chris cuomo is off tonight. welcome to a special hour of "360." tonight the ceremonial swearing-in. of president trump's second supreme court pick brett kavanaugh at the white house. the conciliatory tone he took and some combative words from the president. here's justice kavanaugh. >> 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. >> justice kavanaugh striking a far different tone than before

the judiciary committee. here is the president revisiting the battle. >> i want to apologize to brett and the entire family for the terrible pain and suffering you have been forced to endure. those who step forward to serve our country deserve a fair and dignified evaluation, not a campaign of political and personal destruction based on lies and deception. what happened to the kavanaugh family violates every notion of fairness, decency and due process. 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. >> now, whatever you think of the merits of this, whatever you think of the president's pick, it was quite a night at the white house. our jim acosta joins us with more. the president certainly taking a victory lap tonight for getting his nomination through. >> he was taking a victory lap. from a conservative standpoint, you would have to stay it was well earned. i mean, the senate majority leader, mitch mcconnell received two standing ovations, set the table for this president to tilt the balance of the supreme court to the right. that is what happened with putting brett kavanaugh on the supreme court. i will say, anderson, it was interesting what the president said to brett kavanaugh, that he was proven innocent. we just have to fact check that. there was no rending from a court of any kind that said brett kavanaugh was proven innocent of any of the

allegations. there was an fbi expanded background check that according to some senators, found no corroborating evidence. he wall street also playing fast as usual with the facts. >> you were in the east room. what was it like with the eight other jurisdictions there? >> i never thought i would hear donald trump introduce ruth bader ginsburg to an audience in my life. that happened tonight. you don't often see all justices gathered in one room. but i think what you saw here tonight was really history being made. remember barack obama got two justice in eight years in office. he blocked by mitch mcconnell in terms of getting merrick garland get put on the supreme court. that's breaking a lot of land speed reports, the likes of which we haven't seen in a very long time.

and what it achieved is what a -- i saw a lot of christian conservatives, a lot of people from conservative activist groups who have been wanting and waiting fors this day for a long time, anderson. these folks have said for years now that they were willing to accept a lot of president trump's very big flaws in order to achieve this objective. that's moving the supreme court in a conservative direction. that's exactly what happened tonight. >> the president has a lot of campaign rallies between now and the midterm elections. do you expect he will continue to mention the kavanaugh confirmation battle? i can't imagine him not. >> exactly. anderson, i've talked to a number of republican sources who believe that this is perhaps the most motivating factor for conservatives to get out in the mid-term elections. this has gotten the conservative base that put president trump into office pretty excited. i think that what you saw president trump doing today, talking about how brett kavanaugh had gone up against the forces of what he called,

quote, evil and the democrats had perpetuated this hoax, according to the president, getting the justice on the supreme court, trying to keep this battle going. my sense of it, anderson, you will see more rallies this week, one in pennsylvania, one in ohio, one in kentucky. i would be very surprised if he doesn't mention this fight from here on forward. reaction on what the president said tonight and also what the might do next if it takes control of the body. i spoke with california congressman ted lieu tonight. i would like your comments. i think the comments are certainty not true. in fact the fbi did an investigation that was incomplete. i've never seen a background or law enforcement investigation that did not but view the accusers, and if the democrats flip the house, the judiciary committee will interview the

witnesses that the fbi was not allowed to do. >> you're saying -- are you calling for impeachment proceedings? >> no, i'm calling for an investigation that is complete, meaning we need to interview the accusers and the accused and need to do an investigation that the fbi was not allowed to do. that's something the house judiciary committee can do. we have oversight over judicial misconduct allegations. >> what would the goal of that be? there's plenty of people that say, look, isn't this done, the process is over, he's on the supreme court, why go back now and revisit it if in fact the democrats take the house? >> because anytime you have credible allegations of sexual assault that are not properly investigated, then the house judiciary committee should investigate those claims. and again the fbi did not interview these accusers. and i think someone needs to do

that. i respect the senators but senators are not trained to do these interviews the way that house judiciary staff would or other law enforcement could. >> back on january 26, i'm quoting, you tweeted based on numerous allegations of sexual assault on brett kavanaugh and these allegations by julia swetnick, the house judiciary committee must immediately start an investigation into judge kavanaugh to see if he should be impeached. do you still believe the possibility of impeachment should be there? >> it would depend on what the evidence shows. we should look at this vision a and abide by the central principle of any investigation. the white house put restrictions on who they could interview, what documents they could see. and again, if we have the opportunity do so, we should subpoena the relevant documents and interview the relevant witnesses that the fbi was not allowed to do.

>> for all the talk the damage of this confirmation process did to the capri, what are you and other democrats calling for further investigations and impeachment of a supreme court justice into the conversation do? how does that help unite the country? >> this is not impeachment. this is calling for an adequate investigation, something that most people would agree that the fbi was not allowed to do. so at a minimum we need to do a complete investigation and then see where the evidence takes us. also there have been numerous complaints filed to the d.c. circuit court of appeals. they have referred those to the supreme court. those allegations separate from sexual assault, they deal with perjury by brett kavanaugh. those should also be investigated. >> but you have -- i mean, in that tweet you raised the idea of impeachment. obviously that would be the end result of whatever further investigation found. does that set -- i mean, do you risk kind of setting the country back? there are plenty of people i'm

sure who think, you know what, this is done, it's time to move on. >> at a minimum sexual assault victims have a right to be heard. we deserve to give them that right. they need to have the ability to have a complete investigation. we cannot move on until an adequate investigation was completed. this was a whitewash by the white house and fbi, and if people want an adequate investigation they need to help us flip the house so that we can do that. >> congressman lieu, i appreciate your time. thank you. more perspective tonight and what comes after tonight, cnn chief legal analyst jeffrey toobin who's written expensively on the court. jeff, i'm wondering did anything you hear from the white house ceremony tonight surprise you? >> not really. i actually think it was good to see justice kavanaugh pretty much take the high road. he praised a lot of republicans along the way, but he did say the confirmation hearing is over and he doesn't have any

bitterness. he sure seemed bitter during the confirmation hearing, during his testimony. but there is at least the statement on the record he's ready to move on. >> it does stand in contrast he was vetted and picked by straur staunchly conservative legal groups. >> president trump's speech was so partisan it had a us versus them feel to it, and sort of scorned those who opposed him. so that wasn't helpful. and then when you go back to may of 2016 when president trump was campaigning and he first put out a list of people who he would choose for the court, a carefully vetted list, brett

kavanaugh didn't end up on that list until november of 2017. but it was precisely because people from the federalist society and other conservative advocates felt he would be a good appointee from their point of view. and he was -- he was standing there in the east room only because president trump trusts him to be loyal to him. now, you know, that's from president trump's point of view. we'll have to see how brett kavanaugh handles that. but he did try to say he would be a justice for everyone. and finally to your point about, you know, the vetting and perhaps someone who would definitely reverse roe v. wade, during the hearings, anderson, senator bloomenthal said, did you get on that list, were you chosen specifically because a month before you ended up on the list you had written an opinion that was quite intagonistic to abortion rights. and brett kavanaugh reresponded

he especially got on the list because people he knew knew people in the white house. and he was an insider. >> jeff, the other justices were all there. you've written expensively about the inner workings of the court. how does it work? the judge stressed he's one of a team of nine. he's a team player. is that how it is? i mean -- >> you know, they are ecquistalecqui ecquisitely polite to each other. they are hostile in print. they write scathing dissents of each other. he really believed good fences made good neighbors, and he did not encourage a lot of interaction among the justice, and they're sometimes described as nine separate law firms, which i i think is a pretty accurate description. they're very correct, very

polite with each other. there are not a lot of close friendships on that court. but i think even though i think some of the justices privately may have been appalled by the hearings, he's going to be equal and have exactly the same voice -- >> but ruth bader ginsberg, didn't she have a relationship with justice scalia? >> this is in my opinion the most overhyped friendship. you would think from the discussions they were like armed around the neck buddies. joan, am i wrong about that? >> actually, you're right, jeff. they were very close and they did travel together and they did plenty of things together, but it has been hyped so much just to say look they can be pals. i can tell you right now brett kavanaugh will not be going to the opera with ruth bader ginsberg. >> i doubt that as well. and they're very aware of the political differences.

and, you know, they know that this is going to be a different court going forward. justice kennedy was the center of this court in a way that no one in my lifetime -- the power he exercised was so enormous on abortion, on affirmative action, on campaign finance, marriage equality, all the gay rights cases were written by justice kennedy. he's gone, and he has been replaced by someone who was selected by the federalist society because he disagreed with justice kennedy on all those issues. it's going to be a very different court. >> and you think you're going to see that very quickly. >> it depends on at the moment the cases in the pipeline are not super earth shaking, but it never takes long for these cases to come up. and in a lot of these states, the more conservative states, they know who's on the court now. they're going to pass abortion laws that are going to force the justices to reevaluate roe v.

wade, even if they prefer to kick that can down the road. >> it's interesting, joan, because senator collins made a big point saying that justice kavanaugh had said to her he believes in precedent, not just as, you know, kind of a tradition, but as rooted in the constitution. jeff has raised, you know, some doubts about that as, you know, lots of people say that. and yet they overturn precedent all the time. >> you know, that's exactly right, anderson. i remember when susan collins first came out from her very first meeting with then judge kavanaugh is said he said it's settled precedent. and that doesn't get you very far. supreme court is always overturning precedent. they say they don't like to, but many times they say they will. and again, we've got a couple of things going on here. we have a president who was avowed to appoint justices who will reverse roe v. wade. he wants the matter sent back to

the state. that's for starters. this has been a decades long crusade for many in the republican party that worked very hard to put people on the bench who would reverse the 1973 landmark that gave women the right to end unwanted pregnancies. so in this court all it takes is five justices who want to overturn roe. that's all it would take, and they have to look at a very old precedent, and they would disrupt the country both legally and politically, frankly. i think that could be a hedge on the whole thing. but there's nothing that would step a brett kavanaugh from voting against it once he's a justice, which he is now. >> but just this spring they overturned a labor law precedent that's almost exactly as old as roe v. wade. 1978 case. they completely overruled it because the conservatives did want like it. they could do it to roe v. wade when they get the right case.

>> jeff toobin, thanks very much. coming up next a question, will a red state democrat may a political price for voting no on brett kavanaugh? a look at the one who's perhaps in the most tight race, heidi heitkamp. a how investigators are hoping to get closer to the truth of exactly what happened ahead. when you rent from national... it's kind of like playing your own version of best ball. because here, you can choose any car in the aisle, even if it's a better car class than the one you reserved. so no matter what, you're guaranteed to have a perfect drive. [laughter] (vo) go national. go like a pro. see what i did there? sharper vision, without limits. days that go from sun up to sun down.

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nomination process. he also slammed his opponents, for a campaign of personal destruction. and also thanked a number of senator for their efforts, but he singled out susan collins from maine and now she's facing a backlash. she's not up for reelection. senator heidi heitkamp is up for reelection this year. and joe martialing of west virginia, she did not vote yes. she voted now. more on that from cnn as dana bash. >> heidi heitkamp have been fund walking in a classic north dakota parade. >> hi there. >> reporter: her smile marvs her political reality. he is the most endangered senate democrat, and knows voting against brett kavanaugh probably didn't help. >> it's been a tough week for because, you know, the political rhetoric is you can't vote that way if you expect to come back.

i tell people, they raised me to vote the right way. >> reporter: reminders that president trump carried this state by 36 points. >> i don't know we're ever going to get over that. >> reporter: so you're obviously a north dakota voter, udisappointed with her vote against kavanaugh? >> yes. >> reporter: her republican challenger, kevin cramer well ahead in the polls was shocked. >> i fully expected her to vote yes. >> reporter: why? >> she had been building her entire brand as the bipartisan senator from a north dakota. >> reporter: she voted for neil gorsuch and planned to do the same for kavanaugh. i had the office preparing a statement saying i was going to vote him up until that hearing. >> reporter: that changed everything? >> she didn't believe him and

worried about the temp rabl especially after watching a second time with the sound off. >> we commune indication not only with words, but with body language. >> reporter: what did you see? >> i saw somebody very angry, very nervous, and i saw rage. >> reporter: cramer is appealing to voters who see all this as victimation run amok. >> politics of personal destruction. >> as -- with this broad stroke being just accepted is offensive to a lot of the women in my family. >> you should be so grateful that your mom's never been victimized and your wife has never been victimized, but people in my life have, including my mother. to suggest she's not strong because she's a victim was like a trigger for me. >> reporter: heitkamp is trying to focus elsewhere. >> this is high tech, and it's also really expensive.

hurting farmers. he says chinas the soybean tariffs, retaliation, already cost him $100,000. >> how is it going to work out? i haven't heard a plan yet. >> reporter: cramer says he opposed the strategy -- and lost. >> once the president sets a global strategy. >> i think it's better if we go ahead behind him, unify and win a trade war fast rather than undermine the entire process. >> reporter: six years ago heitkamp won by a single point. this year, the shrinking middle need more gridlock. >> if someone like me can't get reelected, what does that speak to others who want to be moderate? did it encourage to go to the base. i think that's a real concern. >> reporter: for now she's determined to be herself. when a band plays, she grabbing the mike ♪ you are my sunshine ♪ my only sunshine

dana bash joins us now. the race does have larger implications for power in the senate. >> reporter: in a big way. as we've been talking about throughout this whole kavanaugh process, the republican majority is razor-thin, just 51, which is putting some democrats in a position where they're saying, well, maybe you can be aggressive in the house, could be aggressive in the senate as well. the senate is a very different situation, because a lot of the tough races are on republican ground. this is one of them. this one in particular i anderson, democrats who are looking at the larger map say it will be very difficult to take the senate back for them if heidi heitkamp doesn't win reelection. she knows the calculus, but she's plugging along. doing the best she can. she was behind the pools six years ago and she eked it out.

she's going to try today the same in four weeks. >> >> one of the many races to watch. perspective from dun journalist sally quinn is a "the washington post" contributor founding editor of the decision forum on faith. she was married to ben bradley for many years. what we did not know until realy she too is a survivor. she writes about her experience in "finding magic." a spiritual memoir. she joins us now. thanks so much for being with us. i wonder what your response is to the president's comments, saying kavanaugh has been proven innocent, what happened was a campaign of political and personal destruction based on lies and deception. >> those were two words that stuck out to me, lies and deception u. because rhoers he doesn't know whether they were lies or deception. he's just made that up. the other thing that stuck out is when he said he's been proven innocent, which of course he has not been proven innocent. kavanaugh tonight was the choirboy and not the frat boy we

had seen during the hearings, but i mean what the president said basically implied that christine blasey ford was a liar and that she had made it up, and this was a hit job, and this is what kavanaugh also said, a hit job by the democrats, revenge for the clintons, and anger at trump being elected. it just had such a partisan overtone. when kavanaugh was trying to make nice tonight and trying to sort of rehabilitate himself, the president was just going full out against christine blasey ford and against any woman who might come forward. and say she had been sexually assaulted. >> in your memoir, you talk about an experience, where you a sitting senator. tried to sexually assault you you in the backs of a taxi. you didn't come forward when the

senator was nominated as senior secretary of defense. can you explain what happened. and what your thinking of it was then and now. >> john tower was conserve difficult, a friend of my farther and senator barry goldwater, who was my father's closest friend. i was a theater major and a political science major at smith college. he was talking to me about being a political -- politics measure and wanted me to come up to the hill and have lunch. lunch suddenly became dinner, because he was caught up in important meetings. so i felt creepy about having dinner, but i didn't want to say no, because i didn't want to imply he had ulterior motives. we went to dinner. i realized what was going on, i tried to get out and get a cab. he dragged me over to a nightclub and ordered brandy, and wouldn't let go. i finally ran away, got out and cab, and he came out and jump in

the cab and jumped on do that of me, and basically tried to assault me. the poor driver was desperate and i was pounding, senator, stop. i was living in ft. mier, virginia where my father was stationed. he was a general in the army. the cab driver was going 90 miles per hour. he realized what was happening in the back of the q. and sort of screeched to a halt in front of our quarters, and i think then tower got scared, because he thought maybe the general would come out with a shotgun or mps, but i went in the house that night. i cried all night long. i was absolutely traumatized, i i never told my parents or barry until much later, because i was so ashamed and so guilty, and i kept thinking, you know, this must be my fault, because why did i go to dinner with him? why did i go to the nightclub? why did i -- i must have done something to lead him on. i felt that it was my fault.

i've told very few people, but the word got out in a small group, and when tower, after he had retired from the senate was nominated by george h.w. bush to be secretary of defense, one day the two fbi agents showed up at my house. i was married to ben bradley then. they said -- we're vetting tower, we've heard your story about his sexual assault attempt, and we'd like to talk to you about it. i said, no way, and they said this is going to be totally confidential. i said, are you kidding in where do you think "the washington post" get their stories in from guys like you. i wouldn't talk to them. this was before anita hill. so they left. the great heroine of this story was nancy kassebaum, the only republican who voted no, and he was defeated.

so for that reason he was defeated because of this -- she had heard my story and there were other stories, too. but when i think about it, i thought i'm so glad i didn't do it. i could have been anita hill, and her life has been completely ruined, destroyed. she's always going to be the person who was in that hearing having to talk about these disgusting things. >> so do you still feel that way? some might hear it and say it might wort it and if survivors don't come forward, perpetrators will never be held accountable. >> this is obviously most survivors of sexual assault don't end up in a senate hearing in front of the millions of people all over the globe having to go into gory details without some kind of a backup. she didn't get herself into this any more than anita hill did. anita hill was subpoenaed. christine blasey ford's name

came out against her will. she didn't want to be there. she did it because she said it was her civic duty. what i think is if i had been anita hill and i had known better, i wouldn't have done it. if i had been christine blasey ford, she didn't expect it to go public, but i would not have done it. even though it's civic duty. look at her. today i read a story she can't live in her own house. she has so many death threats. she's scared for herself, her life, her children, her family. her entire life has been disrupted, and she's always going to be known as this woman who accused brett kavanaugh of sexual assault and couldn't prove it. and, of course, the fbi investigation was a complete sham, because they didn't even interview her or bret kavanaugh or 40 other people who came forward. and so the question is, was it worth it? he got confirmed, and she has to

go back to her life that will never be the same again. >> i appreciate your time and writing about your experience. thank you. we have more breaking news, a scoop from "new york times" which is reporting that aides to make fake online identities to manipulate people on social media. he the the details are next. obvious and hotels.com rewards me basically everywhere i stay. so why am i stomping grapes with aerobics enthusiasts near this b&b? or doing goat yoga at this mountain resort? or treating a destination wedding to the sweet sound of pug bongos? because hotels.com lets me do me. where my dogs at? oh, here they are. hotels.com. you do you and get rewarded. take it away henry.

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the top trump campaign official reportedly was looking into getting help from an israeli intelligence company to create fake i.d.s and gather intelligence to help defeat opponents. this is new reporting are "new york times" which reports that rick gates asked for roles back in 2016 from in company. mark misseti is one of the bylines. can you walk us there you the reporting of what gates was trying to do? >> this is the spring of 2016 right's donald trump was emerging, and the big concern at the time was the convention, this idea there could be a revolt at the question, where delegates didn't go for for trump, but ted cruz. at this time rick gates has a meeting in washington with a guy named george birnbaum, that presents the idea this israeli

company can do all sorts of media manipulation. in order to help the campaign. create fake identities. they can create fake identities, botts. avatars to influence the delegates, so they don't do this defection towards cruz. gates appears interested in the proposal, and he haus birnbaum to draw up multiple proposals, not only on the convention strategy, but also to gather intelligence about hillary clinton and her closest aides, because they were already worried at that time about the general election. >> so the campaign never accepted the firm's proelds -- proposal. according to your reporting. is there anything illegal? >> there was a legal review done by the company. it's -- in this sort of gray area of what exactly in an election is legal and illegal, we don't know the results of the legal review. certainly we know that there is -- there are regulations

about extensive foreign help to a campaign by foreign citizens. that would have been one of the things that covington would have looked at about the legality. certainly it seems in that area of question, which is, as we know, kind of at the heart of what robert mueller, the special counsel, is looking at, which is what did the trump campaign know about what russia was doing in a very similar effort? stepping back a second, it's interesting to see what this israeli firm is proposing was similar to what the russians ended up doing for the campaign. >> but as far as we know there's no connection with this proposal to russia? >> not that we know of. >> obviously gates is cooperating with mueller, so robert mueller has all this information and more? >> we reported that mueller has the proposals that we wrote about in the story, and has not only we presume questioned gates about them, but also his

investigators in the fbi have gone to israel and interviewed numerous employ weiss with a firm called cy-group. the firm no longer exists. this that be an information gathering effort by the mueller team to get to the bottom of this. to see where it goes. >> another hint of where the mueller investigation may go. mark, thanks so much. >> thanks, anderson. up, we have new details about the horrific limousine crash. that killed 20 people in new york. new york's governor says the vehicle shouldn't have been on the road and the driver shouldn't have been driving it. the latest on that is next. this is actually under your budget. it's great. mm-hmm. yeah, and when you move in, geico could help you save on renters' insurance! man 1: (behind wall) yep, geico helped me with renters insurance, too! um... the walls seem a bit thin... man 2: (behind wall) they are! and craig practices the accordion every night! says the guy who sings karaoke by himself. i'm a very shy singer. you're tone deaf! ehh... should we move on to the next one? it's a great building! you'll love it here!

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well, the equivalent of the black box has been found in the investigation of that horrible limo crash that killed 20 people over the weekend. it could be one piece of the puzzle for investigators. in a tragedy that shouldn't have happened at all. athena jones has more. >> reporter: it was supposed to be a day of celebration. 17 passengers in the modified limousine gathered to celebrate a birthday. they were all killed, along with the driver and two people standing nearby. >> this was a tragic accident, the worst i have seen in my 44 years in law enforcement. >> reporter: the accident happened in upstate new york just before 2:00 p.m. saturday when the limousine came down state route 30 and blew past a stop sign, crossing the intersection and hitting a parked suv before ending up on

its side. >> i heard a loud bang, then i heard screaming. i could walk up and see this large van, very unusual-looking vehicle for out here in schoharie in the bushes, really wrecked, hit a tree. >> reporter: among those killed a newlywed couple. married four months ago. also part of the group, four sisters lost in an instant. they were on their way to a brewery to celebrate a 30th birthday. carina halse remembers her sister. >> she is was the most beautiful soul. i'm so grateful she was my sister out of everyone else. i will always have her in my heart. >> reporter: investigators from the ntsb and the state police are working to determine what caused the crash. >> we are here to investigate this particular crash, to understand the facts, circumstances and conditions

surrounding this crash. however, we can't prevent this accident from happening. this one has already happened, so our larger goal is to see if in fact this is a more widespread issue. >> reporter: state police say they have obtained the air bag control module from the vehicle, which they hope contains clues. governor cuomo said there were issues with the driver and with the vehicle. >> the driver of the vehicle, the quote/unquote limousine, did not have the appropriate driver's license to be operating that vehicle. second, that vehicle was inspected by the new york state department of transportation last month and failed inspection, and was not supposed to be on the road. >> reporter: another key question -- did the vehicle's design play a role? >> it was stretched, so we want

to make sure that the vehicle when it was converted, that that was -- the conversion was conducted in in accordance with federal regulations. >> reporter: but for the mourning families, the answers won't change their new reality. among those left behind, three small children left parentless. >> just awful. athena, what do we know about how fast the vehicle was going? >> reporter: anderson, there's a lot of talk about whether there were skidmarks, there were no apparent skidmarks, but the ntsb chairman made a good point. just like today whether the weather was moist and misty, and he said that could affect whether there were visible skidmarks, and also pointed out that modern-day brakes are supposed to prevent skidding. they don't know how fast the car was going. and don't know if the driver

tried to put on the brakes. >> >> athena jones, i appreciate your reporting. coming you know, the latest on a saudi journalist missing and feared dead. inside the consulate in is stan bull. istanbul. ♪ it is such a good time to kiss ♪ ♪ it is such a good time to dance ♪ ♪ it is such a good time to [ laughing ] ♪ scoobidoo doobidoo ♪ scoobidoo doobidoo [ goose honking ] ♪ [ laughing ]

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president trump tonight weighed in on that saudi journalist missing and rumored dead after he entered the saudi consulate in istanbul. >> i am 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 there's some pretty bad stories going around. i do not like it. >> the president is talking about a man named jamal khashoggi, last seen entering the consulate but not seen actually leaving it. he's a writer for "the washington post," once a royal court insider, now turned critic of the saudi regime. our arwa damon joins us tonight. so walk us through what we know so far. >> reporter: very little actually, anderson, in terms of concrete evidence, which is why we're hearing president erdogan coming out and really putting the responsibility on the saudis to back their claim that they had absolutely nothing to do with his disappearance and that he did, in fact, leave the consulate on that day.

but they're not providing any sort of cctv evidence to prove what it is that they're saying. the turks are trying to go through images that they have access to, but they really don't have, at least as far as we know, eyes inside the consulate itself, which is leading to all sorts of speculations and theories as to what may have actually befallen jamal khashoggi and then there's, of course, this case of 15 saudi nationals which according to a police report released to state-run news agency, that they arrived the same day that khashoggi went missing, were in the consulate around the same time and since then are believed to have departed the country. so there's a lot of questions being asked right now and according to turkey at the very least and so many others watching this, the saudis not really doing a lot to try to push speculation off them and on to anyone or anything else. >> and turkish sources, i mean, believe that he may have been murdered inside the consulate. he had gone there for what

reason, and was he concerned about it, do we know? >> reporter: well, he went in, according to his fiancee and his friends that we have been talking to, because he was trying to get married and needed official documentation from the saudi consulate. his fiancee had said at one point he was a bit anxious about going in, bearing in mind of course he's not really a dissident, but he is a known critic. but he did have perhaps some doubts. but he'd already gone in the friday previous, come out without any drama, was given this follow-on appointment, and that's when he basically went missing. whether or not he was, according to erdogan's adviser and others who are putting statements out there, murdered inside the consulate, whether he was somehow sedated and then moved elsewhere, we don't really know. there's no evidence to back that up. but at the same time as i was saying -- and this is what's quite chilling about all of this, anderson -- the saudis aren't providing any sort of cctv footage evidence to show him departing on october 2nd,

which is why there are so many questions, because one would expect that that would be fairly easy for them to provide. >> right. i would imagine they have cameras all over their embassy. i mean, in terms of evidence, i understand there is footage of him leaving the consulate a week and a half ago but not leaving the consulate last night, right? >> reporter: exactly. so there's no footage of him leaving the consulate on october 2nd. his fiancee was waiting outside for hours and hours. no one has heard from him. some of his family members in saudi arabia have said that his disappearance is being politicized. they say they have full faith in the saudi authorities. but right now at this stage, there is no evidence first and foremost on what transpired inside, whether he was killed or he was somehow drugged and moved elsewhere. but there's also no evidence to prove that he did, in fact, leave. he has quite simply disappeared. >> wow. we'll keep following it. arwa damon, thanks very much. coming up, breaking news on hurricane michael as it takes aim at the united states.

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florida panhandle this, is where the storm is tonight, about 60 miles over the western coast of cuba. it's expected to pick up intensity in crossing over the warm ocean water. this is the projected path if things don't change. expect it to hit the panhandle sometime wednesday where ten counties are under evacuation orders tonight. we'll be watching it and bring you full coverage. the news continues right now. i want to turn things over to don lemon for "cnn tonight." don? anderson, thank you very much. this is "cnn tonight." i'm don lemon. a bitterly divided america watching tonight as a new supreme court justice is sworn in, and the president, president trump, threw gasoline on the fire. >> i would like to begin tonight's proceeding differently than perhaps any other event of such magnitude. 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.