master of None" and "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt."

With 22 nominations, "The People Versus O.J. Simpson" is the one to watch in the limited series categories. The politically acclaimed drama stars Oscar winner Cuba Gooding Jr. as the trouble plagued former athlete.

O'CONNELL: I honestly think that the Emmys will be like the formal coronation for "The People Versus O.J. Simpson." No show has been more talked about, more universally praised.

ELAM: For the second time as emcee, Jimmy Kimmel, will host the small screen's biggest night. Expect the late night comedian to let the zingers fly.

O'CONNELL: I think that everyone is fair game and people will be mercifully mocked.

ELAM: We'll find out who has the last laugh at the 68th prime time Emmy Awards.

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HARLOW: Stephanie Elam, thank you so much for that.

Coming up next, live pictures out of Seaside Park, New Jersey where police are about to hold a press conference about an explosive device that was detonated in a trash can right on the race route for a charity run this morning. What we are learning about the multiple pipe bombs that were found next.

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