. ♪ good evening. we begin this hour with khizr khan, father of army captain humayun khan. he called out donald trump during the democratic convention. trump has not stopped hitting back since even though he's drawn intense fire from virtually all corners, including prominent republicans. mr. khan joins us once again. again, i appreciate you being with us. when you entered the political arena as you did during the democratic national convention, i assume you knew you would come under some attention yoursef from donald trump, from the surrogates. i want to get your reaction to some of the things we have heard in the last day or two from some of the surrogates. donald trump as we talked about in the last hour gave an

interview yesterday saying that perhaps the real reason you are angry is because of his policy to keep terrorists out of the country. somehow i assume suggesting directly that you wouldn't mind having terrorists in the country. you responded to that in our last broadcast. but we also just heard from one of donald trump's surrogates who is i think a liaison to veterans. i want to make sure i get the quote exactly right that he said. actually, i don't have it right now but i will get it. earlier donald trump's son eric was asked about whether his father would be willing to apologize to you and he seemed to imply that his father had apologized to you. you say that's not important to you, though. >> not at all, really. what is important to me now is end this back and forth, back and forth that had been lack of caliber on the other side. just imagine, i want to indulge all of his surrogates, after we

made the speech, if donald trump would have not taken that cheap shot at the gold star mother, we would not be having these conversations, these discussions. sometime for a candidate for a higher office has to have the capacity to bear with the criticism. if i had exercised my first amendment rights as mr. trump does, as donald trump does, again and again and again, as he had been maligning hillary clinton, calling her names and other leaders, if he can exercise the freedom of his speech rights, so can i. but he is the candidate for the highest office, a much larger caliber is needed, patience, tolerance.

when a person becomes commander in chief, president, you are president and commander in chief of everybody that has supported you and that has not supported you. >> let me ask you, just yesterday an official adviser on veterans affairs to the trump campaign tweeted out this. he said, tweeted out a link to a blog post which essentially accuses you of being a muslim brotherhood agent who wants to advance sharia law in the united states adding that you used your son as a political pawn. i want you to be able to respond to that. >> i hope his surrogates are listening so they can take note of what i'm about to say. i have no concern, i have no link, i have never been of that thought. i assure you i am an educated person. there is, and i hope that other not so thoughtful republican

leaders are listening, there is constitutional amendment in the constitution of united states and that is called equal protection of law under 14th amendment. sharia law as we have titled, there is no such thing as sharia law. these are laws of various muslim countries which are hodgepodge of british laws, french laws, portuguese laws. in there, there is tremendous discrimination of genders which disqualifies them under the constitution of the united states, cannot be implemented, cannot be brought. how can i be a person that has read this, i preach that, that i do not stand for any sharia law because there is no such thing. >> let me also ask you something else we have heard from the trump campaign just over the last two days. yesterday i talked to a former admiral, rear admiral who is

supporting donald trump as one of his advisers, who suggested, who sort of turned the subject from should donald trump apologize to the rules of engagement for troops in iraq, implying somehow that the rules of engagement were so restrictive that they played a role in your son's killing, something else that another trump spokesman, katrina pearson also said today on cnn. we have the sound bite from her today. let's listen to what she said. >> -- understand, but surely you can understand the confusion considering how donald trump never voted for the iraq war. hillary clinton did. and then she didn't support the troops to have what they need. it was under barack obama and hillary clinton that changed the rules of engagement that probably cost his life, so i don't understand why it's so hard to understand why donald trump was confused about why he was being held responsible for something he had nothing to do with, while hillary clinton had everything to do with.

>> as usual -- >> she is clearly either confused or simply ignorant that your son was killed in 2004. barack obama and hillary clinton were not the president and secretary of state in 2004. i just wanted you to be able to respond. >> do i need to say anything? lack of understanding, lack of factual correctness. it's just nothing but political vote pandering. they are trying to create this fear in people's mind. they have come up with this terms and these terminology that they continue to talk about without really knowing the facts about what they are talking. i want to put a footnote, i received information from where my website was, it is down now. this is the maliciousness and

donald trump should say to his surrogates that no more, no more harm, no more ugliness. i received the call from the host of the website saying that we are receiving tremendous amount of hits and especially on certain pages of the website. i have a three-page small website and there is a risk that somebody will damage it, somebody may hack it. i asked them what do you suggest. they said under such circumstances, we normally keep it offline when this madness will go away, we will bring it back. i asked them to do that. to which i began to then receive e-mails and calls why your website is down, why your website is down. this is the ugliness of this discourse. there could be some civility in this discourse. it is a political discourse, of course. there could be some discussion

of policy instead of personal ugliness. so i am not engaging anymore because i see no hope. i do see hope where the people who are thinking to vote for this candidate, i think it is plenty clear, his surrogates will not admit, it's plenty clear to the world that this person is not fit for the office he's seeking. he wants to do everything, i will do it by myself. in democracy, you cannot do this. that is against the basic principle of democracy. therefore, my comments on that is that i really do not want to put myself and my son, my dignified son, through this mud slinging process and lack of decency, of conversation, is just amazing. i would again appeal to his

surrogates that please show some decency. refrain from what you attempted out of anger and out of this ugly partisanness. >> mr. khan, i appreciate you talking with us tonight. my condolences obviously to you and your family and thank you for taking the time this evening. appreciate it. >> thank you very much. we will take a short break. we'll be right back. gary, gary, gary... i am proud of you, my man. making simple, smart cash back choices... with quicksilver from capital one. you're earning unlimited 1.5% cash back on every purchase, everywhere. like on that new laptop. quicksilver keeps things simple, gary.

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we're back after our conversation with khizr khan. reaction from inside politics contributor julie pace, also chief political correspondent dana bash, michael dantonio, timothy o'brien, and become with us, patrick healey of the "new york times." tim, you were sued by donald trump, a case which was settled, right? >> right. he lost it. >> he lost the suit. is donald trump capable of resisting responding to any perceived slight? because that's essentially what certainly mr. khan feels like donald trump has -- he continues to talk about this. even yesterday, suggesting that mr. khan essentially is upset that donald trump in donald trump's opinion is tough on stopping terrorists from coming to the u.s. >> i think donald's a remarkably thin-skinned person especially for somebody who is essentially a bully. but it's bullying and it's

evidence of how insecure he is about a lot of things. i think his first default mechanism is to lash back at anyone he perceives as a critic. i think what's different with mr. khan is you had months of donald going after journalists and politicians and voters don't care if you attack journalists and politicians. but when you attack the father of a dead soldier, who is a modest and humble man, but principled and courageous, you are dealing in a different world. i think this is a turning point in the election. >> yet, now all the surrogates are coming up with all these sort of other allegations, there's a lot of stuff in right wing media about he's trying to get, you know, a business getting immigrants into the united states, that he's part of the muslim brotherhood, that he wants sharia law, all of which he says is point-blank not true. >> all of that is noise. it comes back to a fundamental thing. he gave a speech at the convention in which he said i have sacrificed my son, what have you sacrificed. the response from donald trump is my sacrifice is hiring people.

which is an absurd response. >> according to the hill website, the trump campaign sent a memo to surrogates titled urgent pivot. it said in part the media's working against our efforts and our messaging specifically as it relates to the tragic death of captain humayun khan. we are asking you to review and use the attached talking points in your daily messaging. it's interesting, they clearly feel like get off this topic as quickly as possible. >> yeah. these are standard talking points. campaigns put it out all the time. this is sort of extraordinary. it's basically we can't solve this so we need to change the subject entirely. the problem is that donald trump himself doesn't seem to have gotten those talking points. the media asks him a question, and he almost can't help himself in either sometimes taking the bait or just sort of obscuring whatever political message they want to have. you have been in the situation, i have been in the situation. we know when we ask him a question, for better or worse, he's going to give us kind of oftentimes this explosive answer and the question for so many republicans is after so many

months, when is he going to start self-editing and tighten up? >> does it surprise you that he still continues to, a, not back down obviously, but even yesterday, give an interview with a whole new rationale against mr. khan? >> well, donald's first and only point of reference is donald trump. so everything comes through this filter of how is it going to affect donald trump, how can donald trump define this person in a way that makes him the enemy and somehow allows me to defeat him. so everything for him is a contest. everything is a pursuit of dominance. mr. khan has shifted things so that now, the debate is on his ground. this is a matter of morality, not power. mr. khan holds the cards there. >> julie, politically for somebody who is running for the highest office in the land, he's missed a number of opportunities because this has become such a story, because he's continued to kind of stoke the fires here. he could have focused on hillary

clinton's, you know, answer to chris wallace on sunday, mischaracterizing what the fbi director said, yet that's not the top story. >> and that is such a part of this frustration that we hear from republicans on capitol hill, in governors' mansions across the country. it's not just the topics that trump decides to latch on to and can spend weeks at a time focusing on, it's that by doing that, he misses opportunities to make his case against hillary clinton. she made some comments on her e-mails that any other republican would have tried to campaign on this week. they would have been sending talking points to their surrogates about that. yet it's a missed opportunity for him. and going forward, if he is going to try to reach out to other voters, to independents, to maybe conservative democrats and try to bring them into his camp, he'll have to do more than pick these fights. >> patrick, obviously the other big story this hour is donald trump's comments about paul ryan and john mccain, essentially saying he's not ready to endorse them, kind of using the same

language that paul ryan once used about donald trump. >> yeah. no, it's extraordinary. clearly, there is still, it's under his skin that even after paul ryan was the chair of his own convention and picked mike pence in part, hoping to kind of unify the party, donald trump still wants to try to sort of stick it to ryan. there's still this sort of frustration with these kind of establishment republicans that they haven't fallen in line. it just becomes another part of the media narrative, sort of on and on and on where donald trump isn't talking about hillary clinton and making this a referendum on hillary clinton, but instead -- >> it becomes, continues to be about him. tim, he had talked about the importance of trying to unify the republican party but it certainly doesn't seem top of his list. >> no. donald trump's not a unity candidate. he's a divisive explosive force. i think what you are seeing is sort of the aftereffects of a tornado touching down in the middle of the gop. >> dana, how personal is this for donald trump? >> it seems like it's incredibly

personal, which is why even for donald trump, the most unconventional candidate who has done remarkable things politically just going with his gut and shooting from the hip, even for him, this kind of behavior, when i say behavior, it is just kind of going off-script every day in many different directions as opposed to focusing where republicans want to focus on hillary clinton, on the issues where they think she's beatable, whether it is her honest and trustworthiness or her positions in the past on trade that he's not doing that and it's almost as if he can't help himself. i'm just even as we are on the air texting with some people who are close to the trump world talking about how incredibly frustrated the people are who are closest to trump even, because they can't get him to stay focused where they want him to stay focused which is on some

of those issues and others. and just kind of, you know, getting caught up in the machine of donald trump because of personal affronts he may or may not feel. >> coming up next, more on donald trump's war with the gop. one of the leading figures of the gop is mike pence. what do his supporters think of all this? if you have moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, isn't it time to let the real you shine through? introducing otezla (apremilast). otezla is not an injection or a cream. it's a pill that treats plaque psoriasis differently. with otezla, 75% clearer skin is achievable after just 4 months, with reduced redness, thickness, and scaliness of plaques. and the otezla prescribing information has no requirement for routine lab monitoring. don't take otezla if you are allergic to any of its ingredients. otezla may increase the risk of depression. tell your doctor if you have a history of depression or suicidal thoughts,

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donald trump declining to endorse house speaker paul ryan, the highest elected republican official in the land or senator john mccain. his refusal to endorse mccain came when mike pence was stumping in arizona, mccain's home state. the senator has been extremely critical of trump's feud with the khans. this was part of the backdrop when governor pence campaigned today. gary tuchman was at a tucson event and talked to some supporters. >> ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the next vice president of the united states. >> reporter: quite a day for mike pence. to hit the campaign trail in arizona, just as his running mate, donald trump, has declared he will not endorse arizona

senior senator john mccain in his upcoming primary election. sarah attended the pence town hall in tucson and likes trump and mccain, but -- >> personally, i think that trump has a plan and if mccain is not part of his long-term plan, then i support trump's decision. >> reporter: most of the people here are fervent trump/pence supporters. that loyalty is evident. >> frankly, i wouldn't want to endorse john mccain either. he's kind of betrayed our party. i can't support him. >> reporter: the trump/mccain relationship has been strained since last summer when trump declared former p.o.w. mccain is not a hero. >> i like people who weren't captured, okay? i hate to tell you. >> reporter: on monday, trumcca released criticism of trump regarding the khan controversy. he stopped short of withdrawing his support of trump for

president. >> i think he has his opinion and i have mine. >> reporter: what's yours? >> my opinion is you don't [ inaudible ]. >> reporter: you don't want to -- do you like that about him that he's tough and doesn't apologize? >> yeah. >> reporter: some do feel mccain did the right thing by writing the letter about what trump said. do you agree with john mccain, what he said about trump? >> yes. yes. he should have never said it. >> reporter: would it have made you feel better as a trump supporter if donald trump said i watched him during the convention, i'm really sorry they lost their son and left it at that? >> that would have been a more prudent approach to it. yeah. but i think commenting on the fact that she made that ultimate sacrifice and so did the father, but her not saying anything could have been part of their culture. he didn't know. >> reporter: there are some here who feel this goes deeper and darker. >> yeah. mr. khan, who's a member of the muslim brotherhood -- >> reporter: that's not true. that's not true, sir. >> yes, he is. >> reporter: however, far more people here feel this way.

>> but that's donald trump. >> reporter: if he apologized, would you respect him for? >> absolutely. >> reporter: you would like him to apologize? >> i think it's probably something he should do, yeah. >> reporter: based on the history of this campaign, don't expect any apologies. >> we are getting word that governor pence is meeting with senator mccain in phoenix. do we know more about it? >> reporter: well, john mccain has said nothing publicly but a short time ago, both men did get together. this was previously scheduled before the news broke. we are told by john mccain officials who are affiliated with him that it was a pleasant meeting but it was a private meeting so therefore, we don't know if there were any fireworks. john mccain is known as a blunt guy. he's not shy and retiring. but we don't know if he said anything about what trump said. donald trump has said a lot of things to john mccain but mccain continued to officially back him for the presidency. we will wait to see if that changes. one other thing, john mccain has served in the senate for almost

30 years and house of representatives for four years. his primary is coming up four weeks from today on august 30th. this is crunch time for his campaign. >> gary, thanks very much. joining us, cnn political commentator christine quinn and democratic strategist richard sakarides. it's interesting to hear the folks say i wish he would apologize but they're still trump supporters. do you think this has been more of a turning point than some of the other so-called controversies have been in the past for donald trump? do you think because it's not a politician, it's mr. and mrs. khan? >> not necessarily. we'll just break it down to the fact that donald trump's going to say the things that are on his mind. he's not a politician. he's a businessperson. and he is running for president of the united states because he wants to change the direction of

this country. he's going to upset the establishment. that's part of his design. he's going to shake it up. both republicans and democrats. he's called both out all during the course of the primary and during the course of this general election. he's going to continue to do so. i think he's right for doing so. >> kayleigh, you support him, not supporting paul ryan even though paul ryan opened up the convention and has endorsed donald trump as has john mccain. >> yeah, there's an immense amount of anger among republican voters towards both paul ryan and john mccain and the establishment class. they lost a lot of republican voters, they lost the likes of important figures in our party like laura ingraham. when they went to washington and didn't do what they promised they would do, they supported executive amnesty, mccain supported cap and trade. there's anger in the base toward the political class. it's smart by trump, because they have betrayed republican

voters. >> does it worry you that he's alienating people who think he should have apologized to the khans, he's also alienating establishment republicans or continues to, rather than reaching -- >> this is dividing the party. it's hurting, it will hurt candidates across the board. that's what i'm worried about. i'm worried about the down ballot effects of donald trump who really only focuses on himself and doesn't really have any loyalty to the republican party. i hear them talk about the establishment, how he's fighting it, yet paul ryan was the chairman of the convention. yet donald trump went down and tried to get support from congressional republicans in the house and the senate. so he can't have it both ways. this was a flippant silly remark that was petty that he shouldn't have said. if you need further proof of how the campaign is going, poor governor pence. he gets caught in the middle of this because he probably wasn't alerted to what donald trump was

going to do. >> one of the reasons he reached out to governor pence and got pence on board in the first place was to try to bring the party together and to try to calm sort of more establishment figures. so back then, he seemed to care what the establishment was thinking. >> that's right. governor pence was going to be the great validator of the establishment for donald trump and was going to help make him look like kind of the leader and even potentially kind of the unifying figure for the party that republicans wanted. what matters now, though, is the undecided voters in places like pennsylvania and ohio, florida, who really don't like hillary clinton and they are looking for reasons not to vote for hillary clinton. and the undecided voters i have talked to recently, they talk about wanting to see donald trump looking like a leader, like a statesman, like someone who they can imagine as president. when he gets into these scrapes, when he is someone who is alienating the nominee of the party from just eight years ago, think what you will of john mccain, it just raises questions about what is this guy about,

what is he going to say a year or a month into his presidency. >> yet amidst all of this, he continues to talk about the khans. he was probably asked about that interview yesterday to a local station, but he kind of brought up a whole new reason, saying well, it's probably because mr. khan, because i'm so tough on stopping thousands of islamic terrorists from entering the united states, mr. khan doesn't like that. >> right. first, i think we have to first recognize the damage those kind of statements do. we saw with the man in the story who firmly believes mr. khan is a member of the islamic brotherhood when that is not true at all. those kind of comments made by donald trump is what starts to feed that type of anti-islamic, anti-muslim fever and feelings out there. i find it just beyond comprehension why donald trump both from a political perspective, a strategical perspective and a human perspective, why he started this but why he rebrought it up

today. today theoretically could have been the day that it began to be the end of the story and he brought it back up. >> the hill is reporting about this missive that went out to surrogates saying pivot away from this. >> that's part of the people, those are the people within the campaign who are trying to see trump not be trump. what i think we are seeing now is the real trump. actually, i think what's happening with paul ryan and with john mccain doesn't surprise me at all, because i think we have seen from donald trump that he cannot stand the idea that someone would treat him unfairly or that someone would question him, and when mccain and ryan questioned his statements on the khans, i think he thought that was fair game. donald trump cannot stand any criticism. that's why he's -- >> it's worked for him, certainly in the primaries. that was one of the things people loved about him. >> it's important to understand how this all started. we saw two years ago where the house majority leader, eric

cantor lost out of nowhere to a no name professor and everyone was shocked. the anger started there. we saw it trickle through this election. >> i completely agree with you. >> when donald trump was reaching 1237 they said he's not going to reach it. when he reaches 1237 then we will accept him. he reaches 1237, then there's an effort to change the rules. there has been a consistent effort in the republican party, the republican elite to dethrone the voters who make up the party. >> i am talking about independent voters here. so think about what donald trump's doing. >> you think he's getting them? you think he's winning them over? >> hillary clinton is the epitome of the establishment. she is washington. >> is he winning over independents? hold on. >> after the dnc, if you look at the polls, there are two things that relate to this. we, the democrats, picked up about 7% of independents after the dnc. donald trump lost almost the exact same number of independents. so this isn't my opinion. these are the numbers. also, in the numbers, hillary

clinton -- >> one at a time. you wish republicans were talking more about hillary clinton. >> yes. republicans who want to win should be talking about hillary clinton. >> it's allowed the clinton campaign to essentially go into radio silence and let all of this just churn up. >> i actually don't think -- >> indeed. >> i don't want to disagree with my fellow hillary supporter. the campaign hasn't gone into radio silence. hillary put out a very detailed, specific jobs plan because this isn't for her just about responding to the donald trump missive of the day. [ speaking simultaneously ] >> she's trying to stick to issues. >> we got to take a break. just ahead, more on the controversy donald trump stirred up when a veteran gave him his purple heart. trump's reaction prompted tammy duckworth to fire off a tweet.

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earlier tonight i talked to khizr khan about donald trump's reaction when a veteran gave him his purple heart medal today at a campaign event. trump thanked the man, said he had always wanted one and said

it was a lot easier getting it this way than serving in combat. here is mr. khan's reaction earlier tonight. >> listen to me and i want his surrogates to listen to me. you should have pinned that back to that veteran's chest and should have hugged him and thanked him. that is lack of -- i'm sorry, i'm shouting. i'm just so upset at this lack of empathy, lack of common sense. he wants to be the leader, commander in chief of this united states of america? >> khizr khan earlier tonight on this broadcast. congresswoman tammy duckworth who lost both legs in an rpg attack in iraq tweeted this is how it usually looks when you are awarded the purple heart. nothing easy about it. we should point out she's a democrat. this latest controversy another reminder in thi election the military is center stage with a starring role but not always on the same page. here is cnn pentagon correspondent barbara starr. >> as commander in chief i'm

pretty tired of some folks trash talking america's military and troops. >> reporter: the military, an unlikely target in the 2016 political drama. >> our military is a disaster. >> reporter: and it's not just donald trump and president obama going after each other. the khans, parents of a muslim american soldier killed in iraq, were criticized by trump. this election cycle, there are boos and jeers from all sides. an air force mother booed at a mike pence rally. >> will there ever be a point in time when you're able to look at trump in the eye and tell him enough is enough? >> reporter: at the other end of the spectrum, bernie sanders' supporters jeered several speakers and chanted "no more war" at the democratic convention. >> we must not and we could not

stand on the sidelines. >> reporter: recently retired members of the military themselves are weighing in during this political cycle. retired general john allen speaking on behalf of hillary clinton had a dire and perhaps unprecedented warning that troops might not obey some orders of a president trump. >> i think we would be facing civil military crisis the like of which we have not seen in this country before. >> reporter: trump surrogate, retired general mike flynn just as fiery and with his own warning. >> under barack obama, we have no coherent strategy to protect our citizens and under hillary clinton, it will be more of the same. >> reporter: all of this leading the recently retired chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, general martin dempsey, to say the two retired generals and all military should stay out of politics. writing it was a mistake for them to participate as they did. it was a mistake for our

presidential candidates to ask them to do so. certain issues like reinstating waterboarding, a practice donald trump has raised as a possibility under his leadership, have compelled this former four star general and cia director to speak out. >> if he wants someone waterboarded, he better bring his own bucket. >> reporter: even the traditionally apolitical group the veterans of foreign wars, is weighing in on presidential politics. just another example of how the military has become a flash point in this very contentious, very unusual presidential campaign. barbara starr, cnn, the pentagon. >> the military order the purple heart has also responded to trump's remarks about the medal. a spokesman said the purple heart is america's oldest decoration created by george washington and nobody tries to get one. there are only two reasons for someone to be awarded a purple heart medal. either they are killed or wounded on the battlefield while serving in the armed forces of

the united states. the statement goes on i would hope anyone who receives a purple heart medal for any other reason understands its importance and meaning and will not do anything with it that would in any way denigrate its special meaning for those who have received it. joining us is retired u.s. army general mark hertling. among his medals, a purple heart. you were awarded for being injured in combat in the first u.s. war in iraq and i understand you take offense at donald trump accepting the purple heart as a gift. tell me why. >> i don't take offense at him accepting it, anderson. as a purple heart recipient, you can present your purple heart to anyone. i have seen those doing it to their family members or their loved ones as a gift. the thing i took offense to is what he said after he received it from this veteran. and that was that boy, this is something i have always wanted and it sure was a whole lot easier to get it this way or words to that effect. that's offensive. i have seen quite a few soldiers and military personnel receive

the purple heart. it isn't something they want to receive, to be sure. it is a very honorable ribbon. it was our first ribbon in the military, as you said, in 1782, and it's not something to be trifled with. unfortunately, that's what occurred today. >> does it concern you the way the military has sort of been brought up in this election? >> yeah, definitely. as you know, i have repeatedly said to you and others on cnn, as you have asked me to do military analysis, that i will not comment specifically on supporting one candidate or another. it's unfortunate that some of my colleagues have done that. i do not agree with that. in fact, it's interesting, in your earlier report, general dempsey and i are very good friends and he was the one when i was offered the job at cnn to tell me to take it, because he thought i could provide some useful benefit in terms of what the military was doing. but when you go over the edge of supporting a candidate openly and not doing the analysis or

hey, this is my experience and this is why i'm saying the things i'm saying, either right or wrong, that's when unfortunately, the military gets brought into something they should not be involved in. that's political matters. the nation trusts us to be their guardian and we have to obey the orders of any commander in chief if they're legal, moral and ethical orders. that's what we have to maintain. >> what sort of damage do you think kind of long-term it does to have, whether it's somebody supporting hillary clinton, whether it's somebody supporting donald trump and speaking at the convention? >> well, because it brings, it politicizes the security forces. you know, we can talk about within our ranks and in fact, we are prevented from openly saying things in uniform or supporting a candidate while we are wearing uniform as an active force. when i became a private citizen a few years ago, i'm still, you are still advertising me as a general so that brings certain

credence. what i hope i give is military analysis, to say this is what i saw work or not work on the battlefield or engagements with other people, or what i have seen in leadership. so i have tried to present that openly and i have truthfully swayed in one way or another because of some of the comments of both of the characters. but as we judge their leadership we have to understand that all leaders are flawed in one way or another and they have to work on their flaws. but sometimes those flaws like we saw today and at other times with mr. trump go way over the top. >> general, always appreciate having you on. thank you very much. dana bash is just getting potentially big breaking news out of the trump campaign. what are you learning? >> i sort of alluded to this earlier when we were discussing the fallout from all of the days and really almost a week of donald trump seemingly going off message in a lot of different directions, and gop knowledgeable source tells me that there is considerable

frustration within the trump camp about the way things are going, including from paul manafort, who is effectively in charge of the campaign right now. that frustration has led all the way to the top, in that the campaign wants to do more traditional strategizing and as you and i were talking about earlier, focus more on hillary clinton's record, on policy issues, where they disagree with hillary clinton and donald trump, whether it was on the khan controversy or today as we were talking about "the washington post" interview about paul ryan and john mccain. those are issues that have taken them off message into a republican fighting as opposed to going after the democrat. so that frustration i'm told is real inside the trump campaign and i'm still doing more reporting to see if there is going to be any fallout or this is just what we suspect might be happening inside and it's just that i'm getting it confirmed by

somebody who is knowledgeable about the situation. >> very briefly, do you think from what your understanding is, is the frustration that they don't, those who are frustrated don't believe donald trump has a coherent strategy or that they just disagree with the strategy that he does have? >> i think it's that they have an idea, they have a strategy that even and especially donald trump might support, but they can't stick to it when their candidate is going off on these gold star parents, even though they were -- >> or the fire marshal or whoever else. >> or the fire marshal or on the house speaker, the guy who came to his convention and chaired his convention and nominated his vp candidate. so all of those things i think combined is not, certainly not what any political strategist would want to do, even for somebody as unconventional as donald trump and that is where the frustration is coming. they just can't stick to any

kind of coherent message for all of those reasons. >> dana, thanks for the breaking news. the latest in the growing news about the zika virus. americans... ... 83% try to eat healthy. yet up 90% fall short in getting key nutrients from food alone. let's do more. add one a day women's gummies. complete with key nutrients we may need... ...plus it supports bone health with calcium and vitamin d. one a day vitacraves gummies.

another case of locally transmitted zika has been detected, bringing the number to 15. it was detected outside the

winward arts district in miami. the county will begin aerial spraying of the neighborhood. the cdc urges pregnant women not to enter that area. there's a lot of people concerned this could be the beginning of an epidemic in the u.s. how can the spread be prevented from even that one neighborhood? >> reporter: well, the chances are it probably will leave that one neighborhood. this was anticipated it would come to south florida and it going to be relegated to that one neighborhood. it's people who are moving the virus around. some will travel from one place to another. they'll get bitten by a mosquito and they'll have the virus in their system and be able to transmit it themselves. these types of mosquitoes, while

they do exist in large part of the united states, they don't exist in large numbers outside of south florida, south texas and areas of louisiana. so if people are still moving around, it's unlikely it will become what's known as sustained local transmission. it will transmit locally and that will happen over and over again in other areas. that's unlikely to happen. one thing that's sort of i think making this difficult we're hearing from the cdc is that mosquitoes in some of these areas appear to be somewhat resistant to the pesticide. normally they'd be killed off by the pesticides or insecticides. that's been hampering efforts certainly in that part around miami. >> it also sexually transmitted. how many people can -- from one person to another, can that person then spread it to another? >> yeah, yeah. once the virus is in the system, you get it from somebody, even

if it's through mosquito or sex you'll transmission, you can transmit it as well. it's one of those things where if you've been infected after a period of time, the virus will leave your system but in semen, for example, and certain areas of the body, it's areas of the body that are immunity protected, meaning the immunity system doesn't attack those areas it and can live in the body longer, which is why men can sexually transmit it for up to a couple of month, even three or four months after they've been infected. >> sanjay, i appreciate your reporting. thank you. we'll be right back. ...gas, bloating? yes! one phillips' colon health probiotic cap each day helps defend against occasional digestive issues. with three types of good bacteria. live the regular life. phillips'. (lion♪it's peyton on sunday mornings.♪ (peyton) you know with directv nfl sunday ticket you can watch your favorite team no matter where you live. like broncos or colts. (cashier) cool.

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before we go, a reminder,

join us tomorrow night at 9 p.m. eastern for our second town hall, the libertarian ticket, i'll be moderating. thanks for watching. "cnn tonight" with don lemon starts next. >> donald trump declares war on the gop. i'm don lemon. the republican nominee says he is not quite there yet when it comes to endorsing paul ryan. he refusing to endorse john mccain. he calls kelly ayotte weak. listen to his own words after an elderly veteran gave him his own purple heart. >> i always wanted to get the purple heart. this was much easier. >> then there's this to the mother of a crying baby. >> you can get the baby out of here. that's all right. don't worry.