the trained professionals with the expertise and experience of fbi agents. a person who is independent would want the fbi to investigate their claims and clear their name. judge kavanaugh refused to make that request. dr. blasey ford did so. the question is, what is he hiding and what is the administration concealing? why have we not received those millions of pages of documents that remain hidden? why has judge kavanaugh not taken a polygraph. he said they are not reliable and that the polygraph dr. ford subjected herself to was meaningless. she passed it. as a judge on the d.c. circuit, judge kavanaugh ruled that they

are, in fact, meaningful. he wrote "law enforcement agencies use polygraphs to test the credibility of witnesses and criminal defendants." refusing to take a polygraph, judge kavanaugh failed that test. he claimed that all four witnesses dr. blasey ford identified as being property at t the party said the sexual assault departmeidn't happen. the other three partygoers identified said they do not remember the incident. that is a big difference. do not recall is a different statement than it didn't happen. and the other woman dr. blasey ford named said she believes

dr. blasey ford's account. judge kavanaugh tried to give himself an alibi, making it sound like he didn't drink on week nights. his own high school calendar that he provided as evidence contradicts that statement. during the hearing in an exchange with my colleague, senator booker, admitted that one of the entries on his calendar from a thursday signified he went to a friend's house to drink. he said repeatedly he never in his life drank so much that he wouldn't remember. numerous people who spent considerable time with him during the hearing in high school, during his high school, college, and law school years confirmed that he frequently drank to excess and sometimes became belligerent. finally, judge kavanaugh claimed

he has always treated women with dignity and respect. his words. yet he and his high school friends named one of my constituents in their year book pages saying they were her alum ni us, reducing her to a sexual conquest. that is it no way to treat women with dignity and respect. in fact, she attested to the pain that it has caused her. he would have us believe that these brave, courageous sexual assault survivors came forward as part of a vast experience. how insuling to them to say they are pawns or puppets of us or anyone else.

in fact they are brave, courageo courageous, independent women who have stepped forward. so i want to say in conclusion to the men of america, for you, i hope this will be a teaching moment. not to denigrate anyone who has been a survivor who is a victim of sexual assault, but to lift them up. i want to enter into the record stories of a number of constituents of mine whose pain, sadness, shame, self doubt, guilt, fear are powerfully attested to in these statements. mr. chairman? >> without objection. so ordered. >> they are the heroes here.

dr. blasey ford is profound. i want to say to her sons, you should be proud of your mother. you should be proud of your mom. she is a profile in courage and her name will be in the history books long after ours are gone. she will be remembered as someone who stepped forward, truly to speak truth in power. we use that phrase a lot. she did it yesterday. i am proud to say that i believe dr. blasey ford and i hope that her two sons and her husband are as proud of her as we should be. thank you, mr. chairman. with that, i will oppose the

nominee and i will step out. >> we will stand at ease until the fall of the gavel. >> it's been an extremely explosive, very fiery hearing

that the snooe henate judiciary committee engaged in over the past three hours. the vote whether to confirm or reject the confirmation of the supreme court nominee brett kavanaugh was scaheduled for 1:30, but there are developments happening that looks like there is serious consultations. in the middle of your screen, chuck grassley and orrin hatch are discussing and waiting for some members to show up and they are waiting for a decision on who else will speak before the actual roll call in the judiciary committee. dana, what are you hearing? >> first off, this report that manu raju who is in the room saw with his own eyes which was after chris coons, a democrat of delaware gave a very em passimpd speech and the need for delay

and the need for the fact that the senate committee yesterday was a debacle from every side and after that happened, the -- as i'm speaking i'm looking at my e-mail to see because manu just sent something. after that speech that chris coons gave, he and and jeff flake, the republican from arizona who announced earlier today he was going to vote yes, they got up and they walked out and they started to have a discussion and they haven't come back since. they are having discussions to the side and this will be the back story of the two of them is they they are good friends. they traveled the world together and they are on the foreign relations me in. we don't know what they are discussing. what happens that he said about the plea to delay the vote,

senator klobuchar and another person whom jeff flake has a relationship with. we don't know the answer to that, but right now the vote is scheduled for 1:30, but there is still 20 minutes for that to change. >> he was in the senate judiciary committee hearing room. update us on the very latest. >> that's right. what was interesting late in the proceedings was senator jeff flake of arizona who said he would support this nomination earlier, especially giving the republicans the vote to advance abruptly got up late in the hearing and waived to his friend, the democrat who appealed to delay and coons raised significant concerns, collins and flake walked into the room outside of the hearing room. they appeared to have discussion. coons came back. he has more discussions on the

democratic side of the aisle with senator dianne feinstein. they were treated as well. it's unclear what any of this means. we expected flake to deliver remarks before this 1:30 vote announcing his support for brett kavanaugh, but we have known he has been under enormous pressure. protesters confronting him earlier today. he said himself he was deeply torn about whether or not to support kavanaugh. so whether there is a change of heart, we don't know, but it caught a lot of people by surprise in that hearing room. it has been an unpredictable confirmation process so far. we will see if there is another twist, but the moment they still feel they have the votes. at least to get a majority vote on the committee right now. the ultimate question on whether the two key republican swing votes come down, lisa murkowski and susan collins.

drama and surrounding jeff flake after he made the announcement to support, but disappeared before delivering remarks before the 1:30 vote. >> they are in recess right now, but waiting for the 1:30 scheduled vote. if jeff flake goes back into the hearing room, he could deliver remarks before the roll call, right? >> yeah, he certainly can. that was the expectation all along that he would. several democrats too were expected to deliver well own opposition remarks to the nomination, but because of how tense this has gone and how bitterly divided the panel is, several democrats walked out in disgust and refused to participate in proceedings. kamala harris and mazie hirono. that's why there is lag time before the set 1:30 vote.

jeff flake was expected to speak as well. nevertheless, this panel is bitterly, bitterly divided over this nomination. it has been hugely contentious and the key question, where do the moderate senators come down and does jeff flake have a change of heard. we don't have any indication that's the case yet, but curious him not delivering remarks announcing support after he put out a paper statement earlier today. >> after he voted to confirm judge kavanaugh, he was going towards an elevator. let me play the clip of what happened then. >> what you are doing is allowing someone who actually supreme court.an to sit on the - this is not tolerable. you have children in your family. think about them. i have two children. i cannot imagine that for the next 50 years, they will have to

have someone in the supreme court who has been accused of violating a young girl. what are you doing, sir? >> noble believes me. i didn't tell anyone and you are telling all women they don't matter and they should stay quiet because if they tell you what happened to them, you are going to ignore them. that's what happened to me and that's what you are telling all women. they don't matter and they should keep it to themselves because if they told the truth, they will help that man to power anyway. that's what you are telling all of these women and you are telling me right now. look at me. you are saying i don't matter. what happened to me doesn't matter and you will let people who do these things into power. that's what you are telling me when you vote for him. don't look away from me. look at me and tell me it doesn't matter what happened to me.

you let people like that go into the highest court in the land. you tell everyone. >> very powerful moment indeed. manu, what happened? he was obviously berated by these two women who were screaming at him. what happened to them? >> he came back and he was visibly shaken by that moment and by his decision to support the nomination. he said for days how difficult this was and how he was torn. that's what he said last night after the hearing. when he was in the hearing room, i was watching him and he was looking down and frowning a lot. he was not in a good mood at all and he left a couple of times and as i left for the extended president to wait for chris coops to have a discussion privately about what was perhaps going through his head. undoubtedly this had an impact

on him. there were protesters all throughout the halls of the senate office buildings. often times the republican senators are getting crowded at as they are walking from office to office. a level of anti-pathy for senators who are torn. republican and democratic senators uncertain how they may ultimately vote. we will see if there is change for jeff flake. we are not getting that indication, but we will see in a matter of minutes that the committee will vote on whether to send his nomination to the full senate. >> we will stay in close touch with you and thank you for your excellent reporting. we are watching very closely, the senate judiciary committee is in a temporary recess. let's listen in. they may be resuming this hearing. >> at 1:30, if there is a reason to change it, we will have to change it, but i'm not going to get into a discussion about that

right now. >> fair enough. >> this vote will still take place in about 14 minutes or so. 1:30 p.m. eastern. unless there is a change and that is clearly still very possible. i want to see what is going on right now because this could be a sensitive moment if there is going to be a change. i want to know that senator john cornyn of texas is the number two republican in the senate whispering something to chuck grassley. let's see for a quick second if he will continue or recess. let's take a quick break. our special coverage continues right after this. sooner or later, we all sign up for medicare.

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the senate judiciary committee in a brief recess, awaiting the return of senator jeff flake who announced as the hearing was getting under way he would vote in favor of judge brett kavanaugh, but there have been deliberations outside and he has been meeting with senator coons among others. the senator who is a close friend of his, clearly upset about senator flake's decision. they are supposed to vote in about nine minutes. there you see on the right part of your screen, chuck grassley is the chairman of the judiciary committee. he is having a conversation with dianne feinstein, the ranking

democrat on the committee. i want to go to jim acosta who is getting reaction over there at the white house. what are you hearing, jim? >> reporter: wolf, they have been clear about this all morning. they are not sure if they have the votes. they were breathing a sigh of relief after judge kavanaugh's performance, but to have all of this writing on jeff flake at the moment, wolf, is very interesting. in part because jeff flake and president trump have been at odds, putting it mildly, for sometime. senator flake has given several speeches and he has one coming up next week where he has gone after the president and the president has gone after jeff flake on twitter and so on. it reminds you of when the president was sparring with john mccain and john mccain at that very dramatic moment gave a thumbs down to republican efforts to repeal obamacare. a lot of writing on what jeff flake does. he announced from what we

understand that he will be supporting judge kavanaugh and i will tell you one of the deputy press secretaries was straight forward with cnn earlier this morning when he said they aren't really sure how this is going to go. they think it's going to happen, but they know it's going to be close. here's what he had to say. >> the white house is pretty engaged with a number of senators and both parties like you can figure out who they are in trying to secure their votes. >> is president bush helping in that effort? there is a report he has been calling them? >> i would refer questions to had be president bush's office. he talked to him yesterday. >> now, wolf, another interesting thing we should note

with joe manchin who is up for reelection in the fall, he is a senator sitting on the fence. he had a better relationship with president trump. it might be interesting to see if joe manchin is the who bails out the nomination for the republicans while he is facing a tough reelection in west virginia. president trump is expected to be available for questions in about an hour or so. less than an hour when he meets with the president of chile in the oval office that has been opened up to cameras and reporters. we may get a chance to ask the president about all of this. he tweeted that he is ready to see a vote and so did the vice president. we haven't had a chance to ask the vice president any questions in terms of how he feels this testimony went yesterday in terms of how dr. ford handled herself in front of that committee. there are a lot of people on both sides. republican and democrat, who feel very badly about what

happened to christine blasey ford. we have not heard from the president. there is a chance he could change his mind when it comes to christine blasey ford. he seemed to put that to rest last night. he thought that judge kavanaugh handled himself well. there was almost cheering at the white house at the supreme court nominee's bombastic performance at the senate judiciary committee. at this point, wolf, i think one of the very interesting things to watch is how jeff flake is going to respond to all of this and what he is going to say in the next several moments. he has been sort of on the fence in all of this and had a dramatic encounter in the elevators earlier this morning over in the senate. also exactly what the president has to say about this. they may decide over here to keep the president restrained. he may keep himself restrain and not say anything. it is a delicate moment for the process. >> the roll call is about to begin in the senate judiciary

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we're not just fighting cancer. we're outsmarting it. visit cancercenter.com. appointments available now. very sensitive moment developing right now at the senate judiciary committee. the chairman chuck grassley will have a roll call among the 21 members, 11 republicans and 10 democrats who will decide on the committee basis the fate of the supreme court justice, brett kavanaugh. we will have live coverage of that coming up. as we watch this, this is an extremely sensitive moment. anticipating that jeff flake who was on the fence earlier announced he would vote in favor of confirming brett kavanaugh on the supreme court. he was expected to speak. we were expecting to hear him before the roll call and he walked out and met with a good friend of his, senator chris coons. apparently he has not come back

into the room yet. we may still hear from him i assume before the vote. >> i will defer to my colleague because she has done reporting on this. then i will talk. >> my understanding is that the discussions are still going on. >> the discussions? >> the discussions going on as we speak with jeff flake and the republican who again said he would vote yes and got up after chris coops, a democrat spoke, and they haven't come out since. the discussions between the two of them and perhaps more. and going to the negotiators are ongoing and active. that's what i'm told and i don't know anything more than that. the fact that there are active discussions going on and it's literally 30 seconds until the time that this vote is supposed to take place is obviously -- it tells you how much drama there

is no. unclear if they get to whatever point these discussions are heading. will they get to a delay in the vote. will they get to more dramatic when jeff flake said how he would vote. it is literally happening behind the scenes. >> i think delay would be the most like lly way they could pu pressure on flake. delay is to put pressure on flake, but to ask him to change his vote would be unlikely, but there will be support from senator collins who said mark judge needs to be interviewed by the fbi investigators and maybe for murkowski or manchin. chuck grassley, his face is priceless because we are not sure. >> time has been of the essence for chairman grassley and the white house. they put this on a fast track at

every moment and to delay now will represent a very serious set back. >> and there is senator coons, but you see leahy and whitehouse and ben sasse. >> he is reporting back to the ranking democrat. >> he is reporting to dianne feinstein, the tom democrat on the senate judiciary committee. after his conversation with senator flake in a separate room outside the committee. as far as i know, senator flake has not yet returned. i assume once he returns and briefs the chairman and lets him know where he stands, he announced he will vote in favor of the confirmation and gloria, let's be precise. there are 11 republicans on the committee and 10 democrats. if flake doesn't change his mind and i don't think he will, it would be 11 republicans in favor and 10 democrats oppose and it

would go to the full senate for consideration and there presumably would be a procedural vote as early as tomorrow morning. >> for he voted no for the purposes of a delay, wouldn't that change everything? >> if he's about to change his mind, they would postpone this. they are not going to want to send it to the floor. >> could he say i would still vote for kavanaugh, but i believe there should be more investigation and therefore i vote no. i guess grassley can send it to the floor if it's a tie. >> they don't need the committee vote. that, for example, with clarence thomas, it was a split vote for approval to get to the floor. there are various ways, but senator flake is crucial to the overall final vote, too. if he is suddenly saying either

no or postpone, that is a momentous development. >> there is 51 republicans in the u.s. senate. 49 democrats and two are independents. they caucus with the democrats. now flake decided he is going to vote in the favor of the nomination to moderate democrats who are up for reelection in the states. john tester of montana said they would vote against this candidate for the supreme court. looks like they are walking out right now. at least some of them. >> caucusing. >> it was supposed to begin some three minutes ago clearly is not going to happen at 1:30. they are now moving out and talking amongst themselves they have deliberations. the commentator and former white house director of legislative

affairs, i have no idea. you have inside information, but go ahead and tell us what you know. >> i think it's what you reported, wolf. all eyes are on flake. when you have such a narrow majority that every member has enormous leverage to slow down the process. when we talk about how much this process is rushed is the commentary and think it's important to note that sotomayor got confirmed from the day she was announced. gorsuch, 66 days. ruth bader ginsburg is 32 days. this has gone well past that. it's because of the new allegations, but the allegations came forward in july that the senate democrats held on to until september. i have a concern about people continuing to say this is being rushed when it's taken more time than some of the most recent confirmations. >> what would be the big deal if they waited a week. one week and let the fbi

question the so-called witnesses and report back to the senate judiciary committee. another week is not going to make much of a difference in terms of the history of the u.s. supreme court. >> foots fathat's fair, wolf, bs a motivation for people who want to come forward with unsubstantiated motivations. that's a valid concern. when you have gone through six different background checks, going back to your 20s, if anyone has gone through this investigation, they ask your neighbors where you grew up. families you lived with and were part of and can ask what was this person like growing up and did you ever encounter problems? the fact that brett kavanaugh has 30 years of public service and all sorts of public records and six different background checks that are clear adds weight to the notion that it's time to move this forward.

>> there you see senator dianne feinstein, the top democrat and amy klobuchar, another member is doing huddling outside this room. orrin hatch, you covered congress for a long time. it looks like something potentially significant is unfolding behind the scenes right now. this vote has been delayed. maybe chuck grassley is now about to sit back down. he was just outside. let's see if he says anything. but go ahead. >> i'm told there are active discussions going on. unclear what will happen. it is clearly dramatic from a source who is familiar with what's going on as we speak. we don't know what the discussions are about and what they are trying to get towards. when i say they, those clearly talking to jeff flake figuring out how to move him from his stated position that he put out in a very official way in a press release saying he would

not -- excuse me, that he would confirm judge kavanaugh. he said i will vote to confirm judge kavanaugh. it's clear that there was no wiggle room there in that statement, but things have changed. you can see it on the faces of the republicans who want to get this vote done quickly. they are not very happy. it's understandable given the position they have taken. >> can i remind you when this vote was scheduled? it was scheduled before the hearing occurred. the chairman of the committee just walked out. is he back? >> he is walking back in. >> i want to respond about the numbers. that's correct, but in terms of the process for this individual candidate, they held the hearings before the national archives was able to go through the records and again, with this vote scheduled before they had

the hearing yesterday. that's what i mean by time has been of the essence for the white house and they have not wanted to pause for better or for worse. that's the consequence that we are seeing here. jeff flake came out with a statement a couple hours ago and right after he came out with that statement, he is cornered at the elevator. we have seen it play out. we are all aware of the context not just with christine blasey ford's context, but what this represents for women's rights and important social issues at the supreme court which is a backdrop to all of this. there is so much more drama not just in this crucial moment at eight minutes past when they were going to hold the vote, but for the life team seat on the supreme court. >> we have seen delays plenty of times in senate committees. that occurs all the time. what is different about this is

you have members on one side sitting with their hands crossed with glum faces looking as the democrats have clearly left the room, caucusing about something quite urgent, it would seem. >> i want to go to lauren fox, a reporter on capitol hill. what are you hearing? >> reporter: there were widespread protests across capitol hill and at the supreme court this morning. i was at one of the protests. it was energized. folks were sitting on the floor, chanting that november is coming. they were blowing whistles so loudly that capitol police were going one by one and taking the whistles out of their hands. that is the kind of energy on capitol hill today. there is so much pressure. gloria talked about that moment with jeff flake earlier. i think that was such a pertinent moment. it has something to do with what we may be seeing in the senate

judiciary committee room. it is a powerful time. i talked to a group of about two dozen women who got on a bus in portland, maine and came all the way to washington, d.c. and got in at 7:00 a.m. this morning. had a meeting in susan collins's office and five were escorted to the capital to meet with susan collins to tell her their stories. obviously a powerful moment. for senators on the fence. they were hearing from skwents and he and sometimes loudly as we saw with the protesters. obviously so much energy and so much passion as liberals and people who are part of the democratic base are urging senators not to support brett kavanaugh and not to vote for him and alou his nomination to move forward, wolf? >> they are still deliberating behind closed doors outside the senate judiciary committee. looks like some of the members are leaving and they were supposed to vote about 10

minutes or so ago. clearly there is some disruption and a plan that the republican majority clearly wanted. the schedule that mitch mcconnell, the senate majority leader wanted to pass it at 11-10 this morning. it's now the afternoon. for there to be an important procedural vote setting the stage early next week for a final roll call for all 100 members of the senate. >> that's exactly right. the strategy has been frankly to jam this. which is why you have seen so many democrats understandably up in arms. never mind even if this -- i know mark short said this is keeping with other nominees, but given the situation that they are in right now and given the calendar we are seeing with the

mid-term elections in less than six weeks, time is of the essence for the majority to get this done sooner rather than later. the fact that there is a question mark right now about what is going on, even though an hour ago the votes were there. in a very public way. all the 11 republicans said we are going to vote yes. >> flake did not speak. >> flake had not spoken, but put out a written statement saying that. we don't know. >> we don't know. it's very, very dramatic and manu is hearing from sources and i too am hearing that these are active discussions with jeff flake. we don't know what form or shape or tone or tenor those active discussions are. we are just going to keep watching and waiting and trying to get it from our sources. it seems to be second by second, minute by minute developing situation. >> you can see the anguish the

republicans -- you see orrin hatch and the chairman are not pleased there is a set back to their plan. chuck grassley having covered him for many years. when he said 1:30 there will be a roll call and the hearing will start at 9:30 or 10:00 a.m., he is very, very precise. he is not happy about this nearly 15 minute delay right now. clearly he doesn't have a lot of choice. phil matingly is on capitol hill. what are you hearing? >> reporter: how few people have any idea what's going on. it's usually pretty easy to find out what's happening or get a degree of the sense of things. staff from the leadership level on down is out of the loop. here's what we know. i have been hearing this from sources. these discussions do involve jeff flake who walked out of the hearing room about an hour ago or so now with chris coons. all of the democrats had gone

back to have discussions as well. at one point, the chief nominations counsel for senator chuck grassley went up and got him and brought him back as well. the conversation are ongoing. what they entail, we are not sure right now. i think dana makes the key point that before this started, jeff flake put out a statement. that is concrete. that's what i have been hearing from the republicans. what is it going on here. he put out a statement that he walked into the room. at some point during the course of events, something came up. he left the room. we have seen people filing back and sdpoerth loforth and looked that he ended up leaving the room and coming back into the hearing room. what we know is jeff flake is involved in discussions. democratic senators have been filing back and forth and republican senators have been filing back and forth as well. the chairman has gone back a couple of times as well and the key staff is there. something is happening.

we don't know what it is or what will result, but the fact that the conversations are happening at all and he was so trouble and torn about this nomination for the last couple of days, it shows you that something is clearly happening right now. wolf? >> stand by, phil. dana is getting information from her sources. >> i am told by a source familiar with what is going is that there are serious conversations under way about how and weather a brief additional investigation could be done by the fbi and a vote to be delayed by no more than one week. those are the discussions that are going on right now behind the scenes with jeff flake and others. conversations about a potential fbi investigation and the democrats have been screaming from the roof tops that they need and wanted and think they

need and deserve and the parameters are unclear if the democrats will get there. here's jeff flake. we will know the answer shortly. >> the democratic senators are walk being back. you see senator dianne feinstein, the ranking democrat. jeff flake will go to his seat and see if he makes a statement and delivers a speech before the roll call, if there is going to be a roll call. let's see if there is a delay in all of this. chuck grassley heading back presumably as well and see figure he gavels the suession back into order. dramatic developments are unfolding. as we watch this unfold, what you said the discussions for a week delay, let the fbi do some background checking, that's what the democrats have been asking for for days and days and the republicans rejected that.

you heard mitch mcconnell reject it and chuck grassley reject and the senior leadership, john cornyn all rejecting it. the only reason they may be open to it is if they don't have the 50 votes. >> it's all about math. >> susan col ups and lisa murkowski are two key republicans that are undecided. >> say they call murkowski or collins or whatever it is and say look, you have to get it out of committee. that's the first step. if they say to murkowski and collins, we are proposing this, are you with us? that makes it more muscular. they are very important. joe manchin, for example to see if they are on board with this. senator murkowski really wanted a short delay.

>> let's go back to manu. >> the discussions, wolf, are happening in the door next to where the hearing is taking place. multiple members have been shoveling back and forth between the hearing room and the holding room to have discussions with jeff flake. when jeff flake emerged moments ago, it was the first time we had gone on in more than an hour. he has been after he made remarks and went over to him and gestured him to go to the back of the room. coop his multiple discussions with dianne feinstein, the ranking democrat and had discussions with chuck grassley

about where they could delay the vote is very serious right now. it's happening and the chairman has been making remarks momentarily and we may get a sense of what is happening. it was supposed to happen at 1:30 and clearly something very significant has come up about delaying the vote and the concerns jeff flake has had. privately and publicly, we will see if the republicans agree to do that or if flake holds the support right now. a lot of drama and a lot of uncertainty. it's very tense. >> it >> hold on. let's listen in. i think he's about to begin. >> i recessed the meeting until the fall of the gavel. we're going to take action with

a motion that's before us. we got to make sure that we have a quorum.

>> as a point of personal privilege, i'm going to call on senator flake to speak. normally we would start the vote right now. but as a point of personal privilege, i would call on senator flake. >> thank you. i have been speaking with a number of people on the other side. we had conversations ongoing for a while with regard to making sure that we do due diligence here, and i think it would be proper to delay the floor vote for up to but not more than one week in order to let the fbi continue to do an investigation, limited in time and scope to the current allegations that are there and limit in time to no more than one week. and i will vote to advance the bill to the floor with that understanding. and i've spoken to a few other

members who on my side of the aisle that may be supportive as well, but that's my position. i think that we ought to do what we can to make sure that we do all due diligence with a nomination this important. and i want to say that this committee has acted properly, and the chairman has bent over backwards to do investigations from this committee and to delay this vote in this committee for a week so that judge -- or so that miss ford, dr. ford, could be heard and she was yesterday. so that's with that agreement i will vote to advance the bill to the floor. >> call roll. >> wait just one second. can dianne speak. >> we are voting on the motion to report the nomination to the

floor. the clerk will call the roll. >> aye -- >> wait, that's not my understanding of what -- mr. chairman, let the senator explain it. >> my understanding and the democrats can speak to it, if chris or you as we talked about before, that the democrats would accept and endorse a one-week fbi investigation limited in time and scope. >> that is correct. >> since you're the deciding vote here, we'll vote and then if there's any sort of discussion, we'll go do that after the vote. call the roll. >> mr. graham. >> aye. >> mr. cornyn. >> aye. >> mr. lee. >> aye. >> mr. cruz. >> aye. >> mr. flake. >> aye. >> mr. tillis. >> aye. >> mr. kennedy. >> aye. >> ms. feinstein. >> on the nominee, no.

>> mr. leahy. >> on the nominee, no. >> mr. dartmouth, no. >> mrs. hirono. >> no. >> mr. booker. >> no. >> mr. chairman. >> aye. >> mr. chairman, may i be recognized? >> yes. >> i just want to thank my friend and colleague senator flake and thank you for giving us the time today to have a conversation. a number of my colleagues have asked for a one-week delay in order that there might be an fbi investigation of what allegations are currently before this committee. i respect senator flake's view in his opinion it was best to respect your having given dr. ford the time to be heard yesterday and advance the nominee to the floor, but it is my hope that we could work together on a bipartisan basis

to diligently pursue an fbi investigation within the next week, not for the purpose of delay but for the purpose of investigating further either allegations made by dr. ford or others with a goal towards demonstrating a bipartisan commitment to diligently investigating these allegations. thank you, mr. chairman. thank you, senator flake. >> senator feinstein. >> thank you. i would support that motion. i sort of misunderstood, senator flake, what you were doing. i thought it included a one-week investigation. so i would like to support the motion for that investigation. >> mr. chairman? >> we'll take turns here. senator. >> i love this committee but we're not the majority leader. senator flake has made clear what it would take him to be comfortable on a final passage vote. it doesn't matter what we say here. this will be up to senator

schumer and senator mcconnell. >> it is completely up to them. >> he's made himself very clear and let's move. >> senator leahy. senator leahy. >> i want to make sure because this is somewhat unprecedented. when i do agree with the senator from arizona that we should have this further investigation. so my understanding is that during the week that that is taking place, there will be no action on the floor of the united states senate on this nomination. is that correct? >> i cannot say that. >> let me say again, i can't make that commitment for the leadership. i can only say that i would be only comfortable moving forward on the floor or move it out of committee, but i would only be comfortable moving on the floor until the fbi 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. >> 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. senator. >> mr. chairman. >> senator klobuchar. >> mr. chairman, there are other senators as well who may be interested in this negotiation on the republican side, and there's not really a set agreement here. all of us had 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. and i really appreciate his willingness to do that. and that is what this is about.

this is simply about -- and, by the way, if senator mcconnell wants to go forward in light of that and we still have several senators that haven't said how they're voting on this nominee, i actually think this is very important what just happened right now. so it doesn't have to have an agreement. it is one senator who is standing up. >> senator. >> mr. chairman, i just want to express my appreciation to senator florida for allowing this process to move forward. there's some difference of opinion among us as to what exactly the fbi investigation would consist of. some of us think it has been concluded and supplemented by this committee's investigation, others disagree with that. but i respect the fact that not only senator flake advocated to give dr. ford a chance to appear in front of the committee, which was the right thing to do, but also that he's allowed this process to move forward subject to further discussions about what the fbi may or may not be able to come up with.

but certainly he maintains his right to cast his vote as he sees fit and maintains significant leverage that way. but i appreciate his support for a full and fair hearing for dr. ford and judge kavanaugh, as well as his willingness to allow this to go forward subject to his request. >> mr. chairman. >> senator blume nthal. >> if i could ask a question of senator flake through the chair. does your amendment include continuing the investigation during this period of time? >> if i could respond, there is no amendment. i'm simply stating the discuss that we had between us all is that i would hope and i think we had some agreement before that the democrats who have been i think justifiably uncomfortable moving ahead could publicly in

an effort to bring this country together say that we would feel better. i'm not expecting them to vote yes but not to complain that an fbi investigation has not occurred. this is what i'm trying to do. this country is being ripped apart here. we've got to make sure that we do due diligence. i think this committee has done a good job but i do think that we can have a short pause and make sure that the fbi can investigate. my understanding is that some of us would have to and i'm prepared to do it, make a request to the white house to ask the fbi to do that investigation. it would be short and limited in scope to the current allegations that have been made. but i would just encourage the democrats who we talked to before to endorse that kind of thing, that we can then