Transcripts For CNNW The Lead With Jake Tapper 20180917

Welcome to the lead, im jake tapper. We begin with president Trumps Supreme Court Brett Kavanaugh whose confirmation was once seen as a sure bet, now its in question. All ten democratic members of the Senate Judiciary committee are pushing for a delay on the committee vote. But far more significantly, four republican senators including one on the committee agree, insisting that they need to hear directly from kavanaughs accuser, Christine Blasey ford, before proceeding. The president praised kavanaugh still and argued that the accusations should have been brought forward sooner by the democrats who have known about it since july. Judge kavanaugh is one of the finest people that ive ever known. Hes an outstanding intellect, outstanding judge respected by everybody. Never had even a little blemish on his record. At the same time, we want to go through a process, we want to make sure everything is perfect, everything is just right. I wish the democrats could have done this a lot sooner. Yesterday ford went public with accusations of attempted Sexual Assault against nkavanauh to the Washington Post. Until then she was anonymous, only sharing her identity with representatives in congress. Ford alleges that in the early 1980s as a teenager, a drunken kavanaugh held her down and tried to undress her at a party and that she feared for her life as he put his hand over her mouth. Fords lawyer today said she felt the act was an attempted rape at the time. Kavanaugh strongly denies the allegation, calling it, quote, completely false and saying, quote, i have never done anything like what the accuser describes to her or to anyone. This never happened, unquote. Both ford and kavanaugh say theyre willing to testify publicly. Lets get to cnns jeff zeleny at the white house. Considering how angry were told President Trump is behind the scenes, those were measured comments he just made. Reporter they were measured comments and disciplined, as well, almost more disciplined than anything i can recall him saying, reacting with on an issue with such consequences. That is why the president was doing that. He knows how serious this is. The white house has been in touch with Senate Republicans all day long. Judge kavanaugh, in fact, was here at the white house for several hours working behind the scenes with officials who now are preparing him for the possibility of another public hearing. The only time the president showed a bit of anger today, when he was asked if judge kavanaugh should withdraw. He said that is a ridiculous question. Judge kavanaugh is reporter President Trump standing firmly behind Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Hes an outstanding intellect, an outstanding judge, respected by everybody. Never had even a little blemish on his record. Reporter he said he would be open to delaying the confirmation vote. I want him to go in at the absolute highest level, and i think to do that, you have to go through this. If it takes a little delay, it will take a little delay. It shouldnt certainly be very much. Reporter behind the scenes, cnn has learned the president is furious and frustrated by what he suspects is an 11th hour attempt to smear his pick for the Supreme Court. A california professor, Christine Blasy ford, accusing kavanaugh of Sexual Assaulting her while they were teenagers in high school. Kavanaugh calling it a completely false allegation. Yet his confirmation now hangs in the balance. Kellyanne conway, one of the highest ranking women in the white house, trying to set a tone of civility. On behalf of the president with whom ive spoken at length about this. She should not be ignored or insulted. She should be heard. Reporter sending a message to others around the president this moment is a serious one. It came after the president s son, donald trump jr. , mocked want accuser in this Instagram Post citing judge kavanaughs sexuality letter found by dems, will you be my girlfriend . Yes, no, love brett. Last year Alabama Republican Senate candidate roy moore garnered these comments by the president la he said 40 years ago this did not happen. Reporter less than two months before the midterms when women voters and candidates are playing a critical conditi a white house is treading carefully saying kavanaugh and ford should be heard. Its an open question how long the president remains measured. With the midterms in the future some 50 days away, combined with this me too movement, the white house taking this very seriously and trying to send a message both sides should be heard. I think the question is will the president s allies, his own son included, keep on that same message, or are we about to see a new battle here in washington erupt . Jake . Im guessing the battles going to happen. Jeff zeleny, were not there yet. Lets talk about there with the experts. Simone, i want you to listen to our own manu raju. Just spoke to senator orrin hatch who had spoken on the phone with judge kavanaugh. Take a listen. What did he say to you . He didnt do that. He wasnt at the party. So you know, theres clearly somebodys mixed up. I think shes mistaken. He didnt do that. He wasnt at the party. Clearly somebodys mixed up, i think shes mistaken, whats your response . Im trying to figure out how judge kavanaugh knows he wasnt at a party that ford doesnt know come party he was at. He remembers he wasnt at a party where he didnt do what he was accused of this is why we need a hearing. I think judge kavanaugh has been credibly accused. And senator hatch included, anyone who partiasserts that sh mixed up, mistaken iss do a disservice to is doing a disservice to all women. Particularly making it hard to come forward with stories. Brett kavanaugh says hes willing to talk to the Senate Judiciary committee, quote, in any way the committee deems appropriate. Is there anything he could say that i know you oppose him on policy grounds. On judicial grounds. But on this issue, having to do with this accusation, is there anything he could say that would satisfy concerns you might have . I think that the challenge is hes already said something, right. He unequivocally denied the accusations and following up on simones point, i think its the strongest he could be on it. I think he has denied any wrongdoing in this way. Any behavior that looks like this. I think the real challenge, it sounds like he and his friends used to get really drunk in high school. From what i understand, you get really drunk in i was a good christian i did not have my first drink until i was 24. Thats about the only part of the good christian i was, though. But sorry, change the direction. I want to be honest. I believe in truth. Even when its damaging. We appreciate it. The reality here is, you know, he has some really big red flags to me. And this is just the latest one. This isnt the only one. And i look forward to his testimony. Its not in any form in which the Senate Judiciary committee deems necessary. It should be public just like anita hills was public 27 years ago. Listen to Kellyanne Conway this morning trying to send a signal to everybody in the white house, maybe even her boss, about what she thinks the tenor and tone should be about this accusation and the accuser. She should not be insulted. She should not be ignored. Sheep should testify under oath and do it on capitol hill. Thats up the Senate Judiciary committee, they need to decide. She should not be insulted. She should not be ignored. If she wants to testify, she should. Is that the right tone . That is the right tone. That is right messaging, but it is not going to help judge kavanaugh. Why . Everyone that defended locker room talk from President Trump is not going to have credibility before the american people. Yes, he does have to defend himself on this. And he is at a significant disadvantage because he cant have the white house behind him because they are compromised on this issue. And so i think he can make it through. I think he can be confirmed if no other evidence comes up. But if there is one witness that comes out, one more story, a picture, anything, given the categorical denials that he has given, he has no wiggle room. You were at the white house during the Clarence Thomas hearings, right . The bush white house, you worked for the Vice President , dan quayle. Does this remind you of all that . I was there working with the teams reporting, Clarence Thomas, i never thought id see that again. Here we are, you know. This allegation is more serious than the one it is more serious. Theyre quite different in many ways. Right. I just think we need to have the testimony from both of them, and then see what what other con temperatutemporaneous evide witness theres are on another seed and make a sober judgment. Because you think Brett Kavanaugh drank too much or others think that professor ford should have come forward earlier, its irrelevant. Either its true professor ford says something happened, judge kavanaugh says it didnt. Lets do our best to find out the truth. Jake, i want to be clear, for me there is no debate. I believe professor ford. Judge kavanaugh has lied multiple times under oath come on, thats ridiculous. Thats ridiculous. Im saying i believe her you think theres no chance you were convinced by one allegation about something 35 years ago im convinced, jake, because when i was in college, i was intoxicated, and a man who i had previously rebuffed his advances multiple times took advantage of the fact that i could not consent one night. The next day, he denied raping me. Thats exactly what he did. And if he ever came came up for a Supreme Court nomination, president of the united states, or congressman, whatever, i dont care, its been 20 years, 50 years, i would come forward. I dont think anyone that has ever done that, whether it was once in their life or 50 times, deserves to sit at the highest seat in power i agree. We have no knowledge whether Brett Kavanaugh did that i believe Christine Ford no, because to come forward, she has no theres no enticeme enticementleenticements for her to come forward and have her life destroyed. To have folks sit on panels such as these and others and have the senate, the leader in the senate, basically tear down her character and assert that shes a liar. So theres no incentive for her to come forward except to tell the truth. Except to do her Due Diligence this. Isnt a criminal proceeding. This is i think something happened to her. I not theres a ton. Potential for gray area in this kind of scenario. If he was stumbling drunk, well, why did it stop . Did she stop and maybe he stopped . The speculation, its just wrong. The part of this is why this is such a difficult situation. If you are going to stop this confirmation, we need more information. I think this because we dont teach consent is the issue. I think what she said in her letter or what she said and her lawyer has conveyed is that kavanaugh alleged lie wly on to her and a friend of kavanaughs, mark judge, jumped on them and knocked him off, and she was able to get out. I think thats how it happened. Sounds like a terrible drunken situation where a lot of things could go wrong. No, look, the letter is compelling in the arenas that it doesnt look like something that was made up. And in fact, she puts in details that could or could not be corroborated. Was mark judge in the room, they can probably try to find out if there was such a party and so forth. I am not questioning her motives or at this point saying that i know whos telling the truth. This is we need to have the hearing, need to investigate this. There are a couple of observations i have. The first is there were 65 women who signed to a letter, you know, attesting to the great moral character of Brett Kavanaugh women who knew him back in High School High school. And Chuck Grassley who headsup the Judiciary Committee released this letter without telling these women why they were signing on to this letter. Now, after those 65 women have signed on to it, they found out what happened, two of them have spoken up. So bill, i would say to you, someone who i enjoy being on panels with all the time, even watching your response to simone right now, the kind of this overbearing, overtalking of with women, is exactly the reason why anita hill had the kind of hearing she had when you were helping Clarence Thomas and the reason why a lot of women refuse to speak up because not only i do believe in the criminal justice system. But this is not a criminal justice situation i agree, and im not criticizing her for speaking up. I think we need to suspend judgment we learn more. Why dont you believe her . Im saying i dont know who to believe, thats correct. I tried carefully to say that. Im saying i dont know who to believe. I think thats okay. The reason for even that doubt, that is exactly why this hearing, this investigation, everything about their testimony needs to be in a public format i agree with that. I agree with that. Can we say its brave that you came out, you did it on twitter also, and shared your story. We all know you. I believe you, im sure everybody here believes you. I dont know professor ford. And so i think there are a lot of people who might just be i want to hear what she has to say, im not saying she didnt do it shes got a polygraph, therapist notes from 2013 and 2012. Some would say why did it take so long . I had a cousin who told us she was molested, and shes older now. What the timing is. Thank god i am privileged, ive never been subject to molestation or Sexual Assault. I dont know what that burden is like. But i would like for us to at least give these folks to have the grace to come forward whenever they do thats something thats come out of this. Im serious. The initial reaction when it came out, a lot of conservative men that i follow on twitter were like, that was 17 years ago, he was a kid, it doesnt matter more than 17. 35 deletedet tweets. They saw deleted the tweets. They saw what happened, what happens to 15yearold girls can change the rest of their life. They said, you changed my mind. I think theres greater understanding. Even though we dont know for sure, where the context was, who could have seen it, there is more understanding of the situation. And well all well come back and talk more. Well come to you first. We want to hear more. She deserves her day in court. Will republicans delay the kavanaugh vote in thats the question. Majority leader Mitch Mcconnell weighing in moments ago. Plus, the worst is yet to come. Thats the warning from one citys mayor in North Carolina where water is rapidly rising. Ooh, heaven is a place on earth uhp. I didnt believe it. Again. Ooh, baby, do you know what thats worth . I want to believe it. [ claps hands ] ooh im not hearing the confidence. Okay, hold the name your price tool. 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Only Preservision Areds 2 has the exact nutrient formula recommended by the National Eye Institute to help reduce the risk of progression of moderate to advanced amd. Thats why i fight. Because its my vision. Preservision. Also, in a greattasting chewable. After democrats spent weeks and weeks searching for any possible reason that the nomination should be delayed, now, now they choose to introduce this allegation. Not through the standard bipartisan process, not by advising the Judiciary Committee colleagues and Committee Staff through proper channels. Oh, but by leaking it to the press. Majority leader Mitch Mcconnell attacking democrats for keeping the misconduct allegations. Now lets listen to senator Susan Collins of maine. Thats why its important that there be a very thorough interview and that we see bhoeth individua see both individuals respond to the allegations. There are questions, inconsistencies, fwa inconsistencies, gaps. Thats why to be fair we need to know what happened. Its my understanding that the staff is doing interviews or ploe proposed to do interviews, and that, i assume, would be the pretllude to some soerrt of he. Do you believe dr. Ford . I dont know enough about dr. Ford and her allegations yet to reach that kind of judgment. Thats why having the opportunity to observe her being questioned, read a transcript or a deposition and make that kind of assessment is so important. Obviously if judge kavanaugh has lied about what happened, that would be disqualifying. [ all talking at once ] you spoke to him on the phone the other day, what but say thank you. Im sorry. Im sorry. I want to answer this one last question. Sure. Please. Last week, the Judiciary Committee staff informed me of this letter. I read the letter. At that point, we had no idea who had sent it, and i noticed the date of the letter and wondered why the information had not been released long ago. I asked judge kavanaugh when i had my final hourlong telephone call with him on friday about the letter and the allegations that it contained. He emphatically denied that the allegations were true. He said that he had never acted that way, not only with this unnamed accuser but with any woman. He was absolutely emphatic about that. Thank you if this turns into a he said she said, how do you make the decision . Thats why its important that we have testimony under oath with a lot of questions asked of both of them. Should the fbi play a role here . Thank you. Senator Susan Collins, republican of maine, and one of the key swing votes in the senate when it comes to the kavanaugh Supreme Court nomination saying that both the accuser of kavanaugh and kavanaugh need to testify under oath about this incident that the accuser alleges took place around 1982. My panel with me. Susan collins seems to have an open mind. Wants to know what she says, wants what he says. Your reaction . Susan collins is a champion of womens rights, a defender of women. I can tell you that a number of folks have been disappointed in the way that she has handled the kavanaugh nomination, particularly some of her constituents. I think this is something that her constituents would like are happy to hear from her, but theyll be watching her. Its not enough to make grand statements and gestures if you are not going to back it up with action. What else does Susan Collins need to hear . And i just on this point that Mitch Mcconnell made about regular bipartisan order and process, id like to remind everyone that after judge scalias death, Mitch Mcconnell kept the seat open, the Supreme Court seat that was president obamas to fill for 422 days to fill. Its been 46 days since Justice Kennedy retired y. Are we rushing this . She says if if hes lying, thats disqualifying. Thats important. What i do not want to hear, republican senators go on and on about the timing. Its about the person who makes the accusation to determine the timing that goes public. Instead, they should say if anyone has information that needs to go public, we need to get it now. Were going to delay this for a week, we want to gather as much information as we can. If someone has information to change votes, come to us. Then shut up and listen. And just to be clear, ill come to you, but the timing is that in july dr. Ford, the professor, told both her congresswoman, ann eschew, and dianne feinstein, and the Washington Post about what had happened to her, but was not prepared at that point to come forward. And, in fact, was not prepared until yesterday afternoon. And thats when the Washington Post broke the story. Im with Susan Collins. I think Mitch Mcconnell does a disservice to turn this into a partisan fight. Whatevers whether feinstein could have acted differently in therms of sharing the the terms of sharing the letter or differently, is totally irrelevant. Susan collins attitude is the right one. And senators and the white house should stop playing partisan games and say lets try to find out the truth. One thing i would add, im not sure we wont theyll testify under oath. Theyll be pushed on various details. There are others, this is you know, this other man mark judge, who denies it. He it says didnt happen. Okay. Lets see him testify. Lets see him talk about that. And there may be others who have con temperature rainious evidence that contemporaneous evidence that sheds light. I think Susan Collins tone was right. I think Mitch Mcconnell did a disservice to judge kavanaugh who im told urged the white house to take the they took with Kellyanne Conway. To say, look, we cannot this is not true. Kavanaugh says to his friends, this is absolutely false, but we need to treat this respectfully and let the hearing go forward. Theres a possibility, angela, i want to say, that we had dont ever find out more beyond the testimony of these two individuals, both of whom may prove to be completely credibly saying what they think is the truth. And its possible that there is no contemporaneous individual who remembers her because professor ford has already said she didnt tell anybody until i think six years ago in marital therapy. She finally said this, that she went decades without telling anybody, as you know. Thats not uncommon with survivors of Sexual Assault. We might be in the same place in a week or two with two individuals and basically i hate to say the cliche but basically he said she said. Yeah. And one Legal Standard at least in criminal in criminal cases is standard of reasonable doubt. And right now theres reasonable doubt at least against judge kavanaugh and a reason he should not go forward. The other thing we should continue to press for are the red state democrats to speak up, to be brave for what they know is right, if partisanship was not at an alltime high and if we werent having turf wars, i think people would say, you know, theres enough thats happened in katcher in kavanaughs proceedings for me to be uncomfortable. This is the tip of the iceberg where we can not just ram this vote down the american peoples throats. I think that the final point is this is a Midterm Election. Its already very hot. I wish they would they would what . I wish they would continue down the same road knowing that this man is this potentially compromised. It is very, very bad. Its in bad form. Poor taste. A reason we might need the supermajority what if they withdraw and they nominate amy coney barrett, who is loved by i can see a scenario where republicans decide to abandon him and say were going to bet big on judges again it paid off for republicans in the 2016 election. Lets go for it. Youve got to be kidding. Does it help republicans to have look, if hes not telling the truth, hes not telling the truth, he will be abandoned, and he should be abandoned by republican senators. Yeah. If hes telling the truth and it becomes the evidence is on his side, he should be supported. If, as you suggest, it really remains a genuine uncertainty and dilemma, people have to make up their own minds. I think they also have to think i hate to put it in political terms but we might as well, the Midterm Election will be decided by women, suburban white women, black women, latino women all over this country. If i was a gop strategist, i would not be encouraging folks to put all their bets in the basket of someone that has been credibly accused at this point. Regardless start over regardless of folks can have that conversation i guess by b they want to see more facts guess about they want to see more fact. 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[clap clap ding] dr. Ford deserves to be heard. To railroad a vote now would be a deep insult to the women of ameri america, a lasting scar on the integrity of the Supreme Court. That was Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer just minutes ago speaking about the accusations against president Trumps Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Kavanaugh forcefully denies the allegations. Two of our legal experts, laura coates, let me talk to you. These allegations made by chr Christine Blasey ford, no charges ever brought. According to her and her lawyer, she never told anyone at the time. It wasnt until six years ago in marital therapy that she first raised the subject of this happening to her. What might an fbi investigation which democrats are calling for, what might that even look like . Technically, this happened in montgomery county, thats maryland, which would mean theres no real limitations period for a felony sexually assault. If this is a misdemeanor level, which may be what shes going for in terms of the allegations she has ascribed of the molestation, of the groping, over her mouth, that may rise to the misdemeanor level. The fbi will have to determine the severity of the allegations. Youre right to think about the delayed reporting. Thats the numberone hurdle that most Sexual Assault victims have to overcome. Why did you delay . Whats your motivation . Why now . And why did you choose once he was on the cusp perhaps of a greater level of prominence . This goes into the victim shaming and questioning her, but its a real question for investigators. They dont have all the facts in front of them. Memories start to fade. And they have to kind of put it in the scope of would a prosecutor now have charged this conduct. But go ahead well, just that there are also facts that can be determined out there in the world. She says there were four women and two men there. Who were the four women . Whose house was it at . Those are issues that can be determined. Apparently according to orrin hatch, Brett Kavanaugh said that he was not at that party. So he seems to know where the party took place. Lets talk to the people who live who live there. Yes, it is a very long time ago, but its not like you have to throw up your hands and just say its one persons word against the others. Investigators know how to do this. And they can learn more than we know. Now. And jeffrey, theres a 1998 memo from kavanaugh who was at the time working for independent counsel ken starr. And he wrote that he was strongly opposed to giving president clinton a, quote, break in the questioning about his relationship with monica lewinsky. He wrote, clinton, quote, he should be forced to account for all of that and to defend his actions. It may not be our job to impose sanctions on him, but it is our job to make his pattern of revolting behavior clear piece by painful piece. Ive seen a lot of people citing this on the web. Whats your response . Well, in fairness to judge kavanaugh, he seems to be saying, go ahead, ask me anything. Ask me about this event. Ask me anything about my past in terms of relationships with women. So yes, he is calling for, you know, ugly, detailed scrutiny of bill clinton when he was working for kenneth starr. In fairness to him it sounds like at least that hes willing to subject himself to the same scrutiny. And thats what should happen here, though, gentlemen. Youre talking about somebody whos looking to fill a position for the rest of his life which means that before his entire life should be on display about who he is as a person. Frankly, just as he was about not wanting to give clinton a break, it makes sense as the head of the sbexecutive branch, for him to violate laws a judge would have to interpret or preside judgment over somebody else. It makes sense that he would have to account for. It doesnt mean that hes guilty or innocent. He should be tested. Thats what due process is. And simone, let me ask you. Amanda talked about how some conservative men she saw on twitter were initially writing, oh, this took place when he was 17, 35, 36 years ago, and then they deleted that. They started to think twice. Is there a cutoff do you think . When somebody is 15, 16, or does it depend upon the action . Look, i think some of the same conservative folks are some of the same folks that believe in mandatory minimums. And enforcing and that believe that Michael Brown or Trayvon Martin got what they deserved. I think that if we are talking about we have to remember that we clearly are living in a broken culture. Every single day. Were living in a broken culture. A culture that says boys will be boys. That sometimes thats just what happens. A culture that forces some women to say, well, you know, this just happened a lot of the time back in our day. This is unacceptable. And i am fortunate that we that in 2018 folks are saying this isnt how it has to be. We have to have a conversation about it. And i believe you have to atone for it. You have to be held accountable. Like if i stole from a store 100 years ago, not 100, but if i stole from a store 15 years ago, i should have to answer to it. If you didnt steal from the store, you should be able to clear yourself. I should be able to do that. Thats the point. You can not assume hes guilty because hes been accused of something. Susan collins, i give her credit for saying if hes lying, its disqualifying. Hes not trying to make excuses. Hes not saying it happened shes not making excuses, shes not saying it happened 35 years ago. Yeah to all that. I think we should take away from this situation if it did take place, not saying it did, Brett Kavanaugh would probably not be in the situation he is in today because he would have a record that would follow him. And do people have different treatment who come from different kind of families with lawyers in their families . This opens a whole other conversation about how drastically his life could have changed if he had gotten charged. Jeffrey . There is still uncertainty about how this factfinding will unfold. You notice when Mitch Mcconnell was talking about an investigation, he didnt mention public testimony. He didnt say there would be a public hearing. Susan collins was sort of vague about that. I mean, there are a lot of details to be worked out here. Will the fbi be involved, will this be under oath in front of the country at large . Who else will testify besides these you know, the two protagonists in this story . These are all very important questions, and what you could tell from mcconnells statement is that he wants a small, narrow, private, as small an investigatio investigation as possible, and that is not going to be acceptable to democrats. Angela . The fbi is already involved. Dianne feinstein passed her letter to the fbi initially. I think the other part of this that we have to keep in context, of course we want to hear both sides of this story. But we need to remember what will be before Brett Kavanaugh if he were nominated to the Supreme Court on womens choice, equal pay, workers rights. If he has a apparent and practice a pattern and practice of demonstrating that he can not ever side with women or that women are beneath him, i think that this is another piece of this but dont you think the professional career hes had speaks to that . Yeah he does treat women in the workplace. Not favorably, no. In fact, we we can look at the rulings. Shes talking about his professional behavior. Two different things. Im sorry. I missed what you were saying. I think the other part is speaking of professional behavior, in the hearing where Kamala Harris was questioning him, the way in which he chose to engage her is also telling and damning. I think i do have questions about how he engages with women professionally. I have questions about how he would rule in cases about womens bodies. I have questions on how he would side with women on equal pay issues or affirmative action thats independent of what not to me what may taint the nomination today its not to me because where i started was, a lot of red flags exist to me yeah, but you can you disagree with his policy. No, i disagree but the nomination, its ape character issue. I agree. What i just spoke to was his professionalism, his character, and to this but one of the things that i think amandas trying shes trying to talk about here in a lot of these metoo cases, harvey stwoweinstein, we only h 18 minutes left. Theres a trail of men who have been fallen because of their disgusting past behavior. In almost all of them, its a pattern. You see more than one. What if nobody else comes forward . Does that change things for you . No, i think that dr. Ford, she has credibly come forward in my opinion. I think the fact that she first came out first was anonymous, then came out on the record and is saying shes willing to testify speaks volumes. I hope if there are any other women out there they come forward. These women are probably some of the most powerful people on the planet. If you believe and stand on the side of justice and you dont want to see this happen to anyone else, you do not want to see two credibly accused folks on the Supreme Court, come forward. Even if they dont, i still think that her merits stand on their own. Thank you, one and all, for that discussion. A rapidly rising death toll in the carolinas as rivers swell. Is the worst from florence on the way . Stay with us. You might take something for your heart. Or joints. But do you take something for your brain. With an ingredient originally discovered in jellyfish, prevagen has been shown in Clinical Trials to improve shortterm memory. Prevagen. Healthier brain. Better life. Is important to me so father being diagnosed with advanced nonsmall cell lung cancer made me think of all the things that i wanted to teach my kids. avo another tru story with keytruda. roger my doctor said i could start on keytruda so i did. With each scan things just got better. avo in a clinical study, keytruda offered patients a longer life than chemotherapy. And it could be your first treatment. Keytruda is for adults with nonsmall cell lung cancer that has spread. Who test positive for pdl1 and whose tumors do not have an abnormal egfr or alk gene. Its the immunotherapy with the most fdaapproved uses for advanced lung cancer. Keytruda can cause your immune system to attack normal organs and tissues in your body and affect how they work. This can happen anytime during or after treatment and may be severe and lead to death. See your doctor right away if you experience new or worsening cough, chest pain, shortness of breath, diarrhea, severe stomach pain or tenderness, nausea or vomiting, rapid heartbeat, constipation, changes in urine, changes in eyesight, muscle pain or weakness, joint pain, confusion or memory problems, fever, rash, itching or flushing, as this may keep these problems from becoming more serious. These are not all the possible side effects of keytruda. Tell your doctor about all your medical conditions including immune system problems, or if youve had an organ transplant or lung, breathing, or liver problems. roger before id think of the stuff i might miss. But now with keytruda, we have hope. avo living longer is possible. Its tru. Keytruda, from merck. Ask your doctor about keytruda. Authorities in the carolinas warn that the worst could be yet to come from what was Hurricane Florence. The nowtropical depression is making its way north while the death toll was just increased to 21. Three of the lives lost were babies. Because of florence, several rivers are running over their banks, cutting off cities such as wilmington, North Carolina, with no way in by car right now. Cnns Paolo Sandoval is inland in lumberton. What are authorities worried about right now where you are . Reporter well, exactly what you mentioned, jake, which is access. You know, floodwaters still remain in communities throughout North Carolina including here in lumberton. Many interstates and also some of these roads continue to be flooded each though in this particular city the river has stopped rising. Keep in mind peoplpeople here lumberton have been through this when Hurricane Matthew swept through two years ago. People ive spoken to tell me its like history seems to be repeating itself. Deadly and deep. Floodwaters are rushing through the carolinas as days of rainfall break 140year records in places. Deaths continuing to mount including 1yearold Kaiden Lee Welch whose body was found this morning. The baby was swept out of his mothers arms as she tried to pass through fastmoving water sunday. She was a stranger to this community. Driving through this road. She did not know. The water forced her off the road and across an open field. Reporter there are ongoing rescue efforts across the region as water levels continue to rise. The lumber river outside of wimbledon invaded many neighborhoods still not yet recovered after Hurricane Matthew two years ago. Images shot by cnn show the devastation at ground level. Dozen whos thought they had survived the worst of Hurricane Florence now suddenly reliant on rescue workers as they leave their homes behind. Some people say theyve been praying for a while. Some people are crying. And some people are just like, thank you, lord. Reporter teams searching for survivors in submerged trucks and hovering above flooded thunderstorms airlift citizens to safety. This woman was stranded in her house for days without medication. One myrtle beach official tells cnn, quote, we are slowly becoming an island as some citizens try to make their way through flooded roadways by car and even canoe. These are 500year flood levels. This is a matter of weeks, months, maybe years to fully recover. Reporter flood watches and warnings have expanded to include ten states and nearly 30 Million People all looking at the carolinas for signs of what may be coming next. Some areas have not seen the worst flooding yet. So this is a monumental disaster for our state. Reporter widespread Power Outages continue to be a major issue. Just a while ago, i walked to a nearby hotel where people have been waiting to go into their homes for the last five days. Theyve been waiting there in the dark. Last point i should make, during matthew, some of the hardest hit were those struggling economically which means they lost whatever little they had. Now here they are again, jake. Paolo sandoval, thank you very much. Erica hill is in fayetteville where flooding is posing a threat to locals. The river levels are keeping locals on edge. Reporter they certainly are. Thats the major concern. The river is behind us, we sent our drone up to give you a sense of what were looking at here. This issone area where the Cape Fear River has beyonded this is one area where the Cape Fear River has extended beyond its banks. The biggest concern, its a Beautiful Day here. People have been cooped up for days with rain. One official said, you know, you should go outside. Go outside, enjoy the sun while theyre packing their cars to move to higher ground. There are mandatory evacuations in place for the one mile surrounding the cape fear and the little river because that river feeds into the cape fear. Were seeing a lot of the creeks that feed the Cape Fear River are really contributing to the flooding. The river is expected to crest tomorrow at 64 feet. When it was matthews turn, it was only 53. Erica hill in fayetteville, thank you very much. In our national lead, how a womans narrow escape led police to a Border Patrol agentturnedaccused serial killer. Stay with us. No matter when you retire, your income doesnt have to. See how lincoln can help ensure you still have income every month of your retirement, guaranteed, at lincolnfinancial. Com. Oh oh ozempic® vo people with type 2 diabetes are excited about the potential of onceweekly ozempic®. In a study with ozempic®, a majority of adults lowered their blood sugar and reached an a1c of less than seven and maintained it. Oh under seven . vo and you may lose weight. In the same oneyear study, adults lost on average up to 12 pounds. 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S. Mexico border. The Border Patrol agent had worked for the access for a decade. Ortiz knew his victims. Reporter tasked with protecting our borders, Juan David Ortiz instead called a calculating serial killer by police. Ortiz carried out murders in a cold and callus way. Reporter the Border Patrol sergeant accused of shooting four women in the head. I believe that ortiz targeted all four women because of their profession and being vulnerable. In addition, all the victims were defensive and at one point, ortiz, hoped to gain their trust and then viciously shot them. Reporter the killings came to light after a wouldbe fifth victim narrowly escaped. Investigators say on friday night, Juan David Ortiz ended up at this gas station with a woman named erica pena. Pena told investigators that they were talking about one of her friends named melissa who had been found dead a week earlier. Thats when she said that the Border Patrol agent started acting weird. When they got to this gas station. Ortiz pulled a gun and tried to keep pena from kiting the vehicle. She said from skitting the vehicle. She said she ripped off her short and ran tomorrow a state trooper who was gassing up for help. Two of the four killings took place in the hours after pena made her escape but before Police Tracked him down in the parking garage of this hotel where they say he was hiding in the bed of a pickup. Police a he confessed to killing four people between september 3rd and the 15th. Four women worked as prostitutes, according to investigators. Their bodies were found over the past two weeks. Its fear thursday are more. We will look everywhere that he has been to see if we have a pattern of victims such as this, and well continue the investigation. Reporter as for ortiz, he spent ten years with customs and border protection, rising up to an intelligence supervisor after spending time in the u. S. Navy. Border patrol Officials Say theres nothing nowin his disciplinary record to raise red flags. Investigators say that ortiz met with his victims numerous times and thats how he developed a confidence and trust of his victims before killing them. Thank you very much. Follow me on facebook and twitter jaketapper, or at theleadcnn. We continue right now. Happening now, confirmation in jeopardy. Sudden questions about the future of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh after a woman accuses him of assaulting her while they were when they were in high school. It could derail his confirmation. A little delay. President Trump Defends kavanaugh as one of the finest people he knows but says he supports hearing everyone out even if it delays confirmation. Will kavanaugh and his accuser both testify under oath . Deep trouble. Flooding from florence claims more lives as the storm leaves what one official calls a