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New Day

Apocalyptic Destruction in Mexico Beach; Saudi Journalist Missing; Voter Registration Uproar in Georgia. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired October 12, 2018 - 08:30   ET

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

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[08:33:02] JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, we do have breaking news this morning. The death toll from Hurricane Michael is now at 11 people. We learned just moments ago of five new fatalities from Virginia. Four people swept away by flood waters. Think about how far away that is from Mexico Beach. These pictures we've been seeing from the panhandle, this beautiful beach community simply devastated.

Joining us now is Florida's Republican Senator Marco Rubio.

Senator Rubio, I know you've had a chance to tour some of the destruction, particularly in Panama City, where we were. Give me your impressions of what you've seen.

SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R), FLORIDA: This is as bad as it gets. And, you know, I've lived in Florida almost my entire life. I've personally lived through multiple hurricanes. Good ones, though they're all bad, but some have been devastating, like Andrew. I -- this is as bad as it gets.

Panama Beach -- or Panama City looks -- reminds me of south Florida after Andrew. And if you look at the devastation, for example, on the electric grid and the property loss, it's going to be a long time to recover. It's going to be weeks before power can be even -- they can begin restoring it because of the sort of damage.

Mexico Beach is wiped out. And our biggest concern right now about Mexico Beach is, there were over a hundred some odd people, a little over 100 people, who they know stayed behind. Up until the last minute, they were begging them to leave. They did not leave. That included some children and some elderly people who are still not accounted for.

Now, part of that, of course, is there's no communication still. Cell phones are down. So what they're going through now is the process of taking drone images -- we saw them last night -- and overlaying them with a grid of the streets and addresses so they can match properties with the video they have now and they'll be able to see, you know, the homes -- whether the homes that they knew these people were in was wiped out.

And, you know, frankly, at this point, you're going to start to see them moving toward search and rescue, but also potentially identifying victims of the storm surge there. It's catastrophic. I mean it's as bad as it gets.

BERMAN: Yes, you know, I'm looking at a split screen right now of the pictures from these over flights of Mexico Beach and I still can't believe it. I still can't believe how bad these pictures are.

[08:35:02] And, Senator Rubio, the question I think people still have is, are you concerned? Do you believe that when they do get into these homes, when they do identify them, there will be more casualties?

RUBIO: You know, I hate to speculate on that because you hope that the answer is no. You hope that somehow at the last minute a bunch of people got up and left or went somewhere else and we just haven't heard from them because phones aren't working.

But here's what I do know. If you look at those homes that were once there and all that's left now is a foundation and you see that debris field further down, which is just -- looks like stacks -- a bunch of sticks. If you were in that home when that storm surge came in and did it to that home, you did not survive. And that is especially true -- I think of anybody -- but especially if you were elderly, if you were a child.

And, so, you know, my sense is, they are going to find more victims. And I'm sensitive to that because by the time you find them, identify them and notify their families, that takes a while. And I truly pray I'm wrong. But, I mean, common sense tells you that if you were in that house when that happened, you did not make it. And let's just hope that somehow at the last second some of these people found somewhere else to go.

BERMAN: Let's hope. Let's continue to hope. We will report, obviously, whatever we do learn from the people on the ground there.

I will say, I had a chance to drive out north from Panama City, where you were yesterday, following the path of the storm, and the devastation goes for miles and miles and miles there. Very quickly, what do people need? What do people on the coast there need this morning?

RUBIO: Well, you know, the most important thing you've got to do at the front end after a storm is take care of the basics that you need to sustain life. So private -- public safety and security. And that, I think, is taken care of. They're working hard on that.

Right now I think the biggest need has been telecommunications. The primary carrier in this region is Verizon. Let me tell you, it's not Verizon's fault, OK? This was a hurricane. They're working hard to get that communications back up. But that is a big deal because that's how the public can get alerts and so forth.

A lot of people right now in shelters or in temporary housing, or whatever it might be. Over the next 12 to 14 hour, there's going to be a need to begin to distribute food and water and other things and they're going to have to start setting up these distribution points. That's going to be a critical component of it.

And, obviously, beginning to just access power. This is a long-term thing.

BERMAN: Right.

RUBIO: I mean this is going to take a long time for Panama Beach to recover and a much longer time for Mexico Beach to get up and going. As I said, look, this is as bad as it gets.

BERMAN: Senator --

RUBIO: Honestly, it's hard to envision it worse than this.

BERMAN: You're taking care of your constituents on the ground this morning. You're also a powerful member of the Senate Foreign Relation Committee and I know you're following the developments with Jamal Khashoggi, the Saudi journalist who disappeared and many fear was murdered by the Saudi government. You're following these developments very closely.

I want to play for you how the president responded to questions about this yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's not our country. It's in Turkey. And it's not a citizen, as I understand it. But a thing like that shouldn't happen.

You don't have American citizens, but that, in this case, doesn't matter.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Is this a tough enough stand from the president of the United States on this? It's not an American citizen. It didn't happen in our country. We still have an arms deal.

RUBIO: Well, it's not about the money and the arms deal, OK. Let me -- let me say the first part of it, from a geopolitical perspective, Saudi Arabia's an important part of our strategy to deal with Iran. The reason why you want to sell them arms is because then they need spare parts for those arms and that gives you leverage to influence their future behavior on everything from Yemen to things like this. So I think, honestly, that's what -- the one pull that's going on in the administration is they are a key part of our Middle Eastern strategy and if we walk away from them, it falls apart.

The flipside of it is, the reality that is they took a guy, lured him in -- and I'm not saying I know this to be a fact. We need to learn the facts, OK. But if they lured this man into that consulate and they killed him and they chopped up his body and now they're lying about it, that is going to have a dramatically negative impact on the U.S. relationship with Saudi Arabia on Capitol Hill. Members of Congress are going to be up in arms about that, including myself, and something's going to happen. You cannot do those things.

At the end of the day, for me, if you don't stand for human rights, that is the pillar to our foreign policy. It's a key to our national interests. And when you allow even countries that are aligned with you to violate these things, it undermines your credibility to go anywhere else in the world and say, that's why we stand up against Vladimir Putin, that's why we stand up against Maduro in Venezuela.

So that's why foreign policy's so difficult. And that's why I hope this man is alive and this didn't happen. But if it did, I don't know what the White House is going to do, but I am fairly confident that I know what Congress is going to do. It's going to react very strongly towards this and there's going to be changes to our relationship if that's the case.

BERMAN: Senator Marco Rubio, thanks for being with us this morning and speaking to us over the last few days. We'll let you get back to your people on the ground there in Florida. Thanks so much.

RUBIO: Yes. Thank you.

CAMEROTA: All right, now to this, allegations of voter suppression against Georgia's secretary of state, who also happens to be the Republican nominee for governor. A live report, next.

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[08:43:20] CAMEROTA: A voter registration uproar is gripping Georgia's hotly contested governor's race. Critics say Georgia's secretary of state, Brian Kemp, the state's top election official, and the Republican gubernatorial candidate, is using his office to suppress the vote after more than 53,000 voter registration applications were put on hold, the vast majority belonging to African-Americans.

CNN's new correspondent, Jessica Dean, is live in Washington with more.

Welcome to CNN, Jessica.

JESSICA DEAN, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Thanks so much, Alisyn, and good morning.

Well, imagine you show up on the polls on Election Day only to learn your registration is on hold simply because there was a typo. You're still allowed to vote, but now there's this extra step involved and there's some concern that some voters will simply go home or not show up at all.

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DEAN (voice over): A major dust up in the state of Georgia weeks before voters go to the polls to choose their governor. The latest point of contention, allegations Georgia's Secretary of State Brian Kemp is using a voter verification law to effectively suppress thousands of African-American voters. Kemp is running on the Republican ticket against Democrat Stacey Abrams.

STACEY ABRAMS (D), GEORGIA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: Now let's go get it done! DEAN: In the latest twist, a non-profit advocacy group has filed a

lawsuit against Kemp in his official capacity as secretary of state. This after reports that Kemp's office placed a hold on more than 50,000 voter applications, more than two-thirds of which were made by African-Americans for not meeting an exact match requirement. This means anything as minor as a typo or a missing hyphen between a valid ID and a voter registration can be flagged.

[08:45:07] KRISTEN CLARKE, PRESIDENT, LAWYERS' COMMITTEE FOR CIVIL RIGHTS UNDER LAW: The reality is that minority voters are often the ones with usual names that are sometimes harder for state officials to capture accurately in the state's database and they are being penalized for that. Our end goal, our end objective with this lawsuit, is making sure that there's a level playing field where everyone's voice can be heard in Georgia.

DEAN: The Kemp campaign calls the claims bogus and points to Georgia increasing its voter rules under his leadership. Quote, under my tenure as secretary of state, Georgia has shattered records for voter registration and turnout across all demographic groups. Despite any claim to the contrary, it's never been easier to register to vote in Georgia and actively engage in the electoral process.

The Abrams campaign says Kemp is using his authority as secretary of state to boost his chances, saying in a statement, quote, this isn't incompetence, it's malpractice. Brian Kemp needs to resign his position so that Georgia voters can have confidence that their secretary of state competently and impartially oversee this election.

The Kemp campaign strongly denounces the accusations as a, quote, sad campaign tactic, and says it's Abrams who's up to dirty tricks, calling this whole thing a, quote, manufactured crisis to turn out her base.

The secretary's website points out voters with registrations on hold can vote on Election Day if they show an acceptable form of identification, which is already required to vote in Georgia. Kemp's team says it's this controversy itself that's suppressing the vote. Quote, by telling people they can't vote, they actually think they can't vote. And that's a sad state of affairs.

As for Abram, she has long believed Kemp has worked to suppress the minority vote.

ABRAMS: We live in a nation that has spent centuries denying the right to vote and spent decades creating barriers to that right to vote. And I have an opponent who is a remarkable architect of voter suppression.

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DEAN: As we mentioned, it is a very tight race in Georgia. A recent poll by "The Atlanta Journal Constitution" and Channel 2 News shows Kemp with a slight lead, 48 percent to Abrams 46 percent. That's within the margin of error. And keep in mind that no one wins on November 6th unless someone cracks 50 percent. Otherwise, they're headed for a run-off in December. John.

BERMAN: All right, Jessica Dean, great to have you with us. Thanks so much for being here. Welcome.

DEAN: Thank you.

BERMAN: So Congress has pressed the White House to investigate a journalist disappearance. And now one nation says it has evidence that this man was murdered. We get reaction from a key U.S. congressman, next.

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[08:51:25] CAMEROTA: A source tells CNN that Turkish officials have audio and video proof that journalist Jamal Khashoggi was murdered inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. A bipartisan group of senators is calling on the president to investigate Khashoggi's disappearance.

Let's discuss this with Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger. He's a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Good morning, congressman.

REP. ADAM KINZINGER (R), ILLINOIS: Good morning. How are you?

CAMEROTA: I'm well.

So this bipartisan group wants President Trump to be more forceful in confronting Saudi Arabia and the crown prince there. What do you want to see happen?

KINZINGER: Well, I certainly want to see answers to this, if it is what it appears, murder by an assassination squad, you know, on Saudi property, theoretically, in Turkey by Saudi Arabia of a journalist for "The Washington Post." It's disgusting, and especially if the accusation of killing, dismembering his body, there needs to be some consequences. And I think this should be investigated. And I, frankly, think you will see us investigate.

Now, one of my concerns is you have people on the news, some senators, some congressmen, jumping right to the conclusion of -- in essence saying, let's cut off all relations with Saudi Arabia. And that's got very, very big impact to it. And it's something that before we jump to that level, we have to really think through.

But I have no doubt that the president needs to be forceful on this. And, frankly, if the proof is what it appears to be, there needs to be targeted sanctions on individuals in Saudi Arabia and other consequences that the administration knows more about probably than I do.

CAMEROTA: Do you agree with Senator Rand Paul that the administration should cut off immediately arms sales to Saudi Arabia?

KINZINGER: No. I mean Rand Paul has been pining for the administration to cut off arm sales to Saudi Arabia since the beginning of his Senate career. He actually has been pining for -- put out a budget to cut the military by 20 or 30 percent and wants to get U.S. troops out of everywhere around the world. So I think while he's probably legitimately concerned about that, I'm not questioning that motivation. But it has always been his hope that the United States basically extract itself from everywhere around the world. That's a legitimate viewpoint. You can agree with it or disagree. But I think an immediate freezing or cutting off of all arms sales has implications that go far beyond what we can imagine.

Also, keep in mind, there are 500,000 dead Syrians right now because of Bashar al Assad, because of the Iranian regime and because of the Russians. There are people killed every day by barrel bombs and there need to be and need to continue to be significant consequences to those atrocities as well.

CAMEROTA: Look, it's very complicated geopolitically, I mean, obviously, between what's happening with U.S. Green Berets helping Saudi forces fight the Houthi rebels in Yemen. This is obviously not easy stuff. But the president seems to be fixated on what he says is the $110 billion that the U.S. will be getting from arms sales to Saudi Arabia. That number, by the way, has been called into question. "The Washington Post" says that is why -- wildly inflated. It's not $110 billion. But is this about the money? Is that the calculation the president should be making?

KINZINGER: No, I would have phrased it differently, but, you know, this isn't the first time and probably won't be the last time that I'd have phrase something differently than the president. But I think he is right in saying we have to be caution about this.

Now, the reality is, beyond the economic impact of the United States, because we shouldn't make foreign policy on that basis. But beyond that, if we don't sell arms to the Saudis, I mean I promise you, the Chinese or the Russians will fill that vacuum and then in two years we're going to be here talking about why the Russians have such an oversized role in the Middle East now and why it was given that. And so I think it's important.

[08:55:02] These are the nuances. We have to be intense on saying murdering a journalist and dismembering them is absolutely utterly against everything we stand for. At the same time, we have to understand broader foreign policy implications. So I think finding the middle ground from basically cut off all relations with Saudi Arabia to doing nothing is going to be essential here and the administration knows what tools they have in their pocket.

CAMEROTA: Do you think that Jared Kushner should have spent so much energy cultivating a relationship with the crown prince? Do you see Mohammad bin Salman as a progressive reformer?

KINZINGER: You know, it's hard to tell. With this incident, no. But this isn't new in Saudi Arabia. He has, though, recently given women -- and it's sad that this is the 21st century and I have to say this -- the right to drive in Saudi Arabia. He is moving to an economy not based on oil. So I think if Jared Kushner can cultivate a relationship, that's great.

Now, that also may put him in a better position to extract something or to enact punishments against the regime or against the king and the price, the crown prince, for what was done in Turkey.

So, no. I mean just like I'm not against the president having a relationship with Kim Jong-un to a point, I think that also applies here to a point.

CAMEROTA: Congressman Adam Kinzinger, we really appreciate your perspective. Thanks so much for being on NEW DAY.

KINZINGER: Any time. Have a good one (ph).

CAMEROTA: Have a great weekend.

CNN "NEWSROOM" with Poppy Harlow and Jim Sciutto -- oh, what is that? A "B" for Berman? Is that why that's on your tie?

BERMAN: It's like my family crest. It's also go Red Sox. Houston, you have a problem.

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