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EARLY START

President Trump Labels Himself A "Nationalist"; Turkish President Addresses Parliament About Journalist's Death; Mega Millions $1.6 Billion Drawing Tonight; Category Four Hurricane Willa Heads For Mexico, Then U.S. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired October 23, 2018 - 05:30   ET

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


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[05:30:50] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And in that caravan, you have some very bad people. You know what I am? I'm a nationalist, OK?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: The campaign of fear in full swing two weeks to the midterms. The president ripping on Democrats, taxes, a migrant caravan, and more. Much of it fails the fact-check.

DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: Right now, Turkey's president laying out new details from the Jamal Khashoggi murder. Cameras inside the consulate were removed before the journalist arrived.

ROMANS: And who wants $1.6 billion or $900 million with the lump sum? The Mega Millions jackpot drawing is tonight.

Welcome back to EARLY START, everyone. I'm Christine Romans.

BRIGGS: I'm Dave Briggs.

You could buy every combination for $600 million and still make a profit.

ROMANS: It would be a lot of time.

BRIGGS: Then you could fill out all those forms.

All right, it is 31 minutes past the hour.

We start with the midterm elections now two weeks from today and President Trump in full campaign mode.

Last night he was in Texas embracing Sen. Ted Cruz. Perhaps ironic because during the 2016 campaign Trump famously criticized the appearance of Cruz's wife, Heidi. He suggested Cruz's father was involved in the JFK assassination. The man formerly known as "Lyin' Ted" is now "Beautiful Ted."

And the president officially tagged himself the label that has characterized his populist rhetoric.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: A globalist is a person that wants the globe to do well, frankly, not caring about our country so much. And you know what, we can't have that.

You know, they have a word that 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)

ROMANS: The president escalated his rhetoric against the caravan as the estimated 7,500 migrants slowly make their way through Mexico.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I think the Democrats had 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Migrants in the caravan say they are 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.

BRIGGS: The president also claimed that unknown Middle Easterners were embedded within the caravan. A senior counterterrorism official rejecting that claim, saying there is no evidence it's true.

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

ROMANS: All right. Let's bring in "Politico" reporter Daniel Lippman, co-author of "Politico Playbook," live in Los Angeles. Good morning.

Let's talk -- we'll stay on the --

DANIEL LIPPMAN, REPORTER, POLITICO, CO-AUTHOR, POLITICO PLAYBOOK: Good morning.

BRIGGS: Good morning.

ROMANS: -- migrant caravan. That's something that is more than 1,000 miles away from a U.S. port of entry.

But the president really is enthusiastically seizing on misinformation about that group of migrants and it's working for him, isn't it? LIPPMAN: He is talking about how George Soros is apparently funding the caravan when there's no evidence of that. And he constantly accuses Democrats of being open borders and welcoming the caravan and wanting the caravan to come into the States when that's just not the case.

And so he sees this as a real rallying cry for his voters. They are not talking about the economy, and jobs, and tax cuts that we had talked on the show a few months ago about how that's what Republicans wanted to run on. They are going to kind of go their partisan divide.

ROMANS: I will say, though, I did hear from him yesterday three times talking about a middle-class tax cut of 10 percent.

LIPPMAN: Yes.

ROMANS: And a couple of times he's been -- at a couple of other locations in the past few days he's talked about more tax cuts and how they're coming -- Congress is not in session. So he is trying to play that economic message.

But this mystery tax cut is a fantasy, right?

LIPPMAN: Yes, it's like where's Waldo. There's no -- he does not have the power to just write an executive order giving a tax cut to middle-class families. And so, this is fantasy.

[05:35:00] I mean, he does not know that Congress is out of session? But he can't do this before the election so it's a false promise that he's playing on, hoping that people don't realize that that's not something he can deliver.

BRIGGS: Well, he did have an economic message last night. He said, in fact, if you want high-paying jobs, rising wages, and a booming economy, then go out and vote Republican.

But some interesting reporting on "Politico" that if, in fact, things don't break his way, the president's fully prepared to escape blame for it. What is "Politico" reporting in that regard?

LIPMANN: Yes, my colleague Gabby Orr and I talked to a couple of White House sources and people around Trump and he says -- and they say that if Trump loses the midterms he's going to blame Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan and say it was their fault. They didn't do enough to bring Republicans out.

And he's also described internally to friends in conversations that 2020 is the real election and so the midterms don't count if he loses.

ROMANS: If 2020 is the real election.

We did hear from Joe Biden on the campaign trail -- vigorous on the campaign trail in Florida yesterday. Let's listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JOSEPH BIDEN, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Folks, it's time to get up -- lift our heads up. Remember who the hell we are. This is America. Let's take back the Senate and we will change the world as we know it -- now -- now, now, now. Thank you very, very much.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: We heard from the president yesterday. Look, how is the Democratic message resonating there and do you think that Joe Biden is going to run?

LIPPMAN: I think Joe Biden is definitely looking at it. I don't if he's made his decision yet on whether he wants to pull the trigger.

But I think the Democratic message is playing on the unpopularity of Trump. Even though he's ticked up a few percentage points in approval ratings he is still at historic lows in terms of how well the economy is doing. And so they are going to say that we need a check on power -- that chaos in the White House is distracting the U.S. government from focusing on real issues.

And so, I think Democrats are feeling very optimistic that they will at least gain the House, but the Senate is looking much more difficult to surmount in terms of getting a majority.

BRIGGS: Yes, it looks like they could pick up a few, in fact, in the Senate.

If they do take the House, that means another Nancy Pelosi speaker time. And she was here at CNN at the CITIZEN Conference yesterday and talked about the power of subpoenas they might have if, in fact, Democrats take the House -- listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), HOUSE MINORITY LEADER: Subpoena power in 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: How's that going to play?

LIPPMAN: It reminded of "to be or not to be."

No, I think it's -- Democrats are trying are trying to avoid the perception that they are going to overuse that subpoena power and go too far investigating Trump. And he has talked about how Democrats are going to go crazy in investigating him and paralyze the country.

I think Democrats are saying that there are a lot of scandals that we need to investigate. Every day that there is a new thing in the news -- a new cabinet member that is under investigation.

We saw Wilbur Ross at the Supreme Court yesterday saying that he doesn't have to be deposed in that suit about citizenship.

And so, I think Democrats feel like the American people deserve some answers on what's going on in their government.

ROMANS: All right, Daniel Lippman, "Politico," thank you. Nice to see you this morning.

LIPPMAN: Thank you.

ROMANS: He's going to have a busy day -- a busy two weeks. Thank you, sir.

All right.

Prominent members of both political parties targeted by violence in 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 packing, revealing what appeared to be an explosive device. It did not detonate. The case has been turned over to the FBI.

BRIGGS: 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.

ROMANS: Turkish President Recep Erdogan is addressing Parliament right now with details of the investigation into journalist Jamal Khashoggi's death.

One critical new detail so far. Cameras inside the Saudi consulate were removed before the journalist walked in for his appointment about a marriage license -- some paperwork.

Let's go live to Turkey and bring in CNN's Ben Wedeman. What is the president saying?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, what we heard was really, with the exception of that detail about the cameras inside the consulate -- is really a recounting of pretty much what CNN and many other news organizations have been reporting in terms of a time line.

[05:40:10] And then, he did come out and ask a series of pointed questions and he said -- he said I want to know on whose orders did these people -- the hit team -- come to Istanbul to kill Jamal Khashoggi, and why was the consulate not opened immediately to the Turkish investigators trying to find out the whereabouts of the "Washington Post" columnist? He says why has a body not been found yet? He said, who is the local collaborator? Now, this was a statement that we heard from Saudi officials saying that they handed the body over to a local collaborator which, of course, raises the question why on earth does a consulate have the number of, obviously, some criminal who is in a position to dispose of a dead body?

And so it really comes down to these questions that he is asking.

And he has proposed that Saudi Arabia hand over the 18 people who the Saudis say have been -- are currently detained as part of their investigation. He says they should be handed over to Turkey to be tried in Turkey, itself.

Most significantly about this -- in this speech, however, is the absence of any reference to this audio recording of Mr. Khashoggi's torture, murder, and dismemberment that we've heard about repeatedly from anonymous Turkish officials.

ROMANS: We want to know what kind of evidence they have and how they knew so quickly what was happening there to start an investigation.

All right, thank you so much. Ben Wedeman, thank you.

BRIGGS: And the assumption was that perhaps the consulate was bugged and maybe that's why this audio has not been turned over. That is everything in this investigation.

Gina Haspel, CIA director, is in Turkey -- in Ankara today -- so hopefully, she will find some answers.

Meanwhile, the search is on for a gunman who apparently shot and killed a student on the University of Utah campus.

Police say a series of shots were reported and the woman's body was found inside a vehicle. Police believe she had a previous relationship with the suspect, identified as 37-year-old Melvin Rowland.

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

ROMANS: All right, you've have to believe tonight is the night. The Mega Millions $1.6 billion jackpot that you won't win is a world record. And if you want the cash up front, the lump sum you won't win is $904 million. The odds are super long.

OK, so we have a backup plan, the Powerball. That jackpot is Wednesday -- $620 million. That's a cool $354.3 million for the lump sum. That's a lot of clams.

BRIGGS: Eight hundred million tickets were sold in the prior drawing in which nobody won.

ROMANS: You know, they tweaked -- they tweaked that formula so that they can figure -- BRIGGS: Yes.

ROMANS: -- jackpots. They roll over and get longer so that it creates more public relations frenzy around it. But --

BRIGGS: Yes, it gets us talking about it.

ROMANS: Invest is your 529.

BRIGGS: Ahead, category four Hurricane Willa bearing down on Mexico's west coast, but the rain threats extend all the way to the northeast this weekend.

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[05:47:28] BRIGGS: It's 5:47 eastern time.

And, Hurricane Willa bearing down on Mexico's western coast as a category four. The aftermath could be felt from Texas all the way to the northeast in the coming days.

Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri with the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, good morning, Dave and Christine.

This is the 10th major hurricane for the Eastern Pacific this year and just one shy of the record here -- the record from 2015 when we had 11.

And this storm, a category four, still sitting just offshore of Puerto Vallarta. Of course, bigtime resort communities from Puerto Vallarta northward toward Mazatlan.

Expecting landfall sometime into the afternoon or evening hours of today either as a strong category three or a category four here. And then it quickly weakens, of course, as it moves over land. And the ending result here is going to be tremendous rainfall and storm surge along the coastal communities.

And then eventually, as we go in toward the middle of this week this will leave showers into places such as central and eastern Texas. The last place we want to see rainfall, of course, knowing the flooding we've seen in recent weeks across that region.

So that's part of the story.

And the other part is what's happening across the northeast this morning and eventually this afternoon. Showers -- a frontal boundary in place. Even a few snow showers across interior portions of New England into the higher elevations.

And the temps, they'll want to warm up here, at least for the next 24 or so hours before we see a cooling trend going into this upcoming weekend.

A quick front, though. This moves out of here and will leave the showers behind by the time we get to tomorrow. Highs across the northeast, 60 degrees by this afternoon in New York City -- guys.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right, Pedram. Thank you so much.

Let's get a check on "CNN Business" this Tuesday morning.

Stocks around the world falling overnight. Global tensions rising here.

Dow futures down more than 260 points -- right now, a little more than one percent. So we'll see if it's a lower opening when the opening bell rings on Wall Street.

Investors concerned about Saudi Arabia. They're concerned about tensions between the U.S. and China.

Wall Street closed mixed yesterday. The Nasdaq rose but tech stocks, though, on the Dow and the S&P 500 fell. They were dragged down by bank stocks, including Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan, and Goldman Sachs.

Mortgage rates are rising, folks -- in some cases, about five percent -- and that can hurt loan growth.

Earnings season into full swing, though, so expect some volatility. Investors expecting double-digit profit growth -- that's great. But, Wall Street, as it does, focusing on the future, concerned about rising costs and potential trade disputes.

Self-driving cars are headed to Washington, D.C. Ford announced a partnership with the city yesterday with plans to begin testing early next year.

So far, self-driving cars have been tested mainly in suburbs and smaller cities, but D.C. will prove a new challenge for Ford vehicles. Driving in cities is harder than in suburbs or on highways.

[05:50:00] Ford plans to launch a self-driving ride service in 2021. Washington, D.C. will be the second launch city after Miami, where Ford is already testing.

All right, Chick-fil-A -- Dave's favorite story of the morning.

BRIGGS: Yes.

ROMANS: Chick-fil-A wants to bring fast food not just to your car's center console but right into your living room. The restaurant chain has opened up two prototype restaurants in Nashville and Louisville devoted to catering and delivery. Chick-fil-A says its mission is to be convenient.

Over the summer, the chicken chain started testing out a meal kit service.

The new restaurants do not have dining rooms. They are cash-free. Customers have to use DoorDash or a credit or debit card.

You're worried about the quality of the food in transit.

BRIGGS: Look, I often make up errands that take me near a Chick-fil- A. But the delivery -- yes, it just loses that --

ROMANS: OK, we'll see.

BRIGGS: We'll see.

All right. Ahead, a man arrested after groping a woman on a flight. Wait until you hear his explanation.

ROMANS: And they're priceless -- thousands of years old and fake. Why a Dead Sea Scroll exhibit is no longer on display.

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[05:55:24] ROMANS: A Tampa man facing time in prison for groping a woman. He's using this as his excuse. Remember the infamous "ACCESS HOLLYWOOD" tape where the president made lewd remarks about women?

Well, now, a woman who was seated in front of Bruce Michael Alexander on a flight from Houston to Albuquerque says he touched her inappropriately.

Court documents reveal after Alexander was arrested he said, quote, "The President of the United States says it's OK to grab women by their private parts."

He faces two years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

BRIGGS: A school groundskeeper who says he got terminal cancer from Roundup weed killer will get to keep part of his multimillion-dollar award. A San Francisco judge reversing her earlier decision and will now uphold a jury's verdict holding Monsanto responsible for DeWayne Johnson's disease.

The judge did cut the punitive damages from $250 million to $39 million. Johnson will get $78 million total.

Bayer, which just bought Monsanto, called the decision a step in the right direction but said the verdict is still not supported by the evidence.

ROMANS: A South Carolina sheriff's deputy has died nearly three weeks after she was shot in a standoff that left seven officers wounded. Deputy Farrah Turner is the second officer to die from the attack.

Florence police Sgt. Terrence Carraway was also killed when 74-year- old Frederick Hopkins opened fire on those officers as they served a search warrant. Hopkins faces murder charges. BRIGGS: An intruder who kicked in the front door of the Fox affiliate in D.C. is in critical condition after a security guard shot him in the chest. The break-in was caught on surveillance video.

And according to WTTG, 38-year-old George Odemns was known to police and the station for sending bizarre e-mails to staff members.

He's facing burglary charges.

ROMANS: An emergency boil water advisory in effect for the city of Austin. Officials say historic flooding in Central Texas is causing very high levels of sediment. All Austin residents are urged to reduce their water use.

The city says the warning will end when Austin Water is able to stabilize its treatment system.

BRIGGS: The Museum of the Bible in D.C. says five of its most valuable artifacts are fakes and will no longer be displayed. They were thought to be part of the historic Dead Sea Scrolls but scholars in Germany tested the fragments and found five of them show, quote, "characteristics inconsistent with ancient origin."

CNN raised questions about the museum's Dead Sea Scroll fragments last November when the new $500 million museum was set to open.

Scholars say the forgeries could be one of the most significant shams in the history of biblical archaeology.

ROMANS: All right, maybe you can help solve this mystery. A photographer took this awesome engagement photo -- we think it's an engagement -- it looks like an engagement -- at Yosemite National Park in California. But the photographer just happened to be in the right place at the right time and he doesn't know who the happy couple is. He can't find them.

Freelance photographer Matthew Dippel snapped the image at Taft Point on October sixth. He said he tried to find the couple immediately after but no one came forward.

Head to CNN's Instagram feed for more.

Do you think she said yes?

BRIGGS: Maybe it's just a sincere apology. Maybe he screwed up and he's just -- I don't know. I hope they find them.

ROMANS: I'll never do it again, honey.

BRIGGS: A wet blanket.

ROMANS: I'll never do it again.

BRIGGS: Exactly.

The fall classic begins tonight. The A.L. champion Boston Red Sox hosting the N.L. champion Dodgers at Fenway Park.

A southpaw showdown in game one. Lefthanders Chris Sale of Boston and Clayton Kershaw of L.A. take the mound.

The first pitch -- bedtime for we morning anchors -- 8:09 eastern time. It will feel like low 40s and some drizzle --

ROMANS: Yes.

BRIGGS: -- in the forecast.

ROMANS: It will be cold.

BRIGGS: Yes.

ROMANS: All right, that's it for us this Tuesday. Thanks for joining us. I'm Christine Romans.

BRIGGS: I'm Dave Briggs. "NEW DAY" starts right now. See you tomorrow.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What he's doing this week is just making things up. His strategy seems to be just flood the zone with nonsense.

TRUMP: They're going to find MS-13, they're going to find Middle Eastern. We're not allowing them in our country.

BILL WEIR, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: It's ludicrous. It would be funny if it wasn't so insulting to this human tragedy we're seeing.

JEFF FLAKE (R) ARIZONA: It's long been an art and a fear tactic. He doesn't, I think, because it still works.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here is a hugely powerful motivator. Don't underestimate it working.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Alisyn Camerota and John Berman.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world. This is NEW DAY. It is Tuesday, October 23rd, 6:00 here in New York.

And, President Trump is waging a fact-free campaign of fear ahead of the midterm elections that are now two weeks from today. The president is making lots of outlandish claims that seem to be getting weirder by the day. He's saying strange things about the migrants from Central America, about Saudi Arabia, about jobs, about a non- existent tax plan.

So what's going on here? Well, there is racially-charged rhetoric and it seems --