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Trump To Welcome Saudi Crown Prince To White House; Man Charged In Death Of House Cleaner Who Showed Up At Wrong Door; Mayor: Federal Immigration Agents On The Ground In Raleigh, NC. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired November 18, 2025 - 07:30   ET

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

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[07:30:43]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. New this morning, President Trump trying to hit the right tone on affordability and prices.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is also the golden age of America because we are doing better than we've ever done as a country. Prices are coming down and all of that stuff. And, you know, they talk about different terms for that, but I will tell you that nobody has done what we've done in terms of pricing. We took over a mess.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: All right. With us now, Margaret Talev, senior contributor for Axios, and CNN political analyst Zolan Kanno-Youngs. Friends, thank so much for being with us.

I wanted to play that sound because the president held this long event last night on McDonald's and he's clearly -- the White House is clearly trying to have him address affordability. The question is, you know, does he have it in him to admit that Americans are suffering there? Because you heard him say, you know, prices are coming down and all that stuff. You know, is that the message that will connect with the American voter?

ZOLAN KANNO-YOUNGS, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, THE NEW YORK TIMES: Yeah. Since -- the White House in recent weeks has really been facing pressure on the issue of affordability, which I think it's worth reminding is an issue that the president also ran on. Going back to the campaign when he event went to a McDonald's and put on a McDonald's apron and, you know, was there with workers he was attacking the Biden administration over the issue of affordability, overrising costs, and telling the American people and his base that he really was the person that could improve the economy.

Now fast-forward. You do have Americans, including members of his own base, frustrated with the issue of affordability -- mainly the increase in grocery prices. And he has kind of pivoted between blaming his predecessor and at times pretending that there's really no issue at all as well.

His aides have proposed things like a check that comes from the revenue of tariffs, but they haven't really given details of who would qualify or when that would come about. They've floated things like a 50-year mortgage that have been widely criticized as well by members of both parties.

So at this point -- look, in the past, when we see presidents really not -- almost pretend like this is not an issue, right, that's resonating with Americans and more so talk up the decline in other metrics -- energy prices and what have you -- and not address the real concern of economic anxiety, it doesn't really work. It doesn't resonate with voters. It's hard to see how it would this time.

BERMAN: And Margaret, in that little clip we played he both blamed the previous administration and sort of said there's nothing wrong here. We're in the golden age.

MARGARET TALEV, SENIOR CONTRIBUTOR, AXIOS, DIRECTOR, INSTITUTE FOR DEMOCRACY, JOURNALISM AND CITIZENSHIP, SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY (via Webex by Cisco): It's a good trick.

You know, John, we spent a lot of time talking to swing voters every month for a focus group project we do with -- engages in month after month. These are voters who previously voted for Joe Biden for president and then moved to Donald Trump a year ago.

Consistently what we hear is the voters who support his actions overall, like what he's doing on immigration and making border crossings more difficult, and what they don't like. And for the voters who -- for the most part the voters who have flipped back against him -- what they cite is the price of goods, the price of inflation. They say there were a lot of things they didn't like about him, but they thought because he was a businessman he could make good on his promise to give them economic relief, and they don't see it.

And so what you see now is the president, not quite in his lame duck period but ever approaching it, starting to hit a bit of a political wall on things like the Jeffrey Epstein issue. And because the economy is going to be an issue in the midterm elections as well, for sure.

Republicans who have always been steadfast at his side now recognizing that these rising affordability problems when it comes to health care costs -- we know those are about to go up hugely if there isn't relief on these Affordable Care Act subsidies -- new car prices rising. We've seen beef and coffee prices way up.

He's trying to play with some relief for that on the tariffs but, of course, the tariffs have helped hugely escalate those prices. This idea of the $2,000 checks that come from tariffs, which are costing everybody --

[07:35:03]

BERMAN: Yeah.

TALEV: -- money. You're looking at pasta prices going up.

So these are things that people feel in their everyday life and his voters tend to feel them disproportionately. These are issues that do affect working-class voters. The less wiggle room you have in your paycheck the more you notice every time you go to the store and it's expensive.

BERMAN: Look, you bring up pasta, beef, and coffee. That's roughly 99 percent of my entire diet -- my caloric intake.

TALEV: (Laughing)

BERMAN: So I do want to ask about the Epstein situation. The House is voting on it. But I want to look forward.

If you are Senate Majority Leader John Thune, what are you thinking today because this is going to pass the House in a few hours. What then happens in the Senate and how do you want to handle it?

KANNO-YOUNGS: Never want to try to get into somebody's mind. However, I don't think you really have to in this instance because you already have some main data points that point to the fact that the Senate majority leader is going to be under a lot of pressure here.

You have the fact that Massie has -- Thomas Massie in the House, who has really led the charge here, has already been pushing for enough votes to potentially have a veto-proof bill. At the same time the president, you know, saw the writing on the wall. The White House did. Mike Johnson did as well. And the president has already said -- has already backed the idea of releasing some of these files, which is a turnaround.

That really puts pressure on the Senate and John Thune to gather the votes to pass this bill. To bring it for a vote, to pass it, and send it to the White House for his signature. The pressure is on him at this point.

BERMAN: And very quickly, you know, Margaret, since you brought up the "L" word, lame duck -- I mean do you think that this represents -- or to what extent do you think today represents a shift into a new phase of the Donald Trump presidency?

TALEV: Well look, Jeffrey Epstein is a bit of unique case but, for sure, this has put the president in a place where he didn't want to be.

I think what we're seeing with the shift is in acknowledgment that it doesn't do him much good to be on the defensive messaging to block this and that instead, he can get on the offense if his Justice Department is investigating Democrats, which he's instructed them to do, which they're doing, and if he can run a messaging campaign that says I always wanted disclosure of this.

So I think that shift is going to be a recognition that the politics forced to shift in his strategy, and I think we'll see him pursue that new strategy quite aggressively. BERMAN: Yeah. Your friend Marc Caputo over at Axios said they had a nice bit.

Look, it is a check on the president's power with Congress, but he still is powerful.

Margaret Talev, CNN political analyst Zolan Kanno-Youngs, thanks to both of you. Let's go over to the tiny desk and Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Don't you dare.

Today President Trump is set to welcome Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to the White House in his first visit since 2018, which was just before the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at a Saudi consulate. A CIA assessment later said that MBS likely ordered that killing but he has denied involvement.

And CNN's Jim Sciutto just spoke to Khashoggi's widow ahead of this visit.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HANAN ELATR KHASHOGGI, WIDOW OF JOURNALIST JAMAL KHASHOGGI: I hope they look at the American value for a human right and democratic besides economy ties and selling weapons or any kind of deal. It has to be also there is something missing there, which is looking for the real justice and applying the human rights and the value of the U.S.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: And they're really going to be rolling out the red carpet today for the Saudi crown prince.

President Trump announced just before MBS even arrives that the United States will be selling F-35 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia, some of the most advanced fighter jets in the world. Saudi Arabia has long sought to acquire them.

Another thing almost certain to come up in the meeting is President Trump trying to pressure and persuade Saudi Arabia towards formally normalizing relations with Israel now and bringing them into the Abraham Accords.

Joining us right now is retired Army Brigadier General Steve Anderson. It's good to see you.

Let's talk about the F-35s. These jets Saudi Arabia has long sought. There -- it's seen a controversial move because, among other things, Israel has concerns as they are the only other country right now in the region with these jets.

What do you think of this move -- the sale of them from the Trump administration and how it could potentially impact the balance of military power in that region?

BRIG. GEN. STEVE ANDERSON, U.S. ARMY (RET.) (via Webex by Cisco): Well, thank you, Kate.

Well, I support the sale of these F-35s. This is stealth technology that they've wanted to have for a long time. I believe that it will contribute to peace in the -- in the region. I mean, it's so important that we continue to support, of course, the rebuilding of Gaza -- but not only Gaza but we need to think about Syria as well and, of course, Lebanon. Lebanon is trying to get rid of Hezbollah.

[07:40:03]

So to the extent that these F-35s could contribute to security within the region I think that's a really good thing.

However, my concern is the balance of power. We would need to make sure that Israel maintains the upper hand, and they have more advanced technology in those F-35s because this is stealth technology -- very, very powerful.

And the other big concern is Chinese. The relationship that the Chinese have with the Saudi Arabian government -- you know, we've been concerned that some of that technology -- the proprietary information that has been developed by Lockheed Martin over many, many years could slip to the Chinese. And so we need to make sure that there is assurances that simply doesn't happen.

But I generally support the move.

BOLDUAN: Well, and talk about that because the Defense Intelligence Agency has raised concerns that China would acquire the tech -- the F- 35 technology. What -- how big of a problem -- what problem does that pose if China would get their hands on it?

ANDERSON: It would be -- it would be hugely important. It would cut down their development cycle dramatically if they had somehow access to the Saudia Arabian F-35s. I mean, the Chinese are really good at copying what we do, you know, and essentially going -- reverse engineering so to speak. And we just can't allow that kind of technology to happen.

Now, I mean, we need though to get the Saudi Arabians to sign the Abraham Accords, as you mentioned earlier, and they need to support the Gaza peace plan to include stationing troops on the ground in Gaza. I mean, that would be absolutely huge for us. We need to make sure that we get the Saudi Arabians strongly behind everything we're trying to do in the region because they can certainly do that.

BOLDUAN: Let me ask you about another region -- the tensions that continue to ramp up in the Caribbean.

The president is -- President Trump is leaving open the possibility of many things right now when it comes to Venezuela. Negotiating with Nicolas Maduro. Continuing to attack boats in international waters or move to use military force on land.

And now, just yesterday, the president is raising another possibility suggesting that he is ready to take this military campaign against alleged drug trafficking elsewhere. Let me play this for you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Would I launch strikes in Mexico to stop drugs? It's OK with me. Whatever we have to do to stop drugs. Colombia has cocaine factories where they make cocaine. Would I knock out those factories? I would be proud to do it, personally. I didn't say I'm doing it, but I would be proud to do it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: What do you think of that?

ANDERSON: I think it's absurd. I mean, we -- there's no way that we should be doing that. You know, the show of force that we have down there I think is pretty embarrassing. It weakens our status in the world. It makes us look weak. It's embarrassing.

I mean, it's not only embarrassing but it's going to be ineffective. I mean, if you're going to go down there and take out drug cartels, that's not how you do it is send a carrier battle group with 10 F-35s and 90 aircraft and whatnot. And to think that they'd be attacking sovereign nations is just so un-American and it's ultimately going to be ineffective.

I mean, the way that you really do this is to conduct policing operations. You don't blow people out of the water. You capture them and you do intel. You figure out what kind of contraband they have, and you interrogate those that you've captured. That's a far more effective way of stopping this drug cartel.

But, I mean, they're blowing boats out of the water. They don't know if Gilligan and the Skipper and Mary Ann and Ginger are on those boats or if they're really bad guys. And so it's just un-American and ineffective what we're going down there.

BOLDUAN: It's good to see you. Thanks for coming in. (Coughing) Pardon me -- Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Thank you, Kate.

New this morning stand your ground laws in the spotlight in Indiana after a house cleaner mistakenly showed up at the wrong address and the homeowner shot through his door killing her.

According to court documents 62-year-old Curt Anderson told investigators that he and his wife were asleep upstairs just before 7:00 in the morning when he heard "commotion at the door" and thought someone was using keys or tools. He looked through the windows and saw two people who he said were "thrusting" at the door and getting more aggressive.

With no warning, he fired one shot through the door killing 32-year- old mother of four Maria Florinda Rios Perez. The Guatemalan immigrant was at the door with her husband. The homeowner's attorney called the death a terrible tragedy, but he claims his client's action were justified under Indiana's stand your ground laws. Investigators say though they found no evidence of any forceful contact with the door itself.

Joining me now, CNN legal analyst and criminal defense attorney Joey Jackson.

I mean, does this case all come down to the limitations of the stand your ground law?

[07:45:00]

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY, FORMER PROSECUTOR: So it does, Sara -- good morning -- but obviously it comes down to the facts. And the prosecutors are arguing that based upon these facts that the homeowner's actions were unreasonable.

So there are some things Sara that stand your ground is and there are some things that it's not. Now, stand your ground obviously relates to self-defense and when you can do it. And in stand your ground states you don't have a duty to retreat. What does that mean? It means that in those states -- and the vast majority of states in the country are stand ground, but in those states where it's not you -- if you could retreat safely, you must do so.

In a situation like this he's in his home, right? He's permitted to use force. But there are conditions under which you can use the force. Number one, is there some immediacy of any threat that's being posed? Number two, are your actions proportionate to the threat that's being posed? And number three, and significantly, are you acting reasonably?

And prosecutors are saying that based upon the facts and the circumstance -- because all these come down to the facts -- that his actions were not justified, not giving a warning. She didn't cross the threshold of the home. And in light of that he acted prematurely and as a result, sadly and tragically --

SIDNER: Yeah.

JACKSON: -- this mother of four is dead.

SIDNER: Yeah, and her husband was there to witness all of this. I mean, it is truly disturbing.

But the homeowner -- you know, we're hearing from police -- fired through the door without warning.

JACKSON: Yes.

SIDNER: How do courts look at this -- whether this is a reasonable action?

JACKSON: Right. So what happens is that the argument of the prosecutor is that this is entirely unreasonable, and it's entirely unreasonable for a factor that you mentioned. Should he not have given some type of warning? Should he not have engaged in some way? Should he have not before shooting because stand your ground is not I can kill now and ask questions later? It's not a license to kill. It's a license to protect yourself in place where you lawfully are.

The defense, however, will say a number of things. Number one, who would not be alarmed? Who would not be fearful? Who would not have that fright in the event they hear someone tinkering with their door? It's 7:00 in the morning. You're in bed. You don't know what's going on and as a result you act.

And his argument -- the defense -- is that he's in his own home. He's minding his own business. He has no intention to harm anybody, but he was fearful that he could have been killed. And, of course, any self- defense allows you to protect yourself and others. He's with his wife and family. So as a result he's going to argue his actions were justified. It'll be up to a jury to make the determination as to whether Sara, they were.

SIDNER: Yeah.

Are you seeing these cases come up -- stand your ground cases come up across the country?

JACKSON: They really do. And, you know, the fact is that every case that we'll ever talk about always turns on the facts, and the facts will be on full display. What was the homeowner thinking? What did he know? Did he act reasonably? Should he have given a warning?

You mentioned he fired through the door, right?

SIDNER: Right.

JACKSON: And not that that in itself would be inappropriate but what allowed him or made him do that? Was there any entry at the time or was he just blindly and indiscriminately firing a shot? You have to be justified. You have to act proportionately. You have to act reasonably. And if those elements are missing you don't get stand your ground here and you won't get it anywhere else.

But again, right, it'll be up to his lawyers. And when they go to court to make the arguments and try to put the jury in his shoes -- what would you do? What would your actions be? And in the event the jury believes they were reasonable, it's one thing. If they don't, Sara, it'll be quite another.

SIDNER: Yeah. Obviously, the family of this mother wants to see a prosecution here and a conviction. We will see what happens in this case.

Joey Jackson, it is always a pleasure to see you. Thank you.

JACKSON: Thank you, Sara, and you.

SIDNER: John.

BERMAN: All right. Big changes coming to one of the top gaming apps. The widely popular Roblox rolling out a new policy. We'll tell you what it is.

Plus, barking drones taking flight. The latest tech being used in the battle against bears.

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[07:53:10]

BERMAN: All right. Happening now in North Carolina, Raleigh Mayor Janet Cowell has confirmed that border patrol agents are on the ground there expected to carry out immigration enforcement operations. Now, in Charlotte, video showed agents pulling up to homes in unmarked minivans to question workers who were putting up Christmas lights.

The Department of Homeland Security says at least 130 arrests have been made so far, including 44 people with criminal records.

Let's go right to CNN's Dianne Gallagher who has been in Charlotte watching events unfold there. These events now apparently spreading to other cities in North Carolina, Dianne.

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, John. We have two sources in addition to the mayor in Raleigh saying in that statement they anticipate border patrol agents to visit that city that are on the ground there and conduct operations. Two sources saying they do expect it to be a much smaller operation than what is currently happening here in Charlotte. But it is evidence of this operation, Charlotte's Web, if you will, sort of spreading out beyond the city limits.

We've also talked to mayors in other cities surrounding Charlotte -- smaller suburban cities that have experienced some border patrol activity as well. And look, here, this morning in Charlotte, you really can feel it, especially on the east side of the city in areas where many immigrants live and have businesses. There's virtually no one on the street.

There have been a few people who have been out sort of protesting and demonstrating. They were here on Central Avenue late into the night last night to try and, as they put it, stand up for their city, stand up for their community members.

We have continued to see activity throughout the city of Charlotte while many of these immigrant-owned businesses remain closed today.

We also saw impact at Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools yesterday where more than 20,000 students were absent. That's about 15 percent of the district population that was not in school on Monday.

[07:55:05]

Now, the sheriff says that this anxiety throughout the city could be perhaps relieved in some way if federal forces were better and a little more communicative with him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SHERIFF GARRY MCFADDEN, MECKLENBURG COUNTRY, NORTH CAROLINA: The fear, the anxiety, and with no end in mind has brought a lot of doubt of what this is going to be like. And everyone said that it's going to make it safer. Well, I don't think you can make someplace safer when you are in fear of your life, fear in being retaliated against, or fear of deportation. So we would have liked to have the conversation with the border patrol while they're here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GALLAGHER: Now we do anticipate Gov. Josh Stein to be here in Charlotte this afternoon for an event touring a health clinic. But we will, of course, if we speak with him, ask him about these operations that have spread across the state.

BERMAN: That's right and appears to be getting even further afoot from Charlotte.

Thanks so much, Dianne -- Sara.

SIDNER: All right. New this morning Roblox, the popular online gaming platform for children, is making a major change on how its users are permitted to communicate. The company is saying anyone who wants to chat online will have to verify their age either by uploading an I.D. or by allowing their face to be scanned and classified by new AI age verification technology. The move is aimed at protecting younger players and limiting contact with adult strangers.

The company has come under intense scrutiny recently following a string of reports of children being groomed, abused, and in some cases even kidnapped by adult that they met on Roblox.

CNN tech reporter Clare Duffy joins us now. I know this is hugely popular, especially with younger kids. They really get into this game. But the privacy concerns are real.

CLARE DUFFY, CNN TECH REPORTER: Yeah. I mean, the stakes here are really significant because unlike many online platforms Roblox allows children under the age of 13. It markets itself as this place for children to learn how to code, and it has around 50 million of those under-15 -- under-13 users.

And the company has faced this growing string of lawsuits and claims that it is allowing adult predators to be in contact with children. So the company is now trying to make it harder for adults to talk to children who they don't know by requiring every user on the platform, regardless of age, to verify their age before they can access these chat features.

Users over the age of 13 can provide an I.D. if they want or anybody can use this AI face age estimation tool where basically you hold up your phone in front of your face. It looks at your face as you move around and then it puts you in an estimated age group. And users can only talk with people in or around their age group.

So, for example, a user the age of 12 who is estimated to be 12 could talk to users under 15 but not over 16. Again, all in an effort to try to keep children from talking to adult strangers on the platform.

I think the question about this going forward is going to be how accurate it is.

SIDNER: Yeah.

DUFFY: Roblox says it believes that the age estimation tool is pretty accurate for users ages six to 25. That is going to be something to watch here as we move forward, as well as whether there are ways for people to get around this tool. You know, we've seen other social media platforms -- other online platforms try to do similar things. Estimate users' ages to protect young people. And some people have found ways around it, using selfies of other people or videogame characters.

So those are two things I think to keep a close eye on here as this moves forward, but certainly an important step here as Roblox tries to keep its youngest users safe.

SIDNER: Yeah, and there's a lot of parents concerned about it as well because kids play on it a long time and you start having conversations with people you don't know. There's always that danger.

Clare Duffy, great reporting.

DUFFY: Thank you.

SIDNER: Thank you -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: A building storing fireworks in Sao Paulo, Brazil just explodes. You can see it. It was captured on camera right there sending debris and fireworks on the cars all below on that highway. At least one person was killed, and several others were injured. Authorities believe that there may have actually been a secret storage facility in the back of the store where this happened and police are now investigating to determine what sparked this blast.

This morning a major wildlife trafficking and drug bust in Thailand. Rangers say that they rescued 143 monkeys in one day. Authorities patrolling near the Cambodian border found 62 endangered long-tailed macaques in plastic bags after they had heard animal noises coming from a sugar cane field. Later that same day two men allegedly linked to an international wildlife trafficking ring were arrested with drugs. And 81 monkeys were also stuffed in small bags. Authorities say the animals were in bad shape and they are now being treated at a wildlife center.

A rare look at a military exercise on the water. NATO releasing this footage -- take a look a this -- showing the aftermath of a submarine firing a torpedo sinking a decommissioned ship. This was carried out during a joint military exercise to demonstrate the power of the weapon and the sub.