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Is President Trump Doing Enough To Confront Saudi Arabia?; Melania Trump: Women Need Evidence To Prove They're Assault Victims; CNN Reality Check: The Facts About President Trump's Medicare Op-Ed; Two Killed As Hurricane Michael Carves A Path Of Destruction Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired October 11, 2018 - 07:30   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:32:25] ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: A bipartisan group of senators are pressuring President Trump to investigate the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, but the president has not sounded completely convinced about doing so.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I am concerned about it. I don't like hearing about it.

Well, I have to find out who did it. But people saw him go in but they didn't see him come out, as they understand it. And we're going to take a very serious look at it.

Well, it's a terrible thing and it certainly would not be a positive. I would not be happy at all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: All right, joining me now is CNN senior political reporter Nia-Malika Henderson, and former federal prosecutor and CNN chief legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin.

Guys, this is just as chilling as it gets -- the details of what journalists have found from unnamed Turkish sources about what happened after Jamal Khashoggi went into the consulate.

But it's complicated and for all of the reasons of the geopolitics of it between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia -- the ripple effect with Iran and Yemen.

And then, the interpersonal complications of the Trump family and this crown prince. Jared Kushner has become very close to this Saudi crown prince who many believe somehow ordered this hit on Jamal Khashoggi if that's, in fact, what happened.

In fact, here is how it plays out, Nia. This is according to "The New York Times".

"Kushner championed Prince Mohammad, who is 33, when the prince was jockeying to be his father's heir; had dinner with him in Washington and Riyadh, the Saudi capital; promoted the $110 billion weapons sale to his military; and once even hoped that the future king would put a Saudi stamp of approval on his Israel-Palestinian peace plan."

Nia, it couldn't be more intertwined --

NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: That's right -- that's right and the --

CAMEROTA: -- for personal and the international.

HENDERSON: Yes, and there's some reporting that there'd been conversations not recently, but between Kushner and the crown prince that weren't necessarily captured. That he didn't get the correct briefings before he had those conversations. So yes, this is incredibly complicated.

It's also complicated by the fact that this is a president who has been very mindful of essentially ignoring human rights abuses. He went before the U.N. just last month and said listen, you can do what you want to do. As long as the U.S. -- you recognize the U.S.' sovereignty we will recognize your sovereignty, too.

And when he went to Saudi Arabia in May of 2017, he also said that he wasn't there to lecture them. But guess what? I mean, this is what U.S. presidents have typically done in terms of human rights abuses.

[07:35:01] And, Saudi Arabia is one of the most repressive regimes in the world when you think of how they treat women, kids, people who are foreigners, people who aren't Muslim. And this is a place where the U.S., under this president, just hasn't wanted to go in terms of talking about these abuses.

So we'll see what this president does in terms of this issue. He's obviously getting pressure already from folks -- a bipartisan effort from senators to say look into this. Pressure this regime for transparency and then if something is proven that they actually did order this killing -- this hit on this journalist, then you have to put some sanctions on this regime.

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN CHIEF LEGAL ANALYST, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: You know, one view of the Middle East is that it is divided between Saudi allies and Iranian allies, and we have very much embraced Saudi Arabia as a check on Iran. Also, as a potential partner of Israel, although unspoken, in that part of the conflict.

If Saudi Arabia makes itself unsupportable by its behavior in this way, to say nothing of its use of executions of political prisoners -- I mean, just incredibly repressive politics -- it just throws our effort completely into disarray, which was Jared Kushner's principal achievement.

CAMEROTA: A former ambassador to Yemen says that because of all this -- all of these complications and all of these personal and political ties -- that perhaps Saudi Arabia now feels emboldened to do things like this. Here's the quote. "It does seem like the Saudis are less concerned about U.S. views than ever before, both because they assume Trump won't care and because they think they don't need U.S. approval."

And so enter in these senators, Mia, who are trying to get the president to care.

HENDERSON: Yes. And again, this is a bipartisan group of senators who are really trying to put this on the president's radar. So far, he's essentially said oh, he'll be mad if he finds out that something went wrong here. We don't know what kind of conversation this administration is having with the Saudi Arabians, with the crown prince.

Is Kushner, for instance, pressuring his good friend, the crown price there, to give him details about what happened? To give him information about what happened.

I think this also points to a kind of flaw in terms of the way this president approaches foreign policy, which is to say that sort of friendships can somehow change things, right?

I mean, for instance, this friendship with the crown prince. Kushner has the friendship that he -- that the president now has with the dictator of North Korea where it hasn't necessarily changed things materially. And we'll see if any way this friendship that has been developed comes into play and puts pressure on Saudi Arabia to give up information about what happened to this journalist.

CAMEROTA: One more complication. So, the president was asked if he would consider sanctions, if he would considering blocking arms sales to Saudi Arabia. This was on Fox yesterday, so let me just play for you what his response was to that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHANNON BREAM, FOX NEWS HOST, "FOX NEWS @ NIGHT": What about the senators' bipartisan kind of talk now that they would block any further arms sales to Saudi? Would you support that?

D. TRUMP: Well, I think that would be hurting us. Frankly, I think that that would be a very, very tough pill to swallow for our country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Would that be a tough pill to swallow?

TOOBIN: Well, when the president made his first foreign trip to Saudi Arabia last May, his big announcement was that Saudi was going to buy $110 billion worth of American military equipment.

That number was clearly exaggerated but there was substantial arms sales involved, which the president touted as essentially a jobs bill. Like, look at all the jobs it will create rather than whether Saudi Arabia really should have all those weapons. As you can tell from the president's answer he's still very reluctant to give up on those arms sales, in part because of the economic impact that those jobs have here in the United States.

CAMEROTA: OK, let's move on to the first lady because she's also making news. She's on an international trip as you know, Mia.

And so she was asked about everything that happened with Brett Kavanaugh. About the women who have come forward. About whether or not women should be believed.

Here is what Melania Trump says about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MELANIA TRUMP, FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: I support the women and they need to be heard. We need to support them and, you know, also men -- not just women.

I do stand with women but we need to -- we need to show the evidence. You cannot just say to somebody I was, you know, sexually assaulted and -- or you did that to me or -- because sometimes the media goes too far.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: So, Mia -- I mean, she's saying a few different things there. She's saying that women really need to produce hard evidence. And I'm just wondering what would the hard evidence be of someone trying to rip off your bathing suit and covering your mouth so you couldn't scream more than 30 years ago.

[07:40:04] TOOBIN: I'm going to defer to Nia. I have no idea what she's talking about. So, Nia, you're in charge of answering that question.

HENDERSON: Yes, I do, right.

I don't know either. I mean, she's all over the place there saying she supports women but supports the men. She probably believes what Don, Jr. believes, which is that there is this attempt to get men.

And obviously, her husband, she might think, is also a victim of this #MeToo culture. I think it was 13 women, so far, have accused him of sexual harassment, of sexual assault -- any number of infractions.

And, you know, the interesting thing -- I think the follow-up question to her would be well, what about these 13 women who've said these number of things about your husband? What do you think about that?

So, you know, I think what's also interesting about her is we often think that she is, in some ways, out to poke her husband, independent from her husband. But I think in the main areas, whether it's birtherism, whether it's #MeToo, whether it's that "ACCESS HOLLYWOOD" tape, she has been his biggest defender and I think we see that there in that interview. TOOBIN: What Nia said.

CAMEROTA: I knew that. You're passing this one --

TOOBIN: Yes.

CAMEROTA: -- right over to Nia -- got it.

Jeffrey, Nia, thank you very much.

OK, President Trump penned an op-ed for "USA Today" and took on "Medicare for All." But his arguments have fact-checkers working overtime, like our own CNN senior political analyst John Avlon here with a reality check. What have you found, John?

JOHN AVLON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, let me tell you, Ali.

So yesterday, "USA Today" published this op-ed by President Trump titled "Democrats' Medicare for All Plan Will Demolish Promises to Seniors."

Now, normally, it's just an honor to run a piece from the president but normally, columns are fact-checked, even from the president, and that's where things fell apart fast here because if the president says something that might make it news but that doesn't mean it's true.

Now, "The Washington Post" fact-checker Glenn Kessler wrote, quote, "Almost every sentence contained a misleading statement or a falsehood."

PolitiFact took it to the woodshed as well, as did NPR, the "L.A. Times," and many other outlets.

Now, to be clear, there are plenty of rational reasons to oppose Sen. Bernie Sanders' "Medicare for All" bill. Too bad the president didn't take that path.

Let's start with his core claim that "Medicare for All" would gut seniors' benefits. In fact, the plan would expand seniors' existing coverage to include dental, vision, and hearing aids while eliminating deductibles. Over time, it would try to expand this to all Americans.

The real problem is, you guessed it, the cost -- some $36 trillion over 10 years.

But, Trump has little moral authority when it comes to deficit and the debt. His trillions in tax cuts and big government budgets have created $1 trillion deficits for the foreseeable future.

And while Trump hates Obamacare, which lest we forget was based on a conservative Heritage Foundation proposal, he likes to say that he will protect the popular parts of the bill.

Back to the op-ed. Quote, "I promised we would protect coverage for patients with preexisting conditions and create new health care insurance options that would lower premiums." But he's done the opposite. His administration has taken steps to gut

affordable coverage for people with preexisting conditions.

He's tried to destabilize Obamacare markets by removing the individual mandate that helped contain costs for private sector providers, and even scheduled maintenance for many hours on Obamacare portals during open enrollment periods for the last two years -- or as the "USA" editorial board said back in July, quote, "Trump is determined to kill Obamacare in darkness."

Finally, Trump's fearmongering finale -- quote, "The new Democrats are radical socialists who want to model America's economy after Venezuela."

Venezuela is a socialist dictatorship with hyperinflation and few civil liberties. No major elected Democrats have suggested anything remotely like importing the morally and fiscally bankrupt Venezuela model to the United States.

These are just a few choice nuggets of nonsense from the president's op-ed.

And, "USA Today" came under fire for publishing it. In response to the backlash they wrote this. Quote, "We see ourselves as America's conversation center, presenting our readers with voices from the right, left, and middle."

So far, so good, but then this. "President Trump's op-ed was treated like other column submissions. We check factual assertions while allowing authors wide leeway to express their opinions."

Now, for what's it worth I've been a columnist and editor-in-chief, and once upon a time a speechwriter to Mayor Giuliani. There is an expectation that every fact in an op-ed is verified before submission and then it passes a rigorous fact-check by the editors before publication. And there's just no evidence that happened here, certainly not by normal trust, but verify standards.

Democracy depends on a vigorous exchange of ideas, but it also depends on a fact-based debate. Or as Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan once said, "Everyone's entitled to his own opinion but not his own facts." And that applies to the President of the United States, as well.

And that's your "Reality Check."

CAMEROTA: John, I so applaud you for that reality check.

"USA Today" -- yes, they consider a conversation. They have journalists and fact-check --

[07:45:01] AVLON: Of course.

CAMEROTA: -- as you point out.

I also like the "nuggets of nonsense" that you just coined.

AVLON: You're welcome. We are going to be serving those in the cafeteria later.

CAMEROTA: Delicious. Thank you very much.

OK, John Berman is in Panama City with the aftermath, just standing amidst the wreckage of what Hurricane Michael wrought there. John, tell us what you're seeing this morning.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, I could use some nuggets of nonsense. Some protein would be good. We've been surviving on Pringles and beef jerky for the last 48 hours or so, Alisyn.

The sun is now rising here over the Gulf Coast, over the Panhandle, and we are getting a much better sense of the destruction. We are also getting some new video in of the harrowing moments when this storm made landfall, two miles per hour short of a category five storm.

We spoke to someone from Callaway a short time ago who said it looked like a war zone. More coming in from there and new information -- that's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: All right, dawn now here in Panama City, Florida. First light, which means our first chance to get some aerial views.

We've got some drones up now in the sky. We couldn't do it yesterday. The wind was still blowing too fierce. So now we're getting a look from the air of some of the devastation on the ground.

You're looking at Panama City. This is where the western eyewall of the storm passed over.

In these parts, the winds were sustained at 100 miles per hour with gusts of 120 miles per hour. That's bad. That's enough to knock walls down, know buildings down, tear down trees and power lines everywhere.

[07:50:07] The building behind me we've been looking at all morning made of cinderblock and brick -- it was blown to smithereens here behind me. You can see how bad it is and that's on the western eyewall.

It's worse as you move east. The center of the storm and the eastern eyewall bringing even more ferocious winds and bigger storm surge.

One of the communities -- one of the communities that we're learning about this morning that was particularly hard-hit was Callaway and that's where we find storm chaser Jeff Piotrowski who was there when the wall hit. Jeff, tell me what you saw.

JEFF PIOTROWSKI, STORM CHASER, CALLAWAY, FLORIDA (via telephone): Yes, what we saw was wind gusts sustained at 120, probably gusting to near -- probably in the 170 range -- 165. And we'll have more data in the coming days about what happened there. But the damage in the Callaway area is extreme to heavy and at places catastrophic. I think when aerial assets go up today -- the drones you guys are going to fly -- and you do the survey, I could tell you from all my experience, Springfield, Parker, Callaway has extreme damage to catastrophic damage.

I'd say 80 percent of the buildings, both residential and commercial buildings, have damage and most of those have complete infrastructure failure. I actually had a wall of (INAUDIBLE) fall on my vehicle while I was there in Callaway filming and there's a lot of -- there's a lot of damage there.

And as go on down toward Mexico Beach and that area, that has been a just catastrophic damage in Mexico Beach as well as Port St. Joe with the tidal surge up -- you know, upwards of 15 or 20-foot storm surge in that area is what I -- is what the people ought to understand.

BERMAN: Eighty to 90 percent of the buildings damaged is your estimate based on that. And we'll try to get some drones and assets down to you to get a sense of what it looks like from the air.

Until we do, can you give us a description? If you were to walk outside and walk down the streets, what would you see?

PIOTROWSKI: Because of my tornado experience -- you know, 40 years that I've chased the tornadoes over the Plains -- the best way to describe this, it looks like -- it's about a 40-mile -- a 35 to 40- mile wide -- I consider like a -- you know, this is like a cat four and you can't relate the two. It would be like an EF3 tornado that was 45 miles wide.

Everything but -- just (INAUDIBLE). All the trees are just leveled, cut off. The tops of buildings are missing.

If you've got a high-rise building five to 10 stories high, the glass windows are blown out. The furniture's blown out from the office buildings.

You got whole sides of hotels that collapsed. There's a Holiday Inn Express there that collapsed on the western face of the -- torn off at the front and fell on about 20 automobiles with people in them in Callaway.

The damage over there is unbelievable. It's serene, it's a lot of -- it's massive damage over there.

I mean, like I said, I think they're going to -- when people get good views today of what the damage is there, I think it's going to be very sobering. But I'm telling you right now, the damage is major and it is a catastrophe over there right now between Parker, Callaway, and Springfield and on the southeast coast. And also, the Air Force base there.

BERMAN: Yes.

PIOTROWSKI: I mean, (INAUDIBLE) after the fact, but in that general area it's catastrophic damage.

BERMAN: Jeff Piotrowski, storm chaser who rode out the storm in Callaway, giving us a sense of just how bad it is. Catastrophic damage, he says.

Jeff, our thanks to you.

And as the sun does rise here in Panama City over the Gulf Coast, we really are getting a better sense of just how devastating this storm was. We have some new pictures, some new information, and a fresh update on the storm. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:57:44] CAMEROTA: It's time for "CNN Business Now."

A brutal day on Wall Street. U.S. stocks suffering their biggest drop in months and it's looking like another down day when the markets open.

So let's check in with chief business correspondent Christine Romans with a preview. What are you seeing?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT, ANCHOR, "EARLY START": Yes, more pain ahead, it looks like.

In less than two hours -- about an hour and a half, the Dow set to fall again, maybe 300 points if you can judge from futures here this morning. That's one day after plunging more than 800 points, its third-worst point decline ever.

All three indices lost at least three percent, the selling that's spread around the world. European and Asian stocks are lower.

It started with tech -- big names like Netflix, Amazon, Apple. Those three alone, Alisyn, lost nearly $120 billion in market value.

October has been rough for stocks. Investors are worried about the U.S.-China trade war.

They're worried about higher interest rates. Higher interest rates increase borrowing costs. That eats into corporate profits. Mortgage rates are above five percent.

The rates are rising because the U.S. economy is so strong and the Federal Reserve is trying to keep it from overheating.

The president often uses the stock market as his personal scorecard, so what's he saying about this? Well, he's blaming the Fed for the stock market decline, first, after arriving in Pennsylvania.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

D. TRUMP: I think the Fed is making a mistake. They're so tight. I think the Fed has gone crazy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Then, again on Fox News.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

D. TRUMP: The Fed is going wild. I mean, I don't know what their problem is but they're raising interest rates and it's ridiculous.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: But, Treasury Sec. Steven Mnuchin does not blame the Fed. He told CNN the drop is a quote "normal correction." A correction -- or a 10 percent drop is normal and even now as the Dow and S&P 500 are only about, Alisyn, five percent off record highs.

CAMEROTA: All right. Thank you for keeping an eye on all of this for us, Christine Romans.

All right, we're getting a look at the catastrophic damage in Florida after Hurricane Michael, so let's get right to it.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

BERMAN: Good morning, everyone. Just about 8:00 in the east. I'm John Berman in Panama City, Florida. Alisyn Camerota in New York.

All around me is the aftermath of Hurricane Michael. It made landfall as the most powerful storm ever to hit the Florida Gulf Coast and one of the most powerful storms ever to make landfall in the United States, period.

The wind speeds were 155 miles per hour and the damage is extensive.