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CNN NEWSROOM

Serial Mail Bomb Suspect Arrested in Florida; Trump Calls for Civility but Continues to Blame the Media; Erdogan Demands to Know Location of Journalist's Body; Obama Campaigns for Democrats; New Airstrikes on Gaza; Kenya Airways Launches First Flight to NYC; Duke and Duchess of Sussex Cheer Invictus Athletes. Aired 5-6a ET

Aired October 27, 2018 - 05:00   ET

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


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NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): A four-day manhunt ends with an arrest but the search for mail bombs isn't over, as the FBI director says there could be more out there.

GEORGE HOWELL, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): This as the U.S. president says the media are to blame, using the bomb investigation for political gain, though we're not politicians.

ALLEN (voice-over): Also the investigation of Jamal Khashoggi's murder takes a turn. We'll go live to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and Istanbul, Turkey, for the latest.

HOWELL (voice-over): Live from CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta, welcome to you in the United States and all around the world. I'm George Howell.

ALLEN (voice-over): And I'm Natalie Allen. Thank you for being with us. CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.

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HOWELL: 5:00 am on the U.S. East Coast. The manhunt is now over. A suspect is behind bars. Police caught an alleged serial bomber, the man you see right there, in the state of Florida. This man is now charged with sending explosives in the mail to prominent Democrats and others.

Authorities say fingerprints on a package led them to 56-year-old Cesar Sayoc in South Florida. He's now linked to 14 explosive devices intercepted across the United States since Monday.

ALLEN (voice-over): Police also impounded his white van, covered with pro-Trump stickers and negative images, many of his intended targets. And even though non-exploded, the FBI on Friday repeated that the devices were potentially lethal, not hoaxes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) CHRISTOPHER WRAY, FBI DIRECTOR: Thirteen IEDs were sent to various individuals across the country. Each device consisted of roughly 6 inches of PVC pipe, a small clock, a battery, some wiring and what is known as energetic material, which is essentially potential explosives and material that give off heat and energy through a reaction to heat, shock or friction.

Though we're still analyzing the devices in our laboratory, these are not hoax devices.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: One more package was intercepted after that FBI news conference, bringing the total now to 14.

HOWELL: There's a lot around this investigation. For everything we know so far, our Jim Sciutto picks it up from here.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): 56-year-old Cesar Sayoc is in custody.

CHRISTOPHER WRAY, FBI DIRECTOR: These are not hoax devices.

SCIUTTO (voice-over): Officials say he was living with his parents but they had kicked him out so he was now living out of his van, which authorities took into custody after his arrest.

The van, covered in political decals, images of the president and vice president and one saying "CNN sucks," a frequent chant at the president's rallies. Sayoc attended one of those rallies in Melbourne, Florida, in 2017 and held up a sign with the same message.

He had been active across social media, posting images of himself at Trump rallies, pro-Republican messages, attacking many of his alleged targets, such as Hillary Clinton and former president Barack Obama, even posting memes attacking billionaire investor George Soros after a potential explosive was found at Soros' home.

Other alleged targets: former vice president Joe Biden, Senator Cory Booker and Congresswoman Maxine Waters. And Sayoc posted a series of threats directed at CNN, its anchors, correspondents and contributors.

"The Washington Post" quoting one his of former employers describing the disturbing images on his van.

"It was puppets with their heads cut off, mannequins with their heads cut off, Ku Klux Klan, a black person being hung, anti-gay symbols, torching, bombings."

Online records show that Sayoc had an extensive arrest record across two states including grand theft, battery, fraud, drug possession and one in Miami in 2002, which according to a police report, he threatened to blow up a Florida utility company "worse than September 11th." He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to a year's probation. Now he faces five federal charges, up to 48 years in prison.

GEOFFREY BERMAN, U.S. ATTORNEY, SDNY: The defendant's conduct as charged is cowardly and reprehensible and totally anathema to our democracy.

SCIUTTO: Sayoc will make his first court appearance on Monday. Ultimately we're learning that this case will be dealt with by federal prosecutors in New York, the Southern District of New York, same prosecutors, same court that have handled many international terror cases -- Jim Sciutto, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: The bomb suspect has a criminal history, which notably includes a 2020 (sic) arrest by Miami police, where he threatened to blow up a Florida utility company.

[05:05:00]

ALLEN: His former attorney, Ron Lowy, spoke with CNN's Anderson Cooper about that arrest.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RON LOWY, SAYOC'S FORMER ATTORNEY: I still recall when I got the phone call, when he was arrested for threatening Florida Power and Light Company. And that occurred when he was working with a Laundromat. He actually owned it, a small Laundromat.

And the electricity was turned off. He got so angry, he got on the phone, begged them on put on it, they wouldn't, started screaming and then he blurted out. If I blowed up your office, I'm sure you would turn it on real quick. I can make it like worse than 9/11.

And, you know, they hung up on him and of course they called police, who came and investigated. Found no indications of bombmaking but they charged him with a threat. And when it went to court, the judge and the prosecutor saw it for what it was. He was someone who was sick.

At that time, he clearly no indications of carrying out such activities. It's now 16 years later. His sickness has obviously worsened over the years and they put him on probation and gave him a break.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: But, again, that discussion about the suspect threatening to blow up a utility in 2002. That was Ron Lowy, who has known Cesar Sayoc for years. He went on say that Cesar's family encouraged him to get mental health treatment, though he never did.

ALLEN: He also said the suspect never showed an interest in politics until President Trump ran for office.

President Trump condemned serial bomb mailings on Friday as terrorizing acts.

He also urged unity and an end to the politics of personal destruction but then he criticized the media for how it has covered his response to the attempted attack and his rhetoric. Our Jeff Zeleny has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Trump issuing another call for civility at a rally in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Friday evening in the wake of the arrest of the suspected serial bomber, responsibility for sending at least 14 pipe bombs to Democratic critics of this president.

Now the president opened his remarks at this rally saying there's no place in American society for political violence. He said that he's committed to changing the discourse but didn't say how, immediately shifting to blaming the media and even blaming Democrats.

He really is trying in the final -- you know, less than two weeks before the midterm elections, trying to use the media as, what he says, trying to score points. It is his leading opponent now, the president again and again and again, saying that the media is trying to --

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ZELENY (voice-over): -- stop his movement, as he calls it, the most powerful movement in the history of this country. Never mind the civil rights movement and other movements from history.

The president casting this final closing argument, if you will, as the media trying to stop him. Of course, his supporters cheered all of that. But we do not know how this will play outside the arena, how this all will play with independent voters and others.

But take a listen to what the president said about this.

TRUMP: Everyone will benefit if we can end the politics of personal destruction. We must unify as a nation in peace, love and harmony. The nation has a major role to play, whether they want to or not. And they do indeed.

They have a major role to play as far as tone and as far as everything. And we all say this in all sincerity but the media's constant unfair coverage, deep hostility and negative attacks -- you know that -- only serve to drive people apart and to undermine healthy debate.

For example, we have seen an effort by the media in recent hours to use the sinister actions of one individual to score political points against me and the Republican Party.

ZELENY: The president clearly trying to get the midterm election message back, not talking much at all about the suspected serial bomber, going after Democrats hard on immigration, accusing them without any information falsely of trying to bring immigrants -- [05:10:00]

ZELENY: -- here to the U.S. to vote in some cases and others. There's been no evidence of widespread voter fraud.

Of course, it's something he likes to talk about again and again and it's something he's talking about with incorporating frequency going into the midterm elections. But the president a little softer tone in some respects, certainly against some of his rivals but taking no responsibility for his role in this overheated political climate that certainly led to at least the arrest of that suspected serial bomber in Florida -- Jeff Zeleny, CNN, Charlotte, North Carolina.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: Jeff, thank you.

Two of the intended targets of these mail bombs were former CIA director John Brennan and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper. Keith Noble is a former CIA bureau chief and joins us now from Miami, Florida.

Good to have you here, Keith. The suspect arrested in this case had a van full of pro-Trump stickers. Clearly this is someone who supported the president. But beyond that, it is leading to a bigger question around the president's rhetoric, Mr. Trump taking no responsibility for the tone of his personal attacks.

But one of the critics who received a package in the mail is one of your former bosses. Here's what James Clapper had to say about the president's rhetoric. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES CLAPPER, FORMER U.S. DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: I do think, though, that all politicians are responsible for toning down the rhetoric where possible. And first among those politicians is the president of the United States, who occupies the most influential bully pulpit, not only in this country but in the world.

And you can accuse other people of saying extreme things. But, really, the leadership for this starts with the president of the United States. He has to set the tone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: So this issue of rhetoric is the question, Keith.

How much will investigators look into the motivation of this suspect as clearly we see the political leanings of, you know, his feelings, opinions, very evident on his van?

KEITH NOBLE, FORMER CIA BUREAU CHIEF: Well, George, in every investigation, law enforcement wants to understand what was the trigger that pushed this particular individual to his radical behavior. And it's clear from all of the intelligence, the open source

information that's been collected and information that's been shared through the media, that Mr. Sayoc was a disturbed, demented man.

He first registered with the Republican Party, became active in politics in 2016 in the run-up to Donald Trump's election. So when we look at the rhetoric that have been pervasive with this White House over the last nearly two years, it's quite clear that he was moved by many of the comments about the media being radical, the media being evil, Democrats are out there to hurt America, so on and so forth.

So it's going to be very important for them to really get at that core root in terms of why he became radicalized. So what they're going to do is talk to his family, look at his associates.

And you've seen on CNN and other channels, looking at his social media, that this is clearly someone who was motivated by the hateful, angry rhetoric we're seeing on the far right with the Republican Party and, unfortunately, with the president of the United States that is likely one of the culprits to push him over the top.

HOWELL: We heard the FBI director say specifically about the devices that they were not hoaxes, that they were potentially lethal. Still, thankfully none of those devices exploded.

But given what we know, what do you make of the message this suspect was trying to send with these devices?

NOBLE: George, to be clear, this was an act of domestic terrorism, pure and simple. We're very thankful and appreciative that those devices did not go off. One of the things that is not often mentioned is they were sent to President Obama, President Clinton, various members of the Democratic Senate, so on and so forth.

But at any moment, any one of our U.S. Postal workers touching those packages, it could have exploded. It could have exploded on the mail carrier, at the mailbox. So the fact that they did not explode, I'll call that that we got lucky.

But be clear, this was an act of terrorism, those were live devices and it just so happens Mr. Sayoc happened to be a poor bombmaker and, by that grace, we were able to avoid a national calamity.

HOWELL: Again, thankfully, none of those devices exploded. Here's a bigger question, Keith.

How vigilant do investigators need to be at this point?

Is the danger still there that there could be other packages out there and there could also be copycat incidences?

NOBLE: Simple, to answer your question, George, is yes. There is no indication that we received from the FBI, Homeland Security or the Department of Justice that --

[05:10:00] NOBLE: -- all of his potential packages have been accounted for. The last 72 hours, it seems every day we're finding more and more packages. I believe the last one that came up was to Tom Steyer, who's a noted Democratic supporter.

So we're still in that period where investigators are going to be combing the United States Postal system, looking at potential other targets that he may have mentioned on any one of his social posts to see if there are potentially any other targets.

To your last point, George, oftentimes when we see these violent incidents, is you have this copycat phenomenon. So this is something that investigators, law enforcement and obviously members of the political establishment need to be resolute moving forward and on the lookout potentially for people who are trying to mirror what this man did.

HOWELL: Keith Noble, joining us from Miami, Florida. Keith, thank you again for your perspective and insight. We'll keep in touch with you.

NOBLE: Thank you, George.

ALLEN: Another story we continue to follow at CNN. The Turkish president demands that those suspected of killing a journalist in Istanbul should stand trial in Turkey but now Saudi Arabia says that's not going to happen. We'll go live to Riyadh and Istanbul coming up here.

HOWELL: Plus rocket fire from Gaza and Israeli airstrikes fill the night sky after protests along the border escalate. We'll have details coming up in a live report as NEWSROOM pushes on. Stay with us.

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ALLEN: Welcome back.

Saudi Arabia and Turkey are at an impasse over the Jamal Khashoggi case. The Saudi foreign minister says 18 Saudis suspected of killing the Saudi journalist in Istanbul will not be extradited. They will be prosecuted in Saudi Arabia.

HOWELL: That's right. But that clashes with what the Turkish president wants. He says that the 18 must be handed over to Turkey to stand trial there. Police there say Khashoggi was murdered at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

ALLEN: CNN correspondents following all aspects of this story. We have emerging markets editor, John Defterios, with us in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and international diplomatic editor, Nic Robertson, live for us in Istanbul, Turkey. It seems, Nic, first to you, that the Turkish leader is not happy with

the way Saudi Arabia is responding to his latest demand.

What can you tell us?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: He isn't.

[05:20:00]

ROBERTSON: He's saying, look, these 18 people that Saudi Arabia has detained should be extradited here. The chief prosecutor has issued extradition warrants, calling for Saudi Arabia to send them here for trial.

President Erdogan says that this is the way for Saudi Arabia to show full transparency and full cooperation that this was a crime committed on Turkish soil, a senior Turkish official says Turkey is better equipped to handle the trial here.

The justice minister here says that Turkey is determined to make sure that justice is done, that it is capable of doing that.

We have just, in the last half hour, learned the charge sheet that these 18 men -- Saudi men would face if they came here. And it's a pretty damning charge sheet that the Turkish authorities would issue against them.

It's intentional homicide and premeditation and monstrous feelings or the intent to make the victim suffer. That does seem to speak to what Turkish officials have been saying all along, that Khashoggi was brutally beaten, tortured before he was finally executed.

And that is being clearly demonstrated in the charge sheet. But, yes, President Erdogan of Saudi Arabia has essentially -- of Turkey, rather -- has threatened Saudi Arabia, saying, don't think that we don't have more documents. Tomorrow is another day, indicating that the Turkish authorities may have more evidence that they will make public.

So it is a threat. He also is demanding to know where Jamal Khashoggi's body is and also who the collaborator is that these Saudi men say they handed the body off to. And he's also very darkly hinted that the king of Saudi Arabia and the crown prince know how to get information out of people.

This is ratcheting up. And on Sunday here, the chief prosecutor from Saudi Arabia will meet with his opposite number in Turkey. Both sides are digging in -- Natalie.

ALLEN: Yes. We know that Turkey has let the CIA chief listen to the audio of his reported killing. Nic Robertson for us there.

Let's turn to John, who is in Riyadh.

What is the story from there, John?

We just heard from Nic, talking about that the Saudis are pushing back against what Turkey is requesting.

JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: Natalie, the legal battle lines are being drawn and quickly here, as Nic noted, we even have the charge sheet for the 18 Saudis that President Erdogan wanted extradited to Turkey.

We heard from Adel al-Jubeir, the foreign minister of Saudi Arabia, who was speaking at the annual Manama dialogue which takes place; it's a think tank over there. He reiterated this point here from the kingdom, that there was no rush to judgment.

And then he even kind of pushed attention the other way, saying that this is not a problem amongst governments but it's a media hysteria behind it.

Why is it getting covered so much?

Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADEL AL-JUBEIR, SAUDI FOREIGN MINISTER: We have tried to share the information that we have obtained with the public but, unfortunately, there has been this hysteria in the media about Saudi Arabia's guilt before the investigation is completed.

And what we say to people is wait until everything is done and then reflect on the results of the investigation and then make a determination on whether this investigation was serious or not. But not from the get-go.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEFTERIOS: Adel al-Jubeir, the foreign minister speaking in Manama. The pressure, actually, Natalie, has been coming ideally, you can see here from the reporting we had in Istanbul, from President Erdogan in almost a drip, drip, drip strategy.

But the frustration that the foreign minister expressed there is one that was shared during the investment summit as well because the intense covering of what was taking place here, the so-called Davos of the desert.

Both the energy minister and the economy minister of Saudi Arabia were wondering why it's getting so much global attention but this has collided with the midterm elections in the United States and President Trump saying he wants to see a thorough investigation.

And it doesn't seem like the Saudis are very forthcoming on that front. They want to move at a different pace, of course, than the pressure being applied by President Erdogan today.

ALLEN: All right, John Defterios for us in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Nic Robertson there in Istanbul, we'll continue to follow the developments. Thank you both. HOWELL: U.S. president says he's toning down the harsh rhetoric but still attacking the media, claiming it's dividing the country. We'll have more on that ahead.

ALLEN: Also, former president Barack Obama campaigns for Democrats and turns down a request for re-election.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I can't do that, babe, I --because I follow the Constitution of the United States. I can only do two terms.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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HOWELL: Good early morning to our viewers here in the U.S. and around the world. Good day to you. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM, live from Atlanta, Georgia. I'm George Howell.

ALLEN: And I'm Natalie Allen. The headlines this hour:

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A nationwide manhunt for a serial mail bomber is over. It ended Friday with the arrest in South Florida of a 56-year-old man now linked to 14 potentially explosive devices.

HOWELL: Authorities say the fingerprints on one of the packages led them to this man here, Cesar Sayoc. He has been charged with sending explosives in the mail to prominent Democrats and to others.

ALLEN: Police also impounded his --

[05:30:00]

ALLEN: -- white van, which was covered with pro-Trump stickers and negative pictures of many of Mr. Trump's -- excuse me -- of the suspect's intended targets. We get more about it from CNN's Athena Jones.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ATHENA JONES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In addition to repeatedly slamming CNN, Sayoc was a frequent online critic of the very people federal prosecutors say he targeted with 13 pipe bombs sent through the U.S. postal system in the last few days.

The 56-year-old registered Republican has been active across social media, where he has posted multiple images of himself attending Trump rallies or wearing a "Make American Great Again" hat, even wishing Trump a happy birthday back in June.

He has also tweeted pro Republican messages like "It's time to take our country back. Vote Republican," and "The Swamp to be Drained," a post that includes pictures of prominent Democrats and the logos of all major television news networks except FOX News.

Sayoc's online persona and activities echoing conspiracy theories and themes popular on right-wing web sites, posting on Facebook this photo of Hillary Clinton in May 2016 with a caption, "I presided over $6 billion lost at the State Department, sold uranium to the Russians through my faux charity, illegally deleted public records and murdered an ambassador."

And on Twitter, this string of posts about President Obama, including this message about his, quote, "real father," and posting just weeks before the presidential election, "Clinton is worst on terrorism. Her and Obama have made America weak and open to world terrorist attacks."

A Facebook spokesman telling CNN the company previously removed multiple posts from Sayoc's account for violations of its community standards, at times following complaints from other users. The company would not say how many posts were removed but said the violations were not severe enough to prompt them to shut down Sayoc's account until after he was named a suspect.

Sayoc maintained at least two Twitter accounts, just this week tweeting about President Obama and two billionaire Democratic activists, Tom Steyer and George Soros, after authorities found the pipe bomb he allegedly sent to one of Soros's homes, the first such device to be detected.

He tweeted about former vice president Joe Biden in late September, two days later posting this message about New Jersey Democratic Senator Cory Booker.

Sayoc, who has had multiple run-ins with the law and a string of arrests dating back to the early '90s, tweeted about another target, California Representative Maxine Waters, back in April.

Sayoc's van, which investigators seized, was decorated with pro-Trump imagery and a "CNN sucks" sticker, a reference to a chant heard frequently at Trump rallies.

And this tweet falsely saying CNN was Hillary Clinton's eighth largest donor, even though CNN does not make political donations or take political positions.

Sayoc also posted a series of threats to CNN, its anchors, correspondents and contributors, tweeting: Go screw, CNN. You're next. You over enemy of America, CNN, you're next. So, the corrupt con job media like make threats, April and Don Lemon next.

Among the many ramblings of a prolific social media user, who was clearly pro-Trump, saying on the president's birthday, "Thank you for all you do against everyone and not be stopped ever, straight ahead. Get it done. Awesome. Build wall." -- Athena Jones, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: Again, the bomb suspect's van was decorated, covered with pro- Trump pictures.

HOWELL: Tom Foreman takes a closer look now at the pictures Cesar Sayoc chose to display on that van.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The suspect had a big profile on social media but you didn't have to go there to see things that caught the public's attention.

The van he was driving down the road -- at least authorities say he was driving; they've now taken into custody -- drew the attention of passers-by because it was covered with so many signs of his political views. This was one window of the van. You can see at the top it has support for Mike Pence and Donald Trump in the White House.

Here it has a little bit more of that also, mixing with generic support for sports. And then you get down to this area and you really get to the part that gets into the nastiness of it all.

There are crosshairs here on Hillary Clinton, on Barack Obama, riding a tricycle and the filmmaker, Michael Moore, on Jill Stein from the Green Party, from our colleague, Van Jones here at CNN, and then other things that just sort of attack the government in general.

And then beyond that, if you go up to -- from this window, back into this area, you can see another window that's filled with support for Donald Trump here, some anti-abortion lines over here, support the Seminole tribe down there, which he has a lot of postings about, and then generic religious things, support for troops and then some references to country music down here.

Overall, when you look this van from the outside, including the front windshield just packed with all sorts of debris, you can see why this attracted a lot of attention just going down the road, even before all of these recent events.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: Tom Foreman, thank you.

President Trump praised law enforcement quickly for arresting the bomb suspect and he called the terrorizing acts "despicable."

[05:35:00]

ALLEN: He also urged unity and an end to the politics of personal destruction.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TRUMP: The bottom line is that Americans must unify and show the world that we are united together in peace and love and harmony as fellow American citizens.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: Shortly after making those peace and harmony comments, the president criticized the media, claiming the media is dividing the country. He also did nothing to stop a crowd at this campaign rally from chanting, "CNN sucks."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We must unify as a nation in peace, love and in harmony. The media has a major role to play, whether they want to or not.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: Let's bring in Inderjeet Parmar, professor of international politics at City University of London to get some insight into what's going on.

Inderjeet, good morning to you and thank you so much for joining us. I want to get your reaction to President Trump, when he was asked about whether his rhetoric can contribute to violence.

He said absolutely, not at all. We saw him there when he was reading the teleprompter. He's talking about unifying and harmony and it sounds lovely.

Then when he goes off teleprompter, he does encourage violence sometimes. He has done that. So your thoughts to this arrest and what happened this week in the U.S.

INDERJEET PARMAR, CITY UNIVERSITY OF LONDON: Sure. I think it tells us about a very, very serious position that politics and the whole of American society has reached now. And I think President Trump -- we know that leadership and the rhetoric deployed by leadership -- and by leadership I mean now at the very top of American politics, it has a big impact. It sends signals; it sends messages. It empowers some, it encourages certain forces.

And I think to say that even though President Trump's rhetoric may not have a direct impact on individuals to do these things, they send signals about what is acceptable. And the level of vitriol which has been spread and, quite frankly, encourages violence as well in the past.

So I don't think President Trump can completely evade responsibility. But we know that his personal style is never to accept any responsibility for anything negative but to push back. And I suspect this harmony and love message is going to be followed by other messages, which are going to be a little bit more vitriolic as well.

ALLEN: Why do you think, considering we just had 14 bombs sent to people that he constantly maligns, why do you think he and his team cannot come up with something else, can't add to his -- what he says, even on the campaign trail, realizing that this country is in a dangerous way?

PARMAR: Right. And I think this goes to the heart of it, Natalie.

I've been reading very carefully the book by Bob Woodward, "Fear," and it's quite clear. there is a kind of war within the American state or the federal executive. There are those around Trump who try to advise restraint in rhetoric and so on. And the sometimes win the day and then he reads off a teleprompter.

Other times his instinct is to push back. But I think understands another thing about his instinct and that is his political base is strongly rallied by that kind of pushback against the state itself, against the dominant political parties.

He's organizing a mass movement much more than he is running a government, even though his policies have had a big effect. So I think, if you like, his advisers are relatively powerless on the whole to do very much about what he believes is a kind of authentic America, his America first is, in which he represents.

And attacks by this particular individual, alleged attacks by this individual, are a perfect metaphor for the kind of enemies that Donald Trump reckons are attacking the United States -- Obama, Clinton, Soros and the minorities that they've mobilized to vote for them against the "authentic America."

ALLEN: Right. He, you know, says that the Democrats -- that's the reason for all of our problems, the media, that's the reason for all of our problems. Whatever happened to Harry Truman's "The buck stops here"?

That doesn't seem to exist.

PARMAR: Well, we know that President Trump is not going to accept anything which suggests that -- sees him in a negative light and takes advantage and credit for everything that he would claim to be positive. But I think he transcends -- in his own mind --

[05:40:00]

PARMAR: -- he transcends everything. He is not attached really to the leadership of the Republican Party or to the American state. He's criticized the intelligence community, the law enforcement communities. He doesn't really have an attachment to the rule of law unless he gets what he wants. He doesn't really respect major institutions and certainly doesn't respect, if you like, normal political style.

And I think that's because he's building what looks like a parallel movement. And that movement I suspect, with people like Bannon and Stephen Miller and others, I suspect it's going to live long beyond President Trump's own presidency, whether it lasts two years more or six years more. So I don't think he feels any loyalty to any of the established

institutions and I think he's trying to disrupt the entire American political system and shift it further and further to the authoritarian Right. And I don't think he's going to move back very far from what he's been saying already about these bombs which have been sent to prominent leaders.

ALLEN: And we still don't know if there could be bombs out there undetected as well. The FBI continues to investigate. Inderjeet Parmar, thank you. We appreciate your insights. We appreciate it.

PARMAR: Thank you.

HOWELL: The former U.S. president Barack Obama is on the campaign trail again ahead of the midterm elections. He's urging the Democrats in the Midwest to show up in force to vote at the polls.

ALLEN: Mr. Obama addressed a cheering crowd in Wisconsin Friday. He said in order to preserve health care and the environment, it's time to vote blue.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: I am here to ask you to vote -- to vote in what might be the most important election of our lifetime.

They've now had two years of control in Washington.

What have they done with that power?

Well, it's not true they haven't done nothing. It's not true they haven't done anything. Let me tell you what they've done.

They cut taxes for the rich and corporations to the tune of $1.5 trillion, just like they did the last time.

They stripped rules to protect our air and our water, just like they did the last time.

They ran up the deficits, just like they did the last time.

They have gone to Washington and just plundered away.

In Washington, they have racked up enough indictments to field a football team.

Nobody in my administration got indicted.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: President Trump is also out stumping for his Republican Party. He's campaigning for Republicans in states where they have a shot at Senate seats.

HOWELL: The White House says Mr. Trump will kick off an eight-state blitz of rallies and campaign stops. He'll head out Wednesday and keep the effort going until the midterm elections come November 6th.

Still ahead here on CNN NEWSROOM, the violence along the Gaza-Israeli border. Israeli jets are on the offensive against targets in Gaza (INAUDIBLE) Palestinians were (INAUDIBLE) rockets were launched there. CNN's Oren Liebermann is on the story.

Let's bring Oren in now on this.

Oren, what's the latest there?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: George, we just got a statement a short while ago, shortly after noon local time from Palestinian Islamic Jihad, saying that an Egyptian brokered cease-fire had been reached between Israel and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

A spokesman for the Israeli prime minister's office wouldn't comment on that reported cease-fire and that's not uncommon. Israel has not responded to or acknowledged any of the cease-fires in the past.

But Palestinian Islamic Jihad says cease-fire has been reached. It is important to note, George, that since the report of that cease-fire, we have seen some black smoke in the distance, perhaps the cease-fire not holding. We'll wait and see at this point.

But that's the big development, happened here just in the last 30-45 minutes or so. Palestinian Islamic Jihad saying a cease-fire has been reached with Israel and they said they would commit to stand by that cease-fire as long as Israel stood by that cease-fire.

What brought us to this point?

The Israeli military said Palestinian Islamic Jihad fired nearly 3 dozen rockets or perhaps a few more than 3 dozen rockets from Gaza into Israel. A number of those were intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome aerial defense system.

Those came in a number of salvos. In response throughout the evening, Friday evening into today, Israel carried out a series of airstrikes, hitting more than 100 targets, nearly a hundred targets, including military targets, advanced weapons, manufacturing sites as well as tunnels and the headquarters of the general security services of Hamas inside of Gaza.

[05:45:00]

LIEBERMANN: Israel says the rocket fire from Palestinian Islamic jihad, which is a militant group funded by Iran, was directed by the Al Quds Force, Revolutionary Guard corps force of Iran. They were instructing and guiding that rocket fire.

Israel says they've intercepted communications to that effect. Israel says this is an unusual statement, that the response will not be limited geographically, indicating that the Israeli military may carry out strikes in Damascus or in Syria in response to the rocket fire.

That's an incredibly unusual statement, George. It's rare for the Israeli military to acknowledge striking Syria, let alone warning that it may strike in advance.

That's where things are now George. The key moment now, the key thing to watch, does the cease-fire hold?

Does the reported cease-fire that Palestinian Islamic Jihad was brokered by the Egyptians, does that hold here and has this escalation come to an end?

Or does it continue?

HOWELL: Again, Oren Liebermann. We brought you in just a bit early to give us this new development in this story, this report that a Palestinian-Israeli cease-fire that has been reached. Oren, thank you for the reporting. We'll, of course, keep in touch with you.

You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. We'll be right back after the break.

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HOWELL: Welcome back. Kenya Airways is about to break some records. On Sunday it's launching a direct flight from Nairobi to New York.

ALLEN: That's a long flight. Lots of movies. Making it the first nonstop flight from East Africa to the United States. CNN's Richard Quest has our story.

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RICHARD QUEST, CNNMONEY EDITOR AT LARGE: Nairobi to New York in 15 hours: it's the first direct flight between Kenya and the United States and it takes off on Sunday. It's an important milestone for Kenya Airways that just --

[05:50:00]

QUEST (voice-over): -- a year ago was on the brink of bankruptcy.

MICHAEL JOSEPH, CHAIRMAN, KENYA AIRWAYS: It's a big turning point for us, an indication that we're now no longer in significant trouble.

QUEST: It's difficult for others outside this country to appreciate that one flight to New York is a national event.

JOSEPH: It's also important for us because, as Kenya Airways and for Nairobi to become a hub for Africa.

QUEST (voice-over): This is the pride of the fleet, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner that will service the route.

One of the fleet pilots is Captain Irene Mutungi.

QUEST: How long have you been flying? IRENE MUTUNGI, CAPTAIN, KENYA AIRWAYS: Twenty-three years now. I started as a cadet in the airline and worked my way up to a first officer and then a captain working up to the bigger aircraft as I went along.

QUEST: But now you're a captain on the 7-8.

MUTUNGI: Yes, I am. Fortunately I became the first African Dreamliner captain in the world.

QUEST (voice-over): The U.S. granted security clearance for nonstop flights between the two countries last year after a sustained push by Kenyan authorities.

QUEST: This case was one of the requirements demanded by the United States for U.S.-bound flights. Kenya Airways had to build it and will store any U.S.-bound cargo in a sterile environment.

QUEST (voice-over): And it's fragile cargo indeed.

QUEST: Let's just check. Yes, they're roses.

QUEST (voice-over): The airline believes access to a new market will boost revenue by 10 percent next year.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, when we did the export (INAUDIBLE) look at flowers, look at the vegetables we (INAUDIBLE) which is driving this economy (INAUDIBLE).

QUEST (voice-over): The promise of a new frontier awaits as long as the planes get off the ground -- when I'm not near the controls --

QUEST: Oh, there it is somewhere.

QUEST (voice-over): Richard Quest, CNN, Nairobi.

QUEST: Oh, well done.

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HOWELL: Rough landing there, Richard.

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ALLEN: It was a very long night in Los Angeles. It wasn't because of any fancy movie premiere or anything like that.

HOWELL: It was a game that just wouldn't seem like it would end. An epic 18-inning Major League baseball game and we've got the winner of the seven-hour contest.

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HOWELL: The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are in Australia still on their autumn tour of the South Pacific.

ALLEN: Prince Harry and his pregnant wife, Meghan, attended the closing ceremonies of the Invictus Games in Sydney. That's the Olympic-style tournament he created for wounded veterans.

Game three of the World Series is now in the record books and it made a record. It's officially the longest World Series game ever.

HOWELL: The L.A. Dodgers won game three over the Boston Red Sox. Their 3-2 victory took 18 innings. The game lasted seven hours and 20 minutes.

ALLEN: Of course, that's twice as many innings as a regular baseball game. Boston still leads the seven-game series, 2-1. But, gosh, way to go, Dodgers, on that one.

That's it for CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Natalie Allen. Thanks for watching.

HOWELL: And I'm George Howell. For our viewers here in the United States, "NEW DAY" is next. For viewers around the world, "AMANPOUR" is ahead.