china claims taiwan as part of its territory, despite having never controlled it and repeatedly warned against pelosi visiting the island, vowing to take resolute and forceful measures if the visit goes forward. john kirby addressed the trip on cnn last hour. there s no reason for the chinese rhetoric, there s no reason for any actions to be taken. it is not uncommon for congressional leaders to travel to taiwan. it is very much in keeping with our policy and consistent with our support to taiwan under the taiwan relations act. we shouldn t be as a country, we shouldn t be intimidated by that rhetoric or those potential actions. this is an important trip for the speaker to be on. we re going to do whatever we can to support her. cnn is on capitol hill, but we begin with will ripley in taipei, taiwan. will, what can you tell us the latest about this announcement of the speaker s trip? reporter: well, for one thing, this is not going to be, you know, a fueling brief stop
to speak at any moment about the latest in his state. some of the hardest hit areas aren t out of the woods yet. another strong line of storms is forecast to move in later this evening. that is expected to compound the challenges for first responders and those who still have no homes. hotels and motels are full. so are shelters, which are forcing some people to sleep in their cars now. in perry county, one official said more than 50 bridges have been washed away. let s begin in eastern kentucky. cnn s evan mcmorris-santoro is in the town of hazard. we spoke to you last week. things look pretty bad. as the waters recede, you really see the extent of this devastation. reporter: that s right, jim. not only do you see what came before, you can get a look at how hard it s going to be to get everything back together here. you talk about bridges in perry county. i m in perry county and i m along highway 28, an important road here. i can explain to you exactly what went on when it
very well with what the arbitrator had to work with there. but the message considering the accusations he s facing is that he s not suffering that much of a ram fiction. especially with an historic contract. especially. cnn s coverage continues right now. very good monday morning. i m jim sciutto. poppy has the week off. our top story, just devastation in kentucky. extreme flooding leaving towns in ruin, dozens, sadly, dead. right now the eastern part of the state is finally getting a desperately needed reprieve from the rain, but it s not gone yet. as the floodwaters begin to recede, the death toll is rising. at least 28 people have been killed, 4 are children. the state now estimates that tens if not hundreds of millions of dollars in losses. kentucky s governor is expected
it s a presidential appointment without confirmation. i think the thing democrats will focus on is what republicans like mcconnell, john mccain and bob corker, lee leading republicans, and the senate has said russia is the elephant on the table. this will not clear up the controversies around contact with russia, meddling in our election, which is what mitch mcconnell said is the most significant issue, bob corker called it the elephant in the room. the attention is going to turn to that very quickly. getting to the bottom of that is going to have far more ram fiction over the long term. does russia still hang over this appointment with the new national security adviser, general mcmaster? yeah, i think it s very, very important. and the congress does, too. over time, as the congress starts to get its legs, and work out some sort of m.o. with the white house,ist going to start on both sides of the aisle to get very serious about investigating what this is all about. and i think it s
directors, comey or others, from doing this in the future. i wish they had opened this investigation after the july 5th press conference. maybe it would have stopped comey from sending that letter later in october. i think there s another potential ram fiction, too. you now have comey under investigation for his conduct during the election. at the same time, he is leading the investigation into whether the trump campaign improperly coordinated with russian officials. we ve seen a report they are looking at that. i think it does have you to question, how can comey effectively lead that investigation when his conduct itself is under question? i think it will lend a lot of contradict to those like myself who says there should be a special counsel and bipartisan commission to look at what happened during the election with russian interference. it s hard to see how comey continues to be the person leading that investigation in light of this new development. matt miller, thank you so muc