Clinton: Trump Offers "Zero Solutions" Aired; Is Russia Behind DNC, Clinton Camp Hacks Released by WikiLeaks; Clinton, Kaine Hit Campaign Trail, Attack Trump.
POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Top of the hour. Five o'clock Eastern, you are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Poppy Harlow joining you from New York. And it is down to 101 days. That is when this nation, all of you, go to the polls to vote for the next president of the United States. Hillary Clinton just made her first campaign speech of a three day bus tour of Pennsylvania and Ohio and analysts say the entire convention may come down to those two rust belt states. Clinton is wasting no time taking direct aim at her Republican opponent Donald Trump, she says Trump offers quote, "zero solutions" and she went after him today for insulting a speaker at the Democratic National Convention.</s>HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: He lashes out. He loses his cool at the slightest provocation. Just yesterday, he went after retired General John Allen, who commanded our troops in Afghanistan. General Allen is a distinguished marine, a hero, and a patriot. Donald Trump called him a failed general. Why? Because he does not believe Donald Trump should be commander-in-chief. Well, I'd say that proves it. Our commander in chief shouldn't insult and deride our generals, retired or otherwise. That really should go without saying. But I'm going to respond on behalf of General Allen to those kinds of insults. Let's bring in our senior political correspondent Brianna Keilar. She is on the phone because she is travelling with the Clinton caravan on that bus tour. Look Brianna. When you talk to the campaign, do you get the sense from them that they think Pennsylvania is more key than Ohio here or are those boast must-win states for them?</s>BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (on the phone): I think they are sort of worried about the message it would send if they were to lose Pennsylvania and Ohio. And I think they are actually particularly concerned about Pennsylvania.</s>HARLOW: Yes.</s>KEILAR: Obviously they are looking at North Carolina. They are looking at Colorado, and they are looking at Virginia. And they are feeling better about that. But Poppy, to that comment about General Allen, I just want to add something. Because one of our digital producers who was able to see Hillary Clinton's teleprompter says there was actually a criticism of Donald Trump's -- of his criticize of Khizr Khan, the father of Humayun Khan, the Muslim American soldier who was killed in Iraq. His father of course gave a very moving speech at the Democratic National Convention. And Donald Trump really lit into him on ABC News today.</s>HARLOW: Right.</s>KEILAR: Hillary Clinton didn't end up saying that what's clear was that someone yelled out in the audience -- it was actually unclear whether it was someone yelling against Donald Trump or against Hillary Clinton. But she may have been distracted we are not sure. But that wasn't her teleprompter and she did not say that as well. But I think it's something that the campaign thinks -- you know, I think they would like to play it up because they think like it is something that is very hurtful to Donald Trump.</s>HARLOW: It was interesting to watch from where I'm sitting Brianna, Tim Kaine come up there to the podium with his sleeves rolled up, you know, his collar unbuttoned, no tie. Really looking like working class middle America. And then have her come up very polished, et cetera. And he talks to the crowd in way that sounded like I'm one of you. Does the campaign think he is most effective with these white working class voters?</s>KEILAR: Hillary Clinton picked him as her running mate -- I don't think they think they are going to turn it around completely when it comes to white working class males but I think they are looking at the appeal that Donald Trump has to some of them and they need to try to stem the bleeding and try to keep those margins, really, to -- you know, they want to sort of reduce them. I don't know that they think there is a possibility to surpass Donald Trump on that. I think they realize that scenario of strength they can't overall compete with. But they just want to make sure that he doesn't completely wipe them out when it comes to that demographic group.</s>HARLOW: Yes. It's a very good point. All right. Briana, thank you so much. Brianna will join us a little later there from the bus traveling with the Clinton campaign. We are as I said 101 days away from Election Day. Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton battling for those important swing states. How do they see their path to that magic number of 270 electoral votes? Our chief national correspondent John King takes a look at the different ways, the different states and paths that will get them there.</s>JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Conventions are over. The big question now, who can get to 270? The magic number, 270 electoral votes. You have to say Hillary Clinton has the head start. The Democratic called it field (ph) advantage if you will. We give her at CNN 236 electoral votes. One hundred and ninety one for Donald Trump. Easy to score. Dark red, solid Republican, dark blue, solid Democratic. The lighter shading leans that way. So, how does Donald Trump get there? Well, he thinks he can win this state where we are right now, Pennsylvania. Donald Trump is going to spend a lot of time trying to prove himself in the rust belt. Hard lift, heavy lift, hasn't gone Republican since 1988. But if he can win Pennsylvania, then he is most likely winning Ohio. Where does that put Donald Trump? At 229. So, where do you go from there? He has to hold North Carolina. And Obama state in '08 but a Mitt Romney state in 2012. Donald Trump has to hold that. That would put Donald Trump at 244. He's in play now, right? Boom, boom. Bang. If he can win the state of Florida, he is over the top. Pennsylvania, Ohio, North Carolina, Florida. Hillary Clinton says no way. I'm going to hold back. Now she thinks she is going to get Ohio too. But let's give to it the Republicans. Then we move down here. The state of Florida. Hillary Clinton 29 electoral votes. Tim Kaine speaks Spanish. Watch this one play out. If Hillary Clinton can hold Pennsylvania and win Florida and nothing else changes, guess what? She is already the next president of the United States and she thinks Virginia is a bonus that puts her up closer to 300. Watch the numbers here, here and here, then you will know how tight this is going to be come November.</s>HARLOW: John, thank you very much. You can catch John King of course on "INSIDE POLITICS" tomorrow morning, every Sunday morning right here on CNN. All right. Let's talk about this swing state bus tour and the play for those voters that Brianna was just talking about, those white working class voters. Larry Sabato is with me direct from the University of Virginia Center for Politics, author of "The Kennedy Half Century." And back with us is Washington Post columnist Josh Rogin. Larry, let me begin with you. Ron Brownsing (ph) wrote something interesting this week in The Atlantic. And he said, in some way the Democrats have been living on borrowed time in the rust belt. And you just heard Brianna say, look the Clinton camp doesn't think they can win a majority of those working class white voters but they want to stem the bleeding. Do you think Brownstein has a point, you know, have the Democrats been living on borrowed time in a state like Pennsylvania?</s>LARRY SABATO, AUTHOR, "THE KENNEDY HALF CENTURY": Well, Ron is absolutely right. Pennsylvania is more competitive than it has been certainly since 1988 when George H. Bush did in fact carry it. However, it's really important to stress that most of these blue collar workers that are going to Trump voted for him in the primary have been voting Republican off and on since Reagan. Those are of a certain age. And their children have taken up that Republican habit. So you have to view the electorate as a whole. John King hit exactly right. Because the easiest way for Donald Trump to win is to carry all of Mitt Romney's states, which includes North Carolina, plus Florida, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. That's the easiest. There is one route he didn't mention, though, and I think the Trump camp is considering it. Forget about Florida. They may have trouble there for lots of machines. Focus on Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, have a pure rust belt strategy with blue collar workers, especially men, that puts you precisely at 270 assuming --</s>HARLOW: Right.</s>SABATO: -- you carry the Reagan -- all the Romney states as well.</s>HARLOW: So, when you look, Josh at the so-called blue wall, right? Or the 18 states that voted Democratic in the last six elections and you are the Clinton camp, are you saying Pennsylvania is more important for us right now not to lose than Ohio is to win?</s>JOSH ROGIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes. I think that's right. I think when you talk to Clinton aides, they feel confident, at least more confident about Pennsylvania than they do about Ohio. The reason for that is because of the just abysmal numbers Trump is polling with minority plays a bigger role in Pennsylvania. They feel that those minorities are generally under polled. We've seen in the past that that's the case. And also, you know, anecdotally as a lot of us spend just a lot of time in Ohio and Pennsylvania, it seems to be more in the Clinton camp than Ohio does. That being said they are not taking any chances with the bus tour this weekend.</s>HARLOW: But what about, Larry, I mean, what about the trade issue, right? I mean, Donald Trump, because he isn't a politician until now has never cast a vote on trade. And when she is speaking to those audiences, can she convince them that she will not flip again on TPP for example, which she wants called the gold standard? Can she convince voters that she is -- those voters that are anti-some of these free trade deals that she is fully with them?</s>SABATO: Poppy, that would be difficult because she has on both sides of the issue. Of course that's not uncommon in politics. But that is a problem for her. But I don't think that's the only thing driving that blue collar voter, that middle white middle class vote.</s>HARLOW: Right.</s>SABATO: It's general economic concerns. And so she's got to hope, frankly, that the third quarter GDP is better than the second quarter just released which was an abysmal .2 percent.</s>HARLOW: Right.</s>SABATO: Real matter here, the real economy matters and some things are out of the candidates' hands.</s>HARLOW: But it's interesting Josh because the real economy in many ways is good for many Americans right now. Not all. Don't get me wrong. But you have got unemployment below five percent. You have got gas, cheap gas, you know, two bucks. And you've got a lot of the promises that say Mitt Romney made at the convention, you know, four years ago have come true under this Obama administration. At the same time you have the real pain of many of those who have lost those manufacturing jobs. How would it be most effective for Hillary Clinton to relay that message?</s>ROGIN: Right.</s>HARLOW: Because Trump is saying, well, Clinton says it's Rosie and Peachy Keen and it's not.</s>ROGIN: Right. So, first step is admitting that there is a problem. The Clinton campaign has come around to the recognition of what the Trump people are saying which is that the economy overall has gotten better but its left a lot of people behind, right?</s>HARLOW: Right.</s>ROGIN: Median incomes are the same. Minimum wage hasn't really moved as much as it should. The challenge for the Clinton campaign and they know it is that they have what they think is a robust details, 37 point plan to fix the economy. But that doesn't translate into a speech, it doesn't translate into a bumper sticker. It's what one Clinton aide told the Washington Post, amounts to bringing that calculator to a knife fight. OK? So, the first thing they have to do is to figure out how to explain what they want to do to people in a very simple way that they can process. The second challenge here is that, you know, they're telling people what they need to hear the Trump is telling people what they want to hear. And they have ideas to how to fix all of these things, investment and infrastructure. Retraining, they want to bring the people from the old economy to the new economy. That is not a message that these people are necessarily thrilled to receive. Right? And Trump is saying, no, you don't have to do anything. We'll just bring the old economy back. Which is probably not true but it is a message that these people are much happier to hear. So, that's their challenge is, how to make it simple and then how to convince people that the way that it was is not coming back so here's what we need to do to meet the challenges of the new century.</s>HARLOW: You know, it's interesting Larry, when you this of the last two weeks of the two conventions, the DNC really struck themes that in many ways had been hallmarks of Republican rhetoric. Right? If you heard General Allen speaking, for example, so many people are contrasting the doom and gloom of the Republican convention with the sort of morning in America feeling the Democratic convention. And I just, I mean, even Eric Erickson, a conservative blogger pointed that out, and he said, it was a convention of patriotism for the Democrats and one of doom and gloom for the Republicans. Which resonates more now with those voters in the swing states? Because that's who it matters for in the end.</s>SABATO: Well, the important point is that both of the candidates are striking some themes that resonate with those voters and those voters in the end will have to weigh those themes and decide which is most important to them. But let's also remember, this campaign is actually the longest general election campaign since 1960. 1960 was the last year when both parties had July conventions. So, we have so many days left to campaign, so many ads to run, so many speeches to give that I suspect both candidates will be striking themes that resonate with these voters on all sorts of issues, not just the economy.</s>HARLOW: But final word to you Josh. I mean it does seem like we have had sort of a flip-flop here when you compare the tone of the DNC versus a Republican convention to the past, sort of rhetoric of the party.</s>ROGIN: Yes, well, on the National Security issue you are right. It has totally flipped. All of a sudden Democrats have the high ground on national security, which we haven't seen in decades.</s>HARLOW: And chants of"</s>U.S.A., U.S.A.! " ROGIN: Yes. And, you know, even Republicans that are disaffected with Trump sort of said that Democrats are now the party of patriotism. And that's a very new dynamic. But ultimately people don't on that. People vote on whose going to make their life better on a daily base. And in that respect, we have got two different versions of reality. We've got the Trump version and we've got the Clinton version. And in the end, Clinton has to convince people that her version is the one that is accurate. And they can't both be accurate. Right now most people are sort of, you know, down on their personal circumstances and they're looking for a sort of way out of it. And Clinton has to convince people that optimism and, you know, that working towards the things that she is projecting is the way out of that rather than the doom and gloom that Trump is offering.</s>HARLOW: And Trump got a big bounce after his speech at the convention. We'll see in the polling come, you know, Monday morning if Clinton gets a similar bounce after hers. Thanks Larry and Josh. Nice to have you both. We appreciate it. A lot ahead this hour. First obviously the breaking news of that deadly balloon crash that claimed the lives of 16 people in Texas. We'll have a live report from there. Also amid the DNC hacking scandal, Wikileaks Founder Julian Assange whose groups released those emails spoke one on one with our very own Anderson Cooper. He says they still have more material to be released on the Clinton campaign. And later a new film tackles the gender pay gap head on. I'll talk to the women of this film, "Equity" live, straight ahead.