breaking overnight, no clear winner and no concession in israel's critical election. patience prevents stupid moves. the white house takes a hands-off approach on the saudi attack. and he misses the s&p deadline. how will they get their hands on an urgent whistle-blower paper. this is "early start." i'm christine romans. >> i'm dave briggs.

that's where we start this morning with breaking news overnight, a race too close to call, counting still under way in israel's unprecedent repeat presidential election. expect po exit polls show a very tight race. israel's longest serves president benjamin netanyahu slipping a bit bents benny gantz and his blue and white party. >> remember both claimed victory five months ago. overnight no one claimed victory, but no one was ready to concede. >> translator: israel need as strong and stable and signest government, a government that's committed as a national state to the jewish people. >> translator: i hope to create a wide unity government, a government willing to return to israel its special values, where

one people, one society. the polarization is behind us. >> so which leader will get to form a government? let's sunday to sam kiley live in jerusalem. hi, sam. >> reporter: hi, christine. let's talk about gantz's comment to form a zionist government. that's a warning that it's conceivable a joint list, an arab semicoalition, a group of parties got told is or could be part of a center left coalition. i think it's an outside chance frankly, but they have emerged from the exit polls as the third largest party in the country. so if there were, for example, a national unity government

involving likud and benny gan gantz's party based on fairly unreliable exit polls, then the arab parties would be the official opposition. now, the problem for building a coalition for either mr. netanyahu or all of benny gantz's party, if they want to get together, the gantz side, the blue side, have ruled out a coalition involving benjamin netanyahu because of these three corruption cases hanging over him. so that makes it fraught. that means the arithmetic means president rivlin will have to look at something else stho thanks a lot for that, sam kiley, for us in jerusalem this

morning. defense officials were ordered to plan potential responses but the white house is waiting for the saudi kingdom's rulers to decide on a next step, sources saying they want no knee-jerk reaction to it. what happens with patience is it prevents stupid moves. nic robertson is joining us. good morning. what are the saudis say? >> reporter: good morning. it appears the saudis are agreeing. almost certainly these attacks were backed by iran, but they, too, say they're not rushing into any action. they want to proceed through diplomacy, that they want to proceed and follow a thorough

investigation. indeed he, what we've heard from saudi officials down the line so far, they want international support. they're appealing to the u.n., to the uk, to the international allies to join in the investigation. they're not rushing to a war footing here. we are expected to hear the evidence behind the assurance that iran made these weapons. later today the defense ministry said it will goen o the record with the evidence that it has, but the language that's still being used, iran backs supports here that's widely held in saudi arabia. it's just inconceivable that it would be any country other than iran that we would be behind this attack but would have the sophistication to make these weapons systems, so the advice that the united states is likely to hear is let's complete the

investigation, let's build the big bad broad coalition and then decide how we proceed. both saudi and the u.s., of course, in incredible lockstep on the deep concern and anger about what they view as iran's destabilizing influence on the region. >> 11:06 there in riyadh, patience winning on the day. nic robertson, thank you. global oil prices dropped tuesday following that surge on monday, which sent financial shock waves around the world. why do prices fall? large lay because the saudis announced they will sharply raise it. john defteriodefterios. john, what's the time frame? >> it was going to be weeks. now it appears it will be not

four to six weeks but two to four weeks. that's a huge difference. that means the saudis will not have to drain their reserves. last night we heard from the brother of memohammad bin salma. here's amin nasser. >> we will be back at our production levels before that time, by the end of this month. >> if not earlier. >> if not earlier, but by the end of the month, we will be more definitely. >> so capacity going to 11 billion a day but they'll produce just under 10. some news from amin nasser. he said they don't have to deplete their own reserves, they

don't think the u.s. steps in and they'd love to be the swing producer or the one who steps up because of the pressure on oil prices with consumers. it plays well with the white house. to nic's point, it's almost an international coalition not only to patrol the straits of hormuz but they can't spend all that on military defenses and that as well. breaking overnight, the acting director of national intelligence, a refusal to hand over the complaint. the complaint was deemed credible and urgent but the dni's office says it does not meet the definition of your subsequent concern because it does not relate to intelligence

activity. >> the letter acknowledges it involves confidential and potentially privileged matters relating to the interest of other stakeholders within the executive branch. the actor director of national intelligence said he will not be hero tomorrow to explain his decision on such short notice. adam schiff says he plans to appear under subpoena if necessary. there was a spar tuesday as union workers, united autoworkers, patrolled their picket lines. biden and sanders appeared separately. during his remarks the former vice president took a not-so-subtle shot at sanders and his health care plan. >> i have a significant health care plan. but guess what? you can keep your health insurance if you like it.

if you dome, you can move and come into a public one. >> sanders took issue with biden's assessment. >> that's wrong. the united states has got to join every other major country on earth and guarantee health care to all people, union workers and nonunion workers as a right. >> labor groups have raised questions about what would happen to the benefits that e have negotiated in collective bargaining agreements if medicare for all becomes law. sanders said they would still be covered. the latest polling shows elizabeth warren second and gaining on the 2020 democratic front-runner joe biden. while you were sleeping biden appe appeared on t e e ed -- warren

"the late show." >> you said we can't believe in a candidate just because we're too scared to do something else. everyone saw that as a veiled shot at joe biden. is that accurate? >> no. we always see. these really are scary times. it's scary times because donald trump is truly a terrible president. not just bad. terrible. >> you've been seeing these candidates make their rounds late night trying to talk to voters. >> it sure seemed like a knock on biden. that was a good pivot there, but not buying it. we have another escalation between california and the trump administration. the white house plans to roll back tough emissions standards in the car-heavy state.

16 minutes past the hour. president trump is in california where his campaign says he'll add $15 million to his 2020 re-election effort. trump's trip to one of the wealthiest area of the country marked by clashes on a pair of local and national issues. trump criticized los angeles and san francisco over homelessness saying the cities are destroying themselves by allowing people on the streets to ruin their prestige and he suggests he may step in, but california's

leaders are concerned that a heavy-handed intervention from the trump administration could up end plans for afford aboutle housing. cnn's kaitlan collins traveling with the president in los angeles. >> reporter: yeah. dave and christine, the president is waking up in los angeles today continuing this west coast tour. it's the final day he'll be over here before he heads back to washington. but something else notable is happening today. that's that back in washington the president's administration and the epa is expected to revoke one of california's signature environmental policies. their ability to institute those tougher tailpipe pollution laws stricter than the federal guidelineses something the president is going to roll back not only to a role to california but a role to his predecessor, barack obama, something the administration has been keeping an eye on, wanting to do for a ill whoo, and now sources say

they're expected to do that today. >> kaitlan, thanks. today we're remembering the giant journalist cokie roberts who has died from complications of breast cancer at the age of 75. roberts worked in radio and public broadcasting for more than four decades. she's survived by her husband, two children, and six grandchildren. back in 1978 cokie joined the upstart national radio. cokie is called one of npr's founding mothers. nbc news tonight david sang you made us all better and above all your kind heart. >> she's remembered as a tough and strong reporter. cokie was a trailblazing figure, a role model to young women at a

time when the profession was still dominated by men. as for the current president he had this to say, i nerve met her, she never treated me nicely. i would like to wish her family well. she was a professional, and i respect professional. >> revealing comment on how he views himself. she will be missed. ahead, a trio of storms in the atlantic. one of them could bring rain to houston since hurricane harvey. these folks don't have time to go to the post office

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in the atlantic threaten to swamp the gulf coast. houston bracing for a foot of rain, the most the city has seen since hurricane harvey in 2017. the severe weather threat prompting school closures and cancellations in the galveston area. ed buck arrested and facing felony charges for allegedly operating a drug den out of his west hollywood apartment.

the fed says he injected a man and he died. two others have died from overdoses. prosecutors are recommending bail beset at $4 million. cnn has reached out to buck for comment. no comment so far. a setback for alex trebek and his battle with pancreatic cancer. he has restarted chemotherapy treatment. he returned back to work after he returned to normal levels but he suddenly began losing weight and his numbers went sky-high, even higher than when he was first diagnosed. >> i realize that there is an end in sight for me just as there is for everyone else. one line that i have used with our staff in recent weeks and months is that when i do pass on, one thing they will not say at my funeral is, oh, he was

taken from us too soon. hey, guys. i'm 79 years old. i had one helluva good life. >> wow. trebek said he does not fear death. he said, quote, passing on does not frighten me. it comes with the territory. >> i think it's so wonderful he talks about it so openly and the feels he has and takes away from the staying ma of cancer and also terminal cancer. >> and just his perspective on life. we could all learn a thing or two on that. has time run out. the israeli elections still too close to call. we go live to jerusalem.

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breaking overnight, no clear winner and no concession in israel's critical election. patience prevents stupid moves. the white house taking a hands-off approach as its plans a response to the attack on saudi oil. and the acting spy chief misses a subpoena deadline. how will house democrats get their hands on an urgent whistleblower complaint. cnn live. and another busy new day. welcome back to "early start." i'm dave briggs. >> and i'm christine romans. we begin with breaking news overnight.

a race too close to call in israel's unprecedented close election. the top two parties within one or two seats of each other. israel's longest serving prime minister benjamin netanyahu and his likud party slipping a bit against benny gantz and his blue and white party. >> the exit polls have an unreliable reputation for reliability. no one declared victory, but no one was prepared to concede. >> reporter: israel needs a strong and stable and zionist government, a government that is committed to israel as a national state for the jewish people. >> translator: i hope to create a wide unity of government, a government that's willing to return to israel its special values where one people, one society, the polarization is behind us. >> so which leader will get to form a governing coalition as

israel faces critical decision at home and abroad. let's turn to sam kiley live in jerusalem. sam, good morning. >> good morning, dave. based on the exit polls and you were quite right when you say they're often quite bit wide of the mark when it comes to reality. but based on the exit polls there is no clear winner. this will be a major problem for rivlin, the president of israel who constitutionally over the next week will interview members of tit once the results are published. there will be 120 members of the knesset. he'll interview hundreds of them to find out who has the best chance of forming a government and then invite that person to step forward and have a go at it. it was that process that ran into sand after six weeks that led to this second round of elections this year when benjamin netanyahu was unable to knit together a coalition. he would find himself in a

similar position, having to reach out in particular to liebermann to join him as he tried to move forward. lieberman expected to get eight to ten votes -- excuse me -- seats. benny gantz has already said he has established a coalition, would love to get into bed with the likud but doesn't want benjamin netanyahu there because of the corruption cases hanging over him. the chances are that this is going to be a protracted process, and for many israelis, the fear is there could be a third round of elections this year, david. >> long process still ahead. sam kiley live for us in jerusalem this morning. thank you. 34 minutes past the hour. the trump administration is preparing to show restraint after a missile attack crippled the oil production in saudi arabia. the white house waiting for the

saudi leader to decide on the next step. they want no, quote, knee-jerk reactions to this. the source says it's very systematic. what happens with patience is it prevents stupid moves. nic robertson joins us live from riyadh, saudi arabia. nic? >> reporter: good morning. the white house seems to be in lockstep with the saudis at this moment, you know, strategic patience, strategic caution. the united states and saudi arabia both share a huge and growing, steeply growing concern about what they see as iran's gray maligned influence in the region, and what has happened here in saudi arabia is an opportunity for saudi arabia and the united states to build bigger international support for saudi's position. this is something that's been lacking in recent years. so we heard this morning the

saudi ambassador to london saying that while they believe that the attack had the backing of iran and in this context he means essentially who else in this region would have the capacity, the wherewithal to develop these weapons systems, to deploy these weapons systems, to be able to put them into the hands of those in the region. he's saying undoubtedly it was iran-backed, but saudi arabia doesn't want to rush into anything. the last thing he said the region needs right now is another conflict. the saudis are wanting to build another coalition back here. they appealed to all of their allies to the united states, united kingdom, united nations. we heard today the french are sending investigators to help with it. the saudis are really opening their doors here to bring in a wealth of international backing, and that's what we've heard from the ambassador this morning, and

this reflects, i think, the position that we see the white house taking at the moment. >> all right. nic robertson for us in riyadh. that ic thank you for that, nic. iran is in denial. nick payton wash toton walsh i us. good morning. >> reporter: they're continually talking about yemen. remember from the very beginning they said the houthi rebels are using air power to often cause crisis. now, that has been, frankly, scorned by some u.s. and saudi officials in their interpretation of the events. but today rouhani said we do not want conflict in this region, but we must see who started the war and he says this all started

with the campaign in yemen and yemen responded. referring to the attacks, he said they, the yemenis,dy not target a hospital or school to warn you and take lessons, so essentially saying this in their view is a yemeni response to the attacks on yemen itself. now, that is against entirely what you heard from the u.s. and saudi investigators, but they're saying they had nothing do with it. i also have to say while that occurs, the u.s. and saudis have yet to put forward convincing refutable public evidence to back up their particular case, so we're in a bit of a no man iceland. the longer this goes on, quite frankly, the longer the officials are going to say, where is your evidence. that remains the point. their supreme leader said, yes, there will be no negotiations with the u.s. we're hearing the iranian delegation was supposed to go to

new york for the unga. they haven't been issued visas, they say. so even that possible small window for diplomacy may be in new york even though iran said they weren't going to talk, that's closing too. dave? >> strong developimentmentdevel. thank you. global oil prices dropped sharply tuesday. why do prices fall? largely because the saudis announced plans to ramp up oil and gas production. cnn's john defterios has spoken to the ceo. what about the time frame here? >> it's certainly shortened, christine. that's for sure. how do you spell relief in the

energy markets by saying when you get to 100% capacity. that's what they did at the press conference last night. we've been on this roller coaster, 14% on monday, down 7% last night because of what they had to say. 17% after that original output and very likely the full monty by the end of the month. let's take a listen. >> we will be back at our production levels before that time, by the end of this month. >> if not earlier. >> if not earlier. but by the end of the month, more productivity, we will be definitely. >> nasser said they would not go wanting. as a result of getting to that level, they don't think the u.s. should release any supplies from the strategic petroleum reserve,

which i think was the headline out of this press conference as well. second airily, i think what they're doing is getting international support to protect their oil assets going forward, christine, not just the waterways around the strait of hormuz, but actually their installations. they would like to pride themselves on rebuilding after such a shock. but they need to learn and get support on how to protect all of those assets, particularly if they want to go for an international public offering. >> make sure this doesn't happen again. that was a huge event and a shock in the market. all right. john defterios for us in jeddah. thank you. joseph mcguire refusing to comply with a request. the complaint was deemed credit aboutle and aur subsequent, but the dni's office said it does not meet the definition of your subsequent concern. >> the letter does acknowledge

the whistle-blower complaint involves confidential and potentially privileged matters relating to interest of other stakeholders within the executive branch. the acting director says he will not be available tomorrow to explain his decision on such short notice. chairman adam schiff says he expects maguire to appear under subpoena if necessary. former campaign manager corey lewandowski stonewalling. in a hearing marked bipartisan sniping lewandowski did disclose some new details, con firming the president did tell him to order then attorney general jeff sessions to limit the mueller investigation. >> that's what he wanted you to deliver to attorney general jeff sessions, correct? >> i believe that's an accurate representation that and he wanted you to deliver it to jeff so jeff could say it to the people, right? >> i believe so. >> no small admission there.

he seems to be confirming under oath the president told him to obstruction the investigation. the mueller report concluded lewandowski did not carry out the president's ore. the prosecutors found there was substantial evidence of obstruction, at least ten of them. tuesday's hearing grew so contentious chairman jerry nadler threatened to hold corey lewandowski in contempt. it included comedy when he asked several times in february when he claimed he did not ever remember the president asking him to speak with jeff sessions. >> my question, sir, is when the president -- >> i have no obligation to have a candid obligation to have a dan did meeting with the media. >> either you were willing to -- >> it's not my privilege to waive. >> i don't think it's anyone's privilege to waive. i think the whole thing is imagenary.

it's like the tooth fairy. >> my children are watching. thank you, congressman. >> in the next step it's to examine the constitution's ee moll u lens clause that the president is benefiting financially. a former sheriff tried to have a deputy killed. you will not believe why.

all right. a crack formed in a corner of markets crucial to how the global financial system operates. a spike in overnight borrowing rates forced the u.s. federal reserve to inject money into the system. this is activity time they've had to do it since the crisis in 2008. it sounds wonky, but what happened here. repos, which are short-term loans used by financial institutions like banks hit 5% on monday. they spiked 10% on tuesday before the feds stepped in. they called it an overnight repo operation where it temds to ease markets. the goal is to pump money into the system to keep borrowing costs to keep from creeping above the fed's target range. it's unclear what's causing the stress in the market or how long it will last.

the feds will conduct a similar operation today to help keep that in its target range. president trump said he'll add $20 million to his 2020 effort. it was marked by clashes on local and national issues. trump criticized los angeles and france saying the cities are destroying themselves and suggested he may step in despite opposition from state leaders. the white house also signaled an environmental clash on emissions standards. kaitlan collins traveling with the president in los angeles. >> reporter: yeah, david. the president is waking up in los angeles continuing his west coast tour. it's the final day before he heads back to washington. but something else notable is happening today, and that's that back in washington the president's administration and the epa is expected to revote one of california's signature environmental policies. their ability to institute those

tougher tailpipe pollution laws stricter than the federal guidelines, something the pretty is going to roll back not only in a blow to california but also a blow to his predecessor, president barack obama and his environmental legacy, something we've seen the administration keeping their eye on, wanting to do for a while now, and now sources say they're expected to follow through with that today. dave and christine. fed eck and amazon, cnn has the details next. when we started our business

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purdue pharma says it will continue to make oxy con din for now. purdue filed for bankruptcy this week, part of a plan over filed lawsuits at the center of the opioid crisis. c spoke to attorneys for purdue after a bankruptcy hearing tuesday. one of them told us the plan is not to stop the sale of oxycontin. he said, quote, what we want to do is stop the inappropriate use and abuse. cnn has reached out to purdue for additional information. the sitting chairman has been indicted. granville sheriff williams is facing charges. he coached the would-be assassin and told him to, quote, take care of it. so why on earth would he do this? according to the indictment the sheriff had been told freeman, the former deputy planned to

release an audio recording of the sheriff using racially offensive language. a college football fan asked for beer money and the hospital ended up with a $60,000 gift. iowa state alum carson king held up a sign on game day says busch light supply needs replenish. money started poring in, 20,000 bucks worth. he did buy a case but denied to donate to the university of iowa's family children's hospital and when venmo heard about the story, they stepped up and matched the donation. cheers to all involved. >> cyclone nation, well done. let's get a check on cnn business. i would call that narrowly a mix here after all of the news. on wall street you've got

futures leaning down a little bit. looking at the energy sector because of what's happening in oil, you can see declines in brent, west texas crude. stocks closed slightly higher as investors wait for a decision on interest ratesen from the federal reserve. the dow closed up just 34 points, the s&p, the nasdaq as well. also manufacturing output. this was kind of a surprise. the federal reserve said production rebounded 0.5% after falls in july. it was boosted by a surge in machinery. the outlook for factories still weak. but that one rebounding caught the attention. there was a 12% drop in operating in. fedex said global trade disputes

increase costs and the loss of business from a large customer contributed to the decline. in june fedex decided it would not renew its contract with amazon air services. and in august it said it would stop ground delivery. amazon would make cost cuts. peacock is set to debut in april 2020 with 15,000 hours of content from nbc's universal shows and films. ♪ >> it will be the exclusive streaming home for popular sitcoms like "the office" and "parks and recreation" and classics like "saved by the bell" and its newly renounced reboot. universal did not say how much peacock would cost. a big story in the journal about the streaming wars. big names will spend more than

$2 billion on classic tv shows in recent weeks, everybody trying to grab their cornerstone whether it's "the big bang theory" or "parks and rec." >> more "saved by the bell." just what we need. thank you to our viewers. enjoy the rest of your day. "early start" continues right now. breaking overnight. no clear winner in israel's critical 'lekz. new numbers show a deadlock. patience prevents stupid moves. the white house taking a hands-off approach as it plans a response on the attack on oil. and the acting spy chief misses a s&p deadline. how house democrats get their hands on an urgent whistleblower complaint. cnn live in jerusalem,