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More Rain Expected in Flood-Ravaged Louisiana; National Guard Activated After Overnight Protests; Sheriff Gives New Details on Overnight Violence; Trump's Plan for Defeating ISIS Unclear; Trump Wants to Stop Money Transfers to Mexico. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired August 14, 2016 - 18:00   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:00:31] POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Top of the hour. I'm Poppy Harlow in New York. Thank you so much for joining us.

We begin in southern Louisiana, where hundreds of thousands of people right now are under the threat of more deadly flooding right here. Take a look. These are the parishes nearly 300 miles across, where more rain is forecast in the next few days. That could make the flooding even more deadly. At least three people have died. Emergency rescue teams across the state are still in response mode, trying to keep that number from rising.

Our Boris Sanchez is in Baton Rouge for us tonight -- Boris.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Poppy, we're standing in the middle of what used to be an intersection in this neighborhood, and now it's become mart of the Manacek (ph) Bayou, which is actually just behind these homes. And you can see just how high the water level is, going into these homes and destroying just about everything inside.

I can tell you this area specifically and this neighborhood actually didn't get a whole lot of rain compared to a lot of other areas here in Louisiana, but rather, it was the flow of the flooding from other locations that really caused the bayou to rise dramatically. And in a matter of hours, a woman told me that late last night, she looked outside and there was really not much flooding.

And then, early this morning, getting close to 3:00 a.m. about a foot of water started coming into her home. And you can really get an idea of the emotional toll that this flooding is taking when you see people's personal objects floating in the water. There in the distance you see a trash bin. Earlier, we saw some sandals and a children's toy, a small ball just floating down what used to be a street.

We talked to a couple people that have actually gone on canoes to go inside their homes and check out what if anything is left. One woman actually saying that she had gotten new furniture but she didn't care about the furniture, she was more worried about these old family photos that were inside her home, and you hear stories like that again and again.

The governor has been putting out the word, telling people they should stay home and not leave, not go out into the street, unless it's absolutely necessary, because we are still dealing with dangerous situations just like we're seeing right here.

More than 1,000 people have had to be rescued in Louisiana. People that have been trapped in cars, trapped in their homes. Some people clinging to trees, hoping to get out of this flood water. Right now, the rain has diminished considerably but it's still slightly going. It's supposed to last at least until Monday afternoon. By then, once the flood waters continue to recede, we'll get a clear picture of just the extent of how damaging this flood was, Poppy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: Boris Sanchez for us in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Thank you. We'll keep an eye on all of that.

Also now, I want to take you to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, that is where officials tonight are pleading for calm as nightfall comes. This is after what happened last night. Protests over the fatal police shooting of a 23-year-old African-American man that authorities say had a gun in his hand and refused to drop his weapon.

Still much, much anger in Milwaukee in the community where this all happened. Protesters torched six businesses, seven police cruisers were damaged, one of them burned. Milwaukee's police chief says 17 people were arrested overnight, 4 mostly for disorderly conduct, some for burglary. Four officers were injured. And Wisconsin's governor has now called in the National Guard.

Our Ana Cabrera is live for us tonight in Milwaukee.

We heard the Mayor Tom Barrett speaking, the police chief urging calm, urging people to stay home tonight. What are you seeing?

ANA CABRERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: People aren't staying home, Poppy. You can see, there's quite a large crowd starting to gather just behind me. Definitely dozens of people, at times, growing to probably around 100.

Right now, the atmosphere here is tense. But it is peaceful. We're hearing from members of the community that they are angry. They're here because they want their voices heard. There is a deep-rooted sense that this community has been oppressed. The African-Americans in this community --

HARLOW: Ana, I'm so sorry. Ana, stand by for me because I just have to take us to a live press conference right now. Milwaukee Sheriff David Clarke is speaking. Let's listen.

SHERIFF DAVID CLARKE, MILWAUKEE COUNTY SHERIFF: It's 43rd Street. And a little bit of a briefing, moving forward into tonight. I'm going to start with a timeline. Actually, what I'll do is I'll start by saying this because there's a

lot of misunderstanding I think in terms of what causes these situations. The police use of force serves as an igniter.

[18:05:00] There's no doubt, but to an already volatile situation, a volatile mix of urban pathologies, failed urban policy that exacerbates inescapable poverty, failing public schools, inadequate parenting, father-absent homes. We all know when fathers are not around to shape the behavior of young boys, they oftentimes grow up to be unmanageable misfits that the police have to deal with in an aggressive fashion.

Pathologies like lifestyle choices, questionable lifestyle choices. Gang involvement, drug and alcohol abuse as well as massive unemployment. Those are the ingredients. Those are the things that cause resentment, anger and frustration to boil beneath the surface, and then all of a sudden the police situation comes along. And that's why I said it's an igniter. But it's an igniter to an already festering situation.

You know, this whole last couple of years coming out of Ferguson, there's been a lot of focus on police use of force, and that's fine by me. All right? We get our consent from -- our authority from the consent to the governed. Something's bothering them, we should have discussions about it.

This thing has been hijacked for a political construct. Now I mentioned that two years ago. If you want to go back and look at some of the tapes. I said this was a political construct, this whole war on police, and that in fact was a war on police that mirrored what had gone on in the 1960s. Same thing. Same model. Same subversive groups involved. With different names now, different generation, of course, as all those folks in the students for a democratic society got old and they're probably senior citizens now and a little tired for this, or tired of it.

So I was acutely aware of what was going on and exposed it as such. So we get into what happened last night. You all received a briefing from the Milwaukee police department this afternoon. Squads stopped, made a traffic stop.

Occupants got out of the car and confronted the police. At least one was armed. Maybe both were armed. But I'm aware one was armed. And an officer used force fearing that his life was in danger. And that will -- it's an ongoing investigation. And that'll sort itself out as time moves forward.

Then, late last night, some of the residual effect of the thing that I opened up talking about the anger, the resentment, the frustration in people boiled over. And we had an untenable situation in Milwaukee. I've made it clear as it related to the riots of Ferguson and Baltimore that people have to find a more socially acceptable way to deal with their frustration, their anger and their resentment.

This is an orderly society. We have processes. We have institutions with which to deal with these things. And as frustrating as it can be, sometimes it takes a long time to work through the institutions and the processes that we have.

It's still what we have too because we cannot have the social upheaval, the chaos that we saw last night that frightens good law- abiding people in those neighborhoods. It destroyed businesses where people work, some probably as a means to support their family. And they're going to have to deal with that.

But I made it clear, this afternoon in some discussions that I have, the goal moving forward is we cannot have a repeat. I didn't say we wouldn't. I said we cannot have a repeat of what happened last night.

Some additional forces have been mobilized and put together. A plan is in place, a plan that's fluid. It involves a lot of my resources. I made a call-up of all of our personnel this morning to be on standby. They're actually mobilized.

You cannot wait too long. As they found out in Ferguson, when the mayor put out the call to the governor and those additional resources never showed up, or showed up late. In Baltimore the call was never made. I have an obligation, folks, under the state statutes. I also have an obligation under the oath that I took to preserve and protect life and property.

That's job one. And to the extent that I have that responsibility, I have to have resources and I have to make sure that the people that I put in harm's way, like I did last night, like I'll do when these situations arise, that they have the resources necessary to complete the mission.

[18:10:02] All right? What's the mission? Job one, preservation of life and property. It's a pretty clear mission. So, you apply your resources to do that. And you go back, you reassess, and hopefully a minimal amount of damage, minimal life -- or injury, I should say, to life.

And hopefully, so far it's been the case after last night, other than the officer use of force, nobody else killed. But I think it's important to point out as well, because we tend to gloss over this stuff. We keep focusing on the police. We keep focusing on the police.

And I've said publicly before stop trying to fix the police, fix the ghetto. And I've talked about those urban pathologies that have to be addressed to shrink the size of the underclass. We have the growth of an underclass here in Milwaukee. We saw some of their behaviors on display last night.

So, you shrink the size of the underclass. How do you do that? You reduce poverty. You fix the schools. You put people back to work, meaningful work.

You hold people accountable for effective parenting, some of those lifestyle choices, which sometimes means if they're going to go out and engage in certain behaviors that society says we're not going to put up with there have to be sanctions. That's where the criminal justice system comes in. That's where the prosecutor's office comes in.

And I look around, just about everybody in this room has heard me or the last five years, minimum, talking about the role of the criminal justice system, the prosecutor's office, the sentencing practice in this area of Milwaukee County. And I don't know. I guess people think it didn't play a big role, but we're seeing it now. Not just last night, but we're seeing it time and time again, when some individual goes out and does something heinous, we look and they have a long lengthy criminal history that nobody applied any sanctions to or any meaningful sanctions, let's put it that way. Maybe some sanctions a slap on the wrist is a sanction, but that's not meaningful.

So as I look at the two individuals involved in the traffic stop last night, I have their criminal histories in front of me. We will provide their booking photos later on. Fran will put that out. But as I look, the individual who lost his life -- 13 arrests, some serious stuff, recklessly endangering safety, felony, first degree, felony, dismissed. I don't know why.

You have to go back and start peeling back the layers to find out what happened. Sometimes this is no fault of the prosecutor. You know, if you can't get the witnesses to cooperate, I understand that. But that tells the individual who's involved in it that's not going to happen and they attempt to repeat the behavior. That's how human behavior works.

You punish unwanted behavior, you see less of it. You do nothing about unwanted behavior you're going to see a repeat of it and more of it. Got a bunch of drug arrests here. Robbery, use of force. No prosecution.

I don't know why. I'm not going to blast the prosecutor's office at this point. However, somebody ought to go back and look and see why. There has to be a reason.

That's called accountability. If the D.A. says, hey, we tried, the victims bailed on us, I get that. But if this is one of these second chance, deferred -- those are the sorts of things I think that are having a detrimental effect to this community.

The second guy, the guy who lived who's in custody now, possession of a dangerous weapon under 18, dismissed, some drug dealing, two-year probation, interlocked system. Time served 12 days. Pretty light sanctions.

Two counts of bail jumping. Two years probation, time served, 45 days. Another possession of cocaine. Probation violation. He's on probation. That means he's been given his chance.

In one of these earlier arrests he's been given his chance. Son, we're going to put you on probation. We're going to give you a chance. You've got to walk the straight and narrow. He does not walk the straight and narrow. He gets arrested several times for probation violation. He gets time served, 30 days, time served, 45 days. It's why we continue to see the behavior repeated. [18:15:09] I'm going to go through the timeline here quickly from Saturday to Sunday August 13th to 14th starting at 7:16 p.m. last night. MPD inspector on the scene Area 44, an hour requested MCSO supervisors. MCSO is Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office.

8:35, shots spotted alert (INAUDIBLE) person, shots fired. 8:47, MPD called shots fired east of Sherman. 9:00, MCS squad begin responding to Sherman Park area to meet at the playground to mobilize forces.

9:03, MCSO squads stage at Washington Park and await orders. We had two locations that we marshaled these resources. And that's in case something happens at one, they're not all tied up and you can't get them out of there.

9:12, MPD reports about 200 subjects in the area, 42nd an hour, possibly a march. 9:15, MPD reports subjects beginning to face police trying to incite the crowd. 9:18, MPD reports subjects breaking up chunks of concrete, begin to throw toward police officers.

9:21, per squad 700, that would be our commander on the scene at the time. Squad 700. He makes the decision that all patrol and airport deputies be extended, meaning even though the shift's over, 10:00, they've got to stay.

9:22, command post established at midtown shopping center. 9:30, MPD requests Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office bear cat to meet at District 7 for deployment. 9:41, reports of multiple shots fired in the area of Sherman and Burleigh. 9:44, approximately, 100 to 150 subjects looting at the BP Station Sherman and Burleigh.

9:53, BP Station fully engulfed in flames. However, MPD cannot fully respond. Due to the area still being a hot zone, meaning there's gunshots or at least the sound of gunshots in the area. They don't have that protective gear, by the way, firefighters.

10:04, MPD requesting additional officers, large crowds throwing rocks at 44th and Burleigh. 10:06, due to large crowds, rocks being thrown and shots fired MPD and MPS squads begin falling back to rally at a safe location to redeploy.

10:12, MCSO squad 216 hit by a brick. Passenger's side front window smashed. 10:14, Waukesha County bearcat requested. 10:26, staging area established at the corner of Roosevelt and Fond du Lac.

At 10:46, squad commander on the scene orders all available MCSO squads to assist MPD with forming arrest teams behind a skirmish line. Mobile jail is also in the area. That would be our mobile jail.

10:39, reports of light poles being knocked down, Sherman and Burleigh. 10:45, MPD MCSO arrived Sherman and Burleigh begin ordering subjects to disperse. One hundred people reported in the area. BP gas station almost completely burned down.

10:46 to 11:16, several reports of throwing rocks and random shots fired and several around Sherman and Burleigh. 11:02, MPD requests Racine and Walworth County bearcats. 11:15, state patrol takes over patrol of the Milwaukee County freeway system. That's because we called all of those squads in to assist in the hot zone. And I want to thank the state -- the commander of the -- superintendent of the state patrol for doing that for us.

11:16, MPD MCSO skirmish line begins moving toward the area of Sherman and Burleigh. Approximately 11:30, officers at CP Midtown begin hearing random shots fired in the midtown. Midtown security reports subjects made verbal threats to come to the area of a CP and shoot it up. There's another example of why we deploy in several areas.

11:37, MPD requests MCSO SWAT call-up. That would be ours. 11:46, MPD MCSO. Skirmish line begins clearing the area of Sherman and Burleigh, 12:02. So, now, we're into Sunday morning after midnight. Intersection of Sherman and Burleigh are secured. However, several areas report large groups throwing rocks.

12:02, MPD reported several garage dumpster and structure fires in the area. Cannot respond without PD escort, police department escort. 12:09 reports of shots fired, 53rd and Fond du Lac near the CP which is the command post. 12:35, fire reported at the playground, Sherman Park.

[18:20:01] 12:51, MPD reports it will begin going mobile to address sporadic crowds in the area of Fond du Lac and 35th. MCSO squads report back to Roosevelt and Fond du Lac to go mobile. 12:55, MPD requests MCSO SWAT team take position on rooftops around the command post.

1:01, Milwaukee fire department begins requesting Milwaukee County sheriff's office to have escorts responding to the hot zone per 700, that's our commander at the scene. One deputy was staged in a fire rig. One deputy following the rig in a squad, so that they could -- the fire department could get to these scenes with some sort of cover.

1:19, per social media subjects listening to MPD MCSO radio chatter on F-2 and reporting it. 700 orders all radio communication off of F-2. F-2 would be the frequency that they were doing their -- we were doing our communicating on.

1:43, MPD requests medical for police K-9 dog bite. Three subjects caught burglarizing a liquor store 36th and Burleigh. One suspect received a dog bite. 1:45 squad 700 the commander orders deputies to remain in Sherman Park to keep it secured. 1:45, 700 orders additional deputies to return to the command post to stand by and assist Milwaukee fire if needed.

At 1:45, we're talking a.m. now, per 700 the commander all deputies at Sherman park are going to return to Roosevelt and Fond du Lac for further deployment. 2:00 a.m. to 3:30, MFD fire department requests escorts to several medical and fire calls in the area around Sherman Park. 3:30 a.m., MPD reporting most crowds fully dispersed.

Squad 700, our commander orders all second shift airport deputies can return to the airport and stand down. 700 orders the third shift patrol to head to their normal assignments. 700 thanks state patrol for their assistance. 4:00 a.m., Milwaukee County sheriff's office SWAT arrest rescue teams

return to the command post. And 4:30 a.m., 700 advises MFD, fire department, due to the Milwaukee police having new and available resources, he'll be removing deputies from the fire rigs escorts soon as they return.

At 4:45 a.m., SWAT teams on rooftops are cleared. 5:00 a.m., MPD requests use of Bearcat and resources at Sherman Park for the afternoon and evening of 8/14 of --

HARLOW: All right. There you have it. Milwaukee Sheriff David Clarke addressing the violence in his city last night, following the police shooting of a 23-year-old African-American man who authorities say was armed with a gun and refused to drop it.

I want to bring in again, Ana Cabrera, our correspondent on the ground. A long press conference there, Ana, that is still going on. David Clarke, the sheriff, outlining what he calls failed urban policy that exacerbates poverty, addressing the anger in the community but also saying the response we saw with lighting police vehicles on fire, lighting businesses on fire is not acceptable.

Take us all back through the events that have led us to where we are today with this shooting.

CABRERA: Well, let's start where we are. This is the BP gas station, one of six buildings that were set ablaze last night when that unrest got out of control, along with several vehicles. You can see a heavy police presence here right now, trying to avoid anything like that tonight. Now, it all started yesterday afternoon, just a couple of blocks from here, where police say they tried to pull over a couple of people. It led to a foot pursuit.

And at one point during that foot pursuit according to the police chief, who says it shows on the officer's body camera, one of the people they were pursuing pulled a gun. He had it in his hand, he says, and refused to drop it.

Now, an officer who we've learned is 24 years old, also African- American, opened fire. He apparently shot several bullets, hitting this suspect twice at least, in the arm and the chest. And this 23- year-old man now identified as Sylville Smith, died at the scene. It was hours later where protesters gathered angry, uncertain if that shooting was justified.

We're still waiting to learn much more about this investigation into the shooting itself. A key piece of evidence will very well be that body camera. Apparently, that is with investigators who are part of an independent team of investigators. The Wisconsin Department of justice here who's now taken over this investigation but you can see the crime scene tape and you can feel a sense of tension in the air, Poppy.

[18:25:01] And community members are telling us it wasn't just about that one shooting. That might have been the tipping point, but really it's years, a deep-rooted sense of being oppressed in this community. And, frankly, folks here are fed up, Poppy.

HARLOW: It's really important context, Ana. I'm glad that you point that out. But again, the sheriff saying the reaction unacceptable, and you heard the mayor, Tom Barrett, calling on the community to stay calm and stay inside tonight and not repeat what we saw take place there last night.

Ana Cabrera live for us in Milwaukee. Stay with us. We'll have much more from Ana straight ahead.

Also a bit of politics. A lot of political news right now. Up next, crooked, disgusting, dishonest -- those words from Donald Trump tonight on Twitter. Not about his rival, Hillary Clinton, but about the media. We will tell you why coming up.

We're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: Donald Trump tomorrow set to give a speech in Ohio with one focus, ISIS and his strategy to destroy ISIS if he is elected. Trump has said more than once that he is the only person capable of wiping out the terror group, and few things fire up his supporters more than when he guarantees he will get the job done, "very, very quickly."

Here's CNN's Randi Kaye.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Donald Trump likes to talk about ISIS.

TRUMP: The barbarians of ISIS.

We have to get ISIS.

We will defeat ISIS.

We have to knock out ISIS.

KAYE: His most recent comments about the terrorist group included this suggestion linking both President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton to the birth of ISIS.

[18:30:00] TRUMP: is honoring President Obama. He is the founder of ISIS. He's the founder of ISIS. OK? He's the founder. He founded ISIS. And I would say the co-founder would be crooked Hillary Clinton.

KAYE: Whether or not he believes Obama and Clinton are the co- founders of ISIS, Trump seems confident he's the expert on the terror group.

TRUMP: I know more about ISIS than the e generals do. Believe me.

KAYE: If that's true, then why would he have said this? TRUMP: We don't even really know who the leader is.

KAYE: Trump has suggested several different ways he'd handle the terror group. First warning ISIS their days are numbered.

TRUMP: I would bomb the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) out of them.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: I would just bomb those suckers.

KAYE: Then another idea. He told CBS's "60 Minutes" he'd let Russia do away with ISIS.

TRUMP: Russia wants to get rid of ISIS. We want to get rid of is. Maybe let Russia do it. Let them get rid of ISIS. What the hell do we care?

KAYE: And what about the oil fields ISIS has taken control of?

TRUMP: I would bomb the hell out of those oil fields. I wouldn't send many troops because you won't need them by time I got finished.

KAYE: Eight months later, though, a different plan from Trump. This time he said he'd send tens of thousands of troops to the Middle East.

TRUMP: We have to knock the hell out of them. I would listen to the generals. But I would -- I'm hearing numbers of 20,000 to 30,000. We have to knock them out fast.

KAYE: He also took heat for this idea. Saying he'd target those related to ISIS members. Something that is against the Geneva Conventions.

TRUMP: The other thing is with the terrorists you have to take out their families. When you get these terrorist, you have to take out their families.

KAYE: One thing Trump has made clear is that if he's in the White House ISIS will be destroyed.

TRUMP: They're going to be gone. ISIS will be gone. If I'm elected president. And they'll be gone quickly. They will be gone very, very quickly.

KAYE: He just won't say how he'll do it. This is what he said a month before he officially announced his run for the White House.

TRUMP: I do know what to do. And I would know how to bring ISIS to the table or beyond that defeat ISIS very quickly. And I'm not going to tell you what it is tonight. All I can tell you is that it is a foolproof way of winning.

KAYE: Winning. Something Donald Trump prides himself on. All he seems to need is a solid plan.

Randi Kaye, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: Randi, thank you for that.

Coming up, Donald Trump set for what his campaign is billing as a major policy speech tomorrow on ISIS. Up until now, though, he has declined to offer any specifics on how he would do that. Will those specifics finally come tomorrow? We will discuss ahead with our global affairs analyst and a former lieutenant general.

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:36:50] HARLOW: All right. So tomorrow in Ohio we may get details from Donald Trump on his strategy to defeat ISIS. Up until now he has been pretty vague about his plans to fight the terror group if he's elected. But he has promised that he will make ISIS disappear quickly.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We have to knock out ISIS. We have to knock the hell out of them. We have to get rid of it. And then we have to come back here and rebuild our country, which is falling apart.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: With me now, let's talk about all of this with retired army three-star general, Mark Hertling. Also with us our global affairs analyst Kimberly Dozier. And with me in New York Princeton University history professor Julian Zelizer.

Thank you all for being with me. Look, this is a major policy speech. That's how the campaign is billing it tomorrow in Ohio. Critical swing state.

General Hertling, on November 12th Donald Trump said, "I know more about ISIS than the generals." You're a general. Do you take that personally and what do you want to hear from him tomorrow in Ohio?

LT. GEN. MARK HERTLING, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: I think he was actually talking about me when he said that, Poppy. It was during an Anderson Cooper interview. And no, I don't take it personally. I'm a professional. I spent a lot of time as a professional soldier. I know that the elected civilian leaders have their own view of things. But the attempt to influence those views with the realities of the battlefield is extremely important.

I'm looking very forward to his speech tomorrow. I'm looking to see exactly how he proposes to defeat ISIS, especially during a situation where it takes more than just military power.

I'm hoping to hear him say that it's more than bombing and more than boots on the ground. I'm hoping to hear him talk about things like diplomatic efforts, commerce efforts, treasury efforts, and working with other nations. That's what I'm hoping to hear tomorrow, Poppy.

HARLOW: I think that's important to address. Right? I mean, we just heard in the Randi Kaye piece before the break how he said there would be this bombardment of ISIS if he becomes president.

But, Kimberly Dozier, when you talk about how to actually attack and defeat ISIS now, it has metastasized so much not only on the ground but just in terms of being born of this ideology that we now see attacks in this country, attacks in Europe that are lone wolf attacks where people have never traveled to Iraq or Syria, it's all born online from this ideology. That is something we have not heard Donald Trump address.

KIMBERLY DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: You're right. We've only heard really him talk about the fight inside Iraq and Syria. And that in very overall terms, not a lot of detail -- almost no detail. He has said things like we're going to get rid of them, we're going to get rid of them fast. That's what I found when I went to his Web site trying to find, you know, what is his anti-ISIS policy.

HARLOW: Right.

DOZIER: When you look at the Hillary Clinton Web site, there is a bit more detail. There are three areas with bullet points. You know, stopping their -- narrowing their safe haven inside Iraq and Syria. The second one, working with the coalition. And the third one is strengthening safety at home. But still not a lot of detail.

(CROSSTALK)

HARLOW: But, Kimberly, just to -- to be fair here, though, the Trump camp and Trump supporters would point to that and say, look, Clinton is part of -- was as secretary of state, part of the administration that led to the drawdown of troops in Iraq and she's part of what they would call a failed policy.

[18:40:10] DOZIER: And I have to say that when I read through the Hillary Clinton Web site I thought, well, that sounds like the Obama plan plus, plus.

HARLOW: Right.

DOZIER: With just slight grade turning up the heat slightly. What we want to hear from Donald Trump is OK, are you going to work with Russia and if so does that mean you are going to follow Russia's lead and allow Bashar Assad to stay? Because many diplomats watching this have said that half the country will not accept Assad staying in power and that might drive some of them into the ranks of ISIS and make ISIS harder to defeat.

Are you going to step up the number of troops both in the region in Iraq and Syria but also the number of U.S. Special Operations Forces globally who are assisting other countries. Are you going to make this an America versus ISIS on the ground fight or are you going to stick with the plan that we're doing now of mostly working through local forces? These are a lot of my questions. HARLOW: So, Julian, put your -- put your professorial hat on for me.

Right? And take me back in history because Trump needs bump. I mean, he needs a big bump. He's really trailing Clinton in the key swing states in the latest polling. So he needs a runway and he needs to get a group behind him that isn't already. Take me through history.

Historically, what would a national security speech look like that could be or has been in history a game changer for a candidate?

PROF. JULIAN ZELIZER, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY: Well, let me say there aren't speeches like that. So one speech does not change the basic dynamics of a campaign. There are speeches in history like when Harry Truman, already president, announces the "Truman Doctrine" that really shapes how people think of the presidency and outlines a vision for how we're going to fight an enemy.

But Donald Trump, this speech will just be part of a much bigger package that he needs to stop what has been the bleeding of his campaign. He faces what you might call a confidence gap where people are not fully confident that he has what it takes.

HARLOW: Let's show that polling. We do have some new CNN/ORC polling that shows us that Trump is actually now just one point behind Hillary Clinton on who would be better to handle ISIS. But what is significant is that those numbers have changed. Up until the RNC he was beating her. People thought that he was more capable specifically, General, of taking on ISIS. But now you have this week Trump comes out and he says time and time again, President Obama is the founder of ISIS and Hillary Clinton is the co-founder.

But then his running mate Mike Pence goes on FOX this morning and tells Chris Wallace, no, he wasn't being sarcastic like he said he was. He was being serious. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. MIKE PENCE (R), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think he was being very serious and he was making a point that needs to be made, that there is no question that the failed policies of President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the wider Middle East created a vacuum within Iraq in which ISIS was able to arise.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Have you seen sort of a lack of cohesion on the same ticket on an issue like this before?

HERTLING: I have not, Poppy. It's interesting to see not only that commentary by his vice presidential running mate but also by the campaign itself, stating the things he said earlier this week and then later on coming out and saying it was sarcasm.

Look, this is interesting because there are Americans fighting there. They have been for 16 years. To say that he's making commentary and basing it on sarcasm is somewhat sophomoric. And I really don't appreciate the fact that he is suggesting things to be blamed against one person when anyone with any kind of historical or cultural or military knowledge knows that these kind of campaigns go back decades and in fact with the Sunni-Shia split it's centuries.

You can't put the blame all on one man. And certainly there have been politicians in the United States that have affected this one way or another. But to say one individual is responsible for this in my view, Poppy, is just ludicrous. You can't do that. And for those of us who have fought this force against ISIS and against al Qaeda, that's somewhat insulting.

HARLOW: All right. Stay with me. We have a lot more to talk about. Also the comments that Donald Trump has made about the military, which he's called in terrible shape. We'll address that and all of it ahead of his policy speech on ISIS tomorrow. Quick break. We're back with our panel in a moment.

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[18:47:50] HARLOW: All right. We're back with our panel talking about Trump's major policy speech set for tomorrow in Ohio. With me again, retired army three-star general, Mark Hertling. Also our global affairs analyst Kimberly Dozier and Princeton University historian professor Julian Zelizer.

On May 27th Donald Trump said about ISIS, "I would know how to bring ISIS to the table or beyond that defeat ISIS very quickly. I'm not going to tell you what it is. All I can tell you is that there is a foolproof way of winning."

That works with his supporters, Kimberly, who say -- and I've had voters tell me this. Why would he share our plan publicly? Why would he put details out there? Is there merit to that argument, Kimberly?

DOZIER: Well, if you're going to give details about specific attacks, tactical details, no, you don't want to do that. But if you're talking about plussing up the number of troops in the region, the number of support -- the amount of support to allies, things like that, that can send a powerful signal that you're not letting the foot off the gas in terms of the fight to ISIS. And it's the kind of thing that I know some of the people in the military I've spoken to who support Donald Trump would like to hear.

How specifically is he going to step up the campaign? Is it going to be more covert action? Is it going to be more of a direct fight? And that kind of thing doesn't weaken the plan according to the officials I've spoken to. It signals to militants worldwide that there is tougher times ahead.

HARLOW: Well, and to be fair, he has said -- some things he's talked about 20,000 to 30,000 ground troops potentially even on the ground in Syria. So we've gotten some things but just not a lot of specifics.

Julian Zelizer, it brings to mind, when I hear something like that, like what he said in May, Nixon and what he said about Vietnam.

ZELIZER: Right. So Nixon in 1968 when he was running for president against Humphrey famously promised to bring a peace to Vietnam without ever spelling out the details. And he would continue to make this boast, and Democrats would criticize him for it. You know, the big difference is, A, many people don't know whether Trump has the knowledge or expertise to handle foreign policy altogether. Nixon did have a big record behind him.

[18:50:02] And second are the comments, it's different to criticize a failed policy of an administration, to actually claim the president of the United States and the former secretary of state and nominee are the founders of ISIS. So I think that's why there's more weight on hearing some specifics.

HARLOW: And General Hertling, finally to you, Donald Trump has spoken about the need to rebuild our military. He talks about our military in what he deems in terrible shape. What do you want to hear from him on that front tomorrow?

HERTLING: Well, first of all, Poppy, if I can address your previous question about the 10,000, 20,000, 30,000 troops. Whenever you say that to a military person, I'm a former military person, our ears and our spines go up because numbers are not a strategy. When you start attaching a requirement for a force against thinking you're going to win, that's not a strategy. That's just a force deployment. So I'm very careful whenever I hear any person from either party talking about increasing numbers without a plan behind it.

The second thing is, in terms of the military, yes, after 16 years of war all branches of the military are extremely worn out. We have reduced the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guards, by numbers and their equipment is rugged because they've been fighting for this 16 years.

All that requires funding and money. In order to get that funding and money -- and Mr. Trump can't turn to a CFO in a major corporation and say, I need money to put against this now. He needs to get congress' approval. That's going to be much more difficult, from what I can tell.

HARLOW: Right.

HERTLING: When he's working with a Congress even in his own party that have a problem supporting him.

HARLOW: I have to leave it there. Thank you all. Important analysis ahead of a big policy speech from Donald Trump tomorrow.

Julia Zelizer, Kimberly Dozier, General Hertling, thank you.

Coming up next, switching gears, and we're going to bring you a story from Mexico, one reason that many Mexican immigrants make their way to the United States is to make money for their families. People like this.

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ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Martha and Artemio receive up to $200 monthly from their son Juan, an undocumented immigrant living in Chicago.

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HARLOW: Donald Trump addressing money transfers, what he says he will do to block them if Mexico does not pay for that wall along the border. Rosa Flores reports next.

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[18:55:55] HARLOW: Donald Trump continuing to call for a border wall to be built between the United States and Mexico. He also says that he would stop nearly $25 billion in money transfers sent by Mexicans living abroad back to Mexico if Mexico refuses to pay for that wall.

So what is the human impact? Our Rosa Flores reports.

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FLORES (voice-over): The Mexican village of Francisco Villa might as well be in the United States. Homes, roads, businesses, all mostly paid for with American dollars. People here don't speak English but they understand two words. Donald Trump.

TRUMP: Who is going to pay for the wall?

CROWD: Mexico.

TRUMP: One hundred percent.

FLORES: Trump says that if Mexico doesn't pitch in $5 billion to $10 billion to pay for the border wall he will cut off money transfers sent from the U.S. to Mexico by undocumented immigrants.

Martha and Artemio receive up to $200 monthly from their son, Juan, an undocumented immigrant living in Chicago.

(On camera): With those $200 a month, she says, she has to pay for everything. Food, electricity, water.

(Voice-over): Getting that money comes at a high price. She doesn't get to see her son.

MARTHA, MOTHER OF UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANT: It's very hard.

FLORES: Donald Trump maintains it's de facto welfare for poor families in Mexico.

In Chicago, Martha's son, Juan, says his parents would starve or die if Trump's threat materializes.

(On camera): It's a very deep pain.

JUAN, UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANT: Yes.

FLORES (voice-over): He and his wife crossed the border illegally 21 years ago. (On camera): Is being deported your biggest fear?

JUAN: Yes, because my family would be left without me.

FLORES (voice-over): He has a legal Illinois driver's license, a bank account, and a mortgage on a Chicago-style bungalow.

This is what homes in Francisco Villa looked like two decades ago when Juan left, with outdoor laundry rooms and kitchens.

(On camera): Where did the money to construct these homes come from?

JAMIE LEON, VILLAGE LEADER: This house on the left, the money came from Chicago. This house to the right, the owners are also in Chicago.

FLORES (voice-over): A village leader tells us that the money is not just coming from Illinois, but also Oregon, California, and Arkansas, and it doesn't stop at homes. The church, community college, and park also paid for by money transfers.

(On camera): The clues of just how many dollars are invested here are peppered all over town on signs like these showing how the Mexican government encourages migrants to send money back by matching every dollar on public projects, like the greenhouses that you see behind me, three to one.

(Voice-over): Alfredo Gamez owns a lawn care business in Chicago and sends money to family in Francisco Villa, but he's in the U.S. legally.

ALFREDO GAMEZ, LEGAL MEXICAN IMMIGRANT: I send my parents money for their medicine.

FLORES (on camera): What would happen if Trump stopped money transfers to Mexico?

GAMEZ: It's going to lead to illegal immigration.

FLORES: It's going to lead to illegal immigration, you're saying?

(Voice-over): Gamez says desperate people in Mexico will head to the U.S. for opportunity.

A recent GAO report found that some law enforcement officials believe restricting the legal amount of money transfers could drive transactions into an underground black market. And while the situation in Francisco Villa might seem precarious this village has a reach that might actually count this November.

Rosa Flores, CNN, Mexico Southwest State of Michoacan.

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HARLOW: That was Rosa Flores reporting. CNN did reach out to Trump's campaign for a comment specifically regarding the potential impact of ending money transfers and their effects on undocumented workers.