Return to Transcripts main page

Wolf

Kavanaugh Responds to Accusations; Kavanaugh Meets with Legal Team; Fate of Trump's Nominee; Flooding Cuts off Wilmington; Levee Could Fail in Lumberton. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired September 17, 2018 - 13:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:00:14] WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Hell, I'm Wolf Blitzer. It's 1:00 p.m. here in Washington. Thanks very much for joining us.

A nomination in turmoil. The president's Supreme Court pick issuing a forceful denial after a woman accuses him of physical and sexual assault. Now as she's willing to testify publicly, he's revealing his next move.

Plus, as more lawmakers call on Republicans to delay his confirmation vote, how will this impact red state Democrats and several Republicans who are undecided about sending him to the U.S. Supreme Court.

And an entire region now under water. Disastrous flooding wreaking havoc across the Carolinas as the number of rescues grow and the rising waters threaten entire towns.

All that coming up.

Let's begin with the scramble to salvage the U.S. Supreme Court nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh. An allegation of sexual assault from more than 30 years ago now threatens to derail his nomination. Kavanaugh's accuser, Professor Christine Blasey Ford, has now gone public. She alleges that he sexually assaulted her in the 1980s when they were both in high school.

Kavanaugh says it never happened. In a statement today he said this, and I'm quoting, this is a completely false allegation. I have never done anything like what the accuser describes to her or to anyone. Because this never happened, I had no idea who was making this accusation until she identified her yesterday. I am willing to talk to the Senate Judiciary Committee in any way the committee deems appropriate to refute this false allegation from 36 years ago and defend my integrity, closed quote.

Let's bring in CNN's justice correspondent Jessica Schneider.

Jessica, Kavanaugh's accuser says she's also willing to testify before the committee. Bring us up to speed on where things stand now.

JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, up until this point we have not heard directly from Christine Blasey Ford. She shared her story with "The Washington Post" and we've seen the letter that she wrote to her congresswoman in July. But now, yes, her attorney tells CNN she's not only willing to testify publicly, but also willing to share the results of a polygraph test to prove she's not lying.

And what she's alleging here is serious. Her attorney say it amounted to attempted rape. Christine Blasey Ford says Brett Kavanaugh physically and sexually assaulted her when they were in high school at a party in the early 1980s. She claims that Brett Kavanaugh pushed her into a bedroom, locked the door and played loud music to overpower her calls for help. She says that Kavanaugh then tried to take her clothes off and covered her mouth with his hand, at which point she says she was in fear for her life, concerned that he could inadvertently kill her.

Well, Brett Kavanaugh, as we've seen, has vehemently denied all of these allegations. And Blasey Ford, meanwhile though, says she has never told anyone about the incident until many years later when she told her therapist. And her lawyer today pushed back that she was being anything less than truthful. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEBRA KATZ, LAWYER FOR KAVANAUGH ACCUSER: She's telling the truth. She took a polygraph. She mentioned this to her -- in her therapy sessions in 2012. She came forward before this nominee was nominated. This is someone who has told the truth at great personal cost and we all know what she's going to have to withstand as a result of having come forward.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR, "NEW DAY": Would you be willing to release the results of that polygraph?

KATZ: I will to the appropriate authorities who wish to see it, yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHNEIDER: Now, we were told last week that federal authorities have not opened a criminal investigation as a result of this accusation. Instead, the FBI has placed this woman's letter with the accusation in Judge Kavanaugh's background file. But today all 10 Democrats on the Judiciary Committee are calling for a delay of Thursday's planned vote on the nomination and they say they want an FBI investigation before the panel even moves forward.

Wolf, we are waiting to hear more from the FBI, but typically they don't comment on any investigations, even if there was one here.

Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Jessica, thanks for the update. Jessica Schneider reporting.

The White House, meanwhile, is defending Brett Kavanaugh. An officials tell CNN, President Trump is upset and annoyed. Our senior White House correspondent, Jeff Zeleny, is joining us right now. Jeff, we know Judge Kavanaugh made a trip to the White House earlier in the day. What are you hearing?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, we do. He was over here meeting with his confirmation team. A group of aides that he's been working on throughout this confirmation process. We're told that he did not have a scheduled meeting with the president himself. We will, you know, of course, update you if that changes.

But, Wolf, the silence from the president is certainly interesting. He is standing by him in every way. But taking, you know, a careful silence, you're not going after the accuser, as we've seen him do in other instances here. But there is a tone being set from the very top here from his top adviser, Kellyanne Conway, who said that the woman, the accuser, deserves to be heard without insults. This is what she said, clearly sending a message to others in the president's orbit.

[13:05:16] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KELLYANNE CONWAY, WHITE HOUSE COUNSELOR: She should not be insulted. She should not be ignored. She should testify under oath and she should do it on Capitol Hill. But that's up to the Senate Judiciary Committee. They need to decide the forum.

QUESTION: Should the vote be delayed?

CONWAY: And Judge Kavanaugh should also testify as to these 36 year old allegations.

QUESTION: Should the vote be delayed?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: So they are taking this seriously in every way, but certainly, you know, saying that she should not be insulted. The president, as I said, has been silent about this. We'll see if we hear from him this afternoon. He has a public event on his schedule in about an hour or so.

But, Wolf, they are concerned about this nomination, but they still believe that Senate Republicans, there is enough support for him to confirm this. But it looks like the central question here, will that vote happen on Thursday? That's looking less and less likely. But we'll certainly have every eye on the president this afternoon, Wolf, to see if he weighs in.

BLITZER: Any chance there's going to be a White House press briefing today, Jeff?

ZELENY: Wolf, that's a good question. It's not on this schedule. You know, and they certainly are not happening as frequently as they used to happen in this administration in previous administrations. So right now there is not a White House briefing on the schedule, but certainly many things to ask White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders. We'll let you know if they add one to the schedule, Wolf.

BLITZER: Lots of questions. No doubt about that.

Jeff Zeleny, thank you.

Will Thursday's committee vote on the Kavanaugh nomination be delayed? Will Kavanaugh and his accuser testify in public and under oath?

Let's get some insight from our guests. We have our CNN legal analysts Laura Coates and Carrie Cordero with us, along with our chief political analyst Gloria Borger.

So, Gloria, getting complicated out there. How's this looking like it might play out?

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, it was very complicated because internally, I mean, Grassley is trying to get together a private phone call and he can't even do that. Dianne Feinstein refuses to participate in this. And so the committee has to work out what it wants to do.

Kavanaugh has said that he denies it. He will testify in any forum about it. She has her story and she will testify and has taken a polygraph test. And I think the question now is, a, of timing, as you just heard Jeff Zeleny say. I don't believe there's any way this vote happens on Thursday at this point. Very, very unlikely.

What does the president himself have to say about this? Everybody has gone out of their way, every Republican. And you heard Kellyanne Conway say, look, you have to take this woman's charges seriously. Do not be dismissive of this. This would be the worst thing in the world any Republican could ever do. On the other hand, you have Brett Kavanaugh saying this never occurred.

And Grassley now has to figure out how to get his committee on the same page and try and figure out how to deal with this, whether in a public forum, whether in a private forum. We just -- you know, this is a rapidly developing story and clearly the White House is going to be involved in this. And we're not sure what the president would want, but we have not heard him or seen him tweet about this.

BLITZER: Not yet. Let's see if he changes his mind.

BORGER: Yes.

BLITZER: Carrie, the attorney for Kavanaugh's accuser, the accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, the attorney was on TV earlier in the day and explained why she has now decided to go so public and is willing to testify. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEBRA KATZ, LAWYER FOR KAVANAUGH'S ACCUSER: She wants the Senate to do what it is constitutionally obligated to do. She has taken this great risk of coming forward. She is a credible person. These are very serious allegations and they should be treated seriously and she should be treated respectfully during this process. And unfortunately at this point she is already getting a lot of hostile threats and recrimination. And that is, of course, quite disturbing and unfortunate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: So in terms of the confirmation process, her decision to go public, her decision to testify before the committee, to testify under oath before the committee, that changes a lot right now.

CARRIE CORDERO, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, and a lot has just changed in a few days. You know, we were talking about this last week and she was still anonymous and now she -- her -- you know, her name is public and now apparently she's willing to testify.

Regardless of what statements might be made against her or whatever kind of information she's receiving privately, members of Congress seem to be taking this seriously. Susan Collins tweeted that there should be more testimony both from Dr. Ford, as well as from Brett Kavanaugh. So that seems consistent with what Kellyanne Conway is also saying, that there will be some kind of testimony. And so it does seem like it's being taken seriously by members of Congress.

They're in a very difficult position in terms of having to evaluate very, very dated claims that the nominee, who otherwise has had an exemplary record, is vehemently denying. And so he's made a very strong statement. Time will tell whether or not that very strong statement of denial is able to comport with whatever testimony he has to give if he has to reappear before the committee.

[13:10:16] BLITZER: You know, Laura, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Chuck Grassley, issued a rather lengthy statement saying the process right now calls for phone conversations between committee members or staff and these two individuals. Then they decide what to do next. But if they are both called in open session to testify before the Judiciary Committee, separately, and they're sworn in under oath and if one of them lies, that's perjury.

LAURA COATES, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: It is and welcome back to 1991 between Anita Hill and her hearing testimonies and that of now Justice Thomas. We had this thing play out. But the word process is so important here because the due process is the issue even in the court of public opinion and in the judiciary committee as of right now because it actually benefits both Brett Kavanaugh and his accuser, Christine Ford, because both will have an opportunity to say what happened, their versions of the events, if he in fact recalls it, and either rebut or bolster the credibility of one person's story. And that's going to be very, very important here.

But let's not forget, unlike the Anita Hill hearings that happened in 1991, you have just a decade between those allegations and the confirmation process of then nominee Clarence Thomas. You've got 36 years now between the allegations occurring and the confirmation here. And that timing is going to play very, very important. I used to do a lot of delayed reporting sexual assault cases. The hurtles for somebody who is accused in a delay of a year or more, a year to five years, is an enormous hurtle, let alone 36. Memory issues, credibility, and, of course, her intent and motivation is always going to be question, particularly in a partisan battle (ph) they're in now. But that timing is going to be important in due process. I'll be interested to see who decides that due process is important now who didn't think so perhaps with Senator Franken leaving or others.

BORGER: I mean, you know, we have to understand, this plays into a larger environment now. I mean, you know, we're in the Me Too environment and politicians know that an election is coming up. Democrats are running a lot of women. And, you know, there are questions on both sides about how this plays out, which is, you know, you have to be respectful of this woman, but they want Kavanaugh to be confirmed and he's got a story that says this, you know, this never happened and it was 36 years ago and there's one other person who was apparently a witness who does not recall it.

And so it's very difficult to see how this gets resolved, except that I think nobody wants a repeat what you were talking about, Laura. Nobody wants a repeat of Anita Hill hearings. That didn't do anybody any good. And so I think they're trying to figure out a way to deal with this respectfully to both of these -- to both of these people. And it's not an easy solution to come up with.

CORDERO: Well, and his -- and in the -- in the Anita Hill hearings, I mean, Justice Thomas was confirmed, but there has always been that asterisk over his confirmation --

BORGER: Right.

CORDERO: That has carried with him, whereas the Anita Hill hearings are always brought up.

In addition, there are significant differences. The allegations there were in a professional context amongst adults and sexual harassment, and that is what a lot of the Me Too movement has been about.

This is a very different type of allegation. It's a serious allegation, but it's about behavior as teenagers. It's very old. It's over 35 years ago that the allegation is being made about. And so it's different then the professional context when we're talking about adults in a professional work environment.

BLITZER: The fact that they were both teenagers, he was supposedly 17, she was 15, and he was, according to her, drunk, does that make any difference at all?

COATES: Well, the tendency is to say, well, boys will be boys, right, and have a dismissive air about things (INAUDIBLE) minors. But in many states, 17 years old is one you can actually try someone as an adult in some cases and you can have it be very serious. Now, not to say this is that case, and you're right, Carrie, there are many distinctions here, but to be dismissive of it, of the idea of, if it's a sexual assault that actually did occur, if the sexual assault occurred whether the person is drunk, whether the person is inebriated in some form or fashion, or useful as an offender does not belittle or undermine it to say that it never happened. It will come into context.

Again, the timing is different. Unlike Anita Hill and Clarence Thomas, we're talking about he was the, what, the head of the EEOC at the time. He was also the head of a civil rights organization for the federal government. A professional capacity they were working in. He should, obviously, know better as a civil rights attorney not to do that sort of thing. And that allegation is different than a 17, 15, 36 years old where it was -- it came out in a marital therapy session where it was first known about.

But, still, it's going to be very important going forward for Republicans not to be dismissive of it, for Democrats not to perhaps throw everything in because, remember, if they're going to say that this is an issue that needs to be address and that it's -- they have the (INAUDIBLE). They haven't always been Republicans and Democrats. So I'm curious as to figure out what's going to happen.

[13:15:06] The pattern in the Me Too cases has been multiple accusers have come forward at different points in time to bolster one another. And as you said, Gloria, the repeat here would be, remember Joe Biden sat on three other witnesses who could have bolstered Anita Hill's testimony and did not. Perhaps Feinstein doesn't want to have that -- make mistake.

BLITZER: Everybody stick around. There's more come up on this important story. Lots at stake.

I'll also speak live with one of the U.S. senators who will decide Kavanaugh's fate.

Plus, if this levy fails, all bets are off. That from one official in North Carolina where waters are rising throughout the region after Hurricane Florence. We're going to take you there live.

And a border agent confesses to being a serial killer after one woman's dramatic escape.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:20:17] BLITZER: The aftermath of Hurricane Florence continues to pummel the Carolinas, where rainfall totals have reached nearly three feet in some places. And officials are now warning the worst of it is yet to come as floodwaters are still rising in many places. Twenty people have died as a result of the storm and more than 1,000 people have been rescued so far.

Florence is still a typical depression and the catastrophic flooding continues to worsen as residential streets have turned into rivers and rivers have become raging torrents. Flash flood warnings now cover an area from Roanoke, Virginia, all the way south to Wilmington and Myrtle Beach as what is left of the storm slowly moves away. Some half a million customers are still without power right now.

Our Kaylee Hartung is in Wilmington, North Carolina, for us.

Kaylee, the greater area of Wilmington has about a half a million people and most of that area is now cut off by rising flood waters. How dire is the situation for residents still there?

KAYLEE HARTUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, 1,200 roads are cut off throughout the state of North Carolina, and that includes all roads leading into this area of Wilmington. What is typically a peninsula, now an island as high floodwaters have made some roads impassable. We are just hearing, though, of the first high water vehicles to be able to cross those dangerous flooded out roads as we've just learned about 20 trucks from Fort Bragg have made their way into Wilmington to deliver enough food and water for 60,000 people for four days. Those being ready to eat meals. For those inside the city of Wilmington, the need for fuel is greatest and that need more serious for some than others.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VALERIE HALL, WILMINGTON RESIDENT: I have a mama at the hospital now and she needs dialysis and they're trying to tell me they can't transport her from the hospital to right here. We don't have no gas. We're sitting in line. We've been sitting here since 7:00 this morning trying to get gas.

She hasn't had dialysis since Wednesday. Today is Monday. It's Monday. It's sad.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARTUNG: This gas station, one of the few open in Wilmington. Wolf, you can see this line stretching behind me. There's another line that enters the gas station that direction. Some people waiting as long as six hours at the pump because when they showed up, there was gas here but no way to pump it. The operational capability of this gas station was knocked out by the storm. It took a technician some time to fix it, but now gas is pumping. And if you can imagine, tensions rose even higher here when that gas started flowing in this lot, Wolf.

BLITZER: It's an awful situation indeed. All right, Kaylee, Thank you very much.

Let's go to Polo Sandoval. He's been surveying the damage near Lumberton.

Polo, there are deep concerns, I understand, about the main levee there potentially being in danger of breaching. What can you tell us.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So far a city official, Wolf, telling me that that levee along the Lumber River, which is the source of all of this water, has held up and there is perhaps some positive news here, especially for residents of Lumberton. An official telling me that the river has actually gone three feet down after cresting overnight. But, still, that doesn't mean that all of this water isn't going to go anywhere anytime soon.

I'll step out of the shot now, Wolf, so you can watch with us what is one of the many rescues that has been happening throughout the city of Lumberton. Keep in mind, this is a part of North Carolina that is very, very familiar with the flooding and damaging potential of these tropical systems. It was just two years ago when Hurricane Matthew swept into the region here, caused a very similar scene. Some members of the Cajun Navy here that I've been speaking to told us

they went into the -- they went into a neighborhood there just beyond the tree line to rescue some people who wanted to leave their homes. That is what we're looking at right now is these volunteers who went in to retrieve one of these families who have essentially called for help.

And, again, keep in mind that these folks have been in the situation before. They have had to call on authorities for rescue before. Two things that certainly did help, that main levee along the Lumber River that authorities say worked, that it perform as it was designed to do. However, if you recall, on Friday, when you and I were speaking, many of the members of this community came together to create a makeshift levee. That one was compromised yesterday.

We were on an overpass with the U.S. Coast Guard looking down on that barrier when it began to seep water through the rocks and pebbles and sandbags that had been placed there. Although that did eventually become compromise. Officials say that it still gave people valuable time to escape.

But for some, as we're able to see here, Wolf, they were not able to do that. They felt -- there was some individuals who told me that they felt that they could still ride out the storm.

[13:25:00] This scene repeats itself on this very street, Wolf, over and over again. I saw it two times yesterday. Members of the community helping members of the community and their pets yesterday. There was a family of four with their four dogs that was brought back on to dry soil. And here we have again the gentleman that you see in the green. I was speaking to him a little while ago. He's from Kentucky. He's been in -- he went to Harvey. He was along the coast. And he was telling me a little bit about what, again, what we see in these storm systems. It's the best of humanity that comes out after the worst of mother nature.

Wolf, we're going to send things back to you as we continue to monitor the situation here in Lumberton.

BLITZER: These volunteers -- these volunteers -- yes, these volunteers, these first responders, they are truly amazing people. We're grateful to them.

Polo, thank you very much.

Up next, the fate of the U.S. Supreme Court nominee, Judge Brett Kavanaugh, now up in the air as lawmakers debate how to move forward in the sexual and physical assault allegations. I'll speak live with one of the senators who will be crucial in this decision.

And a shocker for those who take an aspirin a day, including a baby aspirin a day. New studies now say it may not have the benefits that you were told it has and it may actually threaten your health. We have details. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)