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Don Lemon Tonight

CNN Special Coverage Of Hurricane Florence; Hurricane Florence Pummels Carolinas; Manafort and Mueller Close To Deal For Guilty Plea; Explosions and Fires Rock Massachusetts. Aired 11-12a ET

Aired September 13, 2018 - 23:00   ET

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

[23:00:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DON LEMON, CNN HOST: OK, everyone. Top of the hour. Let us restart this. This is CNN TONIGHT." I'm Don Lemon. We're live in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Our Anderson Cooper is about an hour and a half up the coast in Wilmington. We're going to get to all of our reporters up and down the coast here. It is 11:00 p.m. here. Were the breaking news, a new forecast is just in for hurricane Florence. This monster storm b beginning to pick up speed as it really gets closer and closer to the coast here. The storm is now a category one. So, let's first get to Allison Chinchar, she is in the CNN Weather Center. Allison, I understand you have an update for us. Take it away. What are you seeing? Give us a track.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: All right, Don. So here's the latest. Right now the forward speed has picked up ever so slightly out of the northwest at six miles per hour. But the big difference that we're noticing is, it is now down to a category one, sustained winds of 90 miles per hour. But I want to emphasize those wind gusts are still well over 100 miles per hour. We have that numerous reports of actual wind gusts of over 100 miles per hour on land.

So keep that in mind. Even though the sustained winds are starting to come down, those gusts are still capable of causing significant damage out there. The forecast track again still we expect to make landfall likely late morning, early afternoon tomorrow as this thing continues to trek its way on to land. As it does, it's going to take the threat for strong winds and exceptionally very heavy rain.

We've already started to see a lot of those really heavy bands begin to push inland. You can see that very clearly here on radar. Don't forget we also still have our tornado watch in effect for several of those areas along the coast and even a little bit inland. So, let's talk about what to expect.

Folks in the North Carolina coast, hurricane force winds already starting to arrive now. And they will stay with us through the overnight hours. Storm surge is expected to be seven to 12 feet. The rainfall likely anywhere from 18 to 25 inches. We've already had several reports of over a foot of rain at this point in time. And keep in mind again, we mentioned that tornado watch. Those potential for tornadoes still exists through the overnight hours.

Now, South Carolina, let's shift gears to the upper South Carolina coast. The tropical storm force winds will start to increase as we go through the overnight hours tonight. Hurricane force winds will arrive shortly thereafter. Rainfall about nine to 12 inches possible and storm surge will be about four to eight feet. OK, you also have to keep in mind, Don, we've talked about the high tide. That is going to play a very big role in this, as well. High tide is expected about 1:00 a.m. overnight tonight in Wilmington and will peak again on about 2:00 in the afternoon.

LEMON: All right. Alison Chinchar with the update for us. Allison, thank you, stand by. We'll get back to you.

I want to go to Anderson now. Anderson is live for us in Wilmington, North Carolina. Hello to you again, Anderson. Severe whether there. Is it picking up? I've been seeing you getting drenched. And then there's a lull. What's happening?

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: Yes, you know, it's just been a pretty steady, you know, rainfall. It doesn't really feel like a downpour at this point. It's just kind of steady rain. It was bands earlier on. We're getting kind of bands of wind. But I feel like the rain itself is pretty steady. And we're expecting really that to be the story for the next 24 to 36 hours.

The story of rain, the story of storm surge which is obviously something we're closely watching with the Cape Fear River here behind us, but it really is the steady kind of pounding rain that is only going to increase and just build up over time. I mean, this is a long event. This is something that is not going to be over in the next 12 hours.

It's probably slower than most storms that people here have experienced before. You know, as you were just hearing. When this thing makes landfall, I mean, it could be like four miles an hour moving so slowly you could outwalk this thing. There's a long ways to go before it gets better. And frankly, it's only going to get worse for quite a while, Don.

LEMON: Yes. You know, it's been downgraded to a one. Again, you shouldn't put too much stock in that. That is helpful when at least it comes to the winds, right. Not helpful in other ways, because it just allows that storm to sit, because the winds aren't at fast. But this storm Anderson, we should remind viewers and especially people here, it's massive. It is doubled in size as it slowed down.

COOPER: Yes. Size of North Carolina, South Carolina combined. You know, I was listening to you talk to Dianne Gallagher earlier. And she was talking about seeing those transformers light up the sky in that kind of bluish ominous kind of creepy blue light. We haven't really seen that here. There's still lights on in a lot of buildings here in Wilmington, they're in the hotel here. Some buildings obviously have generators, as well.

[23:05:00] A little bit of wind gust right there, but obviously, power outages is also something we are going to be watching very carefully and obviously, they are expecting it, there are already power outages in the state. But they're expecting much more to come over the next couple days.

And again, we've talked about it before. With that much of water on the ground, you have power lines potentially down, it's a real danger for people which is why authorities here, the mayor, the county commissioner are all telling people to stay inside. You know, there's five shelters. You were giving the number of shelters statewide. There's five shelters here in Wilmington. They expanded the capacity last night, because they started filling up. So people, you know, this is the point we're well past the point now of you stay at home or you stay in the shelter. You don't go outside.

LEMON: Anderson Cooper in Wilmington, North Carolina. Anderson is going to be there. He is watching this thing. He is got it covered so that you don't have to get out in it. We'll tell you what's going on. We are out in it for you. Anderson, thank you. We'll be back to you in just moments.

Now I want to go to Ed Rappaport. Ed Rappaport is the Deputy Director of the National Hurricane Center and he joins us now.

Ed, it is good to see you. Thank you so much, I appreciate your time. Tell us more about this storm surge and the update on this thing. It's been downgraded to a one. I don't know if we should read too much into that. And tell us about the communities all along the coast here. What are you expecting?

ED RAPPAPORT, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER: That is right. The fact that the winds are down five miles per hour really has no significant bearing on what's going to be occurring for the other hazards. That is mainly the water from the storm surge and from the rainfall.

Over the past several hours, the winds although they've come down a little bit, we've seen three different reports of gusts over 100 miles per hour in the Cape Fear area. These three locations here near 105 to 106 miles per hour and those are associated with these bands that are encircling the eye. For the strongest winds are occurring and in fact, these winds are blowing the water ashore. That is been our big concern. And we now have received a report just in the last hour up here up the Neuse River of storm surge of ten feet.

And a second site that is had close to six feet. In fact, let's take a look at how that is occurred. This is one of the sites that is along the North Carolina coast just up the river there. And you can see how over the past 12 to 24 hours the water level has risen. This is going from the normal to up above normal. This particular site has a six-foot rise so far, that puts them in the major flood zone area. So, big concern, we've been concerned all along about the storm surge. We're now seeing observations of six to 10 feet. That is the life- threatening surge that we were worried about.

LEMON: Ed, let us talk about the storm doubling in size. I mentioned it to Anderson just a moment ago. As it has slowed down, it is still doubled in size. How widespread do you think this disaster could be?

RAPPAPORT: We've certainly got the widespread disaster along the coast. This is a little bit more complicated. But here's the warning area. This orange area here is the extent of the tropical storm force winds extending out from the center which is just offshore. You see it's nearly 200 miles out. The hurricane force winds which is the smaller area extends out nearly 70 miles.

And it's important because even though the peak winds have come down, the second factor that influences a storm surge greatly is the size of the storm. So while it's fortunate we won't get as much damage and destruction from wind, the fact the wind field increased has kept the storm surge levels high. And that is exactly why we've seen the six to ten-foot observations of storm surge now. Of course we have another threat coming down the road, beginning in the next 12 or 24 hours and that is the inland flooding from rainfall. That could be catastrophic there, as well.

LEMON: All right. Ed Rapaport, Deputy Director of national hurricane center. We appreciate your time. Thank you, sir. Flooding is heavy, you know, in New Bern, North Carolina tonight and north of Wilmington. I want to bring in now Dana Outlaw, the mayor of New Bern. Can you hear us, Dana?

DANA OUTLAW, MAYOR, NEW BERN, NORTH CAROLINA: Yes.

LEMON: All right. Mayor, thank you so much. Yes, I can hear you. I got you. Last time we had a bit of trouble with you. I am glad we can hear you now. New Bern is already experiencing major flooding. Could see up to nine to 13 feet of storm surge. You've been hearing an updates here all over. So tell us what's going on. We also hear that there's some downtown New Bern has lost all power because of water coming up too high?

OUTLAW: We are 100 percent out of power. We are served with the City of New Bern and duke energy. And the city is totally out of power right now.

LEMON: Yes. So the city's out of power. Are you seeing -- what else are you seeing there besides power outages? What are the updates that you're getting from folks?

[23:10:00] OUTLAW: Yes, the water elevation is about three to four feet higher than Irene which was one of the records around here. This flooding is -- we haven't seen this since hurricane Hazel back in the '54 era. Also hurricane Ione, I remember it was kind of like this. But, you know, we have had so many hurricanes that have been devastating to New Bern, but none of this category, the flooding. We have been out for two or three days now doing everything to get citizens to move into shelters. Very proud of the police department and fire department here in New Bern. We actually had the fire trucks out today going through the neighborhoods, National Guard truck behind them. Two New Bern wreck buses behind that.

Policemen are going door to door asking citizens to get in that bus and get out. Because some of the areas of New Bern contoured elevation is such that we have pockets of high elevated areas that -- you know, once the flood come, we can't get you out. LEMON: Yes, you can't put first responders in jeopardy because

someone else decided to stay. Made a decision that could affect their lives and affect others, as well. Listen, mayor, I know that you're busy and I know you have a lot to deal with. Your hands are full. We appreciate you joining us. We'll be getting back to you on CNN. Mayor Dana Outlaw from New Bern, North Carolina. Mayor thank you so much.

Let's go to Brian Todd. Brian is in Hampstead, North Carolina for us. Brian, the last we saw you, you were out with folks who were hedging their bets really on a flooded street. They decided not to do it which is good news. It looks to me now you're riding around and you are checking things out and getting some updates. What are you seeing?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don, we kind of travel on roads a couple miles away from where we were in the last location on old landing road right by the intercoastal waterway. We're probably a mile away from that now, we just kind of surveying some of the damage on some of these rural roads. This is really what people are up against if they are going to try to leave. We'll switch to the front camera where you can see some of the debris on the road.

We have witnessed in the last hour the road conditions really worsening. The debris, there's been more debris on the roads. We've been having to dodge a lot of different things flying around. And this is the risk that people are taking if they want to stay and if they get scared at the last minute and try to leave, this is what kind of what they're up against.

We're cruising toward the intercoastal waterway now very slowly. You have to go slowly when you traverse this area at this point, because there's so much debris flying around. And you know, just whatever you might catch on the road could be much more dangerous if you're going at a higher speed. So this is kind of what we're looking at here. We're looking down this road.

You know, these roads, there are a lot of people who live in these areas. And a lot of these people have elected to stay. We talked to a lot of them who said the reason I'm staying is because I'm kind of concerned about trying to get back to my house and tend to my house if thing, if the house is damaged. It would take too long and it would be too difficult to get back to my house.

Well, you know, from the governor on down, officials are saying you just cannot think like that. You've got to try to get out when we say mandatory evacuation, you know, it's a relative term. We cannot physically pull people out of their houses, but when we say mandatory evacuation, this is what you're going to be facing if you try to stay and try to move around. So we'll pull the vehicle over. I'll get out and I'll just kind of survey what we see down this country road here.

Look will, Don, even just getting out of the car is a challenge. As soon as you open the door, the wind just kind of catches the door and whips it forward. This road is starting to flood a little bit down here. I can see. The trees are really starting to be compromised and whip around. So these country roads, these rural roads right by the intercoastal waterway are getting much more dangerous. And the flood surge, of course the storm surge from the waterway not far behind me is going to be coming up right through here.

LEMON: All right. Brian Todd, Brian be safe. Brian is in Hempstead, North Carolina. From Hempstead to Jacksonville, North Carolina that is where we will find CNN's Ed Lavandera. Ed, good evening to you. You were getting whipped around getting pelted in the face with water earlier. What are you seeing now? What's going on?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Don, we're on the north side of the north topside of this storm which really gives us some of the most intense winds and kind of puts us on the edge, not near quite the eye of the storm since it's still offshore, but it's going to be on that leading edge of that eye which is where the strongest and most intense winds will be. So if the storm continues to move the way it's moving, we'll continue to see here in the hours overnight the winds intensify which we've already seen dramatically.

[23:15:11] Just about an hour ago, we were out a little bit further out. We're now kind of buffered around the hotel where we're staying at tonight, but we were standing there reporting a little while ago. And one of the transformers from the electrical lines about 50 yards away from where we were earlier tonight just started exploding, a series of three explosions stunned us quite, and everything went dark in here Jacksonville.

And we started seeing the transformers glowing in the sky light in areas all around us here. So that power held on as long as it could here for most of the area here in Jacksonville. Don, we've spoken with some of the emergency officials who are keeping tabs on, what's going on here in Onslow County which is around the area surrounding Jacksonville, North Carolina. Also extends out into the coast. We're told that there are no rescues taking place of anybody out in the county right now, but they do have reports of some homes along rivers starting to take on water.

So that will be the dramatic and most worrisome issue here that people have to deal with. Perhaps not so much the winds although they are rather intense, but it's going to be the flooding of those homes, much of this area is very low lying. And that is of concern for these emergency officials and here in the overnight hours really difficult to get a good gauge of how dramatic that damage is going to be, Don. But they do have reports that flooding and perhaps some flooding of homes already starting to take place here around the area in Jacksonville, North Carolina. Don?

LEMON: Ed Lavandera in Jacksonville, North Carolina. Braving the elements for us. We will get an update from Ed, as well shortly here on CNN.

Listen, Hurricane Florence -- thank you very much Ed. Hurricane Florence inching closer to the Carolina Coast tonight. Conditions are forecasted to really get worse and worse here in Myrtle Beach throughout the day tomorrow. I want to bring in now Mark Kruea. He is the public information officer for the City of Myrtle Beach. Mark, thank you so much for joining us. Come on in a little bit

closer. I spoke with you a little bit earlier. And you had concerns about people getting out in the water. That was earlier. What about now?

MARK KRUEA, PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER, MYRTLE BEACH: I think we're going to get what North Carolina has been getting. Our hearts go to the people in North Carolina. We will experience some of that tomorrow. But the slowness of this storm may be one reason why people are reluctant to evacuate. All you have to do is look at the video for North Carolina and say gee, that is why people get out of the way of that storm.

LEMON: As you are out about here, what are you seeing?

KRUEA: So far, not much. The wind has begun to pick up a little bit. We can tell that the rain band are headed our direction, but it's been fairly peaceful. Tomorrow is going to be a different story. We're looking at 24 hours' worth of rough weather here.

LEMON: I was out with police earlier and part of their mission is to make sure that people are safe, obviously, but also to make sure that their belongings and their property is safe, as well. I heard someone from one of the other counties, one of the other cities saying they were getting reports of some looting. Are you hearing anything like that?

KRUEA: No, we have a very quiet day today. People listened to our request to evacuate, so they got themselves to safety. We're here in Myrtle Beach now, making sure that their property remains safe. Our police and our fire folks are out and about.

LEMON: Mark Kruea, from the city of Myrtle Beach. Thank you so much.

KRUEA: You welcome.

LEMON: I appreciate your time. When we come back, much more on our breaking news tonight. The storm of a lifetime. That is what it's been dubbed, battering the Carolina coast getting closer and closer to landfall sometime tomorrow. It has been pushed back. Supposed to come in overnight now. Sometime tomorrow. We're live here in Myrtle Beach. Don't go anywhere.

[23:20:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: All right. Hurricane Florence getting closer and closer to the coast tonight. Just got an update. 150,000 people so far without power. Our correspondents are stationed all along the Carolina coast here. All along the Carolinas. One of them is Miguel Marquez and he joins us now from Carolina Beach. North Carolina and you've got some rain there, buddy.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We are starting to see the most intense rain and wind. This storm is finally starting to punch and it is coming very, very hard. The authorities here are expecting anything from 20 to 40 inches of rain over the next 24 to 36 hours or so. The weather we are experiencing right now they were expecting this afternoon.

This is how slow this excruciatingly slow this storm has been moving. But now it's starting to move into this area. It has been raining steadily for a couple of hours now. We're seeing some of the hardest rain that we've seen all evening tonight right now. This on top of what they expect is a storm surge of about 11, 12 feet or so with the tides that come in every 12 hours. They could, could be looking at something like 18, 19 feet. They are expecting wide swathes of this town to flood. About a third of the town they expect will be underwater at some point in the next 24 to 36 hours. And the town itself they believe will be -- will get cut off from the rest of the state.

There's one road in, one road out here. At this point, they probably had to close the bridge that brings people into the town and they believe that anybody who is here is, 6200 people live in Carolina beach, about 600 or so, the city manager says, have -- he believes have stayed in town. We do see lights on in different homes here. So there are quite a few people around. He says those people should be prepared to stay here for five to seven days without anybody being able to get to them. Don?

LEMON: Miguel Marquez, Carolina Beach. Miguel, I appreciate your reporting. We'll be back to Miguel throughout our broadcast here. Our live hours here for hurricane Florence.

I want to bring in now Alan Holden. He is the mayor of the town of Holden Beach, North Carolina just about an hour up the coast here. Mayor Holden, thank you so much for joining us by phone. Let me give an update mayor before I ask you a couple of questions here. I just want to -- 12000 people 126 shelters in North Carolina. That is according to the Governor Roy Cooper. 150,000 people so far without power. So take us to your town, Mayor Holden. Holden Beach is a seaside town. The bridge that leads to Holden Bridge closed once the winds picked up to 45 miles per hour. Your town could see a storm surge of 9 to 13 feet. That is some serious stuff.

ALAN HOLDEN, MAYOR, HOLDEN BEACH, CALIFORNIA: It certainly is. We're certainly trying to do everything we can to be prepared for that. We did close the island this morning. Everybody had to be off the island at 8:00. And we do continue to leave the island closed. We're nine miles long and 2100 houses along our oceanfront. And small community.

[23:25:00] We think we're ready for it. It's been a real nail biter because seems like -- I can figure out where and when this things is going to do something, but we are ready.

LEMON: Yes. Mayor, I imagine that you had gone through this many times and you can never forget what happened or what can happen?

HOLDEN: Well, that is right. And you know, the water's what we're most scared of. The winds, we had our first little gust this afternoon about 1:25. And also had a rain band the same time. And we've actually experienced sometimes this afternoon the winds were down to like five and eight miles an hour here, but in the last few minutes it, we've had some unofficial wind at 35 and 40 miles an hour. So it's not too bad yet, but we're watching our friends just north of

us. And we realize that it is coming. And we're not looking forward to it, but we'll take that over the 150 we were talking about 24 hours ago.

LEMON: Yes. I'm getting reports now the highest gusts, mayor, 108 miles an hour that is in Davis North Carolina. Highest rainfall so far 12.73 inches. That is in Atlantic Beach. Again, so some people are getting pounded. And this is the beginning of this. You mentioned that your mandatory evacuation for residents and visitors of your town. Your town is has a population of about 600. Did everybody leave?

HOLDEN: As far as we know, everyone left. We checked all the houses as best we could to try to find anyone that was left. That doesn't mean someone wasn't hiding under the bed somewhere we didn't find. But we've done a good job and trying our best to find anyone that was left behind. And we feel like we got everybody off. We have turned the sewer system off. We don't have water or sewer on the island right now. Power is still on. But we've done everything we can to prepare all of our infrastructure and sit back and see what it sends us.

LEMON: Yes. Well, Mayor Holden, looks like you've done a good job. Let's hope that is indeed the case. Nobody's hiding under the bed as you say. That would not be a good place to be without sewer and water. You may have electricity, but you need those other basic services as well. Mayor Alan Holden, I appreciate your time. Thank you so much.

HOLDEN: Still there?

LEMON: Absolutely.

HOLDEN: Are you there?

LEMON: Yes, go on.

HOLDEN: OK. You mentioned 600 people here. That is not quite right. We have 2100 homes. We're still in our vacation season. So we had over 500 houses that were occupied that we had to vacate.

LEMON: Wow.

HOLDEN: For this event. So it's a big deal for us and this is prime season for us. So good fishing and good beach activities this time of year. Thanks for you guys.

LEMON: All the more important, absolutely, mayor. All the more important to get people out of here when you have so many people there. We want to keep people alive and safe. Thank you, Mayor Alan Holden. Thank you so much for your time.

Listen, we're live up and down the coast here. Again, this is just the beginning. The time that this hurricane is supposed to make landfall keeps getting pushed back, because it is just sitting there. The good news would be if it just sat there and staled. If that eye wall starts to break up. The bad news is it doesn't appear to be doing that. It just appears to be spinning out there, off the coast of the Carolinas and gaining water intensity. It has been downgraded now to a category one winds 90 miles an hour. So 90-mile-an-hour winds nothing to mess around with. Ten-foot storm surges we're hearing in some areas. Some areas could get up to 13 feet. And if it gets that high, that is up as high as a second floor where I'm standing now.

So again, that is the latest from the Carolinas. We're going to continue our coverage here. This is CNN special coverage of hurricane Florence. We are going to continue our coverage up and down the coast here. Don't go anywhere. You are going to get it here and see it first right here on CNN.

[23:30:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: We are back now live in Myrtle Beach as Hurricane Florence is moving closer and closer to the coast. We need to update you though on another big story tonight which is a major new development in the Russia investigation. Paul Manafort and prosecutors coming close to reaching a deal ahead of his trial.

Let's bring in now CNN's Crime and Justice Reporter, Shimon Prokupecz, and also a former U.S. attorney -- United States attorney, Harry Litman. Gentlemen, good evening to you. We've got the storm brewing here, but this is a big story that we need to report on.

Shimon, I'm going to start with you. President Trump -- you know, he's praised his former campaign chairman in the past for not making a deal. That seems to be changing as we speak.

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: You're certainly right, Don. Not only has he praised Paul Manafort, he has defended him, he has called him a good man during his last trial, where he was convicted. And now by all accounts, it appears that Paul Manafort is getting ready to plead guilty.

We're told that they were close to a deal, that is the prosecutors from the special counsel and Paul Manafort's defense attorneys. And really all they're waiting for is for Manafort himself to sign off on the deal.

He was set to start trial next week on charges relating to his work in the Ukraine. Those charges involve the fact that he didn't report any of this work to the U.S. government. That was set to begin next week. And now, you know, word comes that he's close to this deal.

He may appear in court tomorrow. We expect that to happen where he will plead guilty. We will see where it goes from there and exactly, you know, what happens in terms of this plea deal. We don't think this is any kind of cooperation agreement.

One of the things that I think is going to be interesting is whether or not Paul Manafort will have to stand before the judge tomorrow and admit his guilt and admit to some of the things that he was doing on behalf of the Ukrainian government, Don.

LEMON: All right. Shimon, stand by. I want to bring in Harry Litman now. Harry, you know, Manafort has really held out until now. Many thought that he was angling for the president to pardon him. They wondered if the president was sending some sort of signals or was sending signals to him. Why would he make a deal at this point?

HARRY LITMAN, FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY: Because it won't prejudice his ability to have a pardon. I mean, we don't know the details. They're swirling and conflicting. But for a few reasons, it stands to reason, as Shimon says, it won't involve cooperation. He's put all his chips on a pardon and it doesn't make sense for him to abandon them now. I don't expect that he will.

To Shimon's point, he will have to stand up in court and cop to everything he pleads guilty to, which will reinforce the Mueller charges. On the other hand, Trump is spared a trial in full campaign season where the evidence comes in vividly and day after day there's reports of it on the news.

[23:35:00] It would be a good development for him assuming it doesn't involve cooperation which I believe it will not.

LEMON: I'm not sure if it was you, Harry, because we've had conversations about this with you and with other legal experts.

LITMAN: Yeah.

LEMON: But did you predict that Paul Manafort would try to make a deal, that it was almost certain that he would try to do this?

LITMAN: Well, no. You know, I think everyone was puzzled because the pressure on him was so great. As time went on, it seemed he was playing for something else. What I did I guess predict in the last few weeks is that if there were a deal, it would not involve cooperation. He was too far down the line.

Another point is, cooperation would have had to be preceded by many proffer sessions with him personally. It's not clear he's met with Mueller's team at all. Perhaps once today he was spotted. So, in that sense, you know, my thought has been and I continue to stand by it, that he's not going to completely change direction.

Now, why then would the parties make a deal? It's a sort of small gauge deal where the Mueller doesn't have to go to trial, doesn't -- and they probably arranged that Manafort gives up his appeal in Virginia, and maybe Manafort gets a small break in how the sentences are computed.

But it's not the kind of grand bargain involving the truth to the American people that everyone has been thinking about or holding out for many months.

LEMON: All right, Harry and Shimon, thank you so much. Appreciate your time. Again, that is a big story. Manafort and Mueller close to a deal for a guilty plea. Interesting news there. I want to bring in now Congressman Eric Swalwell, a Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee. Congressman, good evening to you. What do you make of this bombshell in the Russia investigation?

REP. ERIC SWALWELL (D), CALIFORNIA: Good evening, Don. First, just thinking of everyone in Florence's way down there and grateful to first responders helping people and the journalists covering it. But if this is true, Don, the jig is up. No one in Mueller's path so far has been able to escape, you know, the investigative team and evidence put against them.

And I think now the burden shifts if this is indeed true that we would have a ninth conviction with 26 other individuals and corporations charged. The burden shifts to the president. And the question that we have to ask is, why shouldn't the American people believe that the president is as corrupt as everyone around him?

Where I come from, the fish rots from the head down. And it sure looks like the president had quite a corrupt team helping him on the campaign and working with him in the administration.

LEMON: So, congressman, what is in it? What is in it for Mueller to strike a deal at this point?

SWALWELL: Well, you know, prosecutor -- it's not always just cooperation or go all the way to trial. If you can get a guilty plea and you know a significant sentence, you avoid having to devote the resources to that trial and in an investigation like this, there's a number of other indicted defendants, and you want to put your focus on there.

Of course, unindicted individuals were being investigated. So, you know, it's a matter of finite resources, I imagine. You don't want to go to trial just for trial's sake to prove a point. So, you know, a guilty plea whether there's cooperation or not, I think, is a good thing if are you going to hold someone accountable.

LEMON: Congressman Eric Swalwell joining us from Washington, D.C., we appreciate --

SWALWELL: Be safe down there, Don.

LEMON: -- as well for the folks here in the Carolinas. Thank you, congressman. I appreciate it. When we come back, much more live coverage from the Carolina coast. Hurricane Florence getting closer and closer to landfall sometime tomorrow.

[23:40:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: We're back now live and we're going to continue to be live with our coverage here until this thing makes landfall and even throughout that. I'm in Myrtle Beach tonight as Hurricane Florence gets closer and closer to landfall sometime tomorrow.

Let's bring in now Dianne Gallagher. We've been checking with her from time to time. She is in New Bern, North Carolina. We spoke with the mayor in New Bern, North Carolina and gave us an update. Now, we want more from Dianne. You've had to be moved twice since you got there?

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Don, two times since we got here. Initially we were at Union Point Park. The water came up so far that it starred flooding the downtown area. At some point, four and a half hours, it was sort of now or never moment. This is before any of this wind began or anything like that. It was strictly water at that point.

And much like Mayor Dana Outlaw told you, that's what they deal with here in New Bern. It is a water issue here. The wind while it's sort of been a pain for me over the past couple hours here and obviously at this point we have no more street lights at all. We've watched them go one by one by one with them sort of basically just bursting here.

The wind has caused a couple problems here at the hotel. We had to finally come back inland. We are about four miles inland because we needed to evacuate because downtown had flooded so severely. We were going to be trapped there. We finally came up. The wind actually ripped the front door of our hotel off as we were coming here.

[23:44:58] The man who owns the hotel was trying to put it back there because there were a lot of people who evacuated from these outer banks islands to come here. I talked to people from Atlantic Beach. I talked to people from Sea Fair (ph), who said they had to come in here. They had to be here. They had to -- they were forced to evacuate their island.

And now, they were frightened because again the door has been ripped off. They're hearing about all this torrential flooding that's happening. If I step out here, you can probably see just how hard the wind is blowing.

Now, it's a little mitigated for me right now because we have a large building that is blocking some of it. But as you kind of see it, whipping through here, pulling the trees and also as it skirts this rain across the parking lot there, this is the largest impact that we felt as Florence is kind of coming in here.

So if I step out here, you can kind of see again, I don't want to do this for too long here, but it's been moving me around tonight. And this is the indication that the hurricane is finally starting to get here as the upper bands, since we're on the north side of the state, are reaching this area.

Now, look, Mayor Outlaw was telling you -- I spoke with Craven County manager, Stanley Kite. He said that they had 700 people, Don, scattered across the county who were ready to act as soon as this storm ended to work on those water rescues, that they were even doing some right up until the storm came into this area, making sure that they could get people even though they were given ample time to evacuate.

LEMON: All right. Dianne Gallagher for us. New Bern, North Carolina. You can see she's getting blown around. She was standing in floodwater not so long ago. We will get back to Dianne. We will get back to -- that shot right there that you're seeing from Hampstead, North Carolina, that's from our Brian Todd. He is out there in a vehicle in an SUV going around and getting some pictures there. You can see lots of rain where he is.

Also, we're going to get to our Martin Savidge. Martin Savidge is in Wilmington, North Carolina. We will get to him momentarily. We are live here in Myrtle Beach. We're all over the coast here in the Carolinas. This is where Hurricane Florence is moving closer tonight to the coast. Landfall expected as early as tomorrow morning. We will be right back.

[23:50:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: So we're live now here in Myrtle Beach as monster Hurricane Florence moves closer and closer to the coast. And we're covering a lot of big stories for you tonight.

In Massachusetts, we need to tell you about huge explosions and fires, rocked nearly 40 homes and businesses in three towns, leaving at least one person dead, 10 others injured. Whole neighborhoods had to be evacuated. Eighteen thousand people, 18,000 without power tonight.

And CNN's Athena Jones is on the scene for us in Andover, Massachusetts. Athena, good evening to you. What more can you tell us about these explosions?

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Don. This was a massive event and a frightening event. You just talked about all of those homes that were on fire. And we did learn within the last hour or so that there was a fatality, an 18-year-old man, who was killed when the chimney from a house that exploded collapsed on the car that he was sitting inside of.

We also know the state police responded to some 70 reports of fires, explosions or the smell of gas. We're talking about an area with a population of some 150,000 people. So a rather large area these explosions took place over a large swath of territory covering Andover, Lawrence, and North Andover.

We heard from Andover fire chief Michael Mansfield earlier who called this an overwhelming event. Listen to what more he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL MANSFIELD, CHIEF, ANDOVER FIRE RESCUE: I've been in the fire service for almost 39 years and I've never seen anything like this in my entire career. To some it up, basically coming into town from a community just outside of here responding back in, it looked like Armageddon. It really did.

There were billows of smoke coming from Lawrence behind me. I could see plumes of smoke in front of me within the town of Andover. It just looked like an absolute war zone.

(END VIDEO CLIP) JONES: He also the scene as Armageddon. And as of the most recent update, the local power company, Columbia Gas, was still working on shutting off the gas that has led to these explosions. I can tell you that Lawrence and Andover are under evacuation orders.

All of the electricity in Lawrence, as you mentioned, has been turned off. And schools in Lawrence, Andover, and North Andover will be closed tomorrow as well state offices by order of Governor Charlie Baker.

As to who is on the scene already, the FBI, the Massachusetts State Police, Massachusetts Emergency Management, agency officials and others have all been here on site, trying to figure out what is going on and to help. Don?

LEMON: This is frightening and mysterious. It's unbelievable. Athena, what are officials saying? What went wrong?

JONES: Well, it is frightening to think of this many structures and this many potential explosions and reports of odors of gas. The issue appears to have been over-pressurization in the gas lines. That is what we're hearing.

Now, the National Transportation Safety Board, which would have jurisdiction over gas explosions, they're going to be sending a go team here tomorrow morning. They'll be coming in tomorrow morning to try to unravel what went on.

[23:55:01] I can tell you that Columbia Gas put out a statement, saying that they're responding to these issues and that their thoughts are with everyone affected.

But they also said that they -- they put out a statement today saying they are upgrading natural gas lines in neighborhood across the state including these three neighborhoods that were affected today. Lawrence, Andover, and North Andover. There are already projects in these three neighborhood that are already under way, Don.

LEMON: Oh, my gosh, Athena Jones, a frightening story. So many of us use gas, and gas runs through just about every single neighborhood in this country. Athena, thank you. Andover, Massachusetts with a very frightening story that everyone can relate to.

Speaking of a story that everyone can relate to, and that is a storm. And that storm now is Hurricane Florence, and it's really getting close to the coast of Carolinas. It is spinning right off the coast here. You can see it on the radar. Just spinning and spinning and spinning and picking up water.

And that does not fair well for the storm surge in this area. We're up and down the coast here. We're following this. It has been downgraded now from a two to a one, but there's only a five-mile difference in the winds before it was a two.

So, we spoke to the folks at the National Hurricane Center. They said don't read too much into that. Don't read too much into that. It is still a very powerful storm. Lots of folks here are in danger, 150,000 people so far without water. We will continue our coverage right after this break.

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