>> the book is en250i89 elled contem contempt. >> i'm wolf blitzer, thanks for watching. erin burnett out front starts right now. breaking news, a public hearing, brett kavanaugh and his accuser to speak in front of the world and underoath about the sexual assault allegation threatening to deray kavanaugh's appointment. and more on the accuser. the water as long with the death toll rising in the aftermath of hurricane florence, and now a tornado outbreak on the heels of the monster storm. let's go out front.

>> good evening, everyone, i'm kate bolduan in for erin burnett. president trump spoke out for the first time about the sexual assault allegation facing his supreme court nominee, his remarks dispalestinianed and measured, there was no lashing out, no calling the accuser a liar as he has often in the past the president instead calling on both sides to be heard. >> i have great confidence in the u.s. senate and in their procedures and what they're doing, and i think that's probably what they're going to do. they'll go through a process and hear everybody out, i think it's important, i believe they think it's important. >> a source tells cnn, kavanaugh is flabbergasted to the sexual assault allegations that date back to the 1980s.

according to ford, a drunk kavanaugh held her down in a bedroom in a party, tried to pull off her bathing suit and put his hand over her mouth to keep her from yelling for help. ford feared for her life. kavanaugh strongly denies the allegation. susan collins had this warning tonight. >> if judge kavanaugh has lied about what happened. that would be disqualifying. >> the idea that kavanaugh would withdraw his name from consideration now. not one, the president even wants to entear taken. >> next question. this story is quickly developing this evening. i want to start with sunlin live

on capitol hill. >> reporter: this officially is on the schedule, it was just set by the senate judiciary committee for monday at 10:00 a.m., the chairman of that committee chuck grassley saying this is going to be a public hearing, important he says here to provide ample transparency in his words to give these recent allegations a full hearing. both judge kavanaugh and the accuser will appear at that hearing in open public forum. still unclear to look at the schedules, how the details will be appear. there was a huddle by republican leadership and members of that committee and senate majority leader mitch mcconnell's office just about 90 minutes ago, they came out confirming all of the details of this hearing, did catch many members. even members of the committee off guard, an indication how

quick the story is on capitol hill. this means the committee vote that was originally scheduled for this thursday is no longer happening, delayed until after this public hearing. mitch mcconnell praising the decision by the committee. he said that was a good decision. the chairman of that committee, chuck grassley being very noncommittal tonight when and if another committee vote will be put on the schedule. >> it all depends what comes out of this hearing on monday. unbelieve an. thank you so much. a lot happening on capitol hill tonight opinion. >> jeff, you have some new details about how kavanaugh's visit to the white house today. >> he's spent nearly 9 hours appearing for the confirmation battle ahead. we reported earlier from someone

who's close to him describing his mood as flabbergasted by this. he's shaken but focused on defending his integrity, he did put out a statement this evening through the white house press conference. the judge looks forward to try to clear his name of this false allegation. they are focusing now, preparing so much for that public hearing on monday. i'm told the president did not speak with judge kavanaugh directly face to face. he defended him publicly. this was so much discipline and words that he was using. that is a directive from the president go after accusers, that's not what's happening. they believe there should be a public hearing. that shows the stakes of all of this. we're 50 days before the midterm elections. judge kavanaugh is still here at the white house as we speak, we'll be leaving shortly, several interesting days ahead

before the public hearing on monday. >> that tone from the president, you don't have to watch the president for a week to see how unusual that tone and discipline is that you were seeing today. we have what another week to see if it lasts before the hearing happens? out front tonight. a member of the senate judiciary committee chris coons. thank you for being with us. >> in this hearing coming up on monday. this is what democrats have been calling for. are you satisfied with how republicans are handling this tonight? >> i think it's important that dr. ford have a chance to be heard and for the american people to reach their own conclusion conclusions. i think one of the things that's being essential to being a fair and deliberate process is for the fbi to do their job. the fbi does a background

investigation. and i am hoping the members of the senate judiciary committee who are democrats are demanding that we get clarity about whether the fbi will be using this intervening week to conduct a thorough and responsible background check. and whether they think that is enough time. to get clarity about other evidence that could be gathered to either support or challenge the allegations made by dr. ford. >> are you saying you're not satisfied with having this public hearing to have christine blase ford tell letter story. you won't be satisfied with just that, you will only be satisfied if the fbi reopens the background investigation into judge kavanaugh? >> i am encouraged that a number of republican senators step forward. senators flake and core corinne were the first two to step in

order 37 what i'm saying is, if all that happens is if we have these two witnesses in front of us, with no more evidence, no one else questioned, we don't have mark judge testifying, who's been named by dr. ford as the third person in the room during this alleged incident in high school, i don't think we've had a full opportunity to have this incident investigated. >> do you want to call him? obviously the chairman has the most say in this, do you want to call mark judge to testify? >> yes, i think not having in front of us the third person who is alleged to have been a participant in this troubling incident would be to not fully question whether there is some truth to this or not. >> do you know if that's at all a possibility? this has all been moving so fast, i don't want to preclude -- do you know that he hasn't been asked? >> i don't know that. i don't know mark judge and i don't know whether he's been called to testify or not frankly this morning it seemed unlikely there would be a hearing now that we're talking about the

details of a hearing a week from now. all i'm trying to lay out is in an instance like this where the event itself is decades ago, and there is a little bit of contemporaneous evidence. i think before we make an important decision. a lifetime appointment to the supreme court. we want to make sure that the independent professionals of the fbi provide us whatever additional information they responsibly can. >> have you known -- said you have grave concerns about judge kavanaugh being on the court. you have also known judge kavanaugh for 30 years. you've called him a good husband, father, a nice man, do you think he's capable of what christine blase ford is alleging? >> i did not know him in high school or college. i have come out publicly, owe poised to judge kavanaugh's position on the court. the things that i questioned him about in his confirmation hearing.

and given up that he did not add anything to what he said in the confirmation hearing. the lengthy back and forth we had in written questions. i have publicly announced earlier today that i plan to vote against him. >> you are officially a no? >> correct. >> even before hearing what happens on monday? >> correct. >> senator feinstein is who had this information, this letter from christine blase ford. when did she tell you about the letter she severed? >> i just found out about it late last week, there was a meeting of senate judiciary democrats where she shared with us that it was out in the press that the press was asking about it. and she gave us the background on how it came to be in her possession. what she did to try to verify it, how she tried to protect dr. ford's request for confidentiality. >> senator feinstein is facing

criticism for respecting that request, if you will. do you wish senator feinstein would have alerted you to the existence of this allegation earlier? could she have done that while still protecting christine blase ford's identity? >> once dr. ford retained an attorney. the back and forth with her attorney i think understandably took a number of weeks, there were some misunderstandings about how forthcoming they would be or wouldn't be. i deeply respect senator feinstein intended to follow the request from dr. ford. >> you don't wish she had come to you any earlier? >> i'm convinced having been with her in person and asked about this, this was a good faith attempt on her part to balance the public's need to know, with a deep respect for the pictures repeated request for confidentiality. it's only because this letter was leaked that we know today

who dr. ford is, and shooez now contemplating testifying. i'm certain that senator fine stein placed heavy reliance on her repeated request for confidentiali confidentiality. >> thank you for coming in. appreciate your time. >> out front next, christine ford's attorney says she doesn't want the hearing to become weaponized. is that even possible to avoid at this point? >> plus, ford's decision to testify publicly, raising stark parallels to the harassment claims made by anita hill in 1991. and breaking news, the deadly flooding in the carolinas claiming more lives tonight. rescues are still under way. hundreds of thousands are still without power. is the worst still yet to come?

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president clinton. both of these people will be testifying and taking questions. how big of a moment is this? >> this nomination, one of the most important nominations to the supreme court in years and years is now on a knife edge. who would have imagined. the truth is that the open hearings. i'm glad the committee decided to make them open. that the american people judge, i'm glad that they are having these hearings. but it's now largely going to be termed in the court of public opinion. people have a chance to tune in and see who they think is more credible. the problem is going to be. what if we come out with in complete testimony. there are a lot of loose ends, we need to know -- the washington post has reported there were two other teenagers at this party. and apparently there are names that the post has.

well, shouldn't we know from them what they remember? is that what the fbi -- is the fbi on this or not on this? there are a lot of loose ends that could have a bearing. >> that's something chris coons brought up. he wants the other person in the room at the time, he wants him to testify as well. that's not scheduled and there's a week until this hearing, amy, are you looking forward to hearing from christine blase ford yourself. or is your mind made up on this. >> i believe it's never going to be proven or disproven i think we're going to have a circus on monday and it's what the media wants, it's what the left wants. it's rit cue house that -- >> why don't republicans wan the it as well? republicans do want it. jeff flake wants it, susan

collins wants it. >> i have no problem with it, i think they both should be heard i don't think we need a three-ring circus it should be done behind closed doors. if it's going to be public, very no problem with that, do it publicly, i'm glad that both of them are going to be heard, i think it's absolutely wrong to all of a sudden accuse somebody of something, and there's no corroborating evidence, no supporting evidence whatsoever, and all of a sudden someone's life is going to be turned upside down. that is a slippery slope. that is what is happening in today's age the person is being prosecuting in the media, by public opinion, and i don't think that's right. >> you can have your opinion but she has -- the washington post reported on this extensively, there are notes from her conversations years ago in therapy with her therapists in

couples therapy and then in her own therapy sessions there is that. no one has spoken to -- one other person denies it. there were other people at the party. there is other stuff out there, and this is coming out. >> so there's notes with her therapist, we haven't heard from the therapist, it doesn't matter, because it's not going to be proven or disproven. what concerns me is all of a sudden we are in this period where a woman makes an accusation against a man, and all of a sudden what she says is gospel, the man has no right to defend himself. i wouldn't like it if it were my husband, my father, my brother. you would want due process, and brett kavanaugh is -- he should have due process. >> do you think this is not due process what we're looking at leer. >> i think it's not. the republicans are facing a

choice, they can even professionalize this or politicize it, this is not in the democrat's political interest this is what they ought to do, first professionalize it bring in the fbi. don't go straight to a public hearing, but the fbi who is full of professional investigators, put them in charge, let them look at every bit of corroborating eds. we haven't had professional investigators look at this. if you lie to the fbi it's a crime. >> it's a crime if you lie under oath to congress. >> it is but i want a professional first before you get politicians. he says let the politicians conduct the hearing, but let the questions be asked by professional counsel they bring in for this. the first thing, this is for the

republicans. they should put it off until after the election. the truth is the democrats -- >> stop trying to be too cute? >> no, this is my country. which comes ahead of my party. the democrats are going to win the midterms on the strength of college educated white women from the suburbs. they're going to have a meltdown if the republicans politicize this. if i were on the side i would say, have the hearing next week. as a sit then, they should try to slow this down and professionalize it 37. >> how are republicans politicize this, this has dropped in republicans lap at the last minute. dianne feinstein sat on this since july. >> should someone who has -- a lot of sexual assault victims

don't come out until years later. no matter the motivation, don't you want to know if it's true? >> yes, i want to know if it's true. but i don't think we ever will know. why didn't dianne feinstein bring this out. >> the woman didn't want to be dragged through this. >> i think you have to show more compassion for the woman herself. she's deeply torn about this, and she weighed carefully what she should do and she has wanted to keep this confidential all along. she wrote to the washington post, contacted the washington post back in july. before brett kavanaugh was even nominated. his name was on a short list. she went to her congress woman. she asked for confidentiality. the woman decided to come forward. i think it's a kennard to say,

they should have had this up here weeks ago. it's an imperfect process. >> this is the thing, david, they could have. they didn't have to bring it public, dianne feinstein, the committee could have asked about it in the hearings, and all the questions that were asked they didn't have to do it publicly. but she sat on it, she didn't even bring it to her. >> wait a minute, hold on. >> and they're -- >> the committee -- please, would you please hold on. >> when the committee had its hearings, they did not have this letter because the woman had requested, repeatedlyi confidentiality. she didn't want her life torn apart. if you think this is bad for brett kavanaugh, think about

what this woman's life is right now. i applaud the republicans for opening it up and to have hearings. i think paul is right about the fact that it would be best to have a serious thorough investigation by the fbi. i don't think that has to wait until after the midterms, it can be done after a coupling weeks. monday may be too soon to get to more definitive answers, and then we're all going to be feeling like one is more credible than the other. we still don't know. they have made more progress than i thought they'd make by now, in terms of the republicans trying to do this right. >> he's been through six fbi investigations, he's been in public service for a long time. and now all of a sudden this is coming out, i go back to dianne feinstein. i feel sorry for the woman whether it happened or not. coming forward in this climate

today i know is not easy. i'm going to get hate mail and horrible messages just being on here talking about it. dianne feinstein holds some responsibility here. this is not acceptable. >> of the six background checks that previously happened, this woman said she's never brought it to the authorities before. it's difficult to think any background check before would have caught this. >> dianne feinstein conducted herself with honor here. >> i disagree with that. >> she put that ahead of her partisan interests. >> before christine kb lase ford's story became public she contacted her congresswoman. my guest tonight, the professor whose team calculated that thousands of people likely died from the storm in puerto rico.

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i believe her completely, that's the message in one of christine blase ford's former alum alumni. her neighbors are also coming out and strongly defending her. m.j. what are you hearing from folks there. >> we've been outside of her house since yesterday when that washington post story broke, and it's been quiet. we haven't seen her or members of her family, the only time we saw someone go into the house

was yesterday when a man came to pick up their dog he told us he doesn't expect the family to come back any time soon. this is a quiet suburban neighborhood in palo alto. we know she's a professor at the university nearby. the neighbors are pretty surprised to see the cameras and reporters that have come by the house, and surprised to hear that she's now at the center of this huge national story, and we've seen a lot of supportive statements coming from neighbors, parents whose kid as tend the same school are saying they're proud. one of the parents said she has been busy calling senators in washington and getting them to try to hear out blase ford.

>> she's a hero. she's an absolute hero of women. what we've been doing is calling the three senators on the republican side who may flip. we're not their constituents, the message i keep leaving for them is that their decision affects my life, even though i don't live in their state. >> another community that has shown support for her is the holten arms school, this is the prep school that she attended in maryland back when she says this alleged encounter with kavanaugh happened. here's a little of what she wrote. as a school, we see this as an opportunity to support women who take the difficult step of speaking out. kate? >> thank you so much. >> the lawmaker that christine blase nourd first reached out to. thank you for coming in. >> thank you.

>> have you spoken directly to blasey ford? >> i have. she is my constituent and she reached out to my office in palo alto. requesting a meeting. i did meet with her in july for a -- over a lengthy period of time actually, she told me her story. i asked her many questions. i made sure that she knew she was in a safe place, that whatever she shared with me, it was covered by total privacy. that is so important. it's important to every constituent of mine. and it's always the case for each case that comes into our office. i thought that it was important for me to share with her that i was not there to tell her what

to do. but rather she tell me where she wanted to go with this. >> so what did she tell you? >> i would do everything i could to assist her. >> what did she sell you. when she gave you the letter, did she ask you to give the letter to senator -- >> no, no, no, she didn't come to my office with a letter. >> how did this -- >> she came to my office to meet with me. she then at the end of our discussion and after she answered many of my questions. we must have met for at least an hour and a half, she did tell me that she now the that it would be prudent that i take it to another level. and so i contacted senator dianne feinstein and the reason i did is because she was very importantly the ranking member

of the senate judiciary committee. >> how did the letter come about then? >> on the heels of that my constituent addressed a letter to senator feinstein, it was dated july 30th many and my office made sure that that letter was hand delivered the same day to senator feinstein's office. >> did you read. i assume you did not read that letter, you had a long conversation with her and probably knew the contents of it, of course? >> i knew the content of the letter. she entrusted it to me. and then on to the right person in senator feinstein's office. >> the washington post reporter who blasey-ford went on the

record with. described on cnn today how she did not want to go public. she didn't want her life up ended many at some point things changes for her. listen to this. >> her cam cue laces shifted. she felt like her privacy was already being invaded. and she had this thing in her that she wanted people to know what had happened to her. it got out somehow, though. did it come from your office? >> absolutely not. no. i would never do that. no. i think my constituent all along had aing to you of war going on inside of her, understanding what privacy brought to her, but also the risks of moving over into the public square. this is not something that's unusual for victims of sexual

abuse. once you go public you are subjected to a great deal. and so she did decide that she wanted her truth to come out and that she would tell her story and not have others mischaracterize it. and i think that first of all i'm deep when i grateful to her, because she has exhibited an enormous amount of courage to do this. >> have you spoken to her since this became public? >> no, i haven't. i did send her a copy of the statement that i was putting out publicly. and she acknowledged receipt of that. >> senator feinstein is facing criticism. i heard it already on tonight's show. for not releasing the information, not releasing it sooner, not just from

republicans but alice back home in california, the san francisco chronicle writing in an editorial, it was unfair to kavanaugh. unfair to his accuser and unfair to feinstein's colleagues on the senate judiciary committee. do you think that senator feinstein should have alerted colleagues on the committee of the existence of an allegation even without revealing her identity? >> i have known senator feinstein for years and years preceding my 16 years of service in the house of representatives. she's diligent she's very serious minded. i don't know the inner workings of the senate. but i know that senator feinstein did everything to protect the privacy of our mutual constituent. and i respect her for that.

and now this is in the public realm and what i sincerely hope for is that all of the senators. all of the members of the judiciary committee the receive my constituent with the level of respect that is due her. this is a very very tough thing to do, to exhibit this kind of courage much i can tell you that from the time i spent with her, and what she shared with me, it was self-evident that she had been scarred by this experience and will be for a lifetime. and in the public square we're talking about a lifetime appointment to the highest court of the land the united states supreme court. so she deserves the full respect

of the committee and that the questions they ask are fair, certainly there will be tough ones but -- and i think there will be a contrast, because the judge is acustomer onned to speaking publicly. my constituent isn't. she's the mother of two. she is -- you know, she's not average in terms of intelligence, but the public square and politics are not something that she is accustomed too. >> you spent -- she told you her story, is there more to the story than has been told publicly? >> well, i think that her letter explains rather fully what she endured. she certainly knew the layout of

the house very well. so her recollection about specifics in so many areas was very clear. >> congress wam this goes without saying, i guess, but you believe her? >> i do believe her. and at the end of our conversation that day, in my office, i told her i believed her. >> is what christine blasey-ford has told you, is this disqualifying for brett kavanaugh to be on the supreme court? >> i think that character matters, i always have, and i think in a democracy truth matters, because we're always seeking it. once we hear the truth, learn the truth we then horner it, i think this is a case where the

truth eventually will be honored. >> you do think it is disqualifying? >> i think the truth will be honored. >> congresswoman thank you for coming in. out front for us next. hurricane florence now blamed for 32 deaths. the waters still rising, rescues still underway. we're also continuing to follow breaking news out of washington, as we've been discussing just now. brett kavanaugh and his accuser scheduled to testify in public. your hair is so soft! did you use head and shoulders two in one? i did mom. wanna try it? yes. it intensely moisturizes your hair and scalp and keeps you flake free. manolo?

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you. tonight the death toll from florence is rising to 32. on the heals of florence a tornado outbreak in central virginia has left one person dead. scott maclaine is out front. >> widespread flooding impassable roads and bridges, and entire communities under

water. >> florence has weakened and moved northward, the next threat is still rising. >> some areas have not seen the worst flooding yet. >> the worst may still be ahead. as rivers rise, some won't crest for days. the coast guard and rescue teams from across the country are scrambling to help those stranded in homes and cars. >> in north carolina. a 1-year-old drowned after he was swept away by rushing water, his mother drove through a flooded area and tried to escape her car while holding the child but lost her grip. >> driving through water where the roads are closed, is a dangerous thing for anyone. we had some success and then we had some tragedy. >> volunteers are braving flooded roads to bring food, water and supplies to cut off communities. lumberton north carolina is bracing for the worst. as the river levee teeters on

failure. prompting flashbacks to 2016 when hurricane matthew made its unwelcomed visit. >> where we're standing right now, it scoured 20 feet deep when matthew came through. >> the time to return home is still unknown for thousands who evacuated. >> we do not dwant evacuees to go back, we do not want that to happen right now. >> matthew only got up to right there. >> in south carolina, pastor tim osmond woke up to the smell of smoke from his electrical circuit shorting out and the smell of water. moments later he was walking through a knee deep fast moving current to get out. >> it was scary as we were going out, 2 was up to my knees. and i'm six feet tall. that much water moving swiftly, it can take you off your feet. >> you need help, you need it

bad. >> mccall had to walk out of his apartment in waist deep water. it's the second time he's been flooded in the past two years. >> kate, i'm now standing on what would be main street here in conway, south carolina, it's become an extension of the wakamau river. the printing company is still operating, they have to shuttle all their products across the street by boat. they put sands bags around their most expensive pieces of equipment. this river is expected to rise three feet by the weekend. >> unbelievable it's still coming. >> thank you, scott. george washington university is standing behind its study study that it found that nearly 3,000 people died after hurricane maria last year. this after president trump tweeted this in part, 3,000 people did not die in the two

hurricanes that hit puerto rico. when i left the island after the storm had hit, they had anywhere from 6 to 18 deaths. this was done by the democrats in order to make me look as bad as possible. "outfront" now, wilynn goldman. she is the dean of the milken institute school of public health at george washington university which conducted this study. thank you so much for coming in. >> thank you for having me, hi. >> this was your study. this is your study. how do you respond to the president saying that he doesn't believe it? >> this is an independent, scientific investigation that was definitely at arm's length from any government, whether the u.s. government or the government of puerto rico. in which we looked at the statistics very carefully, about how many deaths occurred in the months after this storm, how many people we could project that were there on the island, and indeed came up with the number, 2,975 deaths between september of 2015 and february 2018. >> the study calculates what's

called excessive deaths, from the time between, as you said, september 2017 and february 2018. it is an approximation. do you think it could still change? >> it could change a bit. when we looked at it month by month, we did find in february of 2018, there was a statistical excess, which could mean that the excess lives lost could have been occurring also into march, april, and may. so there could be still a few more that we were not able to account for. honestly, we thought we would have reached the end of it by going out that many months, but i think we didn't quite catch the very end of the tail, or if we did, we were just lucky. so at some point in time, i think it would be important to look at the later months. >> so you think the number could still go up? >> it could go up a bit. i think what's more important from the standpoint of the public's health is to understand more about the circumstances surrounding the deaths, so we can see, what can we do in the future to prevent these deaths?

just as in south carolina, we see people -- you know, counts of deaths today that result from trees falling on people and people drowning. those immediate, very direct causes of death. but when you have many people who are relocated from their housing, who are isolated, who are stranded, then other things can happen, such as the inability to obtain medical care when there's an emergency, people running out of their drugs, who have chronic diseases, perhaps unable to power up devices that they depend on at home for medical care. those kinds of deaths are harder to find, but i think that they are a very significant impact of these storms. and they harken things that we need to do in order to protect people when more of these storms arrive. >> that also gets to where some of the skepticism is. it goes to -- folks are kind of talking about direct and indirect deaths. what do you say to folks that are skeptical, though, that you don't have necessarily a death certificate for every person in

the count? >> well, actually, our study was based on death certificates. the problem is that, for example, one way that we know some people lost their lives after hurricane maria was through inability to -- in a prompt fashion, obtain medical care pep when roads are cut off, you call for -- you call 911, you call for emergency assistance and it takes hours and hours for that to come and your loved one dies. now, what weaphat we don't know because sometimes even under normal circumstances, people die in an ambulance on the way to the hospital and they're not able to save their lives. so it's very hard to say in which case if the ambulance came on time and in which they wouldn't have. but we just know that there were many, many, hundreds every month of excess deaths that were occurring. >> that shows something in your statistical analysis that was out of the norm. >> it does. >> thank you so much for coming in, lynn goldman. really appreciate it. >> thank you very much. "outfront" for us next, a

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the drama surrounding brett kavanaugh's nomination to the supreme court is drawing comparisons to a controversy that gripped the country more than 25 years ago. anita hill testified under oath that she suffered sexual harassment by then-nominee and now justice clarence thomas. tom foreman is "outfront". >> the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you god? >> reporter: two federal judges, conservative nominees for the supreme court. two women, reluctant witnesses from the men's past, accusing them of sexual misconduct. what else is similar? plenty. >> his conversations were very vivid. >> reporter: in 1991, when law professor anita hill said her boss, clarence thomas, sexually harassed her in the '80s, she offered details of routine

advances and lewd comments. >> he talked about pornographic materials, depicting individuals with large penises or large breasts involved in various sex acts. on several occasions, thomas told me graphically of his own sexual prowess. >> this is a circus. it's a natural disgrace. >> reporter: thomas forcefully denied it all. >> and from are my standpoint, as a black american, as far as i'm concerned, it is a high tech lynching for uppity blacks, who in any way deign to think for themselves, to do for themselves, to have different ideas. >> reporter: brett kavanaugh's accuser, professor christine blaz blasey ford is also laying out details, saying, at a high school party, kavanaugh pushed me into a bedroom, climbed on top of her and tried to disrobe me. and kavanaugh, just like thomas is saying, this is a completely false allegation.

i have never done anything like what the accuser describes. >> the day began with the roy moore revelation by kellyanne conway. it ends with charlie rose, accused of unwanted sexual advances towards women. >> accusations of sexual harassment against powerful movie producer harvey weinstein. >> reporter: so what's different? the times, above all else. on the roaring tide of the me too movement, many powerful men are being held accountable for alleged and in some cases, admitted sexual wrongs. an abc news/"washington post" poll earlier this year found 72% of americans feel sexual harassment is a big problem compared to 17% just before anita hill made her case. so hill is saying, kavanaugh's accuser can't be taken lightly. and this time, even some in the judge's corner agree. >> she should not be ignored. >> well, i covered anita hill, and there are a lot of similarities between then and now, kate, but what we don't

know if it will be slaimilar, clarence thomas by a very narrow vote was approved. we don't know if that will be the fate for brett kavanaugh. >> different allegations, and i have to say, a very different, though, political climate. if it could even get worse, it might be right now. thanks, tom. appreciate it. thanks for joining us. "a.c. 360" starts now. good evening. thanks for joining us. we begin tonight with what seemed to be all but a done deal, which is now anything but and the white house's response. a confirmation process for the president's supreme court nominee brett kavanaugh is in question tonight after details came to light about an alleged attack that a woman says haunted her for years. a professor in california, christine blasey ford, has gone public with the allegation that kavanaugh, when they were both teenagers, physically and l sexually assaulted her. her lawyer says she took and passed a lie detector test early in august, though obviously that's not admissible in court. kavanaugh says it's a completely false allegation, that it nev