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Helicopter View of Mexico Beach: It's Gone; Lawmakers Set Up Investigation Resulting in Sanctions Against Saudis in Journalist Disappearance; Trump: U.S. Will Not Stop Selling Weapons to Saudi Arabia; Interview with Rep. Jackie Speier. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired October 11, 2018 - 13:30   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:33:00] WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: We want to get back to our coverage of Hurricane Michael's devastation, specifically in Mexico Beach, Florida, or what FEMA calls ground zero.

We talked to our own Brian Todd earlier. He was still trying to get there by road. But our Brooke Baldwin was able to get to the city by helicopter and some of the footage her crew took along the way.

Brooke is joining us now live.

Brooke, it's amazing how this devastation has unfolded flying over Mexico Beach which had been obliterated. Walk us through what you are seeing now.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Sure. So let me just say first of all, it's extraordinary that we are able to come to you live. The satellite signal is precarious and I'm not going to move and we can't move too much.

But the pictures behind me tell the whole story. What you can't see is line after line after line of military Humvees and National Guard. We have seen Black Hawk helicopters circling. I was just talking to a guy from Miami, fire and rescue, and New Orleans Fire and Rescue is here, local Florida fire and rescue.

The question is death toll. It's still so preliminary. They are only now, fire and rescue, going door-to-door and knocking. I was here, we have been here for a little bit and I was talking to a guy who decided to ride out the storm. He was saying to me that he knew of at least one neighbor who rode out the storm as well. When he woke up, her home was gone. So we don't know. Death toll, we don't know. Injuries.

I have walked much of this stretch of 98 myself just to be able to see it. I have never seen -- there are parts of Panama City Beach that are absolutely levelled. But when I tell you that all of Mexico Beach is levelled, that's the truth. There are some condo buildings that kept their structure, but then the back side is gone or the roof is gone.

[13:35:05] But for the most part, especially the closer to the water you get, and we walked all the way towards the water -- I talked to one gentleman who said he is counting homes by toilets and refrigerators blown into other people's yards. We saw a home that was carried by this tremendous storm surge and the wind. It was clocked at 155 miles an hour. It took a home. I saw the aftermath with my own eyes. It carried it a football field and a half down from the water and flipped it upside down.

Just to give you a feel of how strong and fierce this storm is, Wolf, and the fact that hearing that this would be ground zero, seeing it with my own eyes, it certainly feels that way -- Wolf?

BLITZER: It is so, so heartbreaking to see that devastation.

Brooke, thank you so much for that report.

Brooke is going to have a lot more coming up right at the top of the hour.

We'll be watching, Brooke.

To our viewers who would like to help those affected by Hurricane Michael, go to CNN.com/impact.

More news coming up. "When they go low, we kick them." That's the former Attorney General Eric Holder's message to Democrats. President Trump responding, saying, "The former attorney general better be careful."

Plus, how that missing Saudi journalist has shined a light on the relationship with the Saudis and his business ties to the kingdom.

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[13:41:10] BLITZER: President, lawmakers, the Turkish Saudi kingdom weighing in on the disappearance of a well-known Saudi journalist. Jamal Khashoggi was last seen on October 2nd as he entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. Turkish officials believe Khashoggi was killed inside the consulate, an allegation denied by Saudi Arabia.

CNN has now learned that U.S. intelligence intercepts showed Saudi officials had discussed a plan to lure Khashoggi back to Saudi Arabia from the United States and then detain him. The situation is further exacerbated by the diplomatic vacancies in the region.

Lawmakers triggered an investigation on Wednesday that could pave the way potentially for sanctions against Saudi Arabia that could make for a potential confrontation with Republicans.

Listen to Senator Lindsey Graham. He didn't mince his words.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM, (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: There will be a bipartisan tsunami building against Saudi Arabia if they did, in fact, do this. This, being the demise of a journalist dissident, that they would suffer a lot in the eyes of the American people and the Congress. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: But the president says, no matter what, the United States is not going to stop selling weapons to Saudi Arabia. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRESIDENT TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I will tell you up front right now, and I will say it in front of Senators, they are spending $110 billion purchasing military equipment and other things. If we don't sell it to them, they will say, well, thank you very much, we will buy it from Russia or, thank you very much, we will buy it from China. That doesn't help us, not when it comes to jobs or our companies losing out on that work. But there are other things we can do. Let's find out what the problem is first, OK?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Let's go to our senior international correspondent, Arwa Damon. She's joining us from Istanbul.

Arwa, the president said today investigators from the U.S. were in Turkey on the case. How did Turkey respond?

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's all quite strange, Wolf. A Turkish political source, diplomatic source said there were no U.S. investigators assigned to the investigation. We did also hear from Turkey's partners coming out from the presidential spokesman is that Turkey and Saudi Arabia agreed to start a joint working group to try to get to the bottom of all of this.

Of course, this comes after Turkey had initially requested permission to enter the consulate and the consulate general's home. That was initially granted by Saudi Arabia, but then they asked to postpone it. We heard harsh rhetoric from the Turkish side saying we want to cooperate, but we need them to cooperate with us. Is this joint working group a move towards cooperation? Perhaps yes. But it also raises a lot of questions as to what they may be capable of uncovering given how politically charged this is and also how much mystery surrounds all of it.

We and other media have been trying to piece together what may have happened that day. We know from Turkish authorities and various sources that there are 15 Saudi nationals, who are persons of interest, who arrived in country the day Khashoggi went missing. A group of them landing in a private jet early on Tuesday morning and staying at a hotel nearby, arriving at the consulate a few hours before Khashoggi himself went inside. About an hour and a half, two hours later, a convoy of official vehicles departed the consulate, moving a short distance away to the consulate general's house. There was a black van that is seen in closed-circuit TV cameras that show the van disappearing out of sight. Since this all happened, there are 15 individuals did depart the country, it would seem at this stage on two different private jets. That's all we have been able to piece together at this stage. There's only one fact that stands out in all of this. At 1:15, 1:14

on Tuesday afternoon, Jamal Khashoggi went inside the consulate and has not been seen or heard from since.

[13:45:20] BLITZER: What a story. That is awful, awful.

Arwa, thank you very much. Arwa Damon, in Istanbul for us.

There's more surreal video coming in from inside the Oval Office. Kanye West meeting with President Trump, talking about everything from Hillary Clinton and Kim Kardashian to prison reform.

Plus, we will take you back to the devastated towns in Florida where Hurricane Michael left a catastrophic scene behind.

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[13:50:10] TRUMP: This was just set up to be a lunch of two people that I like, and I guess they like me. We're going to have lunch, we're going to talk.

KANYE WEST, RAPPER: You said I love you.

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: I know. I didn't want to put you in that spot.

(LAUGHTER)

WEST: No, I'm standing in that spot. I love this guy right here. Let me give this guy a hug right here.

(LAUGHTER)

I love this guy right here.

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: Come here.

That's really nice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Kanye West in the Oval Office with the president of the United States. Pretty extraordinary meeting that we saw the tape just a little while ago.

Let's discuss this and more. Joining us from San Francisco, California, Congresswoman Jackie Speier. She's a Democrat and a member of the House Intelligence Committee.

Thanks so much, Congresswoman, for joining us.

Let me get your reaction. What did you think? REP. JACKIE SPEIER, (D), CALIFORNIA: It was a combination of stream

of consciousness. I felt like I was sitting in on a psychiatric visit and a commercial for Donald Trump. It wasn't newsworthy. I suggest the president should maybe curtail these kinds of engagements.

Meanwhile, we have $10 billion to $13 billion worth of damage to various places in the panhandle of Florida, and the president is being entertained by Kanye West and other celebrities. It's the wrong picture.

BLITZER: How is it going to play in the midterm elections less than four weeks away?

SPEIER: I think it speaks to his lack of leadership, lack of empathy, his lack of recognition of what the priorities should be in this country. It was on full display here this morning with his meeting with Kanye West.

BLITZER: Let me turn to the Russia investigation. I know you've been working on this as a member of the Intelligence Committee for a long time. Earlier, President Trump said he heard from Richard Burr, the Republican chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, that there was no collusion. Now Senator Burr says there's still a lot of investigation left. He didn't say what the president had flatly said. What do you think of that?

SPEIER: What I think of it is the word "collusion" is misused. The question should be, was there a conspiracy to join with the Russians, to join with the Saudis to influence the election on behalf of then- Candidate Donald Trump. And I've got to say that my review of the information suggests that there's a lot of reasons why Donald Trump was engaged with Russia and why he's engaged with Saudi Arabia. I think it's all about following the money.

BLITZER: Let me get your thoughts on another very, very disturbing story that has developed over the past few days. Some of your colleague, including Republicans and Democrats in the House and the Senate, they're demanding not only a full-scale investigation into the disappearance of the Saudi journalist, Jamal Khashoggi. The president said no matter what the conclusion, is the U.S. must continue to sell weapons, arms, to Saudi Arabia because so many American jobs are at stake, $100 billion-plus in contracts. What's your reaction to what the president said?

SPEIER: I think the president is tone deaf. This is an international incident of proportions that should be making the president think long and hard about engagement with Saudi Arabia. This is bone-chilling. And I really feel very strongly that the actions being taken by the Senate and members within the House to call for a fulsome investigation are very important. There was a murder, it appears, in the Saudi Arabia embassy in Turkey and we're silent. That's not the America I know or believe in.

BLITZER: If it's proven that the Saudis did execute this journalist, a resident of the United States, a permanent resident of the United States, a columnist for the "Washington Post," what would you recommend the U.S. do?

SPEIER: I think there have to be severe sanctions imposed against Saudi Arabia. They are buying lots of military weapons and equipment from the United States, have been for quite some time. But we also ironically waved the research and development costs of some $8 billion to $12 billion on many of these sales. So sanctions, for sure, re- imposing R&D charges to them, and probably a number of other things should take place as well.

[13:55:00] BLITZER: Lots going on right now.

Congresswoman Jackie Speier, thanks for joining us.

SPEIER: Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: Just ahead, we'll take you back to the devastation in Florida. CNN is on the ground in Mexico Beach, Florida, a town, left in total ruin after Hurricane Michael.

Stay with us.

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[14:00:11] ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Good afternoon. I'm Erica Hill, live in Panama City Beach, Florida, for this --