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Trump Campaign Raises over $100 Million for 2020; Beto O'Rourke Raises Million in Campaign Against Ted Cruz; Pompeo Meets with Saudis as Turkey Outlines Saudi Murder of Journalist; Federal Deficit Rose 17 Percent in 2018 to $779 billion; Trump Celebrates Judges' Decision in Stormy Daniel's Defamation Lawsuit; Trump Threatens to Cut Off Aid to Honduras if Caravan of Migrants Not Turned Around. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired October 16, 2018 - 13:30   ET

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

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[13:30:45] WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: With just exactly three weeks left until the midterms, 2020 may seem far away. President Trump's reelection campaign is already in major full swing. New filings show the president has already raised more than $100 million, giving him a massive and unprecedented financial advantage against any Democrats hoping to challenge him and any Republicans who might want to challenge him for the nomination.

CNN's politics reporter and editor-at-large, Chris Cillizza, is joining u right now.

Put this number in some sort of perspective.

CHRIS CILLIZZA, CNN POLITICS REPORTER & CNN EDITOR-AT-LARGE: The truth is, Wolf, this number blows the doors off of anything we've seen before. He raises $18 million between July 1st and September 30th. The total is over $100 million, when you include the various ways in which he's raising money. How does it compare? This is $71 million he's raised on his own. The $100 million is with joint fundraising committees. Money spent on Trump but not through his campaign committee, $71 million. The rest of these numbers, this is $4.1, $2.1, $2.4, this is remarkable because these numbers are all the first two years. We still have three months to beat these numbers. He's already gone way, way over it. If you include all his money, Wolf, $100 million, he's raised 32 times as much as George W. Bush and 26 times as much as Barack Obama. These guys weren't raising money. Donald Trump formed his reelection committee January 20, 2017.

BLITZER: All that money, I'm sure, will deter Republicans from thinking of challenging for the party's nomination.

Speaking of major fundraising, look at Texas right now. Ted Cruz's opponent, Beto O'Rourke, is raising huge amounts of money right now. Listen to him.

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UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Are you willing to commit to share some of that to help other Democrats get across the finish line in, say, Missouri?

BETO O'ROURKE, (D), TEXAS CONGRESSONAL CANDIDATE: No. I'm focused on Texas. Most of our contributions have come from Texas. All of have come from people. Folks want to contribute to win the race. If they want to contribute to another campaign, they're welcome to do that. We're going to spare no expense.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: He's not sharing any of that money with other Senate Democratic candidates.

CILLIZZA: It may sound sort of selfish, but Beto O'Rourke raised a lot of money. He's running in Texas. It's an expensive state. He raised $38 million compared to Cruz's $12 million during that same three months, from July 1st to September 30th. He spent $29 million, Wolf.

Here's the problem for Beto O'Rourke, the Democrat. We released this poll around noon today. OK. Remember, this race was closer at the end of the summer, 52-45. It says it's still within range. It says Ted Cruz is not at 62. But this is always the problem. That's the number to focus on. Democratic candidates in Texas, over the last several decades, if they're a good candidate, they can get to 43, 45. It's getting to 49 and 50 that's always the problem. Beto O'Rourke running up against the same hard ceiling.

The question is, does the money he has, will that solve this problem? This is a partnership problem. I don't know the answer to that. They're going to spend it and see, and that's what he makes clear in the clip.

BLITZER: Turnout will be critical.

CILLIZZA: And you can spend a ton of money not just on TV but on turnout. He will have the Cadillac of -- the Tesla, pick the car, the nicest campaign possible. The question is, are there enough voters that he can find and drive to the polls to get up over the hard 45, 46.

BLITZER: I like the Cadillac.

CILLIZZA: It's an old-school reference, the Cadillac.

BLITZER: It's American.

CILLIZZA: I grew up Cadillac.

BLITZER: Chris Cillizza, thank you.

And don't miss CNN Thursday night. The Democratic Senate Candidate Beto O'Rourke will face questions in a town hall format. Ted Cruz declined the invitation to participate. That's Thursday, 7:00 p.m. Eastern, right here on CNN.

[13:34:42] Coming up, disturbing details confirmed. A Turkish official now tells CNN Jamal Khashoggi was cut into pieces after he was killed in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul earlier this month.

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BLITZER: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is in Saudi Arabia right now. He's been meeting with the crowned prince, Mohammad bin Salman. The secretary also met with the Saudi king.

His arrival comes as we're learning the Saudi government may be ready to publicly admit a role in the disappearance of the journalist, the "Washington Post" contributor, Jamal Khashoggi. A Turkish official now tells CNN Khashoggi was killed inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul and then his body was dismembered. Awful situation.

Joining us now, Congressman Chris Stewart, a Republican. He's a key member of the House Intelligence Committee.

Congressman, thank you so much for joining us.

I want to get your reaction to these awful reports that this Saudi journalist, Jamal Khashoggi, went into the Saudi consulate. He wanted to get paperwork to allow him to get divorced to get remarried. He never emerged. He was interrogated, presumably, but he was killed inside and then they had box cutters or whatever to cut up his body and ship it out of the country in diplomatic pouches.

[13:40:36] SEN. CHRIS STEWART, (R), UTAH: Oh, my gosh. I was a writer, Wolf. I wouldn't have written this. It sounds like a horrific spy novel.

But there's a couple things about this that I think are disturbing. One of them is an embassy is a place of refuge. It's a place where you should feel safe, especially among your own countrymen.

The second thing is the Saudi explanation is outrageous. It's absurd. For them to say he was accidentally killed during an interrogation? You don't accidentally kill someone. And you shouldn't be interrogating them and putting them in danger anyway.

There's much of this that many of us are disturbed about. The mine field we have to walk through, the real challenge for the national leaders is the Saudis are an important ally to us. We can't ignore this and turn a blind eye and say what they've done here doesn't matter. It does. And they need to be held accountable for it.

BLITZER: You heard Lindsey Graham. He's a Republican. You heard Marco Rubio. Lindsey Graham basically suggesting the Saudis need to get rid of their crowned prince, Mohammad bin Salman, and get somebody else. The king has to name another son to that critically important position, because the U.S. can't deal with this guy anymore. What do you think?

STEWART: Well, I think it's -- one thing we need to be careful of when we say to another nation you have to get rid of a leader, because almost always they dig in their heels. They resent that and push back. Just like we do when we feel like Russia, for example, was trying to influence our election. We pushed back against that. The Saudis will push back. It may not be helpful.

Through diplomacy and Pompeo's visit there and others, we should certainly express our views that someone or one individual or another might be more helpful to the relationship, and we've lost trust in an individual.

There are some things the Saudis are doing that I think are helpful. Some of the reforms, the rights toward women and minorities, this is a good thing. It's necessary. This is a meaningful step back for them. I feel bad about that, because they've been trying to integrate into Western governments in a more modern way, and we want to encourage that. And as I said, this isn't helpful. It's very disturbing for many of us.

BLITZER: The stakes clearly are enormous. And how the U.S. responds to all of this will be very, very significant. The whole world will be watching.

Let me go to another issue that's emerging right now. All of a sudden, we're learning the federal deficit rose by 17 percent in this year, 2018 to $779 billion. The deficit this year, that's the highest since 2012. Spending was up while corporate tax collection fell by $76 billion, due, in part, to the Republican tax cuts for corporations. Estimates also in this latest federal government report say the federal deficit next year could top $1 trillion.

Congressman, what ever happened to that part of your party that used to be deficit hawks and say you can't go on raising, raising, and raising the national debt?

STEWART: Yes. Look, if you're a sincere -- if you are an enemy of national debt and spending, then you have a friend in me. Because Wolf, it's the reason I ran in 2012, was because the $1.4 trillion annual deficit that year, as you mentioned. It's the reason that many members of Congress right now -- it's some of the motive for us getting involved with that. For this to happen under Republican leadership is, frankly, just absurd. And that is, by the way, why I voted against the omnibus last fall, because of the incredible spending.

The challenge we have is that you have one -- priorities like our Department of Defense, which is a former Air Force pilot, I understand we have to adequately fund our defense, those braver men and women who are sacrificing to protect freedom around the world.

The second is this. Some people are saying this is only because of the tax reform. That's just not true. As you know, we have actually record receipts in individual income tax. The problem is we're spending too much money, and we need to prioritize that and do a better job of that. When I say we, I'm talking the Republicans. We need to be better at prioritizing our spending and saying we won't accept trillion-dollar deficits again. Wolf, if we do, there will be an uprising among conservatives. They're not going to turn a blind eye to a trillion-dollar deficit.

[13:45:04] BLITZER: The forecasters say the trillion-dollar annual deficit continues on and on unless you guys do something about that and do something quickly.

Before I let you go, very, very quickly, I just want to get your thoughts. I know you. The president as you know celebrated on Twitter today a federal judge decision throwing out the defamation lawsuit brought against him by Stormy Daniels. And then he said this: "Now I can go after horseface." He was talking about Stormy Daniels. He called her "horseface." Despite all the differences, is it appropriate for a president of the United States to call out a woman like that, even a political rival, someone like Stormy Daniels? Is it appropriate for the president to call a woman horse face?

STEWART: Of course not. It's not appropriate for anyone to call someone that. Under any circumstances. I wouldn't want one of my children to talk that way toward one of their friends. It's unnecessary. He won on this. It was a victory for him. He could have said nothing and left it at that. And it's just -- it's not helpful. It's rude. It's unnecessary, not helpful.

BLITZER: Why does he do this?

STEWART: I don't know. I don't know. This president, when you look at his accomplishments -- and I know that, you know, maybe you or maybe some of your listeners won't agree -- but when you look at his accomplishments, my heavens, they're meaningful. The growth in the economy, some of our defeat of ISIS, the regulatory reforms, Supreme Court justices. He has had a successful presidency. And it doesn't help the narrative or the memory that will be left with him to have incidents like this. It's just -- you know, unpresidential and not helpful. I wish he wouldn't. I wish we had time to talk about the accomplishments and not a tweet.

BLITZER: It's not the first time he's degraded women like that in public.

Congressman Chris Stewart, thank you for joining us, as usual.

STEWART: Thank you.

BLITZER: Right now, a caravan holding hundreds of Honduran migrants is on its way to the U.S. border. And President Trump is responding. He's now threatening to cut off all aid to Honduras unless that caravan is turned around.

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[13:51:43] BLITZER: A looming standoff. A car caravan of hundreds of Honduran migrants is headed it the U.S. border now. It has just crossed from Honduras to Guatemala. One of the coordinators tells CNN the group will apply for humanitarian visas so they can pass through Mexico toward the U.S. border.

President Trump tweeted out just a little while ago, warning that, "If the caravan is not stopped, money and aide to Honduras will be cut off."

Vice President Pence also tweeted out saying the U.S., quote, "Will not tolerate a blatant disregard for our border and sovereignty."

CNN's Leyla Santiago is joining us.

Leyla, our viewers will remember you spent time with a caravan of people from Mexico headed to the U.S. border earlier this year. Does this appear to be organized in a similar way?

LEYLA SANTIAGO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Listen, you said it, Wolf. This is not a new thing. This is quite a common thing. But let's talk about the numbers, which does make this a little more distinct. I just got off the phone with one of the human rights groups working with this caravan. They said the last count has been at 4,000. This group started in one of the most violent areas of that country, and they started at 600. They have crossed into Guatemala and they are growing.

Now, when I asked them about responding to President Trump's tweet, they said that, yes, they have noticed in just the last 24 hours a bit of a difference when it comes to law enforcement. They said when they left San Pedro, they were able to walk freely. They were told to stay on one side of the road. But just last night, things changed. They saw helicopters in the air, they saw more of a military presence, they saw law enforcement kind of trying to stop them. Even so, they did cross into Guatemala. They are currently on foot right now heading north. The organizers tell me they believe they'll be in Guatemala for about three days. That puts them in Mexico, if their plans continue, by the end of the week.

Many of these migrants will tell you that they are fleeing violence, that they are fleeing poverty. I asked what kind of -- what's sort of the makeup that they have? Organizers tell me that they have women and children, that they have men, but all of them fleeing the violent condition of Honduras right now.

BLITZER: Leyla, the president, in his tweet, he said, unless these people are turned around and go back to Honduras, no more U.S. money or aid will be given to Honduras. How much U.S. aid, how much money does the U.S. government provide Honduras on a yearly basis?

SANTIAGO: Let's talk about Honduras. Honduras is $127 million in aid. That's coming from 2016. Unfortunately, the full numbers not available for 2017 and 2018. When you talk about Guatemala, you're talk at $297 million.

Here's the thing, Wolf. Many of the programs that this money pays for, those programs are to try to prevent violence, to try to help people with poverty. So if that aid is taken away, the people who run those programs will tell you. you'll likely see more immigration, you'll likely see larger numbers at the U.S. border, if you take that U.S. AID away.

[13:55:16] BLITZER: The worse the situation Honduras gets, the more people in Honduras will try to leave and escape and try to make it toward the United States.

Leyla, thank you very much. Leyla Santiago doing amazing reporting for us, as she always does.

Just ahead, a debate turns fiery after a Republican Senate candidate accuses her Democratic opponent of supporting treason. You'll see what happened.

Plus, the son of former Obama national security advisor Susan Rice, who supports President Trump, is now revealing whether he'll press charges after a confrontation during a pro-Kavanaugh event at Stanford University. Stand by.

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