Return to Transcripts main page

CNN NEWSROOM

Search Efforts to Resume This Hour for Commercial Airliner That Crashed in Mountains; North Korea Threatening to Attack United States with "Tremendous Muscle"; Trump Releases Six-page Outline of Immigration Reform Plan; Historic Drought Fueling Fires in Four Western States; Thousands of Teens and 20-somethings in Chicago Sitting Face to Face with Some Top CEOs. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired August 16, 2015 - 17:00   ET

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


[17:00:00] POPPY HARLOW, CNN HOST: Hi, everyone. 5:00 Eastern, 2:00 Pacific this Sunday. I'm Poppy Harlow in New York.

And we begin with what appears to be a tragedy overseas. Search efforts will resume this hour for commercial airliner that crashed in the mountains, 54 people were on board. And it happened this morning on an island in the Indonesian province of Papua. Villagers say they saw the plane hit the side of a mountain. It was a twin engine turbo prop on a very short domestic flight that was supposed to last less than an hour. The wreckage is believed to be deep in remote mountainous terrain with peaks reaching as high as 13,000 feet.

Kathy Novak is tracking the search effort for us. She joins us from Soule.

And Kathy, you know, when I woke up to the news this morning, I thought, another, another incident in this region. This is at least the third commercial airplane to go missing in Asia in the past 18 months. What's the airline saying?

KATHY NOVAK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this airline is one of dozens out of Indonesia that have actually been banned from flying into the European Union because of either safety or regulatory concerns. Most airlines that come out of Indonesia with the exception of the national carrier (INAUDIBLE) and a handful of others are on this EU blacklist because of safety concerns. And many people are asking the same questions that you are, about the safety of these airlines, about the training of the pilots.

But the other thing that they're dealing with is this very rugged terrain. We are speaking to people in the search and rescue crew. They're saying that this is a very mountainous area, wooded area. They're working on the assumption based on these villagers reports that the plane did come down in the mountainous area. So they will be out this morning with six aircraft looking for any debris, for any signs of wood burning. But the area is 12,000 feet above sea level. Very difficult. And what we also know is that planes have come down in this region before and wreckage has never been found, Poppy.

HARLOW: And I know that they haven't been able to obviously contact or we haven't heard about any of the potential victims or if anyone may have made it through alive.

Kathy, thank you very much for keeping an eye on things that sun does rise. Again, they resume those search efforts. We appreciate it.

The airline that she's talking about is an Indonesian carrier Trigana Air Service. It does not have a strong safety record. In fact, as you just heard since 2007, this airline specifically has been banned from operating anywhere within European air space because of its spotty track record.

We continue our coverage with CNN's aviation correspondent Richard Quest.

RICHARD QUEST, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Poppy, it's far too soon to say what the cause was. But there were certain circumstances at the time of the crash which are going to probably be relevant.

For instance, it's a short flight. Take off to landing was only 55 minutes. That means that you're barely in the cruise before the pilots are starting their decent. There were mountains in the region. Some up to 13,000 feet high. And we also believe there was bad weather prevalent.

On their own, each of those circumstances is not significant. But put them all together, and you do end up with a more challenging environment for the pilots. Now of course, the pilots of this airline will have been familiar with flying this route and certainly will have been familiar with the sort of conditions they can expect.

Trigana Air Services itself has had 14 incidents of one sort or another. Some have been very serious like today's. And others have been runway incursions. There have been less serious, but in all in 14, five of the incidents have involved fatalities which is quite high number. If you compare it to one of the U.S. majors such as United Airlines which has a much lower incident rate and yet has a much higher number of planes in its fleet.

Trigana Air Services has also been bond by the European Union as indeed have many Indonesian carriers on safety grounds. So the investigators, the Indonesian investigators will obviously be looking very closely at the maintenance of the aircraft, the conditions that were -- it was flying in at the time, and most crucially of course how the pilots responded to any emergencies -- Poppy.

HARLOW: Richard Quest, thank you very much.

Let's bring in Mary Schiavo, CNN aviation analyst. And Mary, just first to you, as the sunrises and they resume search efforts that have been halted because of the very bad weather, is there a chance this could still be a rescue mission? And people could have made it through alive?

MARY SCHIAVO, CNN AVIATION ANALYST (on the phone): Well, it is. I mean, I'm reminded of the crash of Pam Airlines 123 back in 1985. And that went in to mountainous region (INAUDIBLE). And four people did survive. There could have been more if they had gotten to them quicker. So it is always possible. But in this kind of scenario, descending into the mountains, I mean, it's dangerous even in the best of weather. It is going to be a vigorous fortune to find survivors.

[17:05:04] HARLOW: This is an airline with only about 20 or so aircraft. And yet, as Richard just pointed out, it has a very spotty safety record, 14 incidents since 1992. Far more then when you compare to other carriers here in the United States in terms of how many planes it has. What kind of restrictions or extra sort of focus from the regulators would be on an airline like this?

SCHIAVO: Well, those in the United States, one can only hope they would have been grounded. There's one more unbelievably alarming statistic. And that is this airline has had ten hull losses. Meaning whatever happened, the accident or incident was so bad they had to write off ten aircraft.

There hasn't been a U.S. carrier have that many hull losses in decades. So it would be a carrier that hopefully would have at a minimum special emphasis and possibly not even be allowed to fly. But that's the problem with the Indonesian carriers. (INAUDIBLE) have determined that Indonesia does not have a robust system of regulation and they don't have adequate safety inspectors. So therein lies the problem. And that's why most of the Indonesian carriers are (INAUDIBLE) have been banned from the EU.

HARLOW: We're told there was no distress call from the plane at this point. What do you make of that?

SCHIAVO: Well, you know, the sad thing is that I have seen and investigated so many crashes in this scenario. You're coming in, it's a tough airport because you have high mountainous regions and you're descending over the mountains to land. I think they are at 12,000 feet. Ten miles in the airport would have been I think 4,000. So you have to take a steep drop. And then if you're coming in to any kind of clouds and if you had seen the runway but then hit clouds, I can't even count the number of accidents where I've seen in this scenario, bad weather mountains and clouds.

HARLOW: Right. Any chance the plane was overloaded because as we saw, this was a twin engine turbo prop. I think it could seat 50 total. That, of course, doesn't include the crew and the jump seats and the pilot and the first officer. Any chance it could have been overloaded?

SCHIAVO: Well, yes. An ATR 42 in the United States and most places in the world, 42 refers to the number of seats. However, depending upon the country where the airline is flagged, meaning where the airline's nationality is, you can reconfigure this plane to go up to 50-seat. So it is possible that it did have the approval and it did had the configuration for 50 seats. But usually it was a 42-seater. And that doesn't count crew. That crew is allowed to be in addition to those seats. But it would have been - it would have had a maximum weight load on it with that many people on board.

HARLOW: Yes, very good point.

All right, still early hours here. Let's hope they're able to locate that plane and hopefully survivors.

Mary Schiavo, thank you very much.

Turning to North Korea now. North Korea threatening to attack the United States with quote "tremendous muscle" if the U.S. does not call off military exercises in South Korea tomorrow. The exercises are held every year to simulate an invasion by North Korea and these kinds of threats are nothing new. But a spokesperson from North Korea's national defense commission says his country is far more capable to launch an attack now than it was just a year ago. A state department official telling us here at CNN on Saturday, it is aware of the threat, but it did not indicate exercises would be called off in any way.

Coming up next, the politics we go, Donald Trump for the very first time this morning releasing details on how he plans to tackle immigration in this country if he is elected president. His headline on illegal immigrant, quote, "they have to go." Next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:10:00] HARLOW: They have to go, that is the message from Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump when it comes to handling illegal immigrants in this country. He made the comment during in an interview with NBC's "Meet the Press." Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We have to make a whole new set of standards. And when people come in, they has to come in --

CHUCK TODD, NBC HOST, MEET THE PRESS: You're going to split up families? You are going to deport children?

TRUMP: No, no. We're going to keep the families together. We have to keep the families together. But they have to go. They have to go.

TODD: What if they have no place to go?

TRUMP: We will work with them. They have to go. Chuck, either we have a country or we don't have a country.

TODD: How do you do it?

TRUMP: Look at the cost we have right now.

TODD: But the cost of doing it. How do you do it?

TRUMP: Do you think there's tremendous cost for the illegals that are in here right now?

TODD: Of course there's cost to it.

TRUMP: Tremendous. Do you think there's tremendous crime being committed by illegals?

TODD: There's definitely evidence that it's happened.

TRUMP: Tremendous. It is far greater than --

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: And you see it all over. Just last night. All over. We will do it and expedite it so people can come back in.

TODD: Still not clear.

TRUMP: Chuck, it will work out so well, you will be so happy. In four years you're going to be interviewing me and say, what a great job you've done, president Trump.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Today, Trump release add six-page outline of his plan for immigration reform. In it, he calls for a number of things including ending birthright citizenship for the children of illegal immigrants. Also in the plan, getting Mexico to pay for the wall on the border, tripling the number of ICE officers, cutting federal grants to so- called sanctuary cities and more.

Let's dive into it with our CNN political commentators Marc Lamont Hill, professor at Morehouse College and Ben Ferguson, host of the "Ben Ferguson Show."

Thank you gentlemen for being here. Ben, let me begin with you. There have been calls for Trump to get specific on issues for weeks. I man, we've talked about it week after week on this show. He told a reporter at the Iowa state fair yesterday something that really caught my attention. He said, voters don't care about 14-point plans. They don't want it. It's you the press who wants it. So why did he do this?

BEN FERGUSON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Look, I think there's so many people that have been saying what is your plan, what is your idea. I mean, the only thing missing from this plan was literally him adding in there. I'm also going to figure out how to have world peace. And the reality is if you look at this plan, what he was saying this morning on "Meet the Press?" He could not back up any of these ideas. Yes, it was just trust me, trust me.

Four years from now, I will be the greatest president of all time. And you are going to be telling me how great I am. Are you going -- where you going to send all these people? Trust me, it will work out. This is classic Donald Trump. It is I'll just say something that sounds great and I'll just say it really loud and passionately, but even if you look at his plan, there's not many details in there.

HARLOW: There actually are --

FERGUSON: Paper wall.

HARLOW: There actually are details in there. He did say U.S. is going to pay for the wall until Mexico does, right? And he talked about increasing --

FERGUSON: So they're not going to pay for the wall.

HARLOW: Well, that's not what he said. Increasing fees on some of these visas et cetera. But not to get into the (INAUDIBLE).

To you, Marc, a big headline out of the plan is that he wants to end birthright citizenship, right? That's a huge deal. And also send families with kids in this country who were born here, so-called dreamers, send them with their families, not separate families, but send them with families back to Mexico. How does that play across the board especially for voters that he wants in his camp?

[17:15:17] MARC LAMONT HILL, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, if he wants to be president, he needs a bunch of voters in his camp. But I think he alienated a big chunk of them today. But to won a Republican primary, you have to feel to that extreme winning the same people who otherwise that might be voting for Santorum, for Cruz, or Huckabee or on some issues Rand Paul.

And so, this immigration piece brings him into the conversation. Puts him in the middle of a very conservative conversation immigration. And probably did him some good today. I agree with Ben, there is not much meat or substance here that is workable. But I think that's not the issue. It's never been the issue for Trump. If it were about having deliverable items or actionable plans, Trump wouldn't be on the board in the first place.

But I think part of why Ben is pushing back more so than I think he should is because Republicans are beginning to be afraid of Donald Trump. They are saying wait a minute, he can win this thing. Let's pretend that he doesn't have plan at all because if we acknowledge his plan, we may have to acknowledge he's a good candidate.

FERGUSON: Let me (INAUDIBLE). I said it here literally now probably a couple months ago. More people hate Donald Trump than love him. It will be impossible for him to win the presidency because of the unfavorability.

HARLOW: Then why isn't that showing up in the polls?

FERGUSON: Well, I think it is showing up. If you ask people look at the places where he goes. If you are a likely voter, are you going to like Donald Trump or not like him? There are more people that don't like him than like him. He has a solid core base, I'm not going to take away from that. But let's go back to what he actually has said. He said that he's going to force Mexico to pay for a law. Now he says America is going to pay for the wall until Mexico pays for the wall which means Mexico is not going to pay for the wall. These are the fact that you have to look up and realize Donald Trump is selling something. It's not - you know what? Mexicans are not going to buy it. America is not going to - I mean, if he wanted to say America's --

(CROSSTALK)

HARLOW: Go ahead. Go ahead.

HILL: Real quickly, this is no more absurd than many immigration plans that come from the right. He essentially wants to build a police state whose sole purpose is to keep Mexicans out and to kick Mexicans out. That's all that is. It's vial. It is (INAUDIBLE) piece of public policy. It is unwise. And it's financially unworkable.

(CROSSTALK)

HILL: And guess what? I whole bunch people on the right want that.

HARLOW: I want you to address this part -- I do want to get to this because this is a very important part of the proposal that he laid out there. He wants to suspend the issuance of any new green cards in this country for an untold amount of time so that employers would hire unemployed legal immigrants in this country or native workers in this country.

The issue, Ben, is you might say big blowback from big business which is a major proponent of those high filled visas. That is a major proposal here. How do you think that's going to fly?

FERGUSON: I don't think it's a well thought out proposal. I also would say this. Are you saying only cards from people that are coming from Mexico or are you saying from all over the world? Because if you're trying to use this as leverage with the Mexican government, for them to actually start cracking down on their own border security, then that's one idea that I'm willing to listen to. But just to blanket state to the whole entire world we're going to stop allowing people to come to America, and work especially those, by the way, that are trying to do it the correct and honest and right way, I think it's a terrible idea. There would be an awful lot of push back not just from (INAUDIBLE), from also from some of our allies.

HARLOW: Ben, Marc, stay with me.

Quick break. We'll be back with more from Ben and Marc on the other side.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:22:43] HARLOW: The summer of Sanders is heating up, you could say. Vermont senator and self-described socialist Bernie Sanders has attracted 100,000 people at campaign rallies and other events since July equally out-phasing Hillary Clinton. His appearance in Iowa at the state fair yesterday, no exception.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The American people are saying enough is enough. This country belongs to all of us, not just a handful of billionaires.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: This week, a poll from the early primary state of New Hampshire found Sanders leading Clinton, 44 to 37 percent.

Marc and Ben are back with me.

Marc, let me begin with you. When you see that New Hampshire poll and you take a look at this one too from Iowa, another key state where 35 percent of Democrats say Sanders is more honest than Hillary Clinton. That's compared to 28 percent for Hillary Clinton. How big of a challenger does Clinton have in Bernie Sanders?

HILL: Zero.

HARLOW: Really?

HILL: Right now, Hillary Clinton hasn't even launched - she hasn't launched an attack on Bernie Sanders. She hasn't offered a critique of Bernie Sanders. Bernie Sanders is align by the radar. She doesn't even take him seriously as a candidate enough to attack.

HARLOW: But people do. They show up in droves. The people do.

HILL: They absolutely do. They show up for Rand Paul too four years ago and eight years ago.

FERGUSON: They show up for Donald Trump.

HILL: Absolutely. But there's a difference. Bernie Sanders doesn't have Trump money. Bernie Sanders doesn't have a kind of heir apparent like Hillary Clinton in front of him. Right now, Hillary Clinton is the default candidate.

I would love to see a significant challenge come from Bernie Sanders. I would love see one come from martin O'Malley. I would love to see Joe Biden jump in the mix. But right now, that doesn't seem possible. Bernie Sanders isn't winning in Iowa which is sort of active in this caucus. If he were winning in Iowa, I would feel better than if he was winning in New Hampshire which I think is going to shift in the next few months. Bernie Sanders is a great guy. A great candidate --

FERGUSON: I wish you were as honest about Bernie Sanders as you would be about Donald Trump because they're both the same character just in different fields.

HILL: No they're not!

FERGUSON: Hold on. They both get big crowds. They both are filling a void that that they are the anti-establishment. No one can control me. No one can own me candidate. There is obvious, a huge appetite for that right now in this country.

[17:25:11] HARLOW: Right.

FERGUSON: But I agree with you, Marc, Bernie Sanders has no chance against Hillary Clinton even with her email server being looked at by the DOJ or the FBI or whoever is going to get to look at this thing. She still is going to be far in the lead of him, the same way that I think Donald Trump is still going to lose the GOP nomination as well. HARLOW: So gentlemen, I want you both listen to this. I sat down

this week in Chicago with the CEO of Starbucks, Howard Schultz, who some people thought might run for president. He wrote a big op-ed in the "New York Times" last week about the kind of president he thinks this country deserves. I asked him that exact question, why is Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump, why are they resonating. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Interesting who's topping the polls. You've got a real reaction to Donald Trump and to Bernie Sanders when you look at the two parties. What do you think that tells us about the electorate right now?

HOWARD SCHULTZ, CEO, STARBUCKS: I don't know what it says about the electorate. But I'll try and answer it a little bit in a different way.

HARLOW: You know what I'm saying? It's unexpected.

SCHULTZ: Yes. It is unexpected. The American people are longing for authenticity in however form it's going to come. And I think we have seen for too long a lack of truth and authenticity. And I -- we're a year and a half away. It's a long way away from electing the next president of the United States. And I think many things could and probably will change. But you are seeing a reaction and a response to the level of sincerity in which Bernie Sanders is demonstrating his views about the country and you're seeing a reaction to Donald Trump about his style and the fact that he is speaking his mind, whether you agree with it or not.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Marc, to you first, another name up in the polls. Neurosurgeon Ben Carson coming in second in Iowa, 14 percent. Again, someone who is speaking, singing a different song, if you will, coming in higher than Huckabee, Cruz and Walker, more of the establishment. What's going on here, Marc?

HILL: I think people want a candidate that's off the beaten path, someone who's not owned by big business, somebody who is not owned by big money. And to that point, I think Ben is right. Trump, Carson, Sanders, they all connect. I do maintain that Bernie Sanders is an entirely different sort of candidate than the other too. But when it comes to Ben Carson, I think you resonate.

I think the problem with Ben Carson is that he doesn't seem to know anything about foreign policy or about domestic affairs. He makes claims that he can't back up and he gave the audacity earlier this week to call President Obama an anti-Semitic in a piece that he wrote. And then when he was to defend it today, he had absolutely no intelligible answer. It's unfortunate that someone who is such an admirable human being, such a wonderful person has stepped into an arena for what he is completely unprepared. And it is not just Ben Carson. I would say the same thing about Donald Trump and a few other folks out there. HARLOW: Ben, final thoughts?

FERGUSON: Yes, I disagree. I think Ben Carson was making a lot of sense when he defended his comments. I think you just didn't like them or didn't want to understand them. He's probably the smartest guy on stage as a neurosurgeon. He is not an idiot. The guy knows how to articulate. You may disagree --

HILL: I didn't say he was an idiot.

FERGUSON: Well, I think he's a real threat especially when it comes to VP spot because --

HILL: Do you think he'd be a good president, Ben? Yes or no?

FERGUSON: I actually think that he would bring something to the White House that would be incredibly refreshing especially when it comes to --

HILL: Do you think he'd be a good president?

FERGUSON: I think he'd be a lot better than Hillary Clinton, absolutely.

HARLOW: I heard yes, I do. I got to leave it there. You guys can argue during the commercial break.

HILL: OK.

HARLOW: Ben and Marc, thank you as always.

Coming up next, switching gears here to the top story. The search resuming this hour for that passenger plane that crashed in the mountains of Indonesia. We'll have the latest on that, a live report.

Also western inferno. A historic drought fueling fires in at least four states. We'll take you there ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:32:19] HARLOW: Our top story this hour, the search will resume for a commercial airplane that crashed in the Indonesian mountains. Fifty four people were on board the plane when it crashed this morning. The flight was supposed to be just under an hour long and the crash happened in the last five minutes of the trip. Rescuers right now tracking over mountains 13,000 feet high in order to get to wreckage. This is at least the third commercial airplane to go missing in Asia in just the past 18 months.

Fast-moving wildfires is fueled by high winds and drought conditions are raging in four western states. Scores of homes have been lost hundreds of thousands of acres scorched and thousands are being forced to evacuate throughout the region.

CNN's Nick Valencia joins me now with the latest.

Nick, this has gotten so much worse in just the last 24 hours.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Poppy. Boy, those residents in the Pacific Northwest could really use a break. Dozens of wildfires raging across the country. Nowhere harder hit than Washington, Oregon and Idaho.

Over the weekend, hundreds of firefighters working round the clock to protect people and property from these fast-moving flames.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VALENCIA (voice-over): Against a majestic mountainous backdrop, the flames rage, forcing evacuations in Chelan County, Washington.

MATTHEW ANDERSON, RESIDENT: I was literally outrunning flames at 60 miles an hour.

This whole ridge was on fire. That whole hillside there. This whole hillside was on fire last night. It was nuts.

VALENCIA: Local resident Matthew Anderson watched as dozens of fires swallowed the hillside.

ANDERSON: It's crazy.

VALENCIA: At least 100 structures have burned. Power is knocked out for most of the 9,000 residents in the area.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's I don't know how many hundreds of people affected here, the other side.

VALENCIA: Just to the south, in Canyon Creek, Oregon, a lightning fire has left more than 20 homes burned, with at least 34,000 acres lost, and still limited containment.

Resident Dean Fox says the fight to save what's left has been exhausting.

DEAN FOX, RESIDENT: We would have to keep hosing our self-down because it was so hot.

VALENCIA: This fire season has been devastating, especially in the west, where already more than 6.5 million acres have burned. That's about the size of New Hampshire.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is just devastation for these people.

VALENCIA: Idaho has been among the hardest hit. This ranch outside of Boise charred and caked with ash from the soda fire, which has burned more than 265,000 acres. Containment is just at 25 percent.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just ripping up this hillside.

VALENCIA: In drought-stricken California, the fires are out of control, fueled by high heat and wind, the cabin fire has devoured 1400 acres in Angeles national forest. Hundreds of firefighters have worked for days to stop it. Ten of them have been injured in the process.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VALENCIA: And it feels like we're talking a lot about fires this year, it's because we are. According to our CNN meteorologist, we're more than two million acres above average burned for this time of year, Poppy.

[17:35:26] HARLOW: Nick Valencia, thank you for the report.

VALENCIA: You bet.

HARLOW: Still to come this hour, it is called the 100,000 initiative. Thousands of teens and 20-somethings in Chicago getting the chance to sit face to face with some of the country's top CEOs. The bonus, hundreds of them walked away with a job. Their story of American opportunity next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:39:27] HARLOW: In today's American opportunity segment, a glimmer of hope from Chicago. We went to the windy city this week to see what is being done to put Chicago's unemployed youth back to work. In a city plagued by violence, are jobs the solution.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Welcome to Starbucks. My name is (INAUDIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They are here to offer you all jobs so that we can change our future.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The trick is, we want to pour this milk into the cup.

[17:40:07] HARLOW: You got hired today.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're welcome.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I actually got hired today (INAUDIBLE), well on the interview.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Today is really big for me because I've been looking for a job since I have been back, since moved back in May.

HARLOW: These are the faces of Chicago's future, America's future.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I want to be in film or anything behind a camera.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want to get my PhD in physical therapy and become a physical therapist. HARLOW: That chance came this week. For some of these young men and

women it came for the first time. From Starbucks, to Nordsrtrom, to Taco Bell, companies hiring hundreds at Chicago's opportunity fair. And they got a shot at a face-to-face with top CEOs.

What does it feel like to be here, to feel like you're getting a shot?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's great. I actually walked in and I talked to Nordstrom's. And one of the guys, he just, he liked me. So that was a good experience for me and that gave me confidence.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You want to feel like a person. And when you're unemployed, especially when you are young and unemployed, you don't always feel like a person because everyone looks down on you for some reason or another.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If Chicago can have more jobs, I think the violence will actually stop in Chicago.

HARLOW: How big a part of solving the violence problem in this city are jobs for young folks?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's no doubt, I mean, like few across the country where you have poverty, you have violence. Where you have poverty, you have lower educational obtainment. So my whole thing is, these kids they have so much higher expectations for themselves than sometimes we as a city have for them. And that part of this is making sure they have something to contribute. And need to see that I think we should define them for their future where they seek opportunity is they have something to offer and they just can't shut off.

HARLOW: And if we don't, what happens?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You lose a generation that had something to contribute.

More than a quarter of 16 to 24-year-olds in Chicago are unemployed.

HARLOW: More than a quarter of 16 to 24 years old in Chicago are unemployed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's unacceptable. And they're losing out because they have some to offer and we're losing out of their potential.

HARLOW: Grammy and Academy winner common and Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz are driving forces in this effort. This is all about the future of this country really. This is not just about putting young people to work. This is about the future and the trajectory of this nation, right?

COMMON, RAPPER/ACTOR: Yes. A job and an opportunity gives a person hope. It gives them something concrete to be able to make a living. It helps them to succeed in like being able to provide for their families. And I mean, we all -- when we get a job, feel good about ourselves, you know. So there's something powerful in being able to create these opportunities. So this is the future of America. SCHULTZ: I think there is a cultural divide and there are racial

injustices today. We should see opportunities for people irregardless of their station in life or color of their skin. And I think the fact that there are 5.6 million kids in this country who do not have an opportunity, it's a tragic situation. And to me, it's un-American.

COMMON: The American dream, it hasn't been extended to a lot of the young people here. And a lot of it has been color barriers. In some shape, form, or fashion, America throughout some of the history has looked at black and brown people as not worthy of receiving equal treatment, equal opportunities.

HARLOW: Lot of people don't know you're born in Brooklyn. Not a lot of money at all. Born poor in Brooklyn.

SCHULTZ: I've said many years that growing up in the projects imprinted me with both the motivation and desire to exceed the expectations that perhaps my parents had in their own life. But at the same time, I've also said publicly that I had the scars and the vulnerability and the insecurity of being that poor kid.

HARLOW: That still --

SCHULTZ: I still have that today. But I think here's the difference. When I grew up, the promise of America and the American dream wasn't just a slogan and words. It was aspirational and you really felt as a young kid on the other side of the tracks that that was available to you and you had hope.

When I look at the situation now and I hear 5.6 million disconnected youth in the country, not in school, not working, mainly African- American and Latino, I ask myself, does the American dream and the promise of America, is it as relevant and accessible to those kids right now as it was when I was coming up. And I think the sad answer is no.

HARLOW: Have you heard enough about youth unemployment and lack of opportunity from the candidates running for the White House?

COMMON: We can't depend on politicians. Obviously, that's not on a lot of politicians' agenda. So, you know, we can't wait for them. We have to create that change ourselves right now and hopefully they'll follow suit.

[17:45:00] HARLOW: What about you, Howard? Have you heard enough from the candidates on this issue?

SCHULTZ: I don't think we've heard anything about this issue. I don't think we've heard any candidate speak about the almost six million disconnected youth in the country, many of whom are African- American and Latino.

HARLOW: What do you want to hear from the candidates about youth unemployment in this country?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would love to hear someone who says, hey, I'm going to help you because that's -- anyone wants that out of their president. They want someone who is going to help them work for them.

HARLOW: Are you hopeful?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm hopeful that I get a chance to succeed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We haven't invested in our kids. We just haven't. And I think we're paying a price as a country across race, class, geography and incomes for not investing in the greatest potential we have, which is our kids.

HARLOW: More than 4,000 of Chicago's youth were there and 600 got job offers on the spot. It is not a panacea but with each job comes so much more than just a paycheck.

COMMON: We bringing these worlds together. We bringing the corporations to Chicago. Do you understand what I'm saying? They coming to see you all. They here to see you all and make that change. So I want you all to continue to stand up and make some noise for yourselves right now.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: It was a privilege to sit down with those young folks in Chicago this week.

I want to know your ideas for putting America's youth back to work. Tweet me @PoppyHarlowCNN. Let me know what you would do.

Coming up next, before there was Jerry Springer, there was Morton Downey Jr. Ahead, I will talk to brilliant filmmakers reviving the memory of the king of shock television.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:49:52] HARLOW: Before there was Jerry Springer or other major controversial television hosts, there was Morton Downey Jr., the so- called king shock television, shock to fame in 1987, as a talk show host whose approach was all bark and bombast and anti-liberal rage. Nearly 30 years later his style is credited to the blueprint for reality television. Something that's explored in a fascinating new documentary that I just watched this morning, "Evocateur, the Morton Downey Jr. movie." It premieres on CNN this Thursday night, 9:00 p.m. eastern only right here. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The prosecutor is not your lawyer.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Downey was yelling at these people who you felt like yelling at sometimes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If I depended on a guy like you, New Jersey's preeminent lawyer, I would find my ass in the crapper for the rest of my life. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Which is what all of the reality shows today are

based on.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who said this guy's New Jersey's preeminent lawyer?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is that fury and excitement of not nice people.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Intellectual --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Saying not nice things.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When was the last time you looked in a mirror? It probably cracked.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You weren't quite sure whether it was all set up, or whether some of it was set up, or whether it was all real.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Joining me now, the director of the documentary, Seth Kramer, Jeremy Newberger and Daniel Miller. Thank you for being here. It really is -- I couldn't stop watching this morning.

And let me begin with you, Jeremy. What made him tick?

JEREMY NEWBERGER, DIRECTOR, EVOCATEUR: I think he was a couple of different personalities bundled into one package. And he would try his mettle at different things until something stuck. Eventually in his life, he discovered he had this inner beast that could go out there and make people uncomfortable. And he went with it. And that's what I think the most interesting part of his life is those two years of the show he does, where he really rages.

HARLOW: Just soars, and then drops in terms of his fame and success.

NEWBERGER: Yes.

HARLOW: Seth, to you, he's constantly being compared to his famous father who had a beautiful voice. It seems that was a battle he battled his entire life.

SETH KRAMER, DIRECTOR, EVOCATEUR: Yes. As a filmmaker, you hesitate to put that in your movie, because people will think you're pop psychologist and you are like making it up. But no, it is really. He struggles with his father. His father was considered one of the first recording stars in the world, the famous tenor, Irish tenor. And you know, he was very outspoken to his friends that he wanted to be more famous than his famous dad.

HARLOW: I want you guys to take a listen to this. He had a lot of memorable exchanges with lawmakers. Listen to one with who was at the time Congressman Ron Paul.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MORTON DOWNEY JR., TV HOST: Do you believe that the government should stay out of our personal business altogether?

RON PAUL, FORMER CONGRESSMAN: Yes.

DOWNEY: That's good, guys. It also has to be my personal business if I want to kill my 4-year-old, right?

PAUL: No.

DOWNEY: No?

PAUL: Wait a minute. You're giving libertarian a disport --

DOWNEY: We're out of time! I puke on you!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: How has he -- I don't even know how to ask out of that. How does he influence today's talk shows? Today's political talk environment?

DANIEL MILLER, DIRECTOR, EVOCATEUR: Well, you know, I think as we know, from someone like Donald Trump, there's a lot of, you know, there's a lot of gravity given to someone who could say what's on their mind, say whatever they want.

HARLOW: Donald Trump didn't do that.

MILLER: No, he didn't quite do that. But, you know, Morton Downey is a very similar character.

HARLOW: So they actually knew each other at one point. He moved into Trump towers here on Fifth Avenue.

MILLER: Yes. You know, Downey, like Trump, was a man of the people, even though he came from it's like (INAUDIBLE) background. Someone who always said, you know, what he thought and people give him a ton of credit for that, you know. Also, you know, it was someone who's very, like, interesting to a 17-year-old which is what we were all teenagers at the time.

HARLOW: Yes. There were a lot of teen -- you were fans.

MILLER: Yes.

HARLOW: There were a lot of teenagers on his show who would come on and feel like they had a platform for their voice for the first time, sort of the pre-You Tube ability to do that.

I wonder, and talking about Donald Trump in the political environment in this race right now, he says in the film, I'm establishing a platform for the American who has been unheard by his government. That was 1987.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.

HARLOW: How much does that resonate today?

NEWBERGER: I mean, tremendously. I mean, I personally think Donald Trump is like a couple of news cycles away from claiming ISIS attacked him in an airport bathroom in San Francisco.

HARLOW: No.

NEWBERGER: I do. I think it is the similarities between these two guys are tremendous. They both slice and dice like a Ginzu (ph) knife whoever they're dealing with. If you say something that crosses them --

(CROSSTALK)

HARLOW: Here's the thing. Say what you will about Donald Trump. Morton Downey Jr. was accused so many times of pretending. And I don't think that's what people are feeling with Donald Trump. I think they see he is unfiltered. But how did Morton Downey Jr. wrestle with the belief among many people increasingly that this was polish show.

[17:55:08] NEWBERGER: I think Donald Trump is wrestling with people calling him a theatrical act.

HARLOW: But how did Morton Downey Jr. wrestle with that. He insisted to the end, this is me, I'm speaking my mind, despite being very good friend from an age with the Kennedys.

NEWBERGER: He put on the best show he could do. And people that we talked to all seemed to love him because he was charming. And he just went to the edge and tipped over.

KRAMER: There's people who watch the show, right? I think we bought it. I think he was so passionate that even, you know, in our film you see great friends of his say, it was all an act. If they wanted him to be a liberal, he would have been a liberal. But he was so passionate and so good and so talented, I think it's almost hard to believe he was acting. It is almost unbelievable.

HARLOW: Yes it is -- for someone who didn't -- you know, I didn't watch the show growing up, I was a little kid, and to get into this world that's fascinating.

Guys, congratulations on the film. Thank you for sharing a little bit more of it with us.

Again, you can see it on Thursday night, only right here on CNN. 9:00 p.m. eastern. Thanks, gentlemen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.

HARLOW: Coming up next, the search for the wreckage of passenger -- the passenger plane that crashed into Indonesia. Well, that resumes this hour. We'll have a live report in just a few minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)