Assault decades ago. Kavanaugh has categorically denied. As of right now eight Democratic Senators and at least one republican are calling for kavanaughs hearing to be delayed. Meanwhile, members of the Judiciary Committee are working to set up calls with both kavanaugh and his accuser. One lawmaker weve been closely watching is republican senator Susan Collins of maine. Shes been undecided on kavanaugh, and sheers how she reacted a short time ago when cnn asked her about these accusations. Well, i obviously was very surprised and its an issue that i brought up with him last friday and he denied as he did in his written statement. Always all i real very to say at this point. What do you think . Should the Committee Vote coming up here this week . Im going to be talking to my colleagues, but i really dont have anything to add at this point, as i said. I did ask i did read the letter last week and and asked the judge in a telephone conversation on friday about it, and he was very emphatic in his denial. Do you believe the accuser . I dont know enough to make a judgment at this point. Now, again, here is what has caused all of this. Just a short time ago, kavanaughs accuser came forward pubically. Her name Christine Blasey ford, and shes talking exclusively to the Washington Post. Ford has shared new details with the paper not only about the alleged attack but about Key Information that appears to support her claims. The post writes this about the night in question. While his friend watched she said kavanaugh pinned her to a bed on her back and groped her over her clothes grinding his body against hers and clumsily attempting to pull off her onepiece bathing suit and the clothing she wore over it. What she tried to scream, she said he put his hand over her mouth. I thought he might inadvertently kill me. He was trying to attack me and remove my clothing. Joining us now is Cnn Supreme Court reporter and tell us why this woman is coming forward now. Right, ana, you said this woman has come forward accusing Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of assaulting her at a party more than 30 years ago and according to the post her name Christine Blasey ford. Shes a professor in california, and Brett Kavanaugh has vehemently denied her allegation. In fact, on friday he released a statement. He said i categorically and unequivocally deny this allegation. I did not do this back in high school or at any time, but in the Washington Post she said that they attended a party in suburban maryland back in 1982. She said that kavanaugh and a friend were, quote, stumbling drunk, and she alleges she was corralled into a bedroom. At one point he tried to take off her clothes and put his hand over her mouth and like you referred to it i thought he might inadvertently kill me and was trying to attack me and row move my clothing. She tells the Washington Post she was able to get up and leave at one point. Its worth noting that she only shared the details of this years later in 2012 with a therapist and with her husband. According to the post the husband recalls his wife using kavanaughs name but the therapist notes which have been reviewed by the Washington Post do not mention kavanaugh, and its also worth noting that the other man who is now a teen or who was then a teen and now a man in the article, he says he had no memory of this act, and he said hes never seen Brett Kavanaugh act that way. He did give an interview to another media outlet. Ana . Joan, you have been studying the Supreme Court for a really long time, and weve heard a number of other people tonight mention anita hill. Are we witnessing an anita hill moment . Ana, there are so many similarities here, but there are also some key differences. First of all, to have a late in the game allegation. This one even more serious than what we had back in 1991 after hearings had been held for both of the nominees in a very partisan atmosphere, but whats different is that we are now in the me, too moment. We dont even have to look much farther than the senate Judiciary Committee to see a member who was removed al franken just last december resigned in the face of allegations related to sexual misconduct. People have been accused of much worse and have had much more serious consequences and that is very much in the air, but the other thing thats very different here is that things are much more partisan. Republicans have banded together in what has already been a very tumultuous kavanaugh nomination. Back in 91, a lot of people dont remember, but 11 democrats actually voted for Clarence Thomas, and he is now on the Court Despite those accusations. One person we havent heard from tonight at least is kavanaugh. Does he plan to respond . Well, last friday he categorically denied, it as i said. I talked to a source close to him tonight and he said he stands firmly by his denial. He takes heart by the fact that a lot of women who knew him during those high school years, the end of last week, issued a left supporting him, so well see whats going to happen next, but you look at senator Dianne Feinstein. She is the top democrat on this committee. She received the letter from this woman all the way back in july. She did not bring it up right away, and republicans are saying now, look, you got this letter in july. Why didnt you bring it up in the hearings, behind closed doors, in a closed session . They are really questioning the timing on one side. Joan, how do you see this playing out because now we have senator flake who has come forward and essentially said lets hold off, lets pump the brakes. Lets hear from this accuser. Lets do some investigation. Weve also heard from senator Lindsey Graham also say he believes they need to hear from ford immediately. Can kavanaugh survive this . Thats a good question. As i said, Clarence Thomas survived it. It was a different atmosphere certainly and, again, you know, we want to make clear that these are these are accusations and the judge is denying them so, you know, thats very clear here still, and once the senators have a chance to talk to both Christine Ford and judge Brett Kavanaugh the situation might clarify itself better. You know, back in 1991, there were so many repercussions, and it became what was known as the year of the woman, and Dianne Feinstein even got elected that year which, you know, hard to imagine now that shes under scrutiny herself for how she handled it, but i think this is a rapidly evolving situation and much more will be clearer once key senators have a chance to talk to both of those individuals and to test what is she saying, what does she remember . Obviously her claims are very, very serious, but, you know, hes saying, at least so far, that he doesnt remember it. And hes saying also, you know, look look at his past record. Thats what his support remembers saying, you know. Hes been a judge for 12 years and subject to fbi investigations for many positions that he held, so neither of them have yet to be tested by the people who matter in the senate. All right. Thank you ladies both. Thank you. The story is far from over and arian just mentioned that letter sent to senator Dianne Feinstein back in july and we now have that letter and im going to read it in the entirety. Some of the names and places have been redacted and it begins. Dear senator feinstein. I am writing with information relevant to evaluating the current nominee to the sprefnlgt as a constituent i expect that you will maintain this as confidential until we have further opportunity to speak. Brett kavanaugh physically and sexually assaulted me during high school in the early 1980s. He conducted these acts with the assistance of redacted. Both were one or two years older than me and students at a local private school. The assault occurred at a suburban maryland area home at a gathering that included me and four others. Kavanaugh physically pushed me on to a bed into a bedroomation was headed for a bathroom up a short stairwell from the living room. They locked the door and played loud music precluding any successful attempt to yell for help. Kavanaugh was on top of me while laughing with redacted who periodically jump on to kavanaugh. They both laughed as kavanaugh tried to disrobe me in their highly inebriated state w. Kavanaughs hand over my mouth i feared he may inadvertently kill me. From across the room a very drunken redacted said mixed words to kavanaugh ranging from go for it to stop. At one point when redacted jumped on to the bed the weight on me was substantial. The pile toppled, and the two scrapped with each other. After a few attempts to get away i was able to take this opportune time, opportune moment to get up and run across to a highway bath root i locked the bathroom door behind me and both loudly stumbled down. I exited the bathroom and ran outside of the house and went home. Ive not knowingly seen kavanaugh since the assault. I did see once the redacted at the redacted where she was extremely uncomfortable seeing me. I received medical treatment for the assault. I asked my local representative to share how to deal with this situation. Its difficult to deal with Sexual Assault and i felt guilty and compelled as a citizen about not saying anything. Im available to speak further should you wish to discuss. Im currently redacted and will be in redacted. In confidence, redacted. Again, Brett Kavanaugh has unequivocally denied the allegations made in this left, and the white house says they are Still Standing by their Supreme Court nominee. Now, at the same time were learning why Christine Blasey ford felt she had to come forward when she wrote this letter to her senator. M. J. Lee has talked with someone familiar with her story. What have you learned . Reporter whats become clear over the last 24 to 48 hours it is that this decision to come forward and tell her story was obviously a very difficult one for Christine Ford and up until today we know that she was emphatic that her identity not be revealed, and im told, ana, and this is according to a person familiar with fords story that at around the time that she sent that letter detailing that encounter with kavanaugh decades ago, ford discussed with friends how she might go public with her story, and im told that over the past few months ford has felt the kind of pressure on a personal level to share her storyaged has really grappled with the idea and thats partly what prompted the left and this is aau cording again to a source familiar with her story, and, of course, again today with the Washington Post story we saw how ford ultimately changed her mind and decided that if her story is going to be told, she should be the one to tell it. And im looking at the Washington Post story as to why now. It says as the story snowballed after Dianne Feinstein report having received this left, ford said she heard people repeating inaccuracies about her and with the visits from reporters felled her privacy being chipped away and her calculation changed. Now youre outside the home ford. What is the scene like there . Reporter yeah. So were in palo alto outside of what we believe is Christine Fords home. We didnt see anyone go in and out of the house all afternoon, but about an hour ago had a man came into the house and then went out a few minutes later with a dog. We dont know the man was, but he said that he was friends with the fords and that he was helping to take care of their dog. He said that ford is doing fine but that shes not interested in talking to anybody. He said shes not planning to come back to her house either. He also said that christine in order was a great person but wouldnt really say anything more about her decision to speak out and her deliberations or anything kind of reaction to kavanaugh and denials of forced altercation. I want to get a statement we got from the in box from the head of the school that Christine Ford attended when this incident that show alleges happened. She attended fulton arms school, this is another school in maryland close to the Georgetown Prep school which is where kavanaugh attended. Sidesana a. Jones wrote in a recent article the Washington Post the describes an alleged assault of one of our alumni by Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh that occurred in the early 1980s while she was a student at the school. In these cases its imperative that all voices are heard as a school that empowers women to use their voiced. We are proud of this alumni for using hers. So a very powerful statement from the head of the school that Christine Ford attended saying that shes proud of her for speak out. Ana. M. J. Lee, thank you for bringing us the very late. Right now the senate Judiciary Committee is still scheduled to vote on kavanaughs confirmation this coming thursday. At this hour though it remains unclear if that is going to happen. Joining us now is democratic congresswoman camila jipual from washington. Your hands are somewhat tied and what is your message for your Senate Colleagues who can do something . Well, i think the first thing is just to say again how courageous Christine Ford has been. This was not something she asked for. I think number of these cases, as you know, ana, it takes a lot for a woman to come forward and particularly in a situation like this where she knew that if she did come forward that this was going to be questioned, that her credibility would be questioned and so my my thanks, deep thanks to her for coming forward with this. I think that if the senate Judiciary Committee goes forward with this vote this thursday it would be an insult and an injury to every woman in this country. It would be like sticking a finger in the eye of every woman because we all know regardless of what Political Party were part of, we all know that sexual harassment, Sexual Assault is real. That is what the me, too movement has been about, and at this point the senate Judiciary Committee should stop these hearings. They should get somebody who is an independent investigate tor come in and actually investigate this so its not about political partisanship and we should make sure that Christine Ford is given the the respect of having a real investigation into this. This is the highest court in the land. There is absolutely no reason to move forward with Brett Kavanaughs confirmation hearings and confirmation vote at this point. That would be a tremendous disser is vicious and i think, you know, as a mom im thinking about a 15yearold daughter that this happened to. We all care about making sure that this confirmation does not go forward at this point without a full hearing. Kavanaughs accuser has shared this detailed account now. She has Therapy Notes that corroborate some of her claims, according to the Washington Post. She also passed a polygraph test. Do you believe her claims . I really i do, and, you know, i have been outspoken on this issue in the past, including in some difficult situations in congress with some of my colleagues. I think that this is a very credible claim. I think it is absolutely understandable why she would not have come forward, and i think in a lot of these cases what happens is, you know, the victim of Sexual Assault orsayers cement sitting at home. Shes watching proceedings go on. Shes watching somebody on tv being portrayed as this upstanding family man and finally something in her snaps and she says i cant do this anymore. I have a responsibility to say what happened to me. This has happened in situation after situation with women. It is very difficult to come forward, and it sounds like she has struggled with this. The Washington Post did verify that she took a polygraph test. Why did she take a polygraph test . She took one because she knew her credibility was going to be maligned if she came forward and so this is i do believe her and i think that we that the white house supposedly has had a list of many candidates for this Supreme Court nomination, the heist court in the land. Remember, that Brett Kavanaugh has also had other instances where he has clearly misled if not purr jurer juried himself, t being around his role in judge pryor when he said he was not involved with senator leahy when he was testifying before the senate Judiciary Committee, only to find out in these emails that that was not true. Let me bring you back though quickly to this issue specifically because theres been a lot of criticism for how Dianne Feinstein has handled this by republican colleagues and supporters of Brett Kavanaugh, the fact that she had this letter at the end of july and just now is revealing that she had received it and, of course, that was even before this woman came forward pubically. She was just anonymous. Why do you think she sat on it . Well, when you read the text of the letter, and i had read it earlier today as well, it clearly says in there i want this to remain confidential, and i think weve all been in this situation where a woman has come to us and said this happened to me, but im not ready to go forward and im not ready to go public with t. Clearly Christine Ford, dr. Ford has been trying to figure out how to move forward with this in a way that allows her to feel whole and her to feel like shes done her responsibility to the country, but it was not something that she was looking to bring forward, so i think it took her a while and i think senator feinstein had to respect for the desire of dr. Ford to remain confidential and to not have her name be disclosed. You have to understand when youre coming forward, you have to be red, and i dont know if you can be ready for Something Like this frankly in this kind of a moment, and i think Dianne Feinstein, her hands were somewhat tied. I dont think that that was totally clear until we saw the contents of the letter and until we heard from Christine Ford herself, but i think now it is entirely clear she was respecting dr. Fords wishes, and i think that was the right thing to do. Congresswoman, thank you very much. Thank you, ana. Coming up, parts of the carolinas are brace for some of the worst destruction yet for the remnants of florence. Were there live on the ground where the water levels are rights. Well head there next. Jardiance asked and now you know. Jardiance is the only type 2 diabetes pill proven to both reduce the risk of cardiovascular death for adults who have type 2 diabetes and heart disease. And lower a1c, with diet and exercise. Jardiance can cause serious side effects including dehydration. This may cause you to feel dizzy, faint, or lightheaded, or weak upon standing. Ketoacidosis is a serious side effect that may be fatal. Symptoms include nausea, vomiting, stomach pain, tiredness, and trouble breathing. Stop taking jardiance and call your doctor right away if you have symptoms of ketoacidosis or an allergic reaction. Symptoms of an allergic reaction include rash, swelling, and difficulty breathing or swallowing. It is the never ending storm. Florence continues its slow methodical march inland drenching the carolinas and creating a flood danger more immediate now than when it made landfall two days ago. All through last night and today, swift water rescue teams have been out in full force rescuing some 100 people statewide, including families with small children. Just a short time ago the death toll from this storm rose to 18. Among the victims, a baby who died when a tree fell on her familys mobile home. 19,000 people are in shelters across both north and South Carolina tonight, and more than 700,000 homes and businesses are without power, and the rain is still falling. The rivers are still rising. Many neighborhoods are cut off, turned into islands. Lets get out to cnns Paola Sandoval in lumberton, North Carolina where the lumber river is well above flood stage. Reporter ana, you said yourself this store is relentless. This continues to rain and i looked at the radar a little while ago. Were expecting another downpour in the next few minutes. Tonight will be a critical night for the people of lumberton. About 21,000 people call this part of North Carolina home. They are very familiar with the damaging potential of these storms with Hurricane Matthew when it swept through this region two years ago. Tonight is when the lumber river is expected to crest. Thats when its hard to make it out beyond this roadblock here but about an hour ago a state Police Officer moved that barrier up a few feet, an indication that the water line is on the move. People here did try to get ahead of this. Last week they built a makeshift levee of at the location where they say the water from the floodwater caused byhour main matthew basically flooded all these neighborhoods. However, that was compromised. That was breached. We were with the coast guard doing a survey and we witnessed that breach happen. The water was essentially seeping through the gravel and the sandbags that were placed there by volunteers and Police Officers. Members of the community. However, that wasnt for nothing. That at least bought people precious time to evacuate, to head to higher ground. Already at least 900 evacuations from happened across the state. Ive witnessed them right here. In fact the truck over my shoulder, that was a boat that was just loaded a little while ago, they are inside these neighborhoods right now, volunteers looking to help people to get out, people who did not have a chance to evacuate. There is, however, another levee of, the main levee of along the banks of the lumber river. Authorities say its Still Holding and still doing its job but they fear that if this does eventually give out, then more people could be in the path of the storms or floodwaters and even some of the citys infrastructure as well. Keeping those fingers crossed and prayers. Paola sandoval, thank you. If you want to help out those impacted by hurricanes florence. There are ways to donate, give blood, get in touch with charities that are responding. Just visit cnn. Com impact for more ways you can help. And well be right back. Join tmobile, and get netflix included for the whole family. So you can get lost in space in your own backyard. Or get pumped up for your grand entrance. Tmobile lets you watch your favorite movies and shows in more places, without paying more. Get an unlimited family plan with netflix on us. And right now at tmobile, buy one Samsung Galaxy s9 and get one free. Are you one sneeze away from being voted out of the carpool . Try zyrtec®. Its starts working hard at hour one. And works twice as hard when you take it again the next day. Stick with zyrtec® and muddle no more®. You want things done right. Thats why we test all of our paints and stains for months. Or even years. We dedicate 175,000 square feet to getting it wrong. Because you deserve paint thats done right. Thats proudly particular. Benjamin moore. The standard for paint professionals. Only at local paint and hardware stores. Continuing coverage of florence now. Do not be fooled. This storm is not over yet. Emergency officials are warning residents in the carolinas to expect conditions to still get worse before they get wet better. Were talking about flood damage that has already happened and a very good chance for rivers to still overflow. A result of the massive hurricane that struck the east coast and has moved ever so slowly since making landfall. Lets get out to cnns nick watt. He is in South Carolina, and, nick, when we saw you last, you were on the beach. Now i understand youve moved further inland. Show us the conditions there. Reporter yeah, ana, weve driven today 100 miles inland to the threat that this storm exist. This is normally a lazy little creek called the huckelberry creek. As you can see its a flowing torrent. Its been risen and ive been standing here 15 minutes and its risen 3 or 4 inches in that time. The chief of police tells me the issue they have been getting these flash floods. The this morning in one hour they got 5. 5 inches of rain and that left water standing three feet in places and towns the thats now dissipated but issue here in lumberton as we heard from paola as on the cape fear issue, the issue is river levels are rights. This creek is flowing into the river which is just a few hundred yards down that way. That river normally runs and flows at about 7 feet. Currently its up about the a 30 feet, and its not expected to crest until tuesday afternoon. Somewhere at around 49 feet. That will be just below the alltime record for the river which was set ray back in 1945. Now, some people were evacuated from this area this morning during that flash flood when this creek really god going. As i say, the issue is the rivers. You know, trillions of gallons of water, ana, fell over the carolinas over the past few days. You know here in all they had about 14 inches in just two days, and that is not the record for this date so far. I think its just over 18 inches is the highest rainfall recorded. Now this, you know, hopefully were not going to get too many more rain here tomorrow, but the river is still going to rise because all that rain that fell in North Carolina and South Carolina has to go in those rivers and those rivers are rising and rights and rising. The water has to go somewhere. Nick watt, thank you for that update. Stay safe. Coming up, were going like the Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and were taking the pulse of suburban voters. Midterm voters and particulars who will be watching how the gop handles this issue and many others. burke thats what we call a huge drag. Seriously, thats what we call it. Officially. And we covered it. Talk to farmers. We know a thing or two because weve seen a thing or two. We are farmers. Bumpadum, bumbumbumbum you wouldnt accept an incomplete job from any one else. Why accept it from your allergy pills . Flonase sensimist relieves all your worst symptoms, including nasal congestion, which most pills dont. And all from a gentle mist you can barely feel. Flonase sensimist. You can barely feel. Ok ill admit. I didnt keep my place as clean as i would like cuz im way too busy. Whos got the time to chase around down dirt, dust and hair . So now, i use heavy duty swiffer sweeper and dusters. For hardtoreach places, duster makes it easy to clean. It captures dust in one swipe. Ha gotcha and new sweeper heavy duty cloths lock away a twice as much dirt and dust. It gets stuff deep in the grooves other tools can miss. You know what . My place is a lot cleaner now. Stop cleaning. Start swiffering. Your neighbors. You like them. They always remember everyones names. Your kids love swimming in their pool. You like them. If you forget your trunks, theyll loan you some. They have a section in their stock portfolio just for pool stuff. Everyone likes them. You like them. But youd like them better if you made more money than they do. Dont get mad at your wellliked neighbors. Get e trade. Youre in the business of helping people. Were in the business of helping you. Business funding to help make a difference. Another way we have your back. The powerful backing of american express. Dont do business without it. Welcome back. As we follow the breaking news about Sexual Assault allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, were taking the pulse of a key voting bloc ahead of the mid terms, suburban women. They could be the key to which Party ControlsCongress Come november, and we recently traveled to a swing district in virginia to ask them about the issues most important to them and how they feel about the president. How would you grade this current president . It would be an f for me. F. Aminus because of his handwriting. Incomplete. Incomplete. Why do you say incomplete . I think the jury is out on donald trump. Hes done a lot right and along wrong and as republicans were watching him. Theres a good chance hell have a primary in two years. We dont know yet. You havent made up your minds . I disagree with him on immigration. I disagree with him on tariffs. Those are huge issues. What do you see as him doing really, really well . I believe that our president has delivered. His deliverables have been quite good, like the tax reform, filling out the judiciary, some of the difficulty, albeit difficult relationships and International Relationships hes reforged. Has he delivered things that are good for our nation . And to that extent i say he gets an aminus. You disagree, lana . I feel he has done nothing but divide our country further apart, and, you know, he charlottesville was huge for me. To see the president of the United States get up and say that theres good people on both sides really, really hurt. I dont want my kids looking up to that. I dont want my kids thinking that racism is acceptable. My daughter was crying on the couch when she saw my friend from sterling, virginia have to jump out of the way of that car. You knew somebody who was there . Yes. No one in the commonwealth of virginia should ever have to fear for their lives when they are at a rally supporting diversity. Do you believe that this president has done anything that is considered an Impeachable Offense . Ainge yeah, i know youre an attorney. What do you think . I mean, i dont practice that area of law. I do believe and support Robert Muellers investigation into the russian interference and, of course, if there is anything that is uncovered by robert muler in his investigation, of course, we should pursue any avenues that are out there to remove a president if the president has in fact colluded with russia. Do you believe democrats should be running on impeaching this president . I dont believe so. Look at bill clinton. I mean, it was a huge distraction in the 90s, and at the end of the day nothing changed. They can impeach donald trump, but nothing is going change. We should really focus on make the country a better place. Do you support how the president has handled the russia investigation . Theres lots of reservations with donald trump. No, theres some things hes done well and some things hes done horribly. I wish he would just stop tweeting. We have seen support of the special counsel investigation on the rise over the last few polls. Even though the president has continued to go after Robert Mueller and his team and that investigation calling it a witchhunt and a hoax. There have been a number of indictments and a number of convictions and i think any suggestion that this is a witch hunt, the president can speak his mind and the facts people for themselves. The president have called it an illegal investigation. Does anybody here believe it is an illegal investigation . No. No, not at all. I couldnt possibly answer that. I mean, that its ongoing and finding the facts that need to be neighbors and friends are factbased folks. Do you believe this president is telling you the truth . I dont speak with them. So i cant speak to that. Do you trust the president . The office of the president is created and its a function of the politics of it our nation and our america selected donald j. Trump to be our president and her is informs that capacity. It will be a measure on his ballot about whether america agrees with him. For my party i like the work that hes doing as president. Do you trust the president and that hes being truthful with you, joe . But did i trust obama and george bush, no, they are politicians at the end of the day. Are you willing to overlook the facts . No, facts are facts. One plus one is two so there is nothing like an alternative fact. An alternative fact is a lie, and our president lies regularly every single day. He has lost the ability to communicate with our allies because we are no longer trusted. And i know your husband is in the service, lana. Does that influence your perspective and in what way . I fear he might make a grave mistake . Tweeting back and forth with korea, it is unacceptable. There are people that are putting their lives on the line. I feel mr. Woodwards book is just coming out and emphasizing the fact that hes unfit to be president and Congress Needs to act on it. All of those women are from virginias tenth congressional district. Their incumbent gop congresswoman Barbara Comstock is currently polling behind her opponent Senate Senator jennifer wexton. If wexton wins she will be the first democratic representative in that district in nearly 40 years. Coming up, our coverage of florence continues including the situation in wilmington, North Carolina, a city cut off in basically every direction because of the rights water. Well talk to the first spoernd on the ground. Stay with us. Its easy to think that all Money Managers are pretty much the same. But while some push High Commission investment products, Fisher Investments avoids them. Some advisers have hidden and layered fees. Fisher investments never does. And while some advisers are happy to earn commissions from you whether you do well or not, Fisher Investments fees are structured so we do better when you do better. Maybe thats why most of our clients come from other Money Managers. Fisher investments. Clearly better money management. With pg e in the sierras. And im an arborist since the onset of the drought, more than 129 Million Trees have died in california. Pg e prunes and removes over a Million Trees every year to ensure that hazardous trees cant impact power lines. And since the onset of the drought weve doubled our efforts. I grew up in the forests out in this area and honestly its heartbreaking to see all these trees dying. What guides me is ensuring that the public is going to be safer and that these forests can be sustained and enjoyed by the community in the future. Turning now to wilmington, North Carolina, a city so submerged by the flood waters its impossible to get in. The mayor says for 40 miles in any direction, nothing can get into or out of the city. Every road is flooded. That means no fuel deliveries, no emergency supplies, no fema crews, no Power Company trucks. Now wilmington is simply cut off. On the phone with us is wilmingt wilmingtons fire chief. It doesnt sound good. Bring us the latest. Are are you still getting calls from people who need rescuing . Yeah, a little bit. We were very busy last night as the first part of the flood waters started to rise. We were fortunate that we had prepared. We had assets on the ground. So between our regional partners, we have been able to take care of our own, but as you mentioned, right now were cut off a little bit. And that has to be somewhat alarming. What are the bigst challenges youre facing right now . Right now, fuel is a big one. Just to show you the engine ing of First Responders, we have fuel on the river front. And we were able to go down there with one of the vendors down there and actually get fuel from one of the tanks down there. So a little bit unusual, but a disaster event like this, i think it just goes to show the resiliency of preparation from the Emergency Management perspecti perspective. It has been really remarkable. We know youre working so hard were looking at the long lines and people trying to get gas. I know you said thats one of the Biggest Challenges youre facing. What kind of damage are you seeing so far . Its widespread damage. Wilmington is a city that suffered a lot of losses of trees. The problem was getting the First Responders to feempeoples homes to make rescues because of the trees in the road. We got that taken care of pretty quick. We have most of the many arteries cleared pretty quick. And actually did that prior to the flood waters coming up. So timing is everything. In this particular case, having the main arteries cleared where we could access most people to get close to them or succeaccesm was a blessing. Your team is very capable. With the storm this large, sometimes its a greater team effort. Do you feel you have the outside resources that you need . Do you have what you need from the federal government . Yeah, i dont think you could look back and say we should have thought of this or that. I have been involved in lots of disasters in my career. I can tell you i dont know we could have been anymore prepared than we were. Our local First Responders were prepared and had practiced for this have been. And they have come through shining. A regional partners whieg thle are taking care of themselves are assisting us. The state department of Emergency Management was prepared. They had assets predeployed to debt in here. Now the roads being cut off has provide d a little bit of a snafu, but the airport was open so the coast guard started flying in here and tomorrow well g be getting most of our assets in my airframe. So the government had rescue task forces. We have three of them in North Carolina. Theres federal Incident Support team and we have Indiana Task Force one and they have been instrumental in helping us. Chief, what can you tell us about the plan and theout look for the next 24 hours . Well, i think the river is not supposed to crest until tuesday is what i heard. Thats going to be a challenge for us downtown. If it would stop raining, florence is finally looks like its giving us a break and pulling out of here. So that is going to be helpful. The power is out everywhere. So wf to get the power back on. Then well be okay. Its a long recovery process. Et we know youre working as fast and hard as you can. Chief, thank you for taking the time to talk with us. Please know we are there with you and sending our very best. We hope you get through this and everybody there safely. We really appreciate everybodys thoughts and prayers. Absolutely. Thank you. To all of those in the storm zone, please stay safe. Cnn is with you. We want to help you get through this. For now, thats going to do it for me. Up next is back to back episodes of anthony bourdain. Thanks for being with us. Good night. With new, more secure numbers. But con artists, they never change. Theyll always try to steal your medical identity. So, what can you do . Guard your card, just like a credit card. Dont give your medicare number over the phone or email. And remember, medicare never calls unless youve asked them to. To find more ways to guard your card, go to medicare. Gov fraud. Dont let your guard down. You want things done right. Thats why we test all of our paints and stains for months. Or even years. We dedicate 175,000 square feet to getting it wrong. Because you deserve paint thats done right. Thats proudly particular. Benjamin moore. The standard for paint professionals. Only at local paint and hardware stores. Are you one sneeze away from being voted out of the carpool . Try zyrtec®. Its starts working hard at hour one. And works twice as hard when you take it again the next day. Stick with zyrtec® and muddle no more®. Nainoa my great fear as a kid was a fear of failing. And thats hawaiian because i was born that way because thats the expectation. Youre hawaiian, youre gonna be less. Youre hawaiian youre gonna fail more