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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Trump Renews Attack on Media amid Bomb Scare; Saudis Now Says Khashoggi's Killing was Premeditated. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired October 26, 2018 - 04:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:30:46] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Investigators focusing on Florida as they look for the bomber who tried to wipe out a legion of political leaders who've been attacked by the president.

DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: The White House reportedly considering a travel ban along the southern border 11 days to the midterms.

ROMANS: Drowning in student loans? One state is willing to help you pay them off. If you move there. The lighthouse.

BRIGGS: And a special birthday treat for a school custodian who is hearing impaired.

Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Dave Briggs. Happy Friday.

ROMANS: Happy Friday. I'm Christine Romans. It is 31 minutes past the hour.

We begin with the manhunt for whomever is behind one of the most sweeping assassination attempts in generations now focused on Florida. Authorities believe several of the pipe bombs mailed to prominent critics of the president and CNN went through the Postal Service processing center in Opa-locka, Florida, that's north of Miami. A Miami-Dade bomb squad and K-9 unit called in to help track the packages.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAM SWEENEY, FBI ASSISTANT DIRECTOR: We continue to advise the American public to remain vigilant as it does remain possible further packages have been or could be mailed. These devices should be considered dangerous.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: CNN has learned all 10 packages went through the U.S. mail system even though those handed off to private couriers like the one that came to CNN here in New York.

Another new twist. Some of the packages appeared to be missing postmarks that would help investigators focus their search. In several packages no postmark were visible in the photos which could indicate a sender or senders working in different geographical areas. ROMANS: Thursday more packages tracked down, two on their way to

former vice president Joe Biden and another to actor Robert De Niro. That makes 10 pipe bombs in total sent to figures loathed by the political right.

We heard more of them yesterday and from the Florida lawmaker whose address was used on the return labels.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT: We've got to turn off this hate machine. We've got to come together. The American public and all over the nation. People want us to be more civil. People want us to choose hope over hate. They want us to choose -- for real. I mean, it's guttural. People understand and words matter. Words matter.

REP. DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (D), FLORIDA: We will never been cowed into submission by people who hate. Never. Never.

REP. MAXINE WATERS (D), CALIFORNIA: We should not crawl under the bed, close the doors, not go out, be afraid to go to rallies, whatever. We have to keep doing what we're doing in order to make this country right. That's what I intend to do. And as the young people said, I ain't scared.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: All the bombs being transported to the FBI lab in Quantico, Virginia, for analysis.

BRIGGS: President Trump hits the road again tonight. This time for a rally in Charlotte, North Carolina. His 39th since taking office. Not clear whether the president will bring up the mail bomb attacks or renew his assault on the media.

Remember this from his Wednesday rally in Wisconsin.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Do you see how nice I'm behaving tonight? This is like -- have you ever seen this? We're all behaving very well. And hopefully we can keep it that way, right?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: Wrong. Didn't quite happen. 3:14 a.m. Eastern Time, the president needing to remind everyone he is not responsible, though we at CNN are. Yes, live anger tweeting with replays of Don Lemon.

More now from Kaitlan Collins at the White House.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Christine and Dave, it wasn't that long ago that President Trump called on the country to come together and make decisions about their political life peacefully but now that seems to be a thing of the past, even for this president just so shortly after he said that. The president now abandoning those calls for unity and turning his

focus once again on attacking the media, saying that they are the ones to blame for the division in the country, writing on Twitter that they are the ones who are responsible for this and they are the ones who need to change their tone.

[04:35:03] He made similar remarks at that rally in Wisconsin on Wednesday night when after he called for a unity, he then turned to criticize the media, saying they are the ones who have false reporting out there that is contributing to the division that we have seen sweep our country.

Now President Trump held two events at the White House yesterday. He made no remarks about the attacks. But in the meanwhile, he was telling his confidante and his allies that he believes he was in the right by attacking the media because he did not want to be linked to any of these bombings and he felt that the media was unfairly doing that.

And White House aides say they are taking their cues for him and they believe he is right that it is the media to blame for all the activity that's happening in the nation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SARAH SANDERS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Day in, day out, there is a negative tone. Ninety percent of the media attention around this president is negative despite historic job creation, despite the fact that our economy is booming, despite the fact that trade deals that everybody said couldn't be made have been made.

You guys continue to focus only on the negative. And that is -- there is a role to play.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: President Trump has yet to call anyone who was targeted as a part of these attacks. Not President Barack Obama, not Hilary Clinton, not Joe Bidden. No one who has been targeted has gotten a call from the president just checking in or updating them on the investigation. A senior White House official who said right now there are no plans to do so -- Christine, Dave.

ROMANS: All right. Kaitlan at the White House.

The Trump administration is considering a new travel ban of sorts along the U.S.-Mexico border. The "San Francisco Chronicle" reporting the president would use executive action to block certain asylum seekers. It is the same legal authority the president invoked last year when he imposed a ban on people from Muslim majority countries. After several revisions, the Supreme Court ban ultimately -- Supreme Court, rather, ultimately upheld that ban.

BRIGGS: The new executive order would bring a dramatic escalation in enforcement at the same time a caravan of migrants from Central America is heading slowly toward the United States more than a month now. The proposal is not finalized and it could still be scrapped according to the report.

Here is what Homeland Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen told FOX.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KIRSTJEN NIELSEN, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: Everything is on the table. I mean, I just can't be clear, everything is on the table. Every measure we've tried, every measure we haven't tried, everything is on the table to make it very clear that we have the sovereign right to protect our system.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: The migrant advocacy group Families Belong Together says the plan is straight up a Latino ban. The group calls for, quote, "common sense immigration laws that make our country strong by respecting people's rights and honoring our shared values."

ROMANS: Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich appears to be suggesting the motivation to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court was to keep the president's tax returns under wraps. During a live interview hosted by the "Washington Post" last night Gingrich was asked what to expect if Democrats win the House and subpoena Mr. Trump's returns.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NEWT GINGRICH (R), FORMER HOUSE SPEAKER: This is a billionaire who has fought lawsuits his entire career. And he's never noticed them. He doesn't care. That's why he has lawyers.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: What about if they subpoena his tax returns?

GINGRICH: Then they'll be trapped into appealing to the Supreme Court. And we'll see whether or not the Kavanaugh fight was worth it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: When asked why the president seemed to be raising that fear of being investigated by Democrats, Gingrich said it's because he wants everyone to go vote.

BRIGGS: A federal judge says Georgia voters cannot have their ballots thrown out on a technicality. A judge ordered election officials to stop rejecting absentee ballots with voter signatures that do not appear to match those on record. Two federal lawsuits have charged election officials in Gwinnett County violated voters' rights. The judge's proposed order requires county officials to sent voters pre- rejection notices and resolve issues within three days after the election.

ROMANS: A spokesperson for Gwinnett County said it is reviewing the order. Democrat Stacey Abrams has made voter suppression a key campaign issue. Her Republican opponent Brian Kemp oversees elections as Georgia's secretary of state. Kemp's campaign referred CNN to the attorney general's office which refused to comment. BRIGGS: Reality star and transgender activist Kaitlyn Jenner now

turning her back on President Trump. The self-identified conservative Republican saying she was wrong about the president's commitment to lesbian, gay and transgender rights. Many in the LGBT community were upset by Jenner's vocal support for the president. But in a "Washington Post" op-ed this morning Jenner says she thought she could work within the administration to support her community. She now says that was a mistake.

She says, quote, "The reality is that the trans community is being relentlessly attacked by this president. He's ignored our humanity, he has insulted our dignity, he has made trans people a new political pawn. It is unacceptable, it is upsetting, and it has deeply personally hurt me."

This week "The New York Times" reporting the administration is looking at narrowing the definition of gender or person's biological sex at birth. In effect erasing transgender people.

[04:40:08] ROMANS: All right. Amazon is on a $1 billion profit streak reporting a $2.9 billion profit for the three months ending in September. Remember when this company routinely lost money it was spending so heavily on its own growth? The stock quickly fell after this profit report sales and profits while strong were less than Wall Street had expected.

Same for Google parent Alphabet. Its revenue up 21 percent. Its profit more than $9 billion, but shy of Wall Street hopes. The report came just hours after a "New York Times" article alleged Google paid executives millions of dollars after they were accused of sexual harassment. According to the "Times" report Google stayed silent about sexual misconduct allegations against three executives over the past decade including Android creator Andy Rubin who left the company in 2014.

Google's CEO Sundar Pichai told employees in a letter late yesterday he is dead serious about a safe workplace.

BRIGGS: All right. Ahead, after all the shifting explanations, the Saudis now admit the murder of Jamal Khashoggi was premeditated. What it means for the crown prince? We're live in Istanbul.

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[04:45:24] ROMANS: Another shift in Saudi Arabia's explanation for the death of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The Saudis now admit "The Washington Post" columnist's murder was premeditated.

International diplomatic editor Nic Robertson is live in Istanbul.

And Nic, I'm going to be honest, I'm losing track to the variations of the story. I think this is the fifth different iteration from the Saudis.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: It certainly seems to be that way from where we're standing as well, Christine. You know, maybe we're going to get a little bit clarification coming up on this. Just right now both the foreign minister in Turkey and the president are speaking, they're monitoring those speeches. And we've just been alerted to the fact that it's been announced that the chief or rather general prosecutor from Saudi Arabia will come here to Istanbul over the weekend and meet with his counterpart.

Now that's coming out of one of those speeches from a very senior Turkish official. Not clear at the moment of more details on it. But yes, we're up to now the fifth iteration from Saudi officials. And they always seem to be trying to get ahead of whatever the next news line is to drop. This drip feed of information coming from Turkish officials. So now they're saying that this was premeditated.

But we've also heard them say that it -- you know, indicating that it didn't involve the crown prince. There was any a standing order that any dissident should be rendered back to Saudi Arabia. And this came from under the previous king. So everything that we hear, every iteration does seem to be designed to protect Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman from implication in all of this.

But it's damaging obviously because it doesn't add up. Each story doesn't add up. And you have to wait for the next accounting of the facts. We're hearing, you know, that it's no longer credible. What is becoming apparent, we just heard the German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoken with the kind in Saudi Arabia that really leaders around the world including President Trump are reaching over the heads of crown prince.

President Trump of course right now deliberating over what the CIA chief Gina Haspel came back and brief him about the evidence that the Turkish authorities gave her -- Christine.

ROMANS: All right. Nic Robertson for us in Istanbul. Thanks, Nic.

BRIGGS: All right. At least 14 kindergartners injured in a stabling spree at their school in southwest China. Police in the city of Chongqing have identified the attacker Miss Liu, a 39-year-old local woman. They say she attacked the children with a kitchen knife as they were returning from an outdoor class. The school security guard managed to contain her before police arrived. The 14 children taken to the hospital for treatment. A police investigation is ongoing.

ROMANS: That's terrifying.

All right. Get your umbrellas. A messy weekend in store in the northeast. The forecast next.

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[04:52:52] ROMANS: If you have student loan debt, the state of Maine may be willing to help you pay it off, but you have to move there. Maine draws 36 million tourists each year but can't get young people do live there. The state has the oldest population in the nation with the median age of 44. So officials are expanding a program they started 10 years ago to attract young professionals. It allows them to subtract their total student loan payments for the year from their state income taxes.

By the way, the beaches are beautiful. The skiing is world class. The lobster is fantastic.

BRIGGS: Kennebunkport. Portland. You name it.

Meanwhile, a murdered University of Utah student went to police before her death and told them she paid her killer $1,000 to keep him from posting compromising photos online. Lauren McCluskey was shot and killed earlier this week by her ex-boyfriend, Melvin Roland. According to university police, McCluskey told them Roland and possibly some of his friends were demanding money to keep the photos under wraps.

The case was then assigned to a detective for a follow-up. The president of the University of Utah ordering an independent review of campus police in the wake of McCluskey's murder. Police say Roland committed suicide in a Salt Lake City church shortly after his victim's body was found.

ROMANS: Such a tragedy.

Megyn Kelly's days at NBC are numbered. Sources tell CNN she is negotiating the terms of her departure with executives and an announcement will likely be made in the coming days. Kelly will not be returning to her morning show. There have been speculation she would stay on at the network in a lesser role but sources say that is not happening.

Kelly came under intense scrutiny for her offensive remarks about blackface when discussing Halloween costumes. Her comments drew harsh criticism not only from viewers but from several people at NBC including "Today" cast members Al Roker and Craig Melvin.

There's a storm moving up the East Coast, and it looks like a wet messy weekend ahead in the northeast.

Here's meteorologist Derek Van Dam.

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Great Friday morning, Dave and Christine. You have one more dry day ahead of you before things start to change into your Saturday. More of that in just one second. But it's this low pressure that's really going to be the culprit for your change in the weather forecast. It's starting to bring wet weather across places like Atlanta and Charlotte today, all the way through the Ohio River Valley, eventually moving into the mid-Atlantic overnight and into your early Saturday morning.

[04:55:07] But as it strengthens and deepens off the East Coast, it will turn into a classic nor'easter. But it will be just too close to the coast and temperatures will be just too warm for this to be a snow event for the major East Coast cities. Maybe a few flakes will fly, just Upstate New York and into Vermont and New Hampshire.

There's the storm gathering some strength across the southeast again. Wet weather expected from Georgia all the way to Pennsylvania and into Maryland and the Delmarva Peninsula, for instance. But as we head into the day on Saturday, that's when we start to see the raindrops into New York City, as well as Boston.

Look at the temperatures as we head into the day today. Fifty degrees for the Big Apple, 53 for D.C.

Back to you.

BRIGGS: All right. Thank you, Derek.

Arby's is trying to ease the offering of Detroit Red Wings fans. For over a decade the restaurant chain has been offering fans free curly fries if a hometown player scores a hat trick. Meeting three goals in one game. The problem? Well, the Red Wings not so good. They haven't pulled that off since 2016 and 2017. So Arby's is changing the promotion. Fans will now get a free curly fries if the team scores three goals in a game which has happened this season, but only three times. So fire up the fryers. The Red Wings who are in last place host the Winnipeg Jets tonight.

All right. Here's proof a picture is worth a thousand words even if you can't hear any of them.

That's James Anthony moved to tears on his 60th birthday. James is the custodian at Hickerson Elementary School in Tennessee. He happens to be hearing impaired so the kids learned how to sign "Happy Birthday" while they were singing it. The gesture moved James to tears. He's been part of the Hickerson Elementary family for the first 15 years.

ROMANS: All right. Let's get a check on CNN business this morning. Global stock markets mostly down on Friday after Wall Street's bounce back Thursday. Look, yesterday the Dow rose 400 points. That's 1.6 percent. The broader S&P also up 1.9 percent. The Nasdaq rallied 3 percent. Stocks bouncing back after that ugly sharp drop on Wednesday that put the Nasdaq into a correction.

Now the market has slumped badly in the past several weeks but it hasn't fallen in a straight line. Volatility is spiking in huge selloffs have been intersperse with big gains, including October 16th. A 548-point jump for the Dow. And October 12th's 287 point gain.

The sales of new single family homes were down 13.2 percent last month according to a report by the Census Bureau. A median sale price of new homes sold in September was 320,000. The average sales price was $377,000. That makes September the worst month for home sales since December of 2016.

One region that saw the biggest decline the northeast, from August to September this year, home sales fell 40 percent. That's the lowest level since April 2015. A big reason for the decline, a provision the tax jobs act signed into law by the president in December. That provision restricts deductions for state and local taxes to just 10 grand a year. From a geographic standpoint, the south, which is the biggest area for home sales, likely was affected by Hurricane Florence. That region reported about 318,000 sale for the month. That's a decline of 1.5 percent.

All right. Your chocolate habit is going to get more expensive. Hershey's chocolate planning to raise the prices of a fifth of its products by about 2.5 percent. One of the many companies getting squeezed by rising commodities and shipping costs. Hershey hopes the higher price will offset costs about scaring away customers.

Would you pay more for your Hershey's?

BRIGGS: Yes.

ROMANS: Hershey first said it would raise prices over the summer, citing rising operational costs. The changes will go into effect next year.

BRIGGS: So 20 cents or so?

ROMANS: I don't. Chocolate is one of those --

BRIGGS: Give me some chocolate.

ROMANS: One of those things you kind of dig deep for, right?

BRIGGS: Yes.

EARLY START continues right now with the latest on this nationwide bombing.

ROMANS: Investigators zero in on Florida, looking for the suspect behind a bomb spree that targeted people the president has attacked.

BRIGGS: And just 11 days before the midterms and the White House reportedly considering a travel ban along the southern border.

ROMANS: Drowning in student loans? One state is willing to help you pay them off if you move there.

BRIGGS: A special birthday treat for a school custodian who, as you can see by the signing, is hearing impaired. The story we probably all needed this Friday morning.

Good morning, everyone. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm Dave Briggs.

ROMANS: And I'm Christine Romans. It is Friday.

(CROSSTALK)

ROMANS: I know. There's a lot going on this morning.

BRIGGS: Her work is never done, folks.

ROMANS: It is Friday, October 26th. It is 5:00 a.m. in the East.

OK. The manhunt for whomever is behind one of the most sweeping, coordinated political attacks in generations, now focused on Florida.