[John Kelly, White House Chief Of Staff:] If you elect to call a family like this, it is about the most difficult thing you can imagine. There's no perfect way to make that phone call.
[Dave Briggs, Cnn Anchor:] A rare and highly personal moment in the White House. Chief of Staff John Kelly, retired four star general and father of a service member killed in Afghanistan, defending President Trump's handling of a condolence call made to an army widow.
[Rene Marsh, Cnn Anchor:] And two former presidents both warning in strong terms against the forces of division that propelled President Trump to power. Good morning and welcome to EARLY START. I'm Rene Marsh.
[Briggs:] That is an extraordinary moment.
[Marsh:] Yes.
[Briggs:] Good to see you, my friend. I'm Dave Briggs. It's Friday, October 20, 4:00 a.m. in the East. It is 1:00 a.m. in Los Angeles when they are partying, celebrating the World Series. We don't start with that sadly. The White House chief of staff, John Kelly, making an emotional appearance in the White House briefing room. Thursday, Kelly defending the way President Trump handled the condolence call for the widow of La David Johnson, who was killed in an ambush in Niger. Kelly also condemned Florida Congresswoman Frederica Wilson, who has sharply criticized the president for using insensitive language on the call, Kelly did not hold back.
[Kelly:] I was stunned when I came to work yesterday morning and brokenhearted at what I saw a member of Congress doing. A member of Congress who listened in on a phone call from the president of the United States to a young wife, and in his way tried to express that opinion that he's a brave man, a fallen hero. He knew what he was getting himself into.
[Marsh:] And late last night, President Trump weighed in with a tweet: The fake news media is going crazy with whacky Congresswoman Wilson, a Democrat who was secretly on a very personal call and gave a total lie on content. It is worth noting Sergeant Johnson's widow invited Wilson to listen to the call. For more on this, we bring in CNN's Sara Murray. She is at the White House.
[Sara Murray, Cnn White House Correspondent:] Good morning, Rene and Dave. White House chief of staff and retired four-star general, John Kelly, making an appearance in the White House briefing room. He talked about something he rarely speaks publicly about, which was losing his own son in Afghanistan and provided a window into the advice he gave to the president about how to talk to family members of a soldier who's paid the ultimate sacrifice.
[Kelly:] And he said to me, what do I say? I said to him, sir, there's nothing you can do to lighten the burden on these families. But let me tell you what I tell them. Let me tell you what my best friend Joe Dunford told me, because he was my casualty officer. He said, Kel, he was doing exactly what he wanted to do when he was killed. He knew what he was getting into by joining that 1 percent.
[Murray:] Now, Kelly offered up the explanation when President Trump is under scrutiny for the tone and words he chose when speaking to the widow of Sergeant La David Johnson. That's one of the soldiers who was killed in that military operation that went awry in Niger. This is not the narrative the White House wants but how difficult it is to get away from all sides, whether it's Kelly, whether it's the congresswoman, whether it's President Trump, politicizing the death of a U.S. soldier. Back to you.
[Briggs:] Sara Murray at the White House thanks. In another eyebrow raising moment from Kelly's press briefing, the chief of staff cited a building dedication ceremony he attended with Miami Congresswoman Wilson. Kelly said the congresswoman claimed credit for getting funding for the new FBI building. Listen.
[Kelly:] A congresswoman stood up and in the long tradition of empty barrels making the most noise, stood up there in all of that, and talked about how she was instrumental in getting the funding for that building. And how she took care of her constituents because she got the money and she just called up President Obama and on that phone call, he gave the money, the $20 million to build a building. She sat down. And we were stunned, stunned that she'd done it. Even for someone that is that empty a barrel. We were stunned.
[Briggs:] This is where we are, folks. Congresswoman Wilson last night blasted Kelly for making the issue totally personal. She said he got the story completely wrong. Wilson told a newspaper the "Miami Herald" newspaper that Congress approved money for the building before she got to Washington and that she only sponsored legislation to name the building for two fallen agents, not to fund it. "The Herald" reports even Miami Republicans praised Wilson for that bill.
[Marsh:] Well, now to the ambush that left four U.S. soldiers dead in Niger. Senator John McCain announcing he might seek a subpoena to get more information about the deadly attack. He believes the White House may be withholding details as the Defense Department launches an initial review. We get for from CNN's Jim Sciutto in Washington.
[Jim Sciutto, Cnn Chief National Security Correspondent:] It is more than two weeks since this ambush and we really just know only the basics about what happened. Here's what we know. A team of 12 soldiers went to visit village elders in a village close to the border between Niger and Mali. As they were leaving that meeting, they came under attack by some 50 ISIS affiliated fighters. They were better armed. They had machine guns but also rocket-propelled grenades. Those soldiers, they only had their rifles and they were traveling in vehicles that were not armored. There was a 30-minute firefight. Thirty minutes in, a French aircraft comes over, flies over, not authorized to drop bombs but to just scatter the fighters attacking the Americans on the ground there. Then later, French aircraft and a contractor aircraft came into to take out the survivors, the wounded and the dead, some of the dead, we would learn because it turns out that one was left behind, separated from his unit. And for 48 hours U.S. forces, Nigerien forces, French forces, looked for that soldier. They eventually found him. Unfortunately, he was dead at that point. But questions remain. What happened? The military pushing back at the idea he was left behind, just saying he was separated from his unit. But the fact is he was missing for 48 hours. The question is, when will those military families and when will the public learn what happened actually there? Rene and David?
[Briggs:] Yes, a lot of questions remain. Jim Sciutto, thank you. A major step forward overnight in the Republican effort to overhaul the U.S. tax code. The Senate voting 51-49 to pass a budget resolution for next year. The measure will allow the GOP to push through tax legislation the Senate with 50 or more votes. Senator Rand Paul, the only Republican to vote no, insisting the budget plan does not reduce the deficit and could expand it by $1.5 trillion over the next 10 years.
[Marsh:] Well, a bipartisan plan to stabilize the Obamacare market place is still alive. The bill's sponsors, Senators Lamar Alexander and Patty Murray rolling out a list of Republican co-sponsors backing the bill. Notables include Senators Lindsey Graham, John McCain and Bill Cassidy. The Alexander-Murray bill would restore Obamacare cost- sharing payments for two years. President Trump flip-flopping again, now signaling he may support the bipartisan deal one day after saying he could never support bailing out insurance companies.
[Briggs:] House Speaker Paul Ryan not exactly known for his side- splitting sense of humor let loose last night. Ryan was keynote speaker at the annual Al Smith charity dinner. By tradition, the Al Smith keynote is supposed to be a roast. And Speaker Ryan sure turned up the heat starting with the joke about Donald Trump's speech at the fundraiser one year ago.
[Rep. Paul Ryan , Speaker Of The House:] I know last year that Donald Trump offended some people. I know his comments according to critics went too far. Some said it was unbecoming of a public figure and they said that his comments were offensive. Well, thank God he's learned his lesson. Every morning, I wake up in my office and scroll Twitter to see which tweets that I will have to pretend that I did not see later on. Every afternoon, former Speaker John Boehner calls me up, not to give advice, just to laugh. A Hollywood Republican, that is an oxymoron, which clearly the word Rex Tillerson was searching for. I learned that God is always listening, as is Vladimir Putin. When people ask me if I believe everything I see on Facebook, I answer nyet.
[Briggs:] Well done, Paul Ryan. All right. Open enrollment in less than two weeks but six in ten Americans say the White House is not doing enough to help Obamacare run the way it should. That according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS. In fact, 60 percent say that right now, the administration should be shoring up Obamacare, not trying to replies it. President Trump upset the health care market by stopping subsidy payments. A recent bipartisan deal would restore that money, but Trump has publicly waffled on backing this plan. So, 63 percent of Americans doubt health care reform will pass this year. And even with the GOP-controlled Congress, only half of Republicans are optimistic. Overall, a majority of Americans disapprove of how the president is handling healthcare. But they still blame former President Obama for Obamacare's performance, 56 percent to be exact. Only 37 percent put responsibility on the Trump administration, which is now managing the law.
[Marsh:] Well, in a clear rebuke of President Trump, former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama are speaking out publicly, urging Americans to reject the politics of division.
[Barack Obama, Former President:] If you have to win a campaign by dividing people, you're not going to be able to govern them. You won't be able to unite them later if that's how you start.