Bracing for Hurricane Michael; Trump: Kavanaugh "Caught in a Hoax"; Kavanaugh Midterm Wave?
GOV. RICK SCOTT (R), FLORIDA: This storm will be life threatening and extremely dangerous.</s>CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Forecasters say hurricane Michael is gaining strength as it heads for the Florida panhandle.</s>JOE JOHNS, CNN ANCHOR: The New York governor says the stretch limo that crashed and killed 20 people should never have been on the road.</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I want you to apologize to Brett and the entire Kavanaugh family.</s>ROMANS: President Trump apologizes to Justice Brett Kavanaugh for what the president now calls a political hoax.</s>JOHNS: Justice Kavanaugh joins the Supreme Court today, as Republicans hope for a Kavanaugh wave, with the midterms now just four weeks away. Good morning to EARLY START. I'm Joe Johns.</s>ROMANS: Good to see you this morning.</s>JOHNS: Good to see you.</s>ROMANS: Nice to have you here. I'm Christine Romans. It is Tuesday, October 9th. It is 4:00 a.m. in the East. We begin with breaking news this morning. The Florida Panhandle bracing for Hurricane Michael this morning, currently a category one. Hurricane Michael is expected to strengthen to a category three by the time it hits the panhandle midday Wednesday. States of emergency declared in both Florida and Alabama. Emergency officials have ordered evacuations in at least ten counties. Some mandatory, others voluntary. Florida Governor Rick Scott strongly urging people to heed all warnings.</s>SCOTT: Every family must be prepared. Every family. Remember, we can rebuild your house, but we cannot rebuild your life. Take this seriously and keep your family safe.</s>ROMANS: And meteorologist Ivan Cabrera is standing by live for us in the CNN weather center. Ivan, what is the latest on the storm?</s>IVAN CABRERA, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes. Christine, I have been watching this spin all night. And there were times where it looked like it was going to explode here. That hasn't happened, which is a good thing. You have 90-mile-an-hour wind, which is still a category one. We will get a new advisory at the National Hurricane Center and Chad Myers will have that at the top of the hour for you. But, right now, it is holding at 90, gusts of 115. It's moving north, northwest at 12 miles an hour. Not much as far as hurricane warnings. They are still posted for basically Pensacola, heading down to Cedar Key and the other colors you see are indicative of tropical storm watches and warning. Lesser effects, nonetheless, you're going to get strong winds and heavy rains. But not the catastrophic effects of a category three. So, by 8:00 p.m. tonight, 120-mile-an-hour winds. It will have 120 by three, let's zoom in here a little bit closer, I want to show the track as it begins to have been pulled to the north and northeast. We're thinking Destin, Panama City, you're going to be in the eastern flank of this. If that happens, that means the Gulf of Mexico is coming to you and in that direction is going to be terrible for this area. This area is prone to storm surge here. Look at the forecast, 8 to 12 feet. Imagine that, we're talking about these islands that are flat. I mean, a foot aboveground. The buildings are taller than that. Some will be impacted if we're talking 6 to 9 feet in Panama City. And then, of course, the rain, which is going to be another issue, not just for the Gulf Coast, mind you, but remember, we had Florence here with the incredible amounts of rain for the Carolinas. That is on the way. That will be stage two of the storm. We still have it strengthening on the way to the panhandle as a major hurricane later on Wednesday -- guys.</s>ROMANS: A major hurricane later on Wednesday. Ivan Cabrera watching it live for us, talk to you in 30 minutes. Thank you, sir.</s>JOHNS: President Trump apologizing to new Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh during a ceremonial swearing-in event at the White House. Every sitting member of the Supreme Court was in attendance along with top Republicans. The president painting Kavanaugh as a victim of a political hoax.</s>TRUMP: On behalf of our nation, I want to apologize to Brett and the entire Kavanaugh family for the terrible pain and suffering you have been forced to endure. Those who stepped forward to serve our country deserve a fair and dignified evaluation.</s>JOHNS: The president also falsely claiming the allegations against Kavanaugh have somehow been disproved.</s>TRUMP: Our country, a man or a woman, must always be presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. And with that, I must state that you, sir, under historic scrutiny, were proven innocent.</s>JOHNS: Proven innocent? True to form, the president trying to use a confirmation of Judge Kavanaugh as a campaign asset, attacking Democrats as evil people for what he called their disgraceful treatment of his nomine.</s>TRUMP: A man that did nothing wrong. A man that was caught up in a hoax that was set up by the Democrats, using the Democrats' lawyers. And now, they want to impeach him. I heard this from many people. I think it's an insult to the American public. And I think you're going to see a lot of things happen on November 6th that would not have happened before.</s>ROMANS: In a matter of hours, Brett Kavanaugh takes his seat on the Supreme Court for the very first time. He says the grueling and often ugly confirmation process tested, but did not change him. Insisting he will be an independent and impartial justice from day one.</s>BRETT KAVANAUGH, U.S. SUPREME COURT JUSTICE: The Senate confirmation process was contentious and emotional. That process is over. My focus now is to be the best justice I can be. I take this office with gratitude and no bitterness.</s>ROMANS: Kavanaugh went on to say he hopes to be a force for stability and unity on the Supreme Court.</s>JOHNS: With exactly four weeks to go before the midterms, Republicans are hoping to get a boost from the Kavanaugh confirmation. But a majority of Americans oppose it, questioning his truthfulness and temperament to serve on the Supreme Court. Take a look at this new CNN poll. Fifty-one percent of Americans say Kavanaugh should not have been confirmed. That is up 12 points since last month. And when asked about the sexual assault allegations against Justice Kavanaugh, 52 percent believe the women, while 48 percent believe him. As for President Trump, his approval rating now stands at 41 percent, up five points from September.</s>ROMANS: All right. Turkey's president says it is up to Saudi Arabia to prove its claim that a missing Saudi journalist actually the left the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, the last place he was seen. Jamal Khashoggi is a writer for "The Washington Post", he has been a critic of the government. Turkish officials believe Khashoggi was killed inside the consulate, a claim the Saudis vehemently denies. CNN's Jomana Karadsheh is standing by live in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. What's the latest?</s>JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Christine, we've heard from the Turkish president saying Saudi Arabia can get away by just saying that Jamal Khashoggi left the Saudi consulate. They can't just make the claims without proving that. He is calling on them to release video footage from the security cameras showing him leaving or any other proof that he did that. Now there have been reports, Saudi officials saying that their cameras were not working, they were not recording that day. That, of course, is seen as very unsatisfactory answer by many here in Turkey. They are demanding more. Now, of course, while this trade of accusations is going on, this blame game between Turkey and Saudi Arabia, we know that there is a criminal investigation taking place by Turkish authorities here and the president, Erdogan, is following this personally. They are looking at security footage and looking at who entered the consulate and who left. They are looking at airport departures and arrivals, because they're really interested in a group of 15 Saudis, including officials arriving that same day, they entered the consulate the time that Khashoggi was in there and they left the country on that same day. So, they are looking very closely at that. While this is all going on, there was a lot of hope the United States would push for more answers from Saudi Arabia. We heard President Trump saying he's concerned and he's hoping that this situation will sort itself out while many here were hoping the United States with its relationship with Saudi Arabia will actually sort out the situation -- Christine.</s>ROMANS: Yes, absolutely. We're going to talk about how President Trump weighed in on that. Jomana Karadsheh, thank you so much for that. The president, for the first time, weighing in on the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi.</s>TRUMP: I'm concerned about it. I don't like hearing about it. And hopefully, that will sort itself out. Right now, nobody knows anything about it. But it's a pretty bad stories going around. I do not like it.</s>ROMANS: Vice President Pence also weighed in on the disappearance and alleged murder in a tweet, saying if true, this is a tragic day, calling violence against journalists a threat to freedom of the press and human rights.</s>JOHNS: "The New York Times" reporting overnight that a top official in the Trump campaign asked an Israeli intelligence firm to develop proposals for an online manipulation effort. "The Times" says there is no evidence the Trump campaign acted on any of the proposals from the Psy-Group and a person with knowledge of the discussions told "The Times" that said Rick Gates was not ultimately interested. "The Times" says the Psy Group's owner Joel Zamel did meet with Donald Trump Jr. in August of 2016, but Zamel's lawyer denied Zamel personally pitched the proposals to Trump Jr. or anyone else in the campaign other than outlining the Psy-Group's capabilities in general terms.</s>ROMANS: All right. The glitch that Google didn't want you to know about is finally exposed. Google will shutdown Google Plus, its failed social network. But the timing is interesting. Announcement came after "The Wall Street Journal" reported Google did not publicly disclose a security bug affecting 500,000 users. Google discovered and patched the bug in March but says it did not tell users because it was no evidence the data was exposed. But "The Journal" says Google stayed quiet to avoid scrutiny. Its legal and policy team warned senior execs disclosure could lead to imminent regulatory interests, like what's happening with Facebook. Remember, Facebook's own big data breach was revealed the same month calling for stricter regulation. CEO Mark Zuckerberg's testimony remember before Congress. Google's CEO Sundar Pichai will also head to Capitol Hill this year to testify about possible conservative bias at tech companies, but will likely also be asked about Google's decision to conceal this breach for months. Google Plus launched as a rival to Facebook in 2011, but Google admits it failed to achieve broad consumer or developer adoption.</s>JOHNS: Hmm, fascinating.</s>ROMANS: Yes.</s>JOHNS: All right. Troubling new details about the accident that claimed 20 lives in Upstate New York. What officials say about the limo that crashed.</s>ROMANS: And a daring escape caught on video. Watch two guys get out of jail in garbage cans.