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Feinstein Refers Confidential Informant on Kavanaugh Nomination to Federal Investigators; Concerns Grow over Amount of Rain, Storm Surge; Concern over Brunswick Nuclear Power Plant; Trump Denies New Puerto Rico Death Toll & Blames Democrats, Bad Politics. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired September 13, 2018 - 13:30   ET

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

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[13:32:13] ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: I'm Wolf Blitzer. We will get back to our special coverage of Hurricane Florence in a moment. We are looking at live pictures from Kill Devil Hills in North Carolina.

But there's breaking news on Capitol Hill. Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein is the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, says said federal investigators will be looking into a matter connected with federal judge, Brett Kavanaugh, as the Supreme Court nomination.

Our Manu Raju is joining us from Capitol Hill.

This is stunning news, Manu. There's a statement she just released. Read the short statement from Senator Feinstein and tell us what you are hearing.

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is ranking Democrat saying she referred this information she received to federal authorities. This is what she says, Wolf: "I received information from an individual concerning the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. That individual strongly requested confidentiality and declined to come forward or pressed the matter further. I've honored that decision, but I have, however, referred the matter to federal investigative authorities."

It is unclear exactly what she is talking about and what information has come to light that has been given to her about Brett Kavanaugh and his past. Even members of this committee do not know what this issue is about. The chairman of the committee, Chuck Grassley, earlier, we asked him about this and he said he had not seen this issue, but only read press accounts. Even the Democrats were pressing Senator Feinstein to tell them what this is about. I've been told they have not gotten that full debrief from her. But nevertheless, she has taken the extraordinary step at this stage in the process to give this information to the authorities because to look into this further.

Our colleague, Ted Baer (ph), caught up with Dick Durbin, who is the Senate minority whip and sits on that committee, and asked him about this as well. Durbin said he didn't know how serious it is and if it's something that will be damaging to Kavanaugh or something that is nothing serious at all. But he is trying to delay the proceedings as Democrats have been trying to do for some time, demanding the confirmation vote be delayed until this is fully investigated. The Republicans, so far, don't plan to do that. They want to have a committee vote next week and then on the floor soon after for him to get confirmed by the October session, before the Supreme Court. Nevertheless, uncertain what this is all about, if it's serious or not, but enough that the ranking Democrat referred this matter to the authorities. We will see ultimately what they decide to do -- Wolf?

BLITZER: This is extraordinary. I don't remember a time when the ranking moment of the Senate Judiciary Committee, at the last moment -- as you say, September 20th, they are supposed to vote on the confirmation -- has come forward with a statement like this saying she has referred the matter to federal investigators. It is pretty stunning. I assume it has to be very serious for her to do this?

[13:35:22] RAJU: Potentially, yes, Wolf. But Republicans will tell you that the Democrats have been on a fishing expedition for some time, trying to derail Kavanaugh, trying to impugn his past, his character and integrity without having the evidence to back it up. We don't know which is right, which it's very serious or it's a fishing expedition, or if there's nothing there, which is why we have to -- we're not certain about exactly what this statement is about. Nevertheless, putting this out at this stage raises questions going forward. Ultimately we will see if it raises questions over the key votes in the Senate, those moderate Senators, particularly on the Republican side, like Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins, who hold the key to his nomination. If they decide they should wait to determine what this is all about before going forward. We have not heard from them yet. This just broke. We will get a sense of whether it has any impact going forward on the nomination process. Right now Republicans still plan to press forward -- Wolf?

BLITZER: We will see what Senator Dianne Feinstein has on this matter. We'll watch it very, very closely.

Manu, thank you very much. I know you and the team on Capitol Hill are working your sources.

There's other breaking news that we're following, including the hurricane.

Chris Cuomo is in north Myrtle Beach.

Chris, lots of news going on in Washington, but there's critically important news where you are as well.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR & CORRESPONDENT: True. Wolf, you are going from a potential political storm to a real storm that's headed where we are. This is north Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. I will give you the equation of the moment. You take the information that Florence is now a category two. People look up at the sky and start to see what they believe are the storm bands, and it equates to a sense of false confidence that creates this is scene on the beach that Jay will show you right now. Hundreds of people hanging out on what is a beautiful, breezy beach day here on some 10 miles of north Myrtle Beach coast. Which is gorgeous. The water is warm and beautiful. The waves are amazing. And it's all going to change.

That's why we have Chief Spain with us from the local fire and rescue here doing the preparations.

We were talking before. Chief, first of all, thank you and thank you for your efforts in staying here to keep everybody safe.

This worried me. There are too many people out here. This is a mandatory evacuation zone. What do you know to be the situation some?

CHIEF GARRY SPAIN, MYRTLE BEACH FIRE & RESCUE: Obviously, when people hear the storm has slowed down in intensity, they try to move more. The message is the storm might have slowed down to sustained winds of the storm 105 miles an hour right now, but the forward motion of the storm slowed down. The intensity of the storm will be around our beach a lot longer. We have went door-to-door in this area that we're in right now, which is Cherry Grove is in north of you, and we know how many people are in each building. If you look directly behind you, you don't see anybody. It's the people directly in front of you.

CUOMO: A few issues come up. We were talking off camera, eight months-worth of rain in three days. The saturation and the pooling and the wind and the surge, that creates lethality and tough situations to deal with. These people demand your attention. You are going to have to be here to rescue them. People don't connect those two things. They say, I am taking care of myself, but they don't know that they're putting you and your men and women at risk as well.

SPAIN: Absolutely, they put our men and women at risk. There comes a time where we can't respond to them. If this storm gets -- the winds get over 50 miles an hour, we will not be able to respond to them. We have three high-water vehicles deployed throughout the city and we have swift-water boats we can use. We are prepared. But the people need to get back to their houses and nobody needs to be out on this beach. The surf is rough. People are getting to the edge of the water. That doesn't need to happen.

CUOMO: Understood 100 percent. Mandatory evacuation sounds 100 percent, but under the law, you can't force people to leave. But you can put a curfew into effect. So tonight, starting at 7:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m., you're at least going to hopefully try to control movement.

We will be here to help get information out.

Thank you, in advance, for putting your life on the line for others, including the people enjoying this day.

Chief, we will be here if we can help in any way. All right?

SPAIN: Thank you.

[13:39:37] CUOMO: God bless and thank you. CNN has special coverage. We're all up and down the coast showing you

the path of Florence and we will show you the reality. Please heed the warnings from your local officials. Better to be safe than sorry.

We will take a quick break. When we come back, stay with CNN.

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ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back. I'm Anderson Cooper, live in Wilmington, North Carolina, by the Cape Fear River, where a lot of people are starting to come down, try to get their last looks at the marina area here. Want to see the calm before the storm. And because this is going to be a multiday rain and water surge event, there's going to be a lot of water here in Wilmington.

I was talking to the mayor and they are expecting a 20-feet rise in some part of the Cape Fear River. The mayor thinks these boats and this marina could be gone by the end of the next three days. We'll be watching that very closely.

I want to go from here in Wilmington up the coast to Morehead City.

Our Ed Lavandera is there right now.

Ed, how are things right there? How is it doing now?

[13:45:27] ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Anderson. The bands on the northeastern edge of Hurricane Florence are starting to pound this part of the coastline here in North Carolina. Here in Morehead City, we're in the marina to show you around. Out this way, is the Atlantic Ocean. That's east out this way. You can see how rough the waters have now started popping up here in the bay of Morehead City. A lot of boats taken out. Some were here a short moment ago. There were water rescue teams on a small boat. Two officers going out to these boats to make sure nobody had been stranded on there. There had been a report that perhaps there were two people inside the green boat that has already been washed into that bank on the other side. They didn't find anybody in there. That just happened moments ago. Those two officers came racing off the water once they checked the boats and found there was no one inside.

You can see, Anderson, how the conditions have deteriorated. The winds have been about 40 to 45 miles an hour, with wind gusts up to 55 or 60 miles per hour already here, early on in the part of the storm. There are two bridges that take you from the mainland across to the barrier island that you can no longer see in the distance. That's Atlantic Beach that you see behind me. That connects all the way down to Emerald Isle. The bridges onto the islands have been shut down. Officers are stationed at those bridges, keeping people from getting onshore. The officers told me as soon as the winds pick up a little bit more, they will be pulled off the streets and waiting for the brunt of the storm to blow through. They are getting to the point where being out on the streets is no longer viable. We are paying close attention to that as well.

But that is the condition here in Morehead City where we're starting to see the strongest rain bands on the northeastern edge of the storm which is definitely the strongest part of a hurricane hitting into this part of the coast line here in North Carolina -- Anderson?

COOPER: Ed, I will check in with you throughout this day and throughout the next couple of days and nights.

Again, this is going to be a long-lasting storm of battering all up and down the coast here. At least one nuclear power plant has been shut down as a precaution ahead of Florence. It's one of six nuclear plant sites in the storm's path. It's the Brunswick plant. It's near North Carolina Beach, only about 20 feet above sea level. Flooding is a concern.

CNN's Brian Todd joins me from Brunswick County, North Carolina, with more on that.

Brian, how are things there and how are preparations?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Anderson, we are getting the first touches of heavy storm-force winds here in Southport, North Carolina. Flooding will be a concern because of the place behind me. This is the Brunswick Nuclear Power Plant here in Southport. You can see -- my photojournalists will zoom into the two towers, blue towers coming up out of the main blue structure there. Those are the nuclear reactors. We are told they are being shut down. They might be shut down already. There are to be shutdown at least two hours ahead of the hurricane-force winds coming in. The problem here and the concern here, Anderson, is this place has the same design structure as the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant in Japan, which suffered the catastrophic meltdowns after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan. You and I were both there. We both remember that very well. We are told now that this place is going to be secure. It is four miles inland from the ocean. It is 20 feet above sea level. They put in steel flood barriers all around this facility. They say that flooding is not going to be an issue because of the factors. Also, they are not really near the Cape Fear River, which officials are fearing a lot of storm surge on the Cape Fear River. The Cape Fear River is about two to three miles away from this plant. The only water near here is an intake canal that connects it to the Cape Fear River. We are getting assures by official this is plant is going to be safe in the hours ahead, even though, again, when you hear the word Fukushima, that this is designed the same way -- this was also built in the '70s. This is the tenth hurricane to come through and it's withstood 10 hurricanes. They will be watching closely because they have not had catastrophic rainfall and flooding like this in decades, Anderson, so it is a concern for this facility.

COOPER: Yes. We'll check back in with you.

I want to go to Don Lemon, who is in Myrtle Beach.

Don, you're on the beach right now. I assume you have a fallback position when the winds pick up, because you don't want to be on that beach with the sand whipping around.

[13:50:10] DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR & CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. Can you see us, Anderson? I can't see you. I don't know if you can see me. But I'll show you. Our fallback position is this hotel, which is built to withstand a hurricane many times more than the hurricane we're going to experience here. I don't want to test that, but that's what we're told. So that is our fallback position.

Anderson, you know this area. You've been here. You've covered hurricanes. People don't often heed warnings. I know they're not in some places but here it looks like they are. Take a look at this. Just miles and miles of coast here, and in Myrtle Beach where I am, there are very few people on the beach. A couple stragglers who are down there. But for the most part, it's just really media. The tide has been going in and out. We had high tide at 11:30. Now it's backing out. High tide again at 11:30 tonight. But, again, some folks are staying. We have people who are in the hotel who live inland. They come to this hotel because it's so safe and secure and their homes are not as safe.

But one person, she is not here. She's riding it out. That's Gabrielle Cargill. And she joins now us via skype.

Gabrielle, are you doing?

GABRIELLE CARGILL, NORTH CAROLINA RESIDENT: I'm good. How are you guys?

LEMON: Great. I understand you've been here for eight years, 25 years old. Why did you decide to ride it out?

CARGILL: A lot of people don't have the financial option to leave. All of my family is here and it would be an impossible task to move all four of us and all seven animals inland. We've been through a few hurricanes before so I'm confident we'll stand through this one. I was here when I was a child for Fran and that was probably the most devastating hurricane I've seen, and that was almost 20 years ago.

LEMON: So you're sure of this decision? If you want to stay, that's your business. You know what officials are saying, that you should get out, your life -- you can't get your life back, that you can get belongings and property, you can redo that. You understand that all, but for you it's more personal?

CARGILL: This is just my home. If it's going to be destroyed, I have nowhere else to go. This is where my family is and where everything of mine is. If my family won't leave, neither will I.

LEMON: Yes. I understand you have a bunch of animals you're concerned about. I've been told you're very close to the beach, about 300 feet off the beach, where you're staying. Your parents are even closer?

CARGILL: Yes.

LEMON: Yes. So you're good.

All right, Gabrielle, we wish you the best of luck. Thank you very much. If you need anything, you know how to get in touch with us, all right? You be safe.

CARGILL: Thanks, guys.

LEMON: Gabrielle Cargill, 25 years old, she's going to ride it out in Myrtle Beach.

This is what we're seeing here. Empty beach and the tide going in and out. You see heavy clouds, but again it's ominous. As I drove in here today, you can tell something terrible is brewing out there in the Atlantic and it is Hurricane Florence.

You are watching CNN's special coverage of this hurricane. We have crews up and down the coast and we'll carry it for you live. Make sure you stay tuned.

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[13:57:50] COOPER: We've obviously been focusing intensely on Hurricane Florence. We'll continue our coverage in just a moment.

But we have to cover something the president tweeted out earlier today, which shows where some of his thoughts and attention is today. In addition to saying FEMA is prepared for the storm, the president is defending his administration's response to hurricanes in Puerto Rico. He's doing it by denying facts. He's making up facts and, quite frankly, offending an awful lot of people, people who have lost loved ones in Puerto Rico.

The president earlier today tweeted out, "3,000 people did not die in the two hurricanes that hit Puerto Rico. When I left the island after the storm had hit, they had anywhere from six to 18 deaths. As time went by, it did not go up by much. Then a long time later, they started to report really large numbers, like 3,000. This was done by the Democrats in order to make me look as bad as possible when I was successfully raising billions of dollars to help rebuild Puerto Rico. If a person died for any reason, like old age, just add them on to the list. Bad politics. I love Puerto Rico."

I'm not sure where to begin. We should point out this 3,000 number, the government of Puerto Rico sponsored, paid a lot of money for G.W. University to spend months studying the death tolls and they came up with the 3,000 number. Also a Harvard University study in conjunction with other universities in Puerto Rico did a study that also showed similar numbers. CNN's own reporting, interviewing funeral directors also showed thousands of deaths. So, in fact, the government of Puerto Rico and the government of the U.S. has been downplaying the death toll for much of this past year saying the official death toll was 64. It's only now that this study has been completed that the government in Puerto Rico has gotten behind these numbers, as has the federal government. The president is now denying the truth. He's just making this up saying 3,000 people did not die.

Our Bill Weir is in San Juan, Puerto Rico, for a special he's going to be airing next week about the one-year anniversary of the storm and how Puerto Rico is doing right now. Bill, I can't even imagine what people who have lost friends and loved ones in San Juan and elsewhere in Puerto Rico think about the president of the United States denying --