[Berman:] This morning, CNN has an exclusive inside look at the civil war raging in Syria. Now Russia announced in March that it would withdraw its troops from that war-torn country. CNN's senior international correspondent Fred Pleitgen found a very different picture on the ground. Fred.
[Frederik Pleitgen, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] Hi. Good morning, John. Yes, no, it was really interesting to see. It seems as though the Russians have indeed taken some of their combat jets out of Syria, but at the same time it also appears as though they've moved a lot of hardware in. They have a lot of troops on the ground. They have fighting vehicles on the ground and even anti-aircraft weapons. Here's what we saw.
[Pleitgen:] This is the Russian intervention the world has come to know, but Russia's footprint in Syria seems to be far bigger than just combat jets. There are thousands of troops stationed at its main air base, disciplined and highly motivated. We caught up with this first lieutenant during his boxing practice. "I'm glad to serve my country here," he says, "and I'm not afraid. What is there to be afraid of in Syria?" The west has criticized Russia, saying its air strikes target mostly moderate anti-Assad rebels. The Russians claiming they bomb only ISIS and other terrorists groups. But while Moscow says it's withdrawn most forces from Syria, on an imbed we saw what appeared to be several basis in western and central Syria with a variety of attack helicopters. Also, a brand new base in Palmyra for its demining crews, with dozens of fighting vehicles and even anti-aircraft missile systems. On top of its own assets, the military spokesman says his forces closely cooperate with Bashar al Assad's troops. "We receive a great deal of information from the Syrian general staff," he says. "They are on the ground and close to the rebels. As for the military technical cooperation, of course we help them as well." None of this seems to indicate a full Russian withdrawal from Syria any time soon. And for many in the government held part of Damascus, that's just fine. Violence still rages in most of the country. Reconciliation seems nowhere in sight and neither is an end to Russia's involvement in the conflict. So as you can see there, there's a lot of Russian equipment on the ground. A lot of very sophisticated Russian equipment on the ground. More than most people would have thought. But the thing that also really surprised us was the ease with which the Russians are able to move through Syria. It really doesn't look as though they're a guest here in this country. It looks as though they really are a full- fledged partner on the side of Bashar al Assad. Chris.
[Cuomo:] Fred Pleitgen, thank you very much. Syria not in the immediate news cycle right now, but it's going to come back in and it's important to remember the state of play. OK, so a big part of reporting on the election is, of course, dealing with the war of words, but also following up on what matters. Whether it's Hillary Clinton, with Wall Street speeches and whether they will be released. We stay on that. Donald Trump, now, you remember back when Fox had the debate and he skipped it because he said he was going to raise money for vets, raised over $6 million, vowed to donate it to various groups and there was questions, then and there are questions now about where that money went. CNN investigative correspondent Drew Griffin doing digging for us on this once again, had Trump's campaign manager on recently, asked him if they would help with this. He says the money is accounted for. We've given all that and then some. And it will be delivered over to the media. What did you find?
[Drew Griffin, Cnn Investigative Correspondent:] I found the same thing that you found, Chris. A lot of promises from the Trump campaign about where this money went, but not a lot of answers. And it just shouldn't be that hard, number one. In the big scheme of things it's not that much money and the accounting is not that difficult to do. Independently, we've tried to go around the Trump campaign, asked these veterans groups what kind of money they got or were promised. Very few of them, though, Chris, have been willing to talk to us at all, let alone confirm what they got. So here is what we have in terms of accounting for this $6 million, all according to the Trump campaign as of their last accounting. $2.9 million has been distributed, according to Trump's campaign, to 27 different veterans groups, $1 million personally donated, we're told, by Donald Trump himself. But that leaves $3.1 million, or roughly half of the money, yet to be accounted for. And despite those promises, we still don't have an accounting.
[Cuomo:] Now, let's give benefit of the doubt here. What could unaccounted for mean? Could it mean that people pledged and then didn't put up? Does it mean money was distributed, they're just not sure where? Is there any good explanation?
[Griffin:] I don't see a good explanation. And we should say that money has been distributed. And veterans groups that would talk to us were very appreciative of the money that was donated to them. But we've got $6 million, half of it accounted for, half of it not. We've been asking for four months now from this campaign, where did it go? We asked this of charities all across the nation. As you know, Chris, it's not hard to do. So we're just asking again. Trump campaign, please tell us where the money is, where it's going.
[Cuomo:] Well, it matters. It matters because it involves veterans and it's about the follow-through of a campaign, so we'll stay on it. Drew Griffin, thank you for doing the work.
[Griffin:] Thanks, Chris.
[Cuomo:] All right, Alisyn, over to you.
[Alisyn Camerota, Cnn Anchor:] OK, Chris. Donald Trump now publicly fighting with a prominent evangelical leader. That could cost him so votes, or not. We'll talk to the man who is Trump's target, next.