puerto rico in the dark, crippled by hurricane maria. still damaging storm on the

move. alison, do we know, is maria on track to hit the east coast of the u.s.? >> it's not likely to make a direct land fall. that doesn't mean folks along the east coast will have absolutely no impact. let's take a look at where it is right now. winds at 125 miles an hour, up as of the latest advisory. the track in the short term continues to push it up into the atlantic. it's going to encounter much cooler water. hurricanes, tropical storms, they need more warm water for fuel. folks along the east coast will be watching this storm closely. you can see even though a direct landfall does not look likely at this time, it's still close enough that we're likely to have significant impacts. especially from north carolina all the way up to massachusetts, perhaps further than that. that you're talking about 10 days out.

the main issue would be coastal flooding, beach erosion and gusty winds. we've already seen that from the folks who have been dealing with jose over the last few days. >> where are the immediate areas of concern. in the short term, the concerns are to the south, tur turks & caicos. however, it's still producing some outer bands across the area. puerto rico picking up almost 38 inches of rain, lomas picking up two feet of rain. now we're talking about adding another inch or two. it's enough to cause more problems for puerto rico. all of the island is under a flood warning or flash flood warning. this is not a problem in the short term, have you to look at the long term angle of this as well anderson, rivers are going

to take days to crest, and weeks to come back down to normal. even after the floodwaters recede from the streets, you're going to have river flooding be a problem for at least the next three to four weeks. >> incredible, alison, we appreciate that. the full impact of this storm is only now becoming apparent in puerto rico. layla santiago joins us from san juan. what's the latest you're seeing there now? >> reporter: we have spent the day out in areas that are devastated. about 10 miles this way, you will find people trying to get across the road and really, it's not even a road. it's a river from the air, can you see how roofs have been ripped off of homes. you kind of can look into someone's home and see their lives on display, that is the power of hurricane maria. we watch as people walked

across, not roads, but more like rivers with a few bags in their hands. th they just grabbed a few snacks, pillows. in many cases they were carrying pets. as we talked about last night, still one of the big issues is power. 100% of the island not having power right now, only those that can get to generators, also, the first thing people still ask me is, do you have signal. people desperate to find out the condition of loved ones who they can't get to because of flooding many because of debris? and loved ones who can't get out, because of that same reason. the government has announced that fema has critical supplies right now enroute to puerto rico, and that is via ship. anderson. >> what are -- some of the main priorities now that the storm has passed? >> power for the government.

i mean, they have already -- before maria even came here, the government said that they believed that it would take not days, not weeks, but rather months to restore power. remember, this is a power system that lacks maintenance and infrastructure. so power is going to be a big deal. and the communication issue, not just for puerto ricans on this island. for tourists on this island, but also, as i spoke to emergency management officials right now, just trying to work logistics, just trying to get to the poem who need help. even they are dealing with a communication issue. so many factors, debris, floods, roads that you can't use. major roads, interstates, communication, power, it's just a combination of factors that for many puerto ricans on this island tonight, it's a nightmare. >> leyla santiago. >> earlier tonight i spoke to

san juan's mayor, she said the city she knew no longer exists. >> people at home are elderly, they don't have their insulin, they lost their heart medications, they lost their blood pressure medications. and if we don't get to them in ti time, it is those that i cannot get to that really worry me the most. >> san juan's mayor tonight. joining us by phone, carlos ramos. what can you tell us about the extent of the damage to the power grid? >> well, anderson, the whole island has been devastated and so has the electric power system. you know, we have expect it today on two of the transmission lines, and we found over 40 transmission line towers completely crumbled. and on other areas, we found

conductors down. and we still have no communications with two of our power plants. so it's devastating. >> i mention in some areas, there's still flooding, even beginning to work on that is going to be difficult. how long do you foresee taking to get power restored. >> well, you know, we're working on priorities first and foremost. the same level of priorities, we have the hospitals and water system, water treatment plants and pumping stations. we have a plan will shortly bring power to at least the central medical center, which is our largest public facility for medical services and where the federal government and the health aid is going to be operating from. at least that center should have power within the next three days. so -- >> those hospitals, do they have -- i assume they have generators now? >> they do. but those are emergency generators, they need to be

stopped frequently for oil and filter changes. and some of them are somewhat outdated. >> even before the hurricane hit, i know your company was facing serious issues, including, but not limited to needing $4 billion to update outdated power plants. is that fair to say? you were facing big struggles before this? >> well, in preparation, title 3 under the law, which is basically a title -- a bankruptcy scenario, and we were requesting liquidity of close to $1 billion per year, for the next 10 years, in order to update the power generation system. and it's completely outdated. but, you know, this administration with the governor, our plan was to modernize it as quickly as possible, and make it a utility of the future.

but we survived through two major storms, and this one doesn't have any precedence in the last 100 years. >> what do you say to people in puerto rico who are facing months without power? >> our message is, we'll be working as hard as possible. we're getting aide. we're getting manpower from the united states. we hope that we can beat the time line that we have said. in google, the hurricane had us six months without re-establishing total power. as i told you, with the medical centers, some people will get power in the next weeks, and progressive effort. and so people that we will identify people, it will take a long time, we will let them know. so they can take the proper measures. people that will use medical devices that need power, should relocate to family homes and shelters. we will be working as fast as

possible, of course, keeping our people safe. >> you have a big job ahead of you, i appreciate your time tonight, thank you. >> just ahead, the earthquake, the latest from mexico, areas closer to the quakes epicenter. i count on my dell small business advisor for tech advice. with one phone call, i get products that suit my needs and i get back to business. ♪ sfx: t-mobile mnemonic sfx: t-mobile mnemonic sfx: t-mobile mnemonic t-mobile's unlimited now includes netflix on us. that's right, netflix on us. get four unlimited lines for just forty bucks each. taxes and fees included. and now, netflix included. so go ahead, binge on us. another reason why t-mobile is america's best unlimited network.

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the death toll in mexico climbed again today. it's approaching 300. it will most likely climb because people are still unaccounted for or trapped in the rubble. natural disasters not only caused by changing destruction, they also bring chaos and confusion. the chase in point the school in mexico city, a girl believed to still be trapped. that turned out not to be the case. part of the fog of war in these circumstances. in addition, we're just now getting access to areas beyond the capitol, in the state southeast of mexico city, the quake damaged a church killing a girl who was being baptized as well as 11 others. 9700 homes, 100 plus government buildings were damaged in the tremors, elsewhere it's even worse. what's the damage -- where are you and what's the damage like? >> i'm in a town here called

johita. it suffered many casualties in in the earthquake. what you see as you come to this small market town, some buildings like this, a number of adjoining two story homes that all came down in a pile of rubble. most of the buildings are still standing, but there is a great deal of structural damage right now. much of the downtown is blocked off right now. businesses closed and residents have had to move out because one of the big fears they tell me, is after shocks that could bring down homes, buildings, that are already somewhat damaged. we see a large presence of police, army, civil defense as well. they seem to be doing part of the work of trying to protect some of the streets, especially now that darkness has set in, there are some good sides to

this. street lamps are working right now, there's some electricity here. and what's remarkable is in the two days since the destruction and death and the shock of the earthquake. a lot of the roads have been cleaned up. >> i know on your journey there, you encounter a lot of people who were volunteers, who wanted to help? >> that's really something that's incredible about this. and you may be hearing applause, this is from volunteers who are in the area here helping clean up. on our drive from mexico city, we passed convoy after convoy of people driving, passenger vehicles with handwritten signs saying they're bringing assistance. and everywhere you turn in this town and in the surrounding areas, you see volunteers who are distributing everything from medical supplies to food to drinks. a woman came up offering me water just now, there's an

incredible grassroots mobilization, not just in the capit capitol, but it's spread out into the countryside. it's not just ordinary mexicans, it's international as well. i came in on a flight today from tokyo, with japanese disaster relief, with a team of helmeted uniformed police officers. when they arrived at mexico city airport, they were greeted by applause, cheers and tears of gratitude. as everybody comes to try to help mexico in the wake of this deadly natural disaster. >> just in terms of the noise we're herring around you, is that an area where people are being searched for? what is the applause about? is it encouraging searchers or what? >> there are volunteers who are helping clean away some of the rubble. i'm not sure what they were cheering about just now, there's also a great deal of pride i'm hearing from volunteers. i talked to a 15-year-old high school student who had been out

helping clean things up. one of the things the volunteers say they need is basically port-a-potties because the sewage treatment is messed up right now. people who can't be in their homes right now, that's one of the things people say they need on the ground right now. again, i don't think i've ever seen quite such a mobilization on a grassroots level of volunteers as i've seen here in the wake of this natural disaster. >> ivan watson, appreciate that report. just after the earthquake in haiti in 2010, i had the honor of watching fire and rescue. one of the people we talked to on the ground as they worked, was captain jason vasquez, part of his team is now in mexico. he joins me now. thanks so much for being with us. when you see the destruction in mexico, and you see the huge crowds of people working on a site. is it -- is there a challenge with having so many people on one site? is there benefit to having fewer people or is it -- is just more

hands better? >> well, they sent us down to haiti, we had a search team looking for worksites with rescue teams to follow us up. and rescue those victims. we break it up into a search component and a rescue component. as one site is being worked on, we'll have a small team out looking for other worksites for our guys, so we're not wasting any time. >> i was with your team when a woman came up to your team on a street, a mother who said her daughter was trapped and we're showing some of the video from back then. and your team spent -- i mean, just heroic hours combing through that wreckage, putting in sensors, sending the dog in, you believed -- you heard something, people believed -- the dogs seemed to indicate life, and then sadly after many hours, there was no more sign of it. i'm just wondering, in terms of how much does -- is this -- like

technology dependent, having those sensors, the microphones you can put down, those listening devices, cameras and the dogs. >> each one of those components in itself is equal to its worth. listening devices can listen through concrete up to 20 feet. the rescue you're talking about, was actually pretty interesting, that one we had half our team working on that site. we went walking distance probably a city block. the next morning that's when we rescued three victim the. we were still in that fast light mobil stage. we maybe stopped the search around 10:00. then we did some more searching that evening, and our crews went to work that morning. >> that's incredible. how long have you seen someone pulled out of the wreckage still alive after an event like this? i can't remember -- i remember in haiti, there was an elderly woman pulled out more than a week after, what have you seen in your career?

>> i believe the max i've seen is about 10 days. but that's not saying -- somebody can be stuck, just stuck somewhere with food and water, that can extend their life span. also, depending on the condition of the person. are they trapped. the one we were talking about, that lady was pinched and it was close to 7 days, we got her out. >> am i right in saying you create a grid of an area, and each team is responsible for that grid? >> one of our trainings is set -- getting the area in sectorizing it up, a grid. we'll focus a heavy team on each one of those grids, so we're not wasting time. right now, time is our enemy right now. >> captain vasquez, i appreciate you taking time to talk to us. i've never forgotten the hours i spent watching your team, extraordinarily professionals doing their job, and as you said, moving on to save other

lives. thank you for that, thank you for talking to us tonight. >> thank you, sir. have a good night. coming up next, the russian investigation, and major change of face, when it comes to providing possible evidence from facebook. we'll have details when we continue. ♪ ♪ integrate any part of your business, and have your systems work as one. the ibm cloud. the cloud for enterprise. yours.

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a reversal by facebook, the company is saying in a matter of gayes, it's going to give investigators 3,000 ads that were designed to influence the presidential election. mark warner talked about why he believes this is so important? >> at first facebook said, there's no there there, and increasingly, we're seeing paid

advertising, fake accounts. we're seeing efforts to try to drive people to rallies, i wish that facebook would be more transparent and forthcoming. most americans want to know if foreign based paid advertising is coming into our elections. most americans are going to ant to know if fake accounts by foreigners are driving content and we ought to be able to take a look at that content. >> let's talk this over with our panel. should they be giving over -- >> that's -- there's obviously a desire to protect their advertisers, protect people who do business with facebook. >> we've seen this before, we've seen technology companies be caught in a bind. they don't want to be seen as compromising their users. that's been a huge quagmire for facebook in the past. they're sensitive on that side to want to not provide internal information to the government. but then this is a different matter, and this is something

that they haven't had to grapple with before this issue of propaganda. i think we're very much seeing this play out in realtime, as they try to make these calculations and figure out where their values are. >> a russian propaganda used facebook to organized more than a dozen pro trump rallies in florida last year. it's fascinating the degree to which. i don't think five years ago, anyone would have thought that facebook would have such a role in a u.s. election? >> yeah, i mean, some people believe the 2016 election was the facebook election. the number of people who use their news feed to get all of the information for the day is huge. the total spending was $6.8 billion. they've identified $100,000 in facebook ads. proverbial drop in the bucket. it's important to identify it, and do what facebook has said they're going to do. be transparent, crack down on bad actors and work with congress. i wondered about how we should

view facebook today. and i'm thinking about the way we view other telecommunications platforms. if someone were to abuse automated telephone call, we don't get mad at the phone company, we get mad at the bad actors. it's interesting to me, are they a telecommunications platform or a news organization. >> what do you think it means for the investigation? if facebook is handing over -- how important do you think it could be or not important. >> i want to make one point of clarification. $100,000 versus the 6.0 billion. buying ads on facebook are incredibly cheap, compared to buying television spots. it sounds like it was nothing. but that isn't nothing. >> $100,000 out of 6 billion is still a small amount.

>> you're minimizing. >> they're more targeted to an audience than an ad running -- >> i think that's a little trump spin to keep things down, and that's all we know of it. look, i think there's an interesting parallel in this to me, if you look back a couple years ago, when really the issue of online bullying and online sexual predators started to get more attention, maybe eight years ago or so. and facebook and the other platforms said, there's nothing we can do. we have to be hands off, all we can do is help train parents. that perspective evolved, and they knew they had to -- had a responsibility. i think we're seeing this here too, they're saying they have a responsibility. but -- and i think we'll continue to see that evolution from social media. from an investigative perspective, the sense that this was going to be a narrow focus on just one aspect relating to

russia, that sean spicer and others called fake news, that's blown out of the water, we're now bringing facebook into it. they're part of the investigation. >> if you believe this is going to happen again in the next round and the next round, it's only going to increase with sites like facebook and others. >> they built this gigantic machine, and it's eye little ironic, but perfectly appropriate that it's now through that social network they're being called to account. >> people understand that $100,000 is pretargeted and can do all kinds of fancy stuff is an enormous amount of money, if it was a radio station, if it was a television station, that was like -- pumping out stuff to hundreds of thousands if not millions of people, with targeted messages, we would all be pretty clear there was something seriously going on. a violation of the laws that problem hit foreign interfere e

interference. they are taking zuckerberg on this tour, as if he's going to be a national candidate, and they still might be. you can't get that deep into politics and then say, we're just the phone company. >> facebook is really facing the unintended consequences of having two billion users, from a business perspective, everyone was in awe with how this company grew. i was surprised, that as soon as people started questioning facebook's role. we had absolutely no involvement in this election at all, all we are is a social networking site. the fact that they're complying right now, it could be a catchup on zuckerberg's -- >> i recently saw this piece on 60 minutes about brain hacking and how companies target people. the people that said to me, a guy that works in this. we think we're the customers of facebook, we're not the customers of facebook, coca kwoel la and the advertisers, they're the ones that are paying -- nobody's paying for

facebook. >> publicishers are the customers of facebook. the vast majority of our traffic comes from facebook. that's where so many people get their news. we're at the mercy of this sort of opaque machine that controls what people get to see. they tweak the algorithm and it changes the economics of the news business. they've always wanted to have that power without the responsibility. >> we'll have more from the panel. including a possible new catch of documents from sean spicer. details on that next. just like the people

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there's no reporting about a trove of information and evidence from inside the west wing. sean spicer kept detailed notes of every meeting at the white house, the campaign and his time at the rnc. when asked about that on "good morning america" today, sean spicer did this. >> let's talk about the russia issue. has the mueller team reached out to you. >> i'm not going to discuss that issue at all. >> have you hired a lawyer? >> i'm not going to discuss that issue at all? >> so you haven't been subpoenaed? >> i'm not going to discuss that issue at all. >> did you ever hear inside the white house that mueller should b fired? >> i'm not going to discuss that issue at all. >> vice president pence was also asked about the issue this morning? >> i've made clear that during

my time on the campaign, i was not aware of any contacts or any collusion with russian officials. i stand by that. >> during his time on the campaign, not aware of, that's not a wholehearted denial. i want to bring back in the panel. the idea that sean spicer was keeping these detailed notes makes sense. does it make sense? >> you shouldn't write everything down. that's inadvisable. >> if you're in the white house or you're about to go to work there. >> this is what happens you write everything down and an investigation starts. this is how these things unravel. i was disturbed when i heard that today. the advice you would get from probably lawyers and others who had been around before is don't do that. >> the reason to write everything down, if you don't trust the people around you, and you want to protect yourself. think about why james comey was writing everything down. if he was accused of something,

or might forget something that he felt weird about, he thought wassicy, he could point to notes from that time. i'm not saying that's what happened here, that would be one reason other than writing a memoir. >> this could have been his m.o. he was a meticulous note taker it may not be specifically trump related. it is something that every single person that knew him seemed to be aware of. >> people will wish they were nicer to sean, he was in a lot of meetings. >> you do get to settle some scores. the grand daddy of all of these situations is richard nixon. who sets up a wiretapping system, so his advisers and generals could not later say the president didn't follow my advice on vietnam. he invents the machine that is the engine of his destruction.

you've got to really be careful with this stuff, if you want to settle scores, fight with people, make sure that everybody knows you're right. if you want to maybe protect yourself legally, it creates a much better problem than you might realize. >> we asked jeff toobin whether spicer's notes would be covered under executive privilege. he said the key issue would be whether the information is central to the functioning of the executive branch against the competing need from law enforcement or congress. >> i think it would be very unlikely, this would end up getting covered by -- >> i have never worked in the white house, my thought was like, everybody must be taking extensive notes. >> no, i don't think that's the case. >> somebody everybody does do though is e-mail. in addition to writing everything down, people tend to e-mail everything back and forth to each other.

there's a whole separate record that will have to get sorted out. i was stunned when i heard there was a line by line diary. >> when you're working -- >> do people e-mail each other in a casual way? can you believe that meet something. >> yes. >> or do people have a sense -- this is best talked about over coffee at the starbucks down the block? >> yes, people e-mail each other casually. i was interviewed for some investigations and all the casual banter gets brought up, because you might be having casual banter and three e-mails later, by the way, i forgot, i wefrn the to this policy meeting, now all of that is in the matrix, and so i would think in this day and age, given everything we know about how no e-mail is ever private, people would be doing that less. i'm stunned by e-mails i get from people thinking, why did you put that in an e-mail. it's better to be discrete and

less is more. >>. >> the thing about the spicer interview. the phrase he used over and over and over. that is the way somebody who is under investigation and has lawyered up. answers questions. >> you can't say he's under investigation. >> you can't say -- >> just a wise way to answer. there's no doubt he's probably a witness, you can't say. >> i said those questions were answered in the way somebody who has lawyered up would answer them. a way that somebody who is either under investigation or part of an investigation and has lawyered up answers questions. >> if there are -- you know there are investigations going on, whether you're going to be called in or whether you have been called in or the focus of it.

it's probably just better to say, i'm not going to reresponded to that at all. >> or maybe not to give interviews at all. >> clearly he's looking for a gig, you know. >> everyone should agree to go on television. i don't know why you take that call. >> it underscores the fact that mueller's not conducting some sort of broad hypothetical academic inquiry, he's looking for evidence of crimes, looking to find if there's somebody that can be put in handcuffs. everybody is lawyering up for that reason. >> there's hammering upstairs, i'm not going to raise my voice about it. everyone stick around. the latest on senate republicans effortses to repeal and replace obama care. what one gop senator is saying about the political realities when we come back. t-mobile's unlimited now includes netflix on us. that's right, netflix on us.

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senate republican leaders are in the final days of their latest push for the critical care act. the bill is being pushed through too quickly without hearings and committee input. the legislation is also under fire, at least on the gop. one gop senator seems less

concerned about that, here's what chuck grassley told iowa reporters. i can give you 10 reasons why this bill shouldn't be considered. but republicans campaigned on this so often you have a responsibility to carry out what you said in the campaign. i want to bring back in the panel. were you surprised to hear grassley saying that? >> at this point no. most people know how popular this bill is. the question is, do they make a short term decision now that could end up biting them in midterms and years to come? you're going to see a lot of their constituents actually suffer if we're to believe these numbers that we're starting to see. we don't have a cbo score yet. >> is this about politics or policy? >> i think the politics are important here. the senators went home in august and got an earful about why they failed to keep their campaign promises. i think keeping campaign promises is important.

i think one of the most compelling arguments is the concept of federalism. returning power and money to state governments. putting health care decisions closer to the patients. i read a fascinating article by a guy named bernie belvedere. state governments can't print money. if you're a fiscal conservative and you want fiscal restraint in our national health care system. the government can print money to make up shortfalls. the argument was, fiscal conservatives ought to get behind this bill. i'm a proponent of keeping promises i think politics is important. >> you know, republicans made this repeal and replace promise, right? there were other promises made. by candidate trump and president-elect trump he promised there will be no elimination or reduction of coverage for pre-existing

conditions. so i don't -- what the senator said was, although not surprising, terrible. a clear example of why americans hate congress. if you're going to go with that theory, why does that one matter? repeal and replace, and pre-existing conditions out of the president's own mouth, why doesn't that count we heard that the legislation does not mandate it. and to track with your state's argument, which i don't over all agree with the legislation that will give states the power to wave out of any pre-existing conditions in the bill. basic health essentials is a broad definition that we don't know the full purview of. >> it gives them the power to keep it. i'm glad you brought up the concept of promises. the law we're talking about

repealing was also sold on promises. keep your doctor if you want to. your premiums are going down by $2500. it was sold on a millar of lies. promises are important, i agree with you. the law we have right now was sold on a bunch of broken promises. >> if you don't like obama care, that's a debate. we're debating what it needs to be replaced with. pre-existing conditions are critical in getting people health care in america. >> i don't disagree with you. i think this, whatever. i'm not even going to go there. you know what? if you have cancer and you have cancer and you need health care, i don't think you care at all whether a senator wrote the bill, a state senator, a city council member. what you want to know is that you have coverage. if your child has leukemia, you want to know when you put him down in his bed that when he wakes up and it's, you know, the

next day or next week after september 30th that he can get the same coverage he could have got two months ago. that and this bill, by your own admission, does not rock solid mandate that. >> under this if a state does decide to waive it or a state decides to not have that -- they can charge as much as they want to cover pre-existing condition, is that okay? because it's a state's decision. >> well, the state needs to design the healthcare system that works best for that population. i think these states are drastically different and we've seen that in some of the medicaid spending levels. you brought up the concept does politics matter here, yes. when you can run into your state representative at the grocery store when you can run into the people that make these decisions, i think politics will probably do what you want at the state level, which is keep a lot of these protections because you can actually get to the people making the decision. you can't get to any federal -- >> but when you get to them what do you say to a state that

flamboyantel rejected medicaid expansion. we don't want it, we don't need the federal government. keep your dollars. you're going to bust all of our taxes wide open. and then a couple years later say you know what? take from the states that did the expand. now we'll gleefully accept the money. that's also a broken promise and it doesn't look like a very good way to sort of handle an issue that states already made their decision. >> and let's be clear. we're talking about putting very sick americans in a place with no coverage, and that, quite frankly, is a disgrace. >> we've got to leave it there. coming up, sean spicer gets asked whether he lied to the american people. the ridiculous is next. ♪ ♪ keep your insights from prying eyes, so they won't be used by anyone but you. the ibm cloud. the cloud for enterprise. yours.

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much like a prayerry dog in the grass lands sean spicer popped up again today. >> have you ever lied to the american people? >> i don't think so. >> you don't think so? >> nope. i don't cheat on my taxes. >> unequivocally you can say no? >> look, again, if you want -- i have not knowingly done anything to do that, no. >> all right. you can take the man from the podium, bt you can't take the podium from the man. he was asked have you ever lied to the american people. that, my friends is kind of a yes-or-no question. his answer, his third answer, by the way after i don't think so and i don't cheat on my taxes was i have not done anything knowingly to do that. that answer is to washington, d.c. it should have its own reflecting pool just a nice calm place where you can sit down with your word salad and think about what you've done. did sean spicer lie to the american people? yeah, he did. he lied about the trump tower meeting being about adoption. remember the president's claim about 3 to 5 million people voting illegally. not true but sean spicer said it

was. he lied about the president getting the most electoral votes of any republican since reagan. and the list goes on and on. i'm kind of sentimental so i have a soft spot for the fist time. you never really do forget the first time. i remember it was right after the inauguration when spicer spoke about president obama's and president trump's inauguration crowd and said you shouldn't believe sources like yeah eyeballs or your brain. >> this was the first time in our nation's history that floor coverings have been used to protect the grass in the mall. that had the effect of highlighting any areas where people much want standing. this was also the first time that fencing and mag that tom ters went as far back on the wall preventing hundreds of thousands of people from being able to access the mall as quickly as they had in gnawing ragsz past. no one had numbers. these attempts to lesson the enthusiasm of the inauguration are shameful and wrong. this was the left armest audience to witness an

inauguration, period of time, both in person and around the globe. >> that's not mels ka mccarthy. that actually was sean spicer actually at the podium in the white house. that was his first time at the podium and it's clear he got his mring orders from on that one but he sure did commit to it, didn't he? if that wasn't pushing a line in an obvious that was almost coimmediateic, then why did this happen at the emmy's? >> this will be the largest audience to witness an emmy's, period. both in person and around the world. >> see, he's making a joke of the fact that he lied. i guess the idea is if you let some time pass, lies become funny. oh, by the way, the morning after the emmy's spicer told "the new york times" that he of course absolutely regrets criticizing accurate news reports that bum's inauguration was bigger than trump's? but was he telling the truth? maybe that was a lie too because two months ago on sean hannity's show said this. >> i no regrets. i can't think the president

enough for this unbelievable honor. >> okay. so he didn't have any regrets in july when he was talking to sean hannity, but with "the new york times" he did have a regret. the good news he doesn't have to lie for a living any more. now he just seems to be doing it recreationally. time to hand things over to don lemon. cnn tonight starts now. breaking news on major stories around the world. this is cnn tonight. i'm don lemon. thanks for joining us. hurricane maria is not finished with puerto rico yet. inundated by rains that are described as harvey like. president trump planning to visit the island and saying this today. >> puerto rico was absolutely h obliterated. they've never seen winds like this anywhere. >> the president trump's approval rating inching back up to 40% helped by his