that threat to the judiciary committee of the united states senate is a threat to america. it is profoundly and deeply dangerous to think that litigants will come before his court with the threat that their political views will determine how huge sites are cases. that is antithetical to our basic fundamental principle of justice in this country. it contravenes the entire concept of an independent judiciary. president trump has talked about his contempt of law but a member of one of the highest courts in the country doing so is chilling. it is stunning. it is staggering. my republican colleagues unfortunately follow that example. they said that we leaked her letter to the press at the last minute to derail the nomination. they called the allegations a coordinated smear campaign. that contention is false. it implies that these courageous survivors of sexual assault are puppets or upon orchestrated by politicians. anybody who heard or saw doctor ford yesterday know that it is slightly false. she came forward on her own reluctantly. she did it without encouragement from any mem

-period simple aided and abetted of the united states senate. democrats received a letter about doctor ford with the uncorroborated allegation of misconduct. she requested the matter be handled discreetly and confidentially. the next step would be to eliminate long --dash alert the committee to a full investigation to begin to follow the standard practice for backgroundto information have questioned their meetings while respect when disrespecting the request for confidentiality but the democrats did not do that they sat on doctor ford's letter for seven weeks. they did nothing and then leaked it to the press. that either the ranking member's office likely leaked documents. that chain of custody went through democratic side of the judiciary committee. does this sound like democratic senators take their responsibilities seriously? >> or does it sound like a choreographedde smear campaign for confidentiality to inflict maximum damage on judge kavanaugh and his family? >> this is an allegation of misconduct of all witnesses to flatly contradict or a

it is quite disturbing, and today the senate nominee, republican nominee for the united states senate, mr. kramer said what's the big deal in essence, they were drinking and nothing came of it. it's astonishing to me we live in a time with the me too movement, with all we're doing trying to change this world, that we're seeing even worse behavior than we did in 1991. >> lisa graves, i want to get your reaction to where the nominations stand now. attorney katz in representing dr. ford in her response to committee tonight did for the first time use the word "bully." that republicans and the republican staff on the committee speaking for chairman grassly have been trying to bully dr. ford every step of the way. >> i think that's an accurate description of what's going on, and i would go a step further in trying to say this is an effort to railroad her or create some situation in which she doesn't testify. i think a fair reading what's going on this week is terror on the part of the white house, on the part of the nominations team for kavanaugh at letting her testify fairly. they've throw

let's let this woman have an opportunity to present her case before the united states senate. and it seems like a lot of people are probably going to prejudge this. and that's just not right. it's a very serious allegation. very difficult for her to come forward. she shows a lot of courage. >> nearly every democrat has already decided to vote against kavanaugh. do you worry that this hearing thursday morning, if, in fact, it does take place, is going to turn into a show trial? >> i certainly hope that's not the case. because this is obviously a very sensitive issue. i think it will not only be the united states senators listening to this hearing, but the people of this nation. and they expect that this hearing will be held with the dignity and seriousness of the events. so we hope that will not, in fact, be the case. there's a lot of other information out there. you know, my concern about judge kavanaugh is far beyond this particular episode. i'm concerned about whether he will represent your rights against the powerful, including the president of the united states, whether we

states senator. the united states of america deserves not just a good nominee but the best person for the job. and the person that we saw come before us yesterday was filled with such rancor and anmous, such anger that i cannot accept he would be an impartial and objective justice on the united states supreme court. to describe members of this committee as a left-wing conspiracy, to threaten, literally to threaten united states senators i simply cannot accept. we are interviewing or we were judge kavanaugh for a position that is a lifetime appointment to the highest court in the land. he cannot be removed except through impeachment. and he will be there for decades to come. i made no secret of my opposition to him based on his out of the mainstream views and judicial philosophy, his apparent goal to chip away if not overturn roe v. wade and the guarantees that allow women to decide when and whether they become pregnant and have children, the decision by millions of americans to marry the person they

states senators over the last few months. never a with some of this letter until just last week. this is a process the democrats have created and now it is set to us to make sure doctor ford has her side of the story as well as judge kavanaugh we hope she takes advantage of that opportunity. in the meantime we get record economic news in addition 4.2% economic growth second quarter , very robust number we saw middle income levels reach the highest ever in 2017 the number of job openings highest level ever at 6.9 million also small business optimism reaching record highs and at an 18 year high. we will continue to allow those policies to be in place for the economy to grow for american workers and american families. the results are already being seen with the policy agenda. >> with the other work we are doing yesterday the senate voted 99/one to put more tools into the tool box to deal with the opioid epidemic. today they voted to find what we did yesterday plus between the march vote and with opioids alone to suspend a little

that's how the questions came from the united states senators and she was never given a full opportunity to be believed from the start. i sense that again, as i hear a number of the comments, the majority leader saying we're going to plow right through it as if it was a petty thing. we have to deal with this hiccup. that kind of conversation is exactly what leads to many people in this country, women and men saying they don't get it. particularly now in the me too movement. they have to speak out and it doesn't have to be a hidden thing in the past and they have to not tell anybody. the message that it's a hiccup or we're going to plow through this is exactly what they don't want to hear today. >> it's interesting that you word it that way because i'm curious of your reaction of this tv ad that's being run by demand justice which is a group on the left that is opposing judge kavanaugh. i want to play for you this ad because it presumes him guilty and i want to play it for you and see what you think of this. take a look. >> when 15-year-old christine tried to scream her attacker covered h

and for purposes of the analogy, the united states senators are the kids. and today the kids playing with matches literally burn the house down. and so enormous damage was done today institution of the supreme court today, to the process, to the united states senate. i think the american people look at this and they're shocked by it. to see the degeneracy of our politics, the cost of partisanship in our institutions. look, i thought that dr. ford was very credible, and i think that brett kavanagh -- and it pains me to say it -- has a credibility problem. we have a -- we have in politics, we often say that the outcome is determined by the last big thing that happened as opposed to the first thing that happened. and we know this. this is the first thing at the beginning of the process that brett kavanagh said. he said, mr. president, thank you. throughout this process i have witnessed firsthand your appreciation for the vital role of the american judiciary. no president has ever consulted more widely or talked with more people from more backgrounds to seek in

the world's greatest deliberative body, the united states senate. there, he did not exhibit flights of soaring oratory nor a flare for the alchemy of legislation. but better than so many others, john mccain was practiced in the lost magic of leadership. >> mccain was in many ways the champion of lost causes. >> mccain, a republican, was known for reaching across the aisle, working with democrats. his biggest accomplishments were bipartisan achievements. >> he had no problem crossing the aisle. bipartisan ship was not a bad word in those days. >> during the clinton administration, mccain and another veteran, democratic senator john kerry, together, pushed for normalizing relations with a former enemy -- vietnam. >> so, he did it for his country, not for him. and it was a privilege to be an eyewitness to that kind of patriotism. >> he pushed for campaign finance reform. the result? the bipartisan campaign reform act, better known as the mccain/feingold act. >> he partnered with russ fine feingold. >> and one of his other priorities, immigration reform

witnesses do not get to the term and the witnesses of the united states senate, senator is dead. there is a bipartisan process for these things pure that's where the accuser goes first, makes the case, and then in this case, the ability to listen not from the same room, i agree with professor ford's lawyers with that. he shouldn't be in the middle room. if he hasn't heard them, there is no fairness to the process but he needs to hear them first. i think chairman grassley indicated the senate is not going to go along with letting her go second. they are going to do if the standard way, accuser goes first. >> sean: you know, dan bongino, such as sears accusation. i also believe we should be hearing from people that have known judge kavanaugh since high school, college, law school, et cetera. >> i think that would be fair. in my experience, working criminal cases for most of my adult life, this is not the type of incident given the seriousness of the charges that just randomly presents itself out of nowhere, sean. there is typically a fact pattern in the past, pattern of behavior, a

he met with 65 united states senators over the course of the last two months. letter with of this until just this last week. it is now up to us to make sure that dr. ford has her side of the story heard as well as judge kavanaugh. we hope that she will take weantage of that opportunity continue to get record economic news. we saw middle income levels reach their highest level ever in 2017. the number of job openings, highest level ever. 6.9 million job openings. small businesse optimism reach a record high in consumer confidence. we will continue to put policies in place that will allow the economy continued to grow and create better paying jobs and better wages for american workers and families. the results of that are already being seen. we intend to continue to move forward with the policy agenda that will enable that to continue in the future. >> on the other work we are doing, yesterday the senate tools in1 to but more the toolbox of how to deal with opioid epidemic. the senate voted by almost that big of a number to fund what we between do yesterday, the

on the veterans committee and and the united states senate heard. >> mr. rosendale like you to have the last word. mr. rosendale: we have to look at the administration and the leadership that is installed in these places right now and make sure that we are staffing properly. our veterans deserve to have care they want, when they want it and where they want it. period. >> gentlemen, we are going to move forward to another complex and multifaceted issue, that is the topic of immigration. i think each of your parties love to throw around the stereotypes of each party for this. eventually, that becomes personal. either you are too soft on this or you are heartless about this. you are both here and you are both on the record saying you want to protect the border. you obviously want to do it in different ways. let's hear from you tonight, what is the best way to secure our borders and how do we go about paying for that? we will start with you mr. rosendale. mr. rosendale: this is a very critical time in our nation's history. we have to secure our border. we have

they have produced and besmirched the united states senate. this is being done for pure political purposes, for delay, to prevent a vote to put it off until after the election. the democrats are entitled to do whatever they want, they know mike and they are in fact doing exactly that, with no concern whatsoever for the constitution or the senate. shame on them all. >> laura: tammy baldwin is already sending out a fund-raiser today, she's going to do this fund-raiser at the lawyers office for the accuser. this is taking place in early october, october 1st. oh, now it is candle know my counsel because they got so much bad publicity. but they were already fund-raising off it. if it is not politics, protecting a woman, standing up for justice, then why are they fund-raising on it? tammy baldwin, a woman. >> that is every g.o.p. commentator, anyone else, presupposes that this is all rooted in politics. but what is disappointing and shameful is no one on the senate judiciary committee has commented about getting to the truth and the accuracy or just

states senate. it is time for us to try and do things in a bipartisan basis. many of us say there are a lot of things going on in a bipartisan basis. what we witnessed here this morning is the deterioration of that bipartisanship and respect for the minority and the committee. we have seen this consistently. process changes to the and the amounts meant that the bar association ratings are no longer needed. even meet with or even have a hearing for president obama's nomination, merrick garland. we have another nomination that may have slipped by you but i hope you reflect for a moment. the committee rules set and rules that we have followed for decades. that one member of the minority had to be voting in favor of the motion to close debate on a subject. by the earlier vote that was taken, we have eliminated that et a new majority precedent. stepping on the concept to respect the right of the minority. we have seen in this nomination, something we have never seen before. i have no idea where we came u

before representatives of the united states senate. and then, they will vote. we will see what happens. >> reporter: so far, he's been uncharacteristically silent, not tweeting or talking about the accu accuser, christine blasey ford, who says she was sexual assaulted by kavanaugh three decades ago. but privately, they tell cnn that the star pick of the supreme court, could be in jeopardy. the president bit his tongue, for now, at least. is this all politics? >> i don't want to say that. maybe i'll say that in a couple of days but not now. >> reporter: kavanaugh's confirmation battle is awash in politics. amid a deeply serious discussion against allegations lodged against a federal judge with his appointment in to supreme court. it's the biggest momt ent of th #metoo aeera. >> a delay is acceptable. we want to get to the bottom of everything. we want everybody to be able to speak up and to speak out. >> reporter: as democrats call for the fbi to investigate the allegations, republicans, along with the president, dilssagreed. >> i don't think the fbi wanted to b

states senate. and mr. chairman, i know you may not agree with me but i think in the spirit of working together, a delay in this vote would be appropriate. i am here to make a last appeal that we avoid a rush to judgment for your position. the session yesterday was a job interview. and it's a job interview for a position unlike any other. i have tremendous reverence for the united states supreme court, i was a law clerk there, argued for cases they are, spent most of my career in the court and my belief is this decision on how to vote, and i will vote no, is among the most important that i will make as a united states senator . the united states of america deserves not just a good nominee, but the best person for the job. and the person that we saw come before us yesterday was filled with such rancor and animus, such anger that i cannot accept that he would be an impartial and objective justice on the united states supreme court. to describe members of this committee as a left-wing conspiracy, to th

states senate the committee has gatheredse evidence. >> so it gives that report to the white house and then it transfers to the senate quick. >> that's my understanding. it has been said many times the fbi does not make judgments it gives information so at that point in time in the united states senate the committee has legal authorities if it receives information in the fbi report to further investigate. the senate has legal authority to conduct further investigation. is that correct quick. >> that's my understanding. that is what is referenced here many times how some of these witnesses identified with the late information that we received have made statements that are under penalty ofwe penalty long - - felony that is a penalty for lying to the senate judiciary committee.e. and in those investigations and with regard to what we use to receive to have that understanding of the process. >> in this process there is a lot to talk about but in this case there is a lot of concern by many not so much in interest of the fbi investigation of delay. then that is a question. that was 45 days.

states senator can take on. let's use this current confirmation process as an example in addition to reiterating how you would vote or how you are voting. we would like to hear what informs your decision. what are the important factors in a decision like this? based on the coin toss, we will begin with senator tester. thank you, i want to thank montana public television, montana public radio for hosting this debate. i want to thank commissioner rosendale for showing up. court,ation of a supreme cabinet officials, confirmation overall is one of the most important jobs a senator has to do. it is particularly important when it comes to the supreme court because this is a lifetime term. when judge kavanaugh was iminated by president trump went into the process of digging into his backgrounds to find out where he was on particular issues. that he was one of the architects behind the mass surveillance program from the federal level. i found out that he backed and supported the patriot act. both of those i believe are

. >> fairway the possessed in the united states, senator. they are used and possessed, but the question is are they dangerous unusual? they are certainly dangerous. all weapons are dangerous. are they unusual and given how prevalent they are in the united states, it seemed under justice scully has tested a look at the majority in opinion and mcdonald, the same thing. it went to read/write, the supreme court made clear machine guns can be banned. >> i'm m talking about the hellr case. let me be specific. you specifically argued that it was unconstitutional to defend assault weapons because -- to ban assault weapons because they are in common use. that i believe was your dissent in the case. >> esn i was referring to some kind of semiautomatic rifles that are banned by d.c. are widely owned in the united states. and not seemed to be the test that the supreme court had set forth in them heller cases. i had to follow the precedent of the supreme court as it's written. that is what i try to do in that case. it's a very long opinion. i also made c

it's the role of the united states senate. how many senators had ford and kavanaugh sitting before them and they had a chance to ask questions. they didn't even ask a question. i am very good friends with jeff flake. on a personal level, i really like the guy. but how can you go -- how can you look at this person and say, we need more time to investigate? at the same time he asked zero questions of ford and zero questions of kavanaugh. that's the job of the senate, not the fbi doing its seventh background check. >> what it does, gains them five days. what we've seen, of course, in the tail end of the last few days, an accusation that had to be retracted. completely anonymous accusation was treated as though it was national news. no name, no address, nothing. you're going to see more of that. equally outrageous dynamics like with the gang rape. maybe real actual people come up and step up with things that will be eventually proven to not be the case. but it will be a pile on to try to affect what will happen. >> sean: they want

it would be bad for the senate. it would be bad for the united states of america. please don't misunderstand me. i'm glad dr. ford had a chance to have her say. we owed her that much. i know it took some courage, and it's a reminder to all americans that victims can and should be heard. as i said, i myself have two daughters. and like me, we all have a mother. some are fortunate enough to have sisters or a spouse. and so this could be a very personal matter to each one of us. but we all know each of us have fathers, brothers, many of us have brothers. some have husbands and sons. in other words, my point is if this kind of uncorroborated allegation which seems so manipulated in exploiting vulnerable people who have made accusations like this, if we tolerate that, i think it will forever poison the confirmation process and discourage good people from coming forward. we must always be fair to both the victims and those who stand accused. it has to be a two-way street. i have supported judge kavanaugh's nomination because i've known him since the year 2000, and in my

i heard a united states senator very distinguished news senator from alabama say that he had been in the process or he happens to be a lawyer, senator jones, that he has been in the process of reviewing the entire body of work of brett kavanaugh that is as it should be. look att all of his judicial writins in his 12 years of service. look at his exojielings. outside of court his law review articles, his speeches, it's a vast body of work. look at his service under president bush. look at his service in the independent counsel's office. that is what a fair and mature representative democracy will do. i fear that what is unfolding right now is a betts of a mob and circus atmosphere and i hope that wise sages in the senate, and that's why we elect them every six years yoo not every two years, we want them to take a step back, sigh we understand people have strong feels about this issue. you've expressed strong feelings. the prior caller expressed strong feelings, but it is for the senate to step back and say i think this is the right thing to do looking at the entirety of the record. i

you are sitting here before members of the united states senate's judiciary committee because you had the courage to come forward, because, as you have said, you believe it was your civic duty. i was struck in your testimony by what you indicated as your intention when you first let anyone associated with these hearings know about it. and what you basically said is you reached out to your representative in the united states congress hoping that person would inform the white house before judge kavanaugh had been named. that's extremely persuasive about your motivation for coming forward. and so i want to thank you. i want to thank you for your courage and i want to tell you i believe you. i believe you. and i believe many americans across this country believe you. and what i find striking about your testimony is you remember key, searing details about what happened to you. you told your husband and therapist, two of the most intimate of your confidantes and you told them years ago about this assault. you have shared your experience with multiple friends years after that and before thes

you mentioned a united states senator. people are called to account for their actions and i think that's healthy in this democracy. i'll say not long after the investigation, i get in a cab, i was practicing law in washington, d.c. i was teaching at new york university so i was on my way to the shuttle to new york. the cab driver turns around and looks around, this awas pre-uber. i like cabs. i pop into the cab and it turns out the cab driver is from -- i'm just going to say a west african country. and he said mr. starr, is that you. he said in my country this never could have happened. i said what do you mean? he said our m leaders can do anything they want. they're not called to account. well that's not america. >> host: you say in theto book e of thehe reasons you wrote the book is because you had to time to write the book. you used to be president of bailor university, why are you no longer president. >> guest: i was fired as president a as bailor university, i was not fired as chancerler. the board of reasoningants, l

states senate. now and they are not going to give up either. thank you, mr. president. >> these are the remarks i would have given this morning after the -- i walked out in protest. i would have given. i am in disbelief that we are here today voting on brett kavanaugh. outrageous does not to begin to describe. yesterday we heard from doctor christine who spoke with genuine and raw emotional power about being sexually assaulted by brett kavanaugh. even though years ago,

and the united states senate shouldn't either. and fifth, more than 40% of the document swres received, almost 190,000 pages, are considered committee confidential by chairman grassley. for the vast majority of them, there is not a conceivable argument to restrict them. compare this to the 860 documents designated committee confidential for justice kagan and that the request was made by the non-partisan archives, notpy th not by this committee. and sixth, on friday we learn that president trump is claiming executive privilege over an additional 102,000 pages of your records. such a blanket assertion is simply unheard of in the history of this country and the reason it's unheard of is because it is so outrageous. the last time a president attempted to hide a supreme court nominee's record by invoking executive privilege was when president reagan did this for justice william rehnquist. then republicans and democrats came together. we demanded the documents be releas released. and president reagan said okay and they were released. bo

it says the united states senate. i have no information, zero, none, nada. i haven't even seen -- i haven't even seen the letter yet that she wrote to senator feinstein. trish: would you consider a private meeting? could your committee -- >> i will do it privately, i will do it privately, i will do it publicly, reluctantly publicly, privately. i think the american people deserve to hear both and american people will draw their own conclusions but if, if the professor wants to do it privately i will agree to do it privately. i understand, i hadn't talked to him, but senator grassley, who has done a great job here in my opinion, offered to send a team out to california or wherever she happens to be but our deadline is october 1. trish: not going to change isn't. >> that is not a political deadline. i'm tired of political and cultural combat. trish: are you going to change it at all? is there any chance to change it? >> we owe it to the american people to have a supreme court justice nominated and confirmed by october 1. i'm prepared to do that, make the decisi

states senate. now and they are not going to give up either. thank you, mr. president. >> these are the remarks i would have given this morning after the

before representatives of the united states senate. and then they will vote. we'll see what happens. >> reporter: so far, he's been silent. not tweeting or talking about the accuser. christine blasi ford saying she was sexually assaulted by kavanaugh more than three decades ago in high school. privately officials tell cnn the president is frustrated that the star pick for the supreme court now could be in jeopardy. when we asked him about it today, the president bit his tongue for now at least. >> is this all politics? >> i don't want to say that. maybe i'll say that in a couple of days but not now. >> reporter: 50 days before the midterm elections, kavanaugh's confirmation battle is awash in politics amid a deeply serious discussion about its sexual assault allegations, lodged against a federal judge with a lifetime appointment to the supreme court. it is unfolding as washington's biggest moment of the me too era, a wave trump often diminished or dismissed and not the approach to accusations of a most important nominee. >> a delay is certainly acceptable. we

states senate. and the longer this nomination lingers the more trouble brett kavanaugh could get into and that's why republicans have been rushing it. in the last hour senate judiciary committee staffer -- former senate judiciary committee staffer lisa graves appearing on rachel maddow's show accused brett kavanaugh of lying. she is not the first to make that accusation. we will see that next. ♪ take us downtown, waze. waze integration- seamlessly connecting the world inside... with the world outside... making life a little... easier. introducing the well-connected lincoln mkc. your digestive system has billions of bacteria but life can throw them off balance. re-align yourself with align probiotic. and try new align gummies with prebiotics and probiotics to help support digestive health. we distributeus, i'm the owner environmentally-friendly packaging for restaurants. and we've grown substantially. so i switched to the spark cash card from capital one. i earn unlimited 2% cash back on everything

states senate. eight weeks ago the judiciary committee received a letter from that christine ford was the uncorroborated allegation of misconductt. she requested the matter be handled discreetly and confidential. the responsible next step would be to alert the full committee so of confidential bipartisan investigation could begin to follow their standard practice for investigating background information. they would have questioned judge kavanaugh in their meetings or in closed session while respecting doctor ford's request for confidentiality. but democrats did not do that.th they sat on doctor ford's letter for seven weeks and kept the secret and did nothing and then through her own wishes they leaked it to the press our colleague from delaware in himself indicated in the ranking member's office the democratic committee staff likely leaked the document we know the chain of custody went to the democratic side of the judiciary committee. so mister president, does this sound like the democratic senato

a united states senator, she's a drunk and he's the witness? >> have you ever blacked out? >> after she talks about her father being an alcoholic. >> she talks about her elderly father who is 90 years old still attends alcoholics anonymous. that is why this was one of the most cringe worthy moments. >> for all the criticism of mitchell, i do want to say one thing conservatives are vilifying her but there are a couple of things she did do. number one, to the part that she did have activity in the second half, she did ask kavanaugh directly about the specifics from the republican side, deny it happened emphatically. now it's he said/she said. the other point is what did ben sasse talk about, about dianne feinstein. that mitchell was able to get the testimony from ford that dianne feinstein recommended that law firm at a time dianne feinstein was not telling the republicans that she had that information. that is being used by republicans to make it tribal and make it a democrat and without naming ford to say she was involved with the democrats for weeks. and that is helping so

states senate. our hope would be that we could come to conference and agree to the senate language. what the republicans are doing in the house either is based on lack of knowledge or some kind of a harkening back to another time, but we're not going back, not in this area or any other area. i take great pride in the farm bill that we passed and we had the majority and know that there's a past. the senate has demonstrated that in a bipartisan way. i take my lead on all this from collin peterson, our top democrat on the agriculture committee. again, we always understand we have to try to find a compromise, and that's what the senate did. i would hope that in conference they would agree to the senate language. thank you all very much. i'll be here, so perhaps you'll be here. 39 days -- yesterday was 40. 40 is fraught with meaning. in the christian base, 40 hours of devotion, 40 days in the desert, 40 years in the jewish community. 40 has meaning. every single day brings us closer to an opportunity to

you are sitting here before members of the united states senate judiciary committee because you have the courage to come forward, because as you have said, you believe it was your civic duty. i was struck in your testimony by what you indicated as your intention when you first let anyone associated with these hearings know about it and what you basically said is, you reached out to your representatives in the united states congress, hoping that person would inform the white house before judge kavanaugh had been named. that is extremely persuasive about your motivation for coming forward. and so i want to thank you. i want to thank you for your courage. i want to tell you i believe you. i believe you. and i believe many americans across this country believe you. what i find striking about your testimony is you remember key, searing details of what happened to you. you told your husband and therapist, two of the most intimate of your confidants and you told them years ago about this assault. you have shared your experience with multiple friends, years after that, and keefe before these

and they'll call it a turning point in the united states senate. this committee after months of , breaking precedent after precedent in a rush to fill the supreme court, it is now on voting the merge of a nominee who has been credibly accused of sexual assault, and the committee hasn't even conducted a meaningful investigation. yesterday we heard the powerful and courageous testimony of dr. christine blasey ford. following her testimony i doubt that not one of us thought the committee room doubting her credibility. i'm sure nobody doubted her credibility. but then judge kavanaugh angrily denied the allegation. i'll get to that shortly. we should all agree that a credible allegation of sexual assault against a nominee to our nation's highest court demands that we proceed with the utmost caution. our constitutional obligation at the very least is to investigate these allegations properly. this isn't about delaying a nomination until after the election. even though we have that precedent when the republicans did that with merrick garland. this is abou

as you describe coming into the united states senate, with tremendous ideals -- i do not ,ean to put words in your mouth there was a mr. smith goes to washington reverence of the place, that was quickly diminished by political bruising and fights. handle on theter u.s. senate. but do you make of it now? office,efore i ran for my last job in the navy was officer of the senate. i got to see jackson and barry , someter and john tower great leaders in action. howard baker. i began to eat appreciate how someone can wield when they are a hard-working member of the senate. when i got to the senate, i think we started going through a. of change where politics in the senate became more partisan. hill, thereas anita was a long city -- series of bitter, personal fights in the united states senate. which changed things to a significant degree. as i have seen that happen, i lost some of my respect and reverence for the institution because it is the people that make the institution. >> you are listening to talk of the nation for npr news. sherry is on the line from indianapolis. >> hello. guest: h

it is time to bring judge kavanaugh's confirmation to a vote on the floor of the united states senate. he has earned my support. i encourage my colleagues to support him as well. thanking officer: the senate is not currently in a quorum call. the senator may proceed. ms. hassan: thank you. mr. president, over the past weeks we have been reminded yet again why it is so hard for survivors of sexual assault to come forward. for far too long, women who bravely shared their stories of sexual assault have been attacked, diminished and marginalized. and i'm sad to say, that includes by some of my fellow senators. in some respects we have seen remarkable progress since the me too movement began roughly one year ago. more women have felt empowered and supported to speak out and our society has begun to grapple with the horrific and widespread preva lance of sexual assault, especially in the workplace. but, sadly, these past weeks have been a remainder that in many ways -- reminder that in many ways we're still stuck in 1991. 1991, of course, was when anita hill courageously testified before th

at that point in time, if i understand the process correctly, the united states senate judiciary committee has legal authorities if it receives information and an fbi report that it wants to further investigate, the senate has legal authority to conduct further investigations. is that correct? >> that is my understanding. >> and that is what has been referenced here many times about how some of these witnesses that were identified in the very late information we received have made statements that are under penalty of felony. that is a felony for lying to the senate judiciary committee. and as i understand it, what happens is, the senate judiciary committee which has authority under law to conduct those kinds of investigation, follows up on the fbi report to finish out the investigation that it wants with regard to any information it receives that needs further investigation. is that your understanding of the process? >> that is my understanding. >> in this case, there's been a lot of talk here today, and if i have time i will get into it, but in this case, there is a lot of concern by many

you are sitting here before members of the united states senate's judiciary committee because you had the courage to come forward, because, as you have said, you believe it was your civic duty. i was struck in your testimony by what you indicated as your intention when you first let anyone associated with these hearings know about it. and what you basically said is, you reached out to your representative in the united states congress, hoping that person would inform the white house before judge kavanaugh had been named. that's extremely persuasive about your motivation for coming forward. and so i want to thank you. i want to thank you for your courage and i want to tell you, i believe you. i believe you. and i believe many americans across this country believe you. what i find striking about your testimony is you remember key searing details about what happened to you. you told your husband and therapist, two of the most intimate of your confidantes, and you told them years ago about this assault. you have shared your experience with multiple friends years after that and before these

and the united states senate shouldn't either. and more than 40% of the documents we have received, almost 190,000 pages are considered committee confidential by chairman grassley. for the vast majority of them there's not even a conceivable argument to restrict them. compare this to the mere 860 documents that were designated confidential for justice kagen and the request was made by the nonpartisan archives, not by this committee. we still had 99% of her records. and on friday we learned that president trump is claiming executive privilege over an additional 102,000 pajsz of your records. such a blanket assertion of executive privilege is simply unheard of in the history of this country and the reason its unheard of is because its so outrageous. the last time a president tempted to hide his supreme court nominee's records by invoking executive privilege was when president reagan did this for justice william ren quist but then republicans and democrats came together, we demanded the documents be released and president reagan said

states senate. and the longer this nomination lingers the more trouble brett kavanaugh could get into and that's why republicans have been rushing it. in the last hour senate judiciary committee staffer -- former senate judiciary committee staffer lisa graves appearing on rachel maddow's show accused brett kavanaugh of lying. she is not the first to make that accusation. we will see that next. this is important for people with asthma. yes. it's a targeted medicine proven to help prevent severe asthma attacks, and lower oral steroid use. about 50% of people with severe asthma have too many cells called eosinophils in their lungs. fasenra™ is designed to work with the body to target and remove eosinophils. fasenra™ is an add-on injection for people 12 and up with severe eosinophilic asthma. don't use fasenra™ for sudden breathing problems or other problems caused by eosinophils. fasenra™ may cause headache, sore throat, and allergic reactions. get help right away if you have swelling of your f

states senate. i'm proud to bring their voices to the floor here today and am truly hopeful enough republican sandwich and then we can do the right thing. republican leaders need to truly listen to the women coming forward to share their experiences. republican leaders said to truly investigate the allegations they are making in inconsistencies in judge cabinet statement on so many issues and republican leaders need to end this scramble and rush. they need to slow it down and do this right. women and men are watching. they are paying attention and they are not going to forget. >> mr. president as we approach tomorrow's hearing that dr. ford in judge kavanaugh, i want to be very clear about how the republican leadership has handled this incredibly serious allegations of sexual assault. py,republican leadership has handled them poorly, unfairly, disrespectfully. mr. mcconnell has called this entire issue a smear campaign cooks up at democrats at the blatant falsehood that the means of women who courag

this is bbc world news, the headlines: the judiciary committee in the united states senate has approved brett kavanaugh‘s supreme court nomination — but a vote of the full senate could be delayed for a week to allow for an fbi investigation. president trump said the senate committee had to do what they thought was right and necessary and be "comfortable with themselves". facebook has discovered a security issue affecting nearly 50 million accounts. the company says hackers exploited a vulnerability in its code that allowed them to take over people's accounts. shares in the electric car company tesla have fallen sharply, after its founder elon musk, was charged with fraud by the financial regulators in the us.

this is a low moment in the history of the united states senate. it's no coincidence what's gone on here over the last couple of weeks, these allegations started to break, this is a well or orchestrated smear. those who call what's going on a circus are not being fair to clowns. i am proud of what the republicans have done, i think yesterday was a moment that as a father of two sons and two daughters, i would say this. if my daughter came before that committee as a witness, i would want her treated with great respect and that's the way dr. ford was treated yesterday with great respect to hear her views. but similarly, if my son came to that witness table i would want him treated with great respect and judge kavanaugh receives fair treatment from the republicans but it was shameful what went on yesterday and that hearing as far as the highest court in the land. >> harris: can i ask you about something? the public is watching and we understand that when we send our elected officials to washington and they have an opportunity to vote on history being

states senate on this nomination, is that correct? senator grassley: i cannot say that -- senator flake: i can't make that claim for the leadership. i can only say that i would be only comfortable moving forward on the floor -- i'll move it out of committee -- but i will only be comfortable moving on the floor until the f.b.i. has done more investigation than they have already. it may not take them a week. i understand that some of these witnesses may not want to discuss anything further. but i think we owe them due diligence. >> mr. chairman. senator grassley: just a minute. all i have said to senator flake is that i would advocate for the position he took but i don't control that. >> mr. chairman. senator grassley: senator chobe char. senator chobe -- senator klobuchar: there may be -- there is not a set agreement. all of us already said we were voting no. it is simply senator flake working with all of us to say for the good of the senate and the good of the court, the american people deserve to have the facts followed up on. i real

you are sitting here before members of the united states senate judiciary committee because you had the courage to come forward because as you have said you believe it is your civic duty. i was stuck in your testimony by what you indicated that is your intention when you first let anyone associated with these hearing know about it. what you basically said as he reached out to your representative in the united states congress, hoping that person would inform the white house before judge kavanaugh had been named. that's extremelye persuasive about your motivation for coming forward. i went to thank you get on the thank you for your courage and tell you f i believe you. i believe you. and i believe many americans across this country believe you. and what i find striking about your testimony is you remember key details of what happens to you. you told your husband and therapist two of the most intimate of your confidants and you told them years ago about this assault. you have shared your experience with multiple friends years after that and before these hearings ever started. i know having