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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Donald Trump Threatens to Cut Aid to Several Central American Countries; Awaiting Speech from President Erdogan. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired October 23, 2018 - 05:00   ET

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


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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And you know what? We can't have that. You know, they have a word. It sort of became old fashioned. It's called a nationalist. And I say really? We're not supposed to use that word. You know what I am? I'm a nationalist, OK? I'm a nationalist.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: The president also escalated his rhetoric against this caravan as the estimated 7,500 migrants slowly make their way through north -- north through Mexico.

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TRUMP: I think the Democrats have something to do with it. And now they're saying i think we made a big mistake. That is an assault on our country. That's an assault. And in that caravan you have some very bad people.

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BRIGGS: Migrants in the caravan say they're fleeing violence and looking for economic opportunity but Monday the president threatened to cut aid to several Central American countries he said failed to stop the migrants.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: The president also claimed that unknown Middle Easterners were embedded with that caravan. A senior counterterrorism official rejected that claim, saying there is no evidence it's true. Same message from our teams on the ground and from Shepherd Smith on the president's favorite network.

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SHEPARD SMITH, CHIEF NEWS ANCHOR, FOX NEWS: President Trump is calling the caravan a national emergency and he's claiming criminals and unknown Middle Easterners are mixed in with the crowd. An important note. Fox News knows of no evidence to suggest the president is accurate on that matter and the president has offered no evidence to support what he has said. (END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: All right. The rally a chance for the president to hone his pitch to his base, though, with early voting now underway in 21 states.

BRIGGS: President Trump's campaign rallies have featured an awful lot of rhetoric and a lot of simply false. It appears the president is simply making claims up about migrant caravans, tax cuts, riots, clean air, voter fraud, the list goes on and on, we only have so much time here. And it caught the attention of Former President Obama as he campaigned for Democrats in the state of Nevada.

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BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Unlike some, i actually try to state facts. I believe in facts. I -- I believe in a fact-based reality. And a fact-based politics. I don't believe in just making stuff up.

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ROMANS: Obama's former vice president, Joe Biden also campaigning for Democrats. He was in Florida. He calls Presdient Trump's comments about the migrant caravan, quote, hysteria. He says the president is a know-nothing when it comes to climate change.

BRIGGS: Prominent members of both political parties targeted by violence in just the last few hours. A suspicious package intended for Democratic super donor George Soros found in a mailbox near his home in Bedford, New York. Authorities say an employee opened the package, revealing what appeared to be an explosive device. It did not detonate. The case has been turned over to the FBI.

ROMANS: And Republican congressman Kevin McCarthy's office in Bakersfield, California vandalized last night. In a post on his verified Instagram account, the House majority leader McCarthy shows surveillance footage of the suspects and asks does anyone know these two guys. McCarthy says they threw a boulder through his window and took office equipment. Right. It's President Trump's mystery tax cut. He says he is cutting taxes for the middle class, but with no specific plan on the table.

During a rally in Houston yesterday, the president brought up this new tax cut three times.

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TRUMP: We're going to put in a 10 percent tax cut for middle income families. It's going to be put in next week. Ten percent tax cut. Republicans passed the biggest tax cut and reform in history with massive tax cuts for the middle class and now we're adding 10 percent to those numbers. Kevin, we're putting in next week the 10 percent reduction in middle income taxes. Right? Next week. OK.

(END VIDEO CLIP) ROMANS: Kevin, we think that's Kevin Brady --

BRIGGS: Yes.

ROMANS: -- from the House Ways and Means Committee, the tax writer in Congress. Look, critics of the GOP tax law says it helps companies disproportionately, not the middle class as much. But how real is this? This 10 percent tax cut? The White House says the president wants tax reform 2.0, an additional 10 percent tax cut just for middle income families. But a GOP source tells CNN there's no serious plan at the time and there are two big issues. The president says next week. There's no real clear time frame and no chance of any plan passing before midterms. Congress is in recess through the election.

How would it be paid for? The original $1.5 trillion tax cut is ballooning the deficit already. It rose 17 percent, the deficit, in 2018 to $779 billion. The highest in six years. This is a beautiful campaign promise two weeks before midterms --

BRIGGS: And that's it. There's no serious plan.

ROMANS: -- with -- with no roots in reality here.

BRIGGS: If you wanted that tax cut for the middle class, you had every opportunity to do so.

[05:05:00]

ROMANS: Oh, I think --

BRIGGS: Tells you how a lot about how they feel --

ROMANS: Right.

BRIGGS: -- their tax cut is playing out there.

ROMANS: I think he wants it. I think he would like to give the middle class a 10 percent tax cut. It can't happen.

BRIGGS: But there's no serious plan.

ROMANS: It can't happen in two weeks.

BRIGGS: And no way to pay for it. Nancy Pelosi, meanwhile, says Democrats will use their subpoena powers strategically, if they take the House in the midterm elections. At CNN's citizen conference, the House minority leader told Dana Bash she would use the threat of subpoenas to gain leverage.

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REP. NANCY PELOSI (D), HOUSE MINORITY LEADER: Subpoena power is interesting. To use it or not to use it? It's a great arrow to have in your quiver in terms of negotiating on other subjects.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BRIGGS: Pelosi said she's comfortable she'll be speaker again if

Democrats win the House in two weeks but told the L.A. Times she sees herself as a transitional figure. Any minute now we are expecting Turkish President Recep Erdogan to address parliament with details of the investigation into journalist Jamal Khashoggi's death. On Sunday Erdogan promised he would remove the lid completely from what his staff is now calling a cover up by the Saudis.

ROMANS: CIA Chief Gina Haspel is traveling to Turkey to monitor the investigation into the Washington Post columnist's murder. President Trump telling USA Today he still believes it was a plot gone awry and indicates he will oppose stopping arms sales to the kingdom as punishment. Still, the president does seem to be running out of patience with the Saudis.

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TRUMP: I am not satisfied with what I've heard. They want a month? That's a long time. There's no reason for that month.

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BRIGGS: The president's son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner has close ties to the Saudi crown prince. He confirmed on Monday he spoke to Mohammed bin Salman and advised him to be fully transparent with his investigation. Here is Kushner at CNN's citizen conference.

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JARED KUSHNER, SENIOR ADVISOR TO THE PRESIDENT: We're getting facts in from multiple places and then once those facts come in, the secretary of state will -- will work with our national security team to help us determine what we want to believe and what we think is credible and what we think is -- is not credible.

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ROMANS: All right. That's Jared Kushner yesterday. Look, we're going to go live to Turkey now. You're seeing live pictures there. We're awaiting the speech from President Erdogan. You can see the --

BRIGGS: There's parliament.

ROMANS: Their parliament journalists have assembled. We're waiting for this speech. Let's go live to Turkey. Want to bring in CNN's Ben Wedeman who's also waiting for this part (ph). Do we know what we are expecting him to say, Ben?

BEN WEDEMAN, SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT, CNN: Well he said he's going to come out with the naked truth. Now, precisely what that means, what -- how naked that truth is going to be, only time will tell. Now this is an address not to parliament, but rather to his party block in parliament. It's a regular Tuesday event in Ankara. But obviously today there's a lot more attention because of his building up of anticipation about what he's going to say. But what we've seen over the last three weeks is an accumulation of

damning evidence already. Clarissa Ward's exclusive reporting yesterday about a body double being dressed up in Jamal Khashoggi's clothing and going around Istanbul indicates a level of premeditation that shows just how far in advance this murder was planned. Now, also in Ankara today is Gina Haspel, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency.

Now, we've been in touch with sources inside the Turkish president's office. They say she will be meeting with the head of MIT, which is the Turkish intelligence agency as well as the foreign minister. No indication yet if she's going to meet with President Erdogan himself, but obviously she's coming probably with a message from President Trump, who as we've seen, has moderated his previously supportive messages about the Saudis.

He doesn't want to wait for a month-long investigation. I think with all the information that's come out so far, he probably wants to hear something more conclusive at this point.

ROMANS: We know, Ben, that the treasury secretary of the United States went Saudi Arabia on the sidelines of that -- that -- Davos in the Desert conference, where a lot of the highest lying (ph) notable names withdrew.

WEDEMAN: And he in fact is not attending that conference. He is attending a separate terrorism conference. But he did appear in a picture published in the Saudi press agency with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, which indicates that despite President Trump's growing frustration with the so-called Saudi investigation, they have enough confidence to allow him to even be photographed with a crown prince that many people believe was behind -- was the man who ordered the murder of Jamal Khashoggi.

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BRIGGS: And there now is President Erdogan. Once we receive the exact translation of what he is telling parliament, we (ph) will bring you that. Perhaps Gina Haspel I think being there (ph), the CIA director could be the game changer. No window dressing from Gina Haspel. That won't happen.

ROMANS: We will -- we will have to have (ph) Ben Wedeman listen in and let us know as news warrants. Thanks, Ben. Breaking overnight, the search is on for the gunman who apparently shot and killed a student on the University of Utah campus. Police say a series of shots were reported and a woman's body was found in a vehicle. Police believe she had a previous relationship with the suspect, identified as 37-year-old Melvin Roland.

Campus police say they don't believe they're dealing with an active threat. Classes are cancelled for today.

BRIGGS: Got to believe. Tonight is the night. The Megamillions jackpot. $1.6 billion. That is, of course, a record. If you want the cash up front, the lump sum payout, $904 million. The odds, 1 in 302 million. You do have a backup plan, though, if you don't win tonight. The Powerball jackpot on Wednesday, $620 million, $354.3 million for the lump sum. You could buy one major league baseball team, I should clarify, only the Tampa Bay Rays are below that.

ROMANS: And the odds are so long. I mean, I think the odds are like -- it's easier to choke on a carrot in the Grand Canyon than it is to win.

BRIGGS: Choke on a carrot in the Grand Canyon.

ROMANS: I know. I made that up.

BRIGGS: Nice (ph) (inaudible).

ROMANS: But it's -- it's -- it's long odds. It's long odds. All right. Category four Hurricane Willa bearing down on Mexico's west coast, but the rains might extend all the way to the northeast this weekend.

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ROMANS: Hurricane Willa bearing down on Mexico's western coast as a category four. The aftermath could be felt in Texas to the northeast in the coming days. Meteorologist Pedram Javahari has the latest.

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, METEOROLOGIST, CNN: (WEATHER)

BRIGGS: Very nice, thank you Pedram. The last living participant in one of the most celebrated allied commando raids of World War II, one that thwarted Nazi plans for an atomic bomb has died at the age of 99.

Joachim Ronneberg led the 1943 raid on a Norwegian power plant developing a critical A-bomb ingredient. It required a midnight parachute jump onto a mountain, cross country skiing in sub zero temps and an assault on the isolated, heavily guarded plant.

The commando snuck past guards, set explosive charges and blew up Hitler's hope for an A-bomb. Watch "Heroes of the Telemark" a 1965 Kirk Douglas film if you want more on that incredible tale.

Ahead, Monday Night Football being clear it's going to be a rather long winter for Giants fans. Andy Scholes is live at Fenway Park.

ROMANS: For their World Series, he has the Bleacher Report next.

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BRIGGS: All right, the World Series gets underway tonight at Fenway Park. The Boston Red Sox in search of their fourth title since 2004, the Dodgers though looking for their first since 1988.

ROMANS: Andy Scholes has more on this morning's Bleacher Report. Hey Andy.

BRIGGS: Hey buddy.

ANDY SCHOLES, SPORTS ANCHOR, CNN: (SPORTS)

[05:25:00]

ROMANS: Thanks, Andy. All right, taxes, the caravan voter fraud, the president latching onto familiar issues two weeks to the midterms, but how much of it is true?

BRIGGS: Right now Turkey's president revealing new details about the presumed murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate, we're live in Ankara ahead.

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