Yeah. You know . And youve been there before in breaking news stories and on these stories. It is just unbelievable whats happening there. Yeah, and the unknown is going to become a priority. Theyre going to have to do their rescue and their searching and were going to have to stay on it and not forget because the need will only grow over time. It shines the light, don, why now is the time for leaders to be focused on things that matters. The last thing they should be focused on is themselves, and, yes, im talking about our president. And a sharpie sharpiegate, as you may want to call it. I hear the president s apologists saying, oh, its petty, you shouldnt be focussing on it. No, it is. This is a news story. This is the president of the United States. If you cant trust whats coming out of the president of the United States mouth, where are we, who are we . Especially as journalists, why wouldnt we cover that . Youre supposed to be able to trust the president. And getting resources is one thing. Thats great theyre getting resources there. But also, Accurate Information should be coming from the highest office in the land. Instead of doubling down on what, quite frankly, is not the truth. Look, it just shows how low the bar is for this president to put himself first and use any means necessary to promote his own cause. It doesnt care that its wrong, doesnt care that hes going to get other people to say that he was right, hes going to lie to the American People about it, hes going to have someone or himself draw on a map in the most ridiculous way and hes going to stay on it while the hurricane is literally winding its way through the place that hes responsible for. Why even bring it all those days later . Why i saw it happening live and i was like, why is he pulling this thing up . Then i looked at that mark and said, thats not accurate. As it turns out i was just watching from home. As it turns out, its not accurate. I said this is i kept wondering how many people would pick up on it. And obviously everyone picked up on it. On a magic marker being used well. To augment the hurricane cone. Look how simple this is. Chris, you know, don, you made a mistake. Oh, i did . Im sorry. My bad. I didnt mean that. Thats right. There was so much confusion. So many different paths in the beginning. This new press secretary coming after cnn because they made, like, a typo on a map, and, you know, cnn corrects it. Thats what were in the business of doing. We try to give you Accurate Information. We fall short, we correct it, we move on. The irony, really, there are more coarse words for it, but for this press secretary to come at us for making a mistake with the gaffe machine that they are in charge of at that white house, they couldnt even come up with a good story for that cone, don. They cant even deny it and they deny everything, fake or otherwise. Heres the thing, nobodys perfect, no organization is perfect. When we make a mistake, what do we do . We say we made a mistake, were sorry and we correct it. Simple as that. That is the big difference. If youre the president of the United States, i made a mistake its just a simple my bad. Theres a lot going on. Alabama wasnt. Whatever. Lets move on. We would not be talking about it right now. I was overcautious. I extended it too much. I just want everybody to be safe. He would have gotten a little bit of this. Good, youre right. Thank you for caring. We dont think you have a lot of empathy in these situations. You did here. Even governor chris christie, hes a supporter of the president. Its harder for a guy like this to get to that point. Its a more real point when its him. He says the apology is key, don. When you make a mistake, when you go too far, you apologize. We have never seen this president do that once. Yep. Thank you, sir. See you soon. This is cnn tonight. Im don lemon. Heres our breaking news. Of course were talking about Hurricane Dorian battering the carolinas right now. And expected to remain a powerful very powerful hurricane with the potential for dangerous storm surges, lifethreatening flash floods, okay . This is not over yet. A rough night ahead, especially for North Carolina. Were going to go there live for you in just minutes. Weve got a whole lot to cover for you and you dont want to miss any of it. We are learning tonight that at least 30 people have lost their lives in the bahamas. Officials say they fear that toll will soar. And as dorian continues on his path of druestruction, just loo the the havoc in the carolinas earlier today. Look at that. Theres a jeep. Its trapped in the waves this afternoon in myrtle beach. The driver reportedly tried to make it along the beach and then got stuck. To rush up there live wires sparking there it is. In the flooded streets of charleston. That after fierce winds and tornadoes smashed communities along the coast of North Carolina. One man surveying his property had this warning for people wait out the storm. When they say get, get. Thats the thing to do. In the bahamas, a top official says hundreds of people, you hear me, hundreds remain unaccounted for. Look at the devastation. This is in the abacos. Every building is damaged with most utterly destroyed there. Words cant describe it. I dont wish it on nobody. Nobody. Words cant describe it. Do you mind if i Say Something . My grandfather they can never categorize this. Never. My grandfather ran out in the middle it was like an atomic bomb went off. Were going to have the very latest on the storm throughout the night. All the two hours that we have for you and then all night long here on cnn. Our correspondents are out in force in the storm zone. And with all of this going on, with Hurricane Dorian hitting North Carolina with at least 30 people dead in the bahamas, what does the president do as americans are looking to him for guidance . Guidance on a deadly storm. He continues to spread misinformation and repeatedly ignore the facts. I wish i could say its surprising. Maybe in this situation when lives are being threatened and are already lost, maybe it is surprising this time. In a fiveday effort to avoid admitting, just admitting that he made a mistake. We all make mistakes. Nobodys perfect. Instead of admitting he made a mistake, i want you to look at how all of this went down. The president announcing last thursday that he was cancelling his trip to poland to keep track of the storm. It was that important. It was a big storm. He golfed twice over the long holiday weekend. But White House Press secretary Stephanie Gresham said he was being briefed hourly on Hurricane Dorian. Sunday morning, 10 51 eastern, the president tweeting this, in addition to florida, south carolina, North Carolina, georgia and alabama will most likely be hit much harder than anticipated. Looking like one of the largest hurricanes ever. Already category 5. Be careful. God bless everyone. And just 20 minutes later, a birmingham, Alabama Branch of the National Weather service set the record straight tweeting, quote, alabama will not see any impact from dorian. We repeat, no impacts from Hurricane Dorian will be felt across alabama. The system will remain too far east. Thats pretty clear. They even repeated it. No impacts from Hurricane Dorian. Yet the president just about 20 minutes later said this. The original course was dead into florida, now it seems to be going up toward south carolina, toward North Carolina, georgias going to be hit, alabamas going to get a piece of it, it looks like, but it can change its course again and it can go back more toward florida. About an hour later, doubling down at his fema briefing. It may get a little piece of a great place, its called alabama, and alabama could even be in for at least some very strong winds and something more than that. It could be. This just came up, unfortunately. Its the size of the storm that were talking about. So for alabama, just please be careful also. So there is a correction. Surely someone on his staff must have told him, mr. President , no, no alabama. Surely, right . A great place called camera. You heard him. A state that went for donald trump by a huge margin in 2016. But i digress. The fact is there were some very, very early models that showed a possible threat to parts of alabama, but those models were from tuesday, august 27th. Wednesday the 28th. Models were updated four times a day. So by sunday morning, remember, that was wednesday, tuesday and wednesday, this is sunday. By sunday morning when the president cited an already nonexistent threat to alabama, those models had been updated at least 15 times. Like i say, the white house insisting that the president was being briefed hourly, right . So hes being briefed hourly. Updated 15 times. Remember, gresham said hes being briefed hourly. So why did he get it so wrong . Why did he continue to insist people in alabama were threatened, even though the nation National Weather service said that there was no threat, that that was not true . Why did he double, triple, quadruple down . Actually, even more than that. On his very provably false claims. Monday, labor day, president tweeting, after report on abc news, such a phony hurricane report by lightweight reporter john carl of abc news. I suggested yesterday at fema that all along that along with georgia, florida, south carolina, North Carolina, even alabama could possibly come into play, which was true. Jonathan carls a good reporter, by the way, and it wasnt true. Not on sunday when he said it. The president going on to say under certain scenarios it was, in fact, correct that alabama could have received some hurt. Again, when the president made those statements on sunday, alabama had long since been ruled out as a target of the storm. And then there was yesterday. Things got really interesting. The president in the oval office showing reporters a clearly doctored map, one that falsely showed alabama in the path of Hurricane Dorian. And it appears to have been altered by someone scribbling on it. With a sharpie. That was the original chart, and you see it was going to hit not only florida but georgia. It could have was going toward the gulf. That was what we what was originally projected. Danny, please, mr. Director, can you roll that back . Because obviously this was planned. Someone wrote on it. Not sure who. Someone wrote on the map and hes like can you just put that up on the desk . Here it is. That was the original chart, and you see it was going to hit not only florida but georgia. It could have was going toward the gulf. That was what we what was originally projected. Maybe you just fell off the turnip truck. I dont know. Lets take a look a little more closely, okay . See that . Sharpie scrawl over alabama . Now, we all know someone who likes to use a sharpie, right . Could that be a coincidence . Im just saying, you know, lets be objective here, loves a sharpie, promotes it, theres a sharpie mark on alabama. Is that a coincidence . And then just happened to have it there. Maybe it was just a coincidence. Okay. A source familiar with the oval Office Briefing would not deny, would not deny that it was president who drew the black sharpie line on the map. Hmm. Washington post is reporting tonight that guess who drew that line on the map. More on that in just a few minutes. You want to stay tuned for that. Guess who drew that line on the map. Thats what the Washington Post is reporting. Were going to have more on it. But i want you to listen to the president s answer when he was asked how that map came to be altered. You showed us a map earlier of the initial force. Yeah. It appeared to have been extended or something to include alabama. Can you explain how that came to be . No, i just know yeah, i know that alabama was in the original forecast. They thought it would get it. As a piece of it. And then this. And that map that you showed us today looked like it almost had a sharpie written on it. I dont know. I dont know. I dont know. Okay. I dont know. I dont know. I dont know. All of that. Seriously. People are in the path of a deadly hurricane and have died. And then last night the president tweeted the seven day old hurricane map from the Water District management. The map socalled spaghetti projection, okay, showing multiple southeastern states in dorians path, including alabama, but heres what the fact is. Graphics like this, like this one, theyre not forecasts. They show raw output from a computer model and they include this statement, quote, if anything on this graphic causes confusion, ignore the entire product. And theres more. The president at it again tweeting, i was with you all the way, alabama. By claiming that the state was in danger when it wasnt. So how is that with you all the way . And were learning tonight the president personally directed his Homeland Security adviser to issue a statement this afternoon that he was the one who showed the president a graphic that showed possible Tropical Storm force winds and the southeastern tip of alabama. That is according to a white house source. Which leaves us with the question of why youd brief the president with information that was already out of date. And by the way, the job of Homeland Security adviser has been downgraded twice under john bolton, so the adviser who could, you know, could have been focussing on this dangerous storm is now being forced to give cover to the president who is unhappy that he was wrong about alabama. So unhappy that a source says that he called fox news john roberts into the oval office this afternoon to argue again that he wasnt wrong about alabama. The president has made it really clear that this is all about ego. He just cant admit reality. Not when hed also have to admit that he was wrong. So while peoples homes and their lives are being threatened and, you know, at this very moment in time while hes doing all of this, the president s priority is covering up the truth. Its been that way all along. Lets not forget this is from the second day of the trump administration. This is then press Secretary Sean Spicer insisting we should all ignore what we had seen with our own eyes. This was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration. Period. Both in person and around the globe. Its been almost three years since the president started his administration by arguing over the size of his inaugural crowd. And he hasnt changed at all. He still wants you to ignore what you have seen with your own eyes, what youve heard with your own ears. Just remember, what youre seeing and what youre reading is not whats happening. He still cant quite commit to simply telling the truth. When i can i tell the truth. Heres the thing that we need to be able to rely on, the president of the United States to tell us, and that is the truth. All the time. And especially now with Hurricane Dorian battering so many americans. Their lives could depend on the truth. Stormrelated death toll from Hurricane Dorian now up to five in this country, including two in North Carolina. Were going to go to the carolinas for a live report next. If you have moderate to severe psoriasis, Little Things can be a big deal. Thats why theres otezla. Otezla is not a cream. Its a pill that treats plaque psoriasis differently. With otezla, 75 clearer skin is achievable. Dont use if youre allergic to otezla. It may cause severe diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting. Otezla is associated with an increased risk of depression. Tell your doctor if you have a history of depression or suicidal thoughts or if these feelings develop. Some people taking otezla reported weight loss. Your doctor should monitor your weight and may stop treatment. Upper respiratory tract infection and headache may occur. Tell your doctor about your medicines and if youre pregnant or planning to be. Otezla. Show more of you. You can stream and scroll through other peoples vacations, or you can be the kind of person that books their own vacation. A booker. Scootin through life at seven miles an hour. Awesome. You see, bookers just go for it. They book a surfside resort, order a fourth taco even though three was plenty. cause bookers dont make bucket lists. No booking way. They make memories. Just like this guy right here. Be a booker at booking. Com. The worlds 1 choice for booking accommodations. With licensed agents availablep be a bwhen 247,d it. G. Com. Its not just easy. Its havingjeromebettis onyourflagfootballteam easy. Go get em, bus ohhhh [laughing] cmon bus, cmon hey, wait, wait, wait hey man, i got your flag i got your flag, man i got your flag its geico easy. With licensed agents available 24 7. 49 nothing woo Hurricane Dorian battering the carolinas today, bringing powerful winds, rain, flooding and tornados. I want to get straight to cnns drew griffin. He is live for us in wilmington, North Carolina with the very latest. Drew, talk to me about the conditions where you are tonight. Reporter well, i mean, the wind has not been that bad, to be quite honest, don, here along the Cape Fear River in downtown wilmington, but the rain has not let up for hours. Just sheeting rain. Of course that is the problem, especially in lowlying areas here along the North Carolina coast. Prone to flooding. They do have a warning, a flood warning, a Flash Flood Warning up. And as this rain continues to just pelt this area, we are waiting to see if those lowlying areas flood. The winds have not been that bad. I dont expect them to get much worse than this as dorian, the worst of it appears to be passing by wilmington.