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Race for 2016; America's choice 2016; Security alert; Dangerous shores; Baby at sea; New video; Putin congratulates Obama; Nuclear talks; Exclusive; CNN Money Presents; "Hunger Game: Feeding America's Kids". Aired 4-5p ET

Aired July 4, 2015 - 16:00   ET

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


CHRIS MOODY, CNN SENIOR DIGITAL CORRESPONDENT: So clearly, that's evidence that Nick Cage put his handprint on the Declaration of Independence.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Clearly, indeed. Chris Moody, always great to have you. Thank you. Stick around for a much more serious topic straight ahead.

Hi, everyone. Four p.m. this Fourth of July. Thank you so much for being with me. I'm Poppy Harlow in New York.

And we begin this hour with this - Republican presidential candidate, Donald Trump firing back at critics for denouncing his comments about immigrants. This morning, he went after some of his fellow GOP candidates in an interview on Fox News.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, I know Pataki well and he's a sad figure. He's got zero in the polls and he was a terrible governor of New York. Terrible. If he would have run again, he wouldn't - I mean, he would've failed. No, he wouldn't have gotten anything. So he was a failed governor. And as far as Rubio - he's very weak on immigration. And he's - I've been saying that for a long time about him. He's weak on immigration. I respect Ted Cruz for the view that he's got. I mean, he was really out there and strong on it and I shouldn't say this because I assume he's an opponent but the fact is he was very brave in coming out. And when I look at somebody like Perry who was the governor there for a long period of time, well, he could've done something, a little bit, maybe a lot more in terms of protecting people because again, the crime is rampant. And this isn't a Mexico thing, this is - I have great relations with Mexico and I love the Mexican people and the spirit of the Mexican people. These are people just pouring across the border. And you know, it involves more than just border. It involves trade --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: CNN's MJ Lee in New Hampshire where several candidates are campaigning today.

MJ, I'm interested just off-the-bat if any of his fellow contenders in the Republican Party are saying anything about these most recent comments?

MJ LEE, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Well, Poppy, these candidates - wherever they go - it seems like they're being asked about Donald Trump and his comments. The most recent person, actually, to wade into this controversy was Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican nominee for president. He's came out and said that this is not helpful and this is not a good comment for someone of the Republican Party to make and certainly not representative of where the Party is coming from.

HARLOW: And in terms of sort of what they're asking for from him, it's really been former New York governor George Pataki leading the way, right, calling on the other candidates to call Trump out this week. We've increasingly seen that. Marco Rubio just calling him out yesterday on his immigration comments. Do you think we're going to see a ramping up of that - of these candidates shifting from a policy of sort of ignoring what he's been saying on this to calling him out?

LEE: I think it's certainly possible and I think this is because the public reaction has been so fierce. There's been such anger and frustration with the comments that he has made and I think a lot of people are looking at these Republican candidates and saying, "Well, where are you on this issue?" and "You better disagree with him and you better condemn him if you want to be on sort of the right side of this discussion."

HARLOW: All right. MJ Lee, thank you, in New Hampshire where a lot of those candidates are. Let us know what else you hear from them on that today, MJ. Thank you.

With me, again, CNN politics senior digital correspondent Chris Moody.

Chris, I want you to take a listen to this. This is something else - another soundbyte I want to play for our viewers from the interview on Fox News this morning.

Let's roll it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Everything we do in this country is just off. Our trade deals are terrible. Our border protection is terrible. Our security is terrible. If you look at what ISIS is doing to us, they're laughing at us. Do we have victories anymore in our country? And the answer is really "No."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: When does he need to switch from a policy of criticism to putting forth his policy ideas, recommendations, specific changes?

MOODY: It's really interesting that you raised that 'cause when you go to a Donald Trump event and you hear him speak, he does a lot of this complaining. And then he promises, "I will be the one to fix that. Look at all the buildings I've put up. I can fix things. I make things better." But you're right. He does need to say something about how in the near future. HARLOW: So he said in his announcement, "I'd build this huge wall all

across the border with Mexico. I'd build it with my teams. We'd do it economically. I'd have Mexico pay for it." But outside of that, I haven't heard a lot of specifics yet he's doing incredibly well in some of these polls in Iowa and New Hampshire so are the voters demanding those specifics?

MOODY: I have spoken to a lot of Donald Trump supporters and it's very interesting. The things that they like about him or the reasons that people love Donald Trump is the same reasons that people do not love Donald Trump. They like that he is a so-called straight-shooter and he says what's on their minds but they don't want to say or they want to see other politicians saying but they're not. He's really resonating with a group of people that want to see somebody say these things but at the same time, when he says those things about immigrants, about Mexicans, that is what drives opposition against him.

[16:05:01]

And it's really interesting as well because a lot of the Republicans just were planning on ignoring him in the beginning, thinking he would go away. But now that he is not, you - at some point - have to come out and say what you think about Donald Trump's comments.

HARLOW: So Mitt Romney today, when asked by our Cassie Spodak - one of producers on the ground - if he thinks Donald Trump's comments on Mexican immigrants have hurt the Party, Romney said, "Yes. I think he made a severe error in saying what he did about Mexican Americans." What does the Party do?

MOODY: Well, this is a huge headache for them because they have spent millions of dollars and put a lot of resources into Latino outreach because they know how crucial that demographic is for 2016. They saw it in 2012 and 2008 and they know they have to change something. And now, Donald Trump comes along and says all the things they've been telling people not to say. So I think a lot of them are hoping they'll just ride this out and it'll go away. In the long-term, they don't think necessarily that Donald Trump is a long-term candidate. But in the short-term, he is making an impact and he is forcing people to respond and especially when we get to the debates later this summer. He's probably going to be on that debate stage if he lasts that long. I think he will and that he's going to be someone people are going to have to respond to in real-time.

HARLOW: All right. Thanks so much, Chris. Appreciate it. MJ Lee in New Hampshire as well.

Well, now, to this. Coast-to-coast, Americans are celebrating our nation's independence and security is also very, very tight because of heightened security concerns this Fourth of July. The FBI, the Department of Homeland Security telling everyone "Be very, very vigilant."

I do want to note though - no specific threat has been identified by law enforcement. Police departments are though increasing their security, embassies and consulates around the globe are briefing their security teams. And in cities like right here in New York City, officials are not taking any chances.

Let's go live to Boris Sanchez. He is right near the Brooklyn Bridge where there is going to be a huge celebration tonight there for the fireworks on East River.

What are you seeing from the officers on the ground there?

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Quite a large law enforcement presence. In just the past couple of minutes, we've seen an increase in police around this area. Millions of Americans are going to get together today, have a festive Fourth of July, and enjoy some fireworks so law enforcement are really focusing on travel hubs, monuments and places like the Brooklyn - the Brooklyn Bridge Park where they're actually shutting us down. In just a few minutes, we have to leave 'cause they're closing this part of the park.

Yesterday, Governor Andrew Cuomo announcing that he's beefing up staff and patrols at the emergency operations center in town. Law enforcement officials also tell us they have snipers and spotters in some key strategic locations, keeping an eye on crowds to make sure that nothing out of the ordinary is happening. We also know they've scanned for explosives and radioactive devices at land, sea, and from the air. There are also 7,000 cameras in town watching crowds, again, making sure that if anything suspicious happens, law enforcement knows right away. Officers tell us they're ready for any kind of attack and locals tell us they're happy to see that expanded law enforcement presence.

HARLOW: Yes, I think everyone is very thankful to all the law enforcement on the ground there, spending their holiday protecting all of us.

Boris Sanchez, thank you very much.

Let's talk more about this with Jonathan Gilliam, former FBI special agent, former Navy SEAL, and former police officer.

I want to read you something that former CIA deputy director Mike Morell said on CBS this week. He said, "I wouldn't be surprised if we're sitting here week from today, talking about an attack over the weekend in the United States." That's how serious this is. Some people like Phil Mudd - one of our contributors, former CIA hero - says, "Look, that's overblown." Do you think that's overblown?

JONATHAN GILLIAM, FORMER FBI SPECIAL AGENT: Hmm. It's a good question. I mean, I understand what Phil is saying. I also understand what the deputy director was saying as well. I think the reality is we should just assume that the possibility is there. You know? We keep saying again and again that there's no known threat but we kind of do know who's threatening us. We do know who wants to attack us. We know what types of attacks that they do traditionally overseas. We know what they've done here before. So we should just be aware of those things. And when you go - instead of being extremely afraid, you should just be extremely aware. And avoid the big crowds. That's the main thing I think tonight. HARLOW: Really? I mean, but that's - I was planning to watch the fireworks in Brooklyn, right, where Boris is. I mean, can't - don't people need to be able to live their lives?

GILLIAM: They do need to be able to live their lives. That's what we're - freedom is - that's what we're celebrating today.

HARLOW: Right.

GILLIAM: However, you need to be aware and you need to be smart. And don't think that you have to be right up in the middle of the event in order to enjoy it. It's a fireworks show. You can see it from a distance away. But it's not just the fireworks. At the end, all the trains are going to be completely packed. All the buses, the ferries that go back and forth between New York and New Jersey - those are going to be packed. Now, we're talking about New York but we could be talking about Chicago. We could even be talking about Cleveland, L.A., Miami. Any of these major cities have their own critical areas and that's what people need to be aware of.

HARLOW: It's also not just the big cities.

[16:10:01]

I mean, that's what we talk about, that's what gets a lot of attention. But if you look at some of these sort of ISIS-inspired attacks and attempted attacks in this country-

GILLIAM: Garland, Texas is --

HARLOW: --they've also been in smaller areas.

GILLIAM: That's right.

HARLOW: So how do you think ISIS has changed the game?

GILLIAM: Well, I like to think that it - they - it's made America more aware. And I'm OK - I'm not giving ISIS any credit on this but I'm glad that America is more aware. We live - when you live in a freedom, you tend to get very, very comfortable and that's where predators, psychopaths, the guys that we just put - one of them we just put back in jail now up in northern New York - those type of people, they prey on people - on the individual when they are not aware of their surroundings. So I think it's good that we're hyper-aware now and I think that this is what's going to actually save people tonight. Remember, if you see somebody put a bag down, if you see somebody acting strange, don't hesitate to get authorities. What happened in the Navy yard earlier this weekend was not a failure. A woman saw - thought she heard something, she called 911, there's a massive response. That's OK. That's what we need.

HARLOW: Yes. That's a very good point, Jonathan Gilliam. Thank you --

GILLIAM: Thank you.

HARLOW: --very much for the analysis, the insight. We appreciate it. Coming up next, for many of us this weekend, today is about fireworks at night, beach fun during the day. But there's a lot more people on the east coast talking about sharks after 11 attacks so far this season. We will ask Fabian Cousteau about what is causing the increase in shark bites.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: Millions of you - millions of Americans are spending this holiday, the Fourth of July weekend, at the beach but 11 shark attacks along the Carolina coast in recent weeks are rattling some nerves. The victims of those attacks suffering injuries ranging from smallish bites to losing limbs. The latest case - a former Boston newspaper editor rushed to the hospital after a shark pulled him underwater, biting his ribcage, hip leg, and hands.

This has already been a record-breaking summer for shark attacks along the Carolina coastline. Why is this happening? A lot of people want to know. A lot of different theories out there.

[16:15:06]

Let's talk about it with expert Fabien Cousteau, an ocean explorer.

Thank you for being here. I was just reading through some of your notes and you said, well, one cause might be a shift in migratory patterns.

FABIEN COUSTEAU, OCEAN EXPLORER: It could. It could have something to do with climate change-related issues which, of course, shift migratory patterns. Could be that there's less food in certain areas that they're normally accustomed to foraging. Could be that people are fishing in the same waters that people are bathing in and there are mistaken identities all the time.

HARLOW: So obviously, you say that because sharks don't actually like to eat or bite human beings. They tend to pull away but they have poor visibility in terms of poor eyesight and knowing what's what. Some people have talked about drought conditions raising the salinity of water sort of closer to the shoreline 'cause a lot of these attacks have happened in water - up to your calf or up to your hip, not deep out in the midst of the ocean.

COUSTEAU: Well, that's usually the case though. I mean, you have millions of people going in the same waters that are thousands or millions of sharks that are feeding naturally for over 400 million years in those waters. You're going to get incidences occasionally of a hit, not necessarily on purpose but mistakes happen and it may be that this year, we're getting additional mistakes. So far, I'd say it's not extremely alarming. It's horrible and horrific for those who get into those accidents but in the long run, we really have to see over the year if we have a much higher incident rate than we do right now.

HARLOW: What can people do? I know I've sort of always been very afraid of sharks so I might stay on the beach, but really -- COUSTEAU: It's a natural fear.

HARLOW: --I mean, a lot of people that want to go in, what can they do? Certain times to swim, not -- ?

COUSTEAU: It's a fear of the unknown. By and large, they try and avoid you because they're not - you're not on their menu. They like things that are either dead or dying or they'll fish or a lot of times, they just force them to the bottom. Things that you can do - avoid places where people fish because the scent in the water from the bait certainly attracts them. Avoid dawn and dusk when they can't see very well. And avoid areas that are churned up or that are known feeding areas for sharks if at all possible. But by and large, you really don't have to worry about shark attacks. You're much more likely to win the lotto seven, eight times over before that happens.

HARLOW: So it sounds like you think this is somewhat of a one-off, somewhat of an anomaly, that this isn't a brand new problem of a huge increase that we're going to see persistently.

COUSTEAU: Well, the issues of shark attacks or shark incidents has happened every year, every summer when people go to the beaches all over the world and you increase the probabilities because of so many people in an area, in an environment that sharks naturally congregate at. I wouldn't say it's a huge issue. Yes, it's unusual to have 11 versus last year's six and it'll probably continue to climb from there. But this may be a fluke this year in that particular region of the world.

HARLOW: All right. Fabien Cousteau, thank you very much. We know you'll be going in the water no matter what. I might stay on the beach. Thank you very much, sir.

Also this, a really shocking video. Take a look. A 10-month-old baby girl drifting out to sea by herself. Her parents apparently forgot they had placed her in a floating crib. The parents said they weren't aware that their daughter had drifted about a half mile from the Turkish coast. The coast guard able to rescue the baby, safely return her to her parents.

Wow.

Coming up next, an exclusive from North Korea. We'll have that report for you next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:20:01]

HARLOW: Fidel Castro has made a rare public appearance. This comes the same week that Cuba and the United States announced they are restoring diplomatic relations after 54 years. The 88-year-old former Cuban leader was out and about, walking around on Friday. This is the first time he's been seen publicly in three months. He has been out of power for seven years since handing off leadership there to his brother, Raul Castro. Russian president Vladimir Putin has sent President Obama a message of congratulations this Fourth of July. In that message, Putin saying that while there are differences between Russia and the United States, "Russia-America relations remain", he says, "the most important factor of international stability and security."

And a quick update on those talks between world leaders and Iranian leaders. A source directly involved in the talks over whether or not a nuclear deal can be reached tells CNN there has been some movement on the issue of sanctions relief and when that will come. The timing here has been of key concern. The source telling CNN the tentative agreement would allow both sides to declare sanctions lifted but would actually lift them over time as Iran meets various obligations. However, the source adding there's still a lot of work to do. They are not there at a deal yet. The work includes getting approval from the foreign ministers of the countries involved in the talks. We'll keep an eye on that, keep you posted as soon as we have more.

And most of the North Korean population - as you know - lives under the strain of constant food and electrical shortages. But its leader, Kim Jong-un continues to spend on extravagant construction projects. The latest, a shiny new terminal added to the international airport in the capitol city of Pyongyang.

CNN's Will Ripley gives an exclusive look inside.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm inside Pyongyang's brand new airport terminal. It just opened up where one of the first flights out - only a handful of flights, actually take off from Pyongyang in the course of a week. But this airport was clearly built with the hope and with the idea that number will perhaps grow. One thing we noticed while flying in here - there are a lot of soldiers working on the runway. And in fact, we know that soldiers played a huge role in getting this project completed relatively quickly. That's because North Korea uses its massive military as a construction force.

The Supreme Leader, Kim Jong-un - we're told - played a personal role in the design and development of this airport, inspecting it. In fact, he was seen conducting a field inspection after it opened, reportedly very happy with its progress.

People are pretty relaxed about having their picture taken which I have to say is quite unusual for North Korea where a lot of times, traditionally, people have shyed away from the camera.

Hello? How are you?

The airport even has a convenience store where you can pick up a snack before your flight. There's also a selection of fresh fruits and vegetables, similar to some of the grocery stores that you see around Pyongyang. Even frozen items - although I'm not sure how you'd exactly carry that on the plane.

There's also this bookshop where you can pick up some in-flight reading and of course, all the literature is about the Supreme Leader, Kim Jong-un, his father, Kim Jong-il, and the founder of North Korea, Kim Il-sung. A lot of people you see there buying things to read before they get on the plane.

[16:25:03]

OK. Our flight's boarding now so it's time to go. But definitely, a lot to explore here at North Korea's brand new international airport.

Will Ripley, CNN, Pyongyang, North Korea.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: Wow. What a fascinating look. Will, thank you for that.

Coming up next, consider the statistic. One in five American children right now lives on food stamps. It is worse than in 2010. So here's a question - if the economy is getting better, why is this happening?

Next, our CNN Money American Opportunity special "Feeding America's Most Vulnerable Children".

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[16:28:12] POPPY HARLOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The largest economy on earth, the land of opportunity. And yet too many children are going hungry in America.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a big problem in this country. I'm telling you, a lot of kids come to school hungry. And it affects everything. You're not going to be productive if you're hungry.

HARLOW (on camera): The United States has one of the highest child poverty rates in the industrialized world. One in five children here now rely on food stamps. And right here in Bridgeport, Connecticut, it is double that, 40 percent.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The desperation in a city like Bridgeport is intense.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Children get up in the morning, many of them don't have food.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Their grades and their ability to focus plummet when they're not having adequate nutrition.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is always something you need in a low income neighborhood.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It has to stop somewhere. I don't want them to struggle.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's an important part of our culture to feel like we're giving all children a chance to be successful. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You go work a lot to get just a chance.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is their reality.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We should step into their shoes so that we can understand them. That's why we need to go there and see what's going on.

HARLOW: So we did. We followed a family as their children ate breakfast and lunch in school for free, as 19 million other children do nationwide. We saw how these lunches are made with limited resources and strict guidelines.

We went shopping with their single mom on food stamp budget, where healthy food is hard to come by, or afford. We had dinner with them at home. It's all happening in one of the wealthiest counties in the country, in one of the wealthiest states, Connecticut.

This is the story of how we feed our most vulnerable children for only a few dollars a day.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What kind of society is this? Is this America?

[16:30:03] HARLOW: It's 8:30 a.m.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We didn't eat yet. I don't eat at all except for breakfast.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At school.

HARLOW: The community school for Jonathan and Shyelis (ph) is just a short ride around the corner but first they have to make it down the elevator.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because it is.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I see bikes. I see people making noise. I see guns. Same boring life.

HARLOW: As they bike through the Trumbull Gardens housing projects in North Bridgeport, Connecticut, cafeteria workers at Wilbur Cross Elementary are at work, delivering breakfast to every classroom. It's a change the district made a few years ago.

Maura O'Malley, the director of the Bridgeport Nutrition Center.

(on camera): You have started serving breakfast to kids in school in the classroom.

MAURA O'MALLEY, DIRECTOR, BRIDGEPORT NUTRITION CENTER: Yes.

HARLOW: To make sure they come.

O'MALLEY: We saw that our participation went from 30 percent a day to 90 percent a day. HARLOW (voice-over): Poverty levels are so high in this city that

every public school student is allowed both a free breakfast and a free lunch.

O'MALLEY: We found that our breakfast participation was the highest on Fridays and Mondays.

HARLOW (on camera): Why?

O'MALLEY: Because I do believe that there's food insecurity at home.

HARLOW (voice-over): That means those children are not getting enough to eat over the weekend.

DEBORAH TISDALE, PRINCIPAL, WILBUR CROSS ELEMENTARY: There are children who will say can I get extra, we don't have food at home, or you'll see them putting things in book bags, little cups of applesauce so they can take them home and sometimes they say it's for my little sister.

ASHLEY ZELEM, TEACHER, WILBUR CROSS ELEMENTARY: Make sure you're underling.

Some of my students will come in and they clearly haven't eaten and you can see that they're agitated. Their grades and their ability to focus kind of plummet when they're not having adequate nutrition.

HARLOW: Study after study shows that eating breakfast at school increases concentration, comprehension and performance on standardized tests.

Nadia Ward is a psychologist at Yale University. She works on education policy for disadvantaged youth.

NADIA WARD, PSYCHOLOGIST, YALE UNIVERSITY: It's basically Maslow's hierarchy of needs. If their basic needs aren't met, they can't thrive. And if we want young people to be engaged in the schooling process, they need to come ready. And part of coming ready is being fed.

ZELEM: Once they feel that they are in a place where they are getting their needs met, then they are willing to take more risks academically.

JONATHAN LEWIS, STUDENT: I like the food at school. I'll eat anything. Banana bread. I only have three. That's it. Just three. But I was hungry.

ZELEM: He is the smartest kid in the sixth grade. When he is on point, he is the smartest kid. He is polite, he is helpful.

LEWIS: I like math because it teaches you a lot of things and it follows you everywhere you go.

HARLOW: But there are behavioral issues, too.

LEWIS: People pick fights with me and I kind of give them what they want. Fights, arguments.

WARD: Food is one piece but what if there are other compounding challenges that young person is bringing to school with him in addition to being hungry? With the young man, that might be kind of an explosion, words exchanged with teachers.

HARLOW: But eating breakfast in the classroom setting can be calming.

ZELEM: If they have breakfast in the cafeteria, it's another transition. There's more kids, more noise, it could be over- stimulating for some kids which can in turn set them off to not have a good day. Where if it's in the classroom, you can kind of relax a little bit, you can have your breakfast, you can talk about current events.

HARLOW: In this neighborhood, those events can be heavy for anyone, let alone a 12-year-old.

LEWIS: It was around my building area. They pulled out a gun. I felt a little sad. I got friends here, but if there's a suburb better I could move to, I would take that chance.

TISDALE: It's a pretty high crime area so the students, they see things that I would never even dream of seeing.

ZELEM: There's a traumatic situation going on at home, it could definitely impact how a kid acts. A lot of kids have difficulty talking about it. Breakfast in the classroom, it's more intimate, like you can have that conversation with a student. It is like being around the dinner table.

HARLOW (on camera): Every single kid in this school gets a free breakfast and a free lunch every day. When you talk about how much money the city gets to make those meals, once you take out labor costs, it's about 90 cents per student for breakfast.

O'MALLEY: When you look at lunch we have about $1.50 to spend on actual food.

HARLOW: That's it.

O'MALLEY: That's it.

HARLOW: Is that enough?

[16:35:00] MARLENE SCHWARTZ, DIRECTOR, RUDD CENTER FOR FOOD POLICY & OBESITY: I think it's very, very difficult. I think that the people who are trying to make those small amounts of money stretch and feed all these children have one of the hardest jobs. It would be great if there was more funding for them.

HARLOW (voice-over): Marlene Schwartz is the director of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity.

SCHWARTZ: There are a lot of districts across the country where the rates of poverty are so high in that district that it's just appropriate to provide free breakfast and lunch for everyone.

HARLOW: Shyelis (ph) is in second grade here at Wilbur Cross, a typical elementary school in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

None of them have a full working kitchen. They are essentially warming and serving stations. That saves money on equipment and labor. And that's why all the food for the district is made here at the nutrition center.

HARLOW (on camera): Meatballs are on the menu.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Meatballs are on the menu.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So, we're doing 13,000 servings of meatballs.

HARLOW (voice-over): The U.S. government spent $16 million last year feeding more than 19 million children free breakfast and free lunch. That's just under one half a percentage point of the total federal budget in 2014.

It starts with Maura O'Malley selecting the menu.

O'MALLEY: This is May's lunch menu -- how many fruits, how many vegetables.

HARLOW: She puts it all on a spreadsheet to make sure it meets the national health criteria for sodium and fat. Because the schools are K through 8, lunch has to be between 600 and 650 calories, and yes, the tomato sauce in pizza counts as a vegetable.

But in Bridgeport, O'Malley says a side vegetable is always served alongside it.

HARLOW (on camera): Walking through here, I see sugary cereal, cinnamon toast crunch, crunch mania. Is that a healthy breakfast?

O'MALLEY: These products are all designed for the school market. They are all whole grain and all a third less sugar than the products that you see in the retail market.

HARLOW (voice-over): In other words, the food companies design the food to match the regulations. But they get something else out of it, too.

SCHWARTZ: I think that the reason we have branded food products in schools is because the food companies see this as an opportunity to market their brand because they know that then the kids will want that brand.

HARLOW: Between the regulations and the budget, though, it's hard to make a complete meal the kids will eat.

HARLOW (on camera): How's the food?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sometimes it's not good and sometimes it's good.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sometimes it's good. Most of the time it's not good.

UNIDENTIFEID FEMALE: You should eat every day and it should be healthy.

O'MALLEY: It's tough, challenging, but the kids in Bridgeport deserve it. We just want to do the best we can with the limited resources we have.

HARLOW: What drives you?

O'MALLEY: I'm a Bridgeport native. These kids and their families are my neighbors.

HARLOW (voice-over): This man went to school at Wilbur Cross. Now, he works preparing meals for the students, including his own son.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is always something you need in a low income neighborhood.

HARLOW (on camera): What do you hear from these kids?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm hungry.

HARLOW: You hear it a lot?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can I have more.

HARLOW (on camera): How is this an economic recovery with one in five kids in America on food stamps?

TISDALE: I don't know how to answer that because we definitely do still have children who are -- who are definitely hungry, who are living in poverty.

HARLOW (voice-over): Despite the free breakfast and lunch in the school, for many children here it is still not enough. That's why every week the Connecticut Food Bank delivers donated food for 30 children to bring home over the weekend. Margaret Weldin (ph) runs the program at Wilbur Cross.

MARGARET WELDIN: The pack is designed for children to have a snack over the weekend. Food is critical. We have kids that if they don't have it in school, there's households that don't have it.

HARLOW: Shyelis is fortunate enough to be sent home with a bag.

WELDIN: Kids come to me and they ask me Ms. Weldin, can I get on the backpack program. You know how I feel when I say to a kid I don't have room for you and I know that's a hungry student?

Success is not going to happen if you start at the bottom with hungry children. They are our future. And if right now, we can't address a basic need as hunger and feeding, then we need to open our eyes.

HARLOW: Coming up next, we go shopping with a single mother on a food stamp budget where healthy food is hard to come by. And go to CNNMoney.com/hunger for more ways to help.

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MERCEDES VELASCO: I got to make sure I put this in my bag because sometimes I leave on it the table.

HARLOW: One in five children rely on food stamps. Your kids are among them.

VELASCO: Yes. Food stamps is -- it's very helpful right now. It's a necessity. Being a woman with four kids, you have to be strong. You have to.

HARLOW (voice-over): Meet Mercedes Velasco. She's 31 and raising four children in the Trumbull Gardens housing complex in North Bridgeport, Connecticut. Jonathan is 12, Shyelis (ph) is 8 and Joseno (ph) is 5 and Joseil (ph) 8 month old.

She lost her job as a teacher's assistant in 2013.

[16:45:01] Since then she used her SNAP benefits or food stamps to feed her family.

VELASCO: It's a temporary help until I can sustain myself.

HARLOW: But finding healthy food in this neighborhood is hard. The only place to buy it within a half mile is the corner store which was the site of a recent homicide. Like many in her shoes, Mercedes doesn't have a car, so she takes the bus to the supermarket.

SCHWARTZ: We are looking at a situation right now that is a true paradox. I think it's the first time in the history of the world that we've had too many calories and not enough nutrition. And that people have essentially been surrounded by foods that they would be better off not eating.

HARLOW: The city of Bridgeport is trying to solve this problem of food access by putting healthier food right in the corner stores.

KRISTIN DUBAY HORTON, DIRECTOR, BRIDGEP[ORT HEALTH DEPARTMENT: This is one of our three healthy corner stores in the longest standing food desert in Connecticut here on the east end of Bridgeport.

HARLOW: A food desert means there's no supermarket within a mile.

HORTON: From here it would be in another town, 45 minutes on a bus or a $15 to $20 cab ride.

HARLOW: The city spends about $15,000 per corner store to put in refrigeration units and new awnings to market their healthier foods. And until one of these initiatives comes to Mercedes' neighborhood, she needs to commute.

VELASCO: Thank you.

HARLOW: She gets $726 a month in SNAP benefits or food stamps. That may sound like a lot but it comes out to less than $5 a day per person in her family.

VELASCO: I look for fruits and vegetables that look like they'll last longer. I buy more healthier stuff because what they see is what they take. They have a yogurt and a bag of chips, they're going to go for the bag of chips, so I don't buy much of that.

HARLOW: The average U.S. household which is smaller than Mercedes', gets $257 a month in food stamps. Despite the unemployment rate being almost half of what it was five years ago, food stamp recipients are up 15 percent nationwide since 2010. It costs taxpayers $74 billion in 2014.

VELASCO: It's happened. It's not an everyday thing but it's happened that I don't have -- there's more month than food in the refrigerator and the pantry.

HARLOW: To fill the pantry, thousands of people in this city head to another type of food pantry.

DEBBIE STOKES, EAT SMART MARKETPLACE: Last month, we served 1300 people.

HARLOW: This food pantry gets nearly expired food donations from the Trader Joe's in next door Fairfield. That's a wealthy town.

STOKES: We are happy and grateful and they don't have to worry about food tonight for their families. That's a great thing. Not to get teary-eyed but that's really good. We're doing a good thing here.

RICK TORRES, CITY COUNCIL: The desperation in a city like Bridgeport is intense.

HARLOW: Rick Torres is on the city council here.

TORRES: Poverty is derived from a lack of jobs. To repair poverty you need more jobs. You can't do it by giving people stuff because the government will only give you enough to just barely survive, just right there, but having a large portion of your city be right there is a desperate situation.

HARLOW: A situation Mercedes knows all too well.

VELASCO: I can't do more. Sorry. I can't do more right now. It's taken me so long that every time I try to save something, there's something else comes up that I have to do, something breaks.

It's really my own fault. I mean, through the choices that I have made.

HARLOW: Mercedes wants to succeed. VELASCO: The rich have figured out a way to do it. They don't hold

back. They go hard so that in the future, they will be able to sustain themselves. Most people are not willing to put in that work and go hard. I saved $2.96 today.

HARLOW: Mercedes is working to build up her personal business as a sales representative.

VELASCO: I want to be financially stable and be able to sustain myself and my children. I want to give them more.

HARLOW: Next, we have dinner at home with this family. Their struggle is happening in one of the richest states in the country.

Go to CNNMoney.com/hunger for more ways to help.

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M. VELASCO: I am an awesome mother of four.

I don't let them see any struggle. I want them to maintain their innocence.

HARLOW: You hide the struggle.

M. VELASCO: Yes.

HARLOW (voice-over): But there is struggle here. Thirty-one-year-old single mother of four Mercedes Velasco is a representative for a sales company. She works from home and gets paid on commission.

[16:55:02] And the money coming in right now is sparse. Government assistance is how she buys her food.

(on camera): The United States has one of the highest child poverty rates in the industrialized world. One in five children here now rely on food stamps and right here in Bridgeport, Connecticut, it is double that, 40 percent.

(voice-over): And Bridgeport is not alone. In city after city, the rate of poor children is comparable. Mercedes is optimistic about her future.

M. VELASCO: Just going to keep at it, keep at it, keep at it, keep at it.

HARLOW: But she lives in one of the poorest neighborhoods here in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

SHYELIS VELASCO: I don't like my neighborhood. Too much gun shots and fireworks. Those motorcycles are too noisy. I'm afraid. I just stay away from them. M. VELASCO: There are random shootings at whatever time.

HARLOW (on camera): The income inequality here is striking. It hits you in the face when you walk into this town. When you talk about a family, the median household income annually is about $100,000 less here in Bridgeport, Connecticut, than it is right across the road there in Trumbull.

M. VELASCO: The only difference between us is how much we have in the bank.

TORRES: We're as good as any Trumbull family, but what happened here is that we grew up in a rough environment. They grew up in a rosy environment. Let's change that.

HARLOW: There's this debate, the growing income gap, the gap between the rich and the poor in this country. What's the solution?

M. VELASCO: Education.

Are you done with your homework?

WARD: Getting them out of high school and into college, what we know is that you interrupt the cycle of poverty. When those young people actually graduate from college, their families will be fed because their future is much brighter as a result of their having higher educational attainment. You interrupt the cycle of poverty. That's pretty powerful.

HARLOW: It has to end. It has to stop.

WARD: It has to stop somewhere.

HARLOW: Did you grow up on government assistance when you were a kid?

M. VELASCO: Yes.

HARLOW: This is the cycle.

M. VELASCO: Yes, exactly. I want -- I need to be the one to break it, because I want them to be able to depend on themselves.

LEWIS: I want to be an entrepreneur. They make good money. I'm not one of those guys that money is everything, but money can get me a lot of things.

M. VELASCO: Sometimes you have to fall to know what it is to be down. But I want them to learn how to get back up.

HARLOW (voice-over): But before these children grow up, they need dinner.

LEWIS: It I'm going to have pizza I would rather not have broccoli on the side. I will scoop my broccoli to the side but she scoops my broccoli back up. HARLOW (voice-over): It just doesn't seem to make sense when you look

at the numbers, why are one in five children now on food stamps in this country? Why is it worse now if the economy has improved?

WARD: That's a really good question. In some instances around the country, things look better but in low income communities like Bridgeport, that's not necessarily the case.

LEWIS: Thank you, Lord.

Thank you, Lord God.

M. VELASCO: Well, Jonathan is always saying he's hungry. You see how much he eats. Sometimes the teachers buy him meals. He's always hungry. Them eating breakfast and lunch at school helps as well.

HARLOW: That changes over the summer when school's out and these free meals are gone. It's a heavier burden on parents and a public policy challenge, too. How do you get food in front of these hungry kids?

S. VELASCO: I like the spaghetti because every time it slaps me in my face.

HARLOW: Even on the days when there's not enough, this family is close.

S. VELASCO: Sometimes we all sleep in my mom's bed.

M. VELASCO: It is healthy, the table itself, and getting around the table to eat a good meal, have family time, it's healthy for the heart as well as for the belly.

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