Dangerous storm. Downgraded over the weekend from a hurricane, tropical storm, then tropical depression unleashing more and more rain on the eastern seaboard. Good morning. Im bill hemmer in wilmington, North Carolina. Sandra, good morning to you. We tried and could not get out. Like so many others trying to get out and trying to get back in. Good morning, sandra. Sandra unbelievable images and rescues that played out over the weekend there. Thank you for your continued reporting on the ground there. Im sandra smith in new york this morning. Take us back and tell us what it looks like there now. Bill listen, this state has been hit very hard and South Carolina as well. Not as substantial as you see here in the wilmington area. We have 17 dead blamed on the storm. That number could go higher. The waters have risen. They continue to rise throughout the day today. If you think about it, were on the highend of a bathtub. You have the Atlantic Ocean on one side and all the rivers that surro
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. Y
Could dump as much as 40 inches of rain. Listen to the power of the storm. Florence is sure to take its time calling at a speed most of us could outwalk, just two miles an hour. So far in its wake, florence has knocked out the power for more than 700,000 people, sent boats into downtown streets, decimated docks into kindling, and tore up this church like it was paper. Im not going to lie, i broke down this morning and cried. Im accepting it, it is what it is, we cant control it. We just pick up and continue, thats all we can really do. Cnns Martin Savidge is joining us from wilmington, North Carolina. Give us the latest. Reporter the weather has been off and on as far as rain and winds. Some of those rains have been heavy. I looked at the radar, ana, before we came to air. Just five miles away from us there is a virtual river of rain in the air. And that is just dumping unknown amounts of water into the inland areas. Its the inland flooding problem that is the onehat is the most urgent
Continues. Bizarre story. Welcome to early start. Im dave briggs. Im christine romans. It is monday, september 17th. 5 00 a. M. In the east. We start with the Supreme Court latest. Brett kavanaughs nomination faces new concerns. Her name is christine ford. Now her identity is known and with the clock ticking toward Senate Confirmation vote, the Senate Judiciary committee is trying to arrange staff phone calls with her and kavanaugh. But already some republicans are showing signs of concern. Here is senator lisa murkowski. There are more questions that need to be asked than answered. I think it would be appropriate to allow for that time. Bob corker and jeff flake who are on the Senate Judiciary committee believe the committee should hear from ford before voting. Republicans can only afford to lose one vote. Several democrats calling for delay. Including Dianne Feinstein and chuck schumer. She is the senator ford first reached out to. She is a constituent of feinstein. But the chairman
Richmond, virginia. The crisis in North Carolina continues. Swollen rivers from all the rain are spilling over on the street. Water has all but cut off the city of wilmington. Crews have made hundreds of water rescues. I have never seen roads like this. This is way beyond what i expected. Typhoon mangkut slammed into heavily populated parts of asia. Millions evacuated from their home, dozens dead, and even more missing. Saw a tail, a lot thrashing. No swimming allowed at several cape cod beaches in massachusetts after a deadly shark attack over the weekend. This in essence is the new normal. I spent three or four days in my room in 2014 not wanting to be alive. Michael phelps opens up about his struggles with depression. Its not something that is going to go away. Its something that makes me who i am. Glor good evening. Im jeff glor. This is our western edition. Were going to begin tonight with quickly developing news on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Kavanaugh and the woman wh