live pictures inside the senate judiciary committee, and one of the members, chris coons speaking to reporters now. >> three different people who i know have reached out from delaware who shared with me their stories of surviving sexual assault. a high school classmate, someone else who's known to me from home and someone i have known a long time. and i have heard from other senators this is also happening to their offices and to them personally. so first, it is striking how many survivors of sexual assault are watching and are choosing this moment to come forward with their accounts. and i think that speaks to what a public service is being done here by having a measured and a respectful hearing of dr. ford's allegations. >> these people have called you today? >> literally right after i

finished my testimony, someone i knew from high school. and earlier today, during the testimony from someone who i have spoken about on the floor before, because she barely survived cancer and the affordable care act got her treatment that helped save her life. so i have talked about that. >> we will hear from patrick leahy democrat from minnesota. >> two other women have come forth, you've got the key witness who was there. why haven't they asked the fbi to go out and investigate this? instead they're trying to rush it through and when you rush something like that, what are you trying to hide? >> what do you make of the questioning from the republicans' prosecutor? what do you think of the tone and things like that? >> she's very professional. you have to ask the question, why don't they ask their own questions. >> yeah. i think that they look muted, they're sitting there, they look

like they want to respond, but they have made a decision to not really do their constitutional duty and participate in this hearing. that's their choice, but i think the big lesson that came out of this, is that this woman is extraordinary, she's calm, and she's honest. and i think that's what our colleagues on the other side of the aisle are seeing today. >> she's doing the job they asked her to do. >> what do you think about judge kavanagh? >> we can't wait. >> two members of the senate judiciary committee, the former chair, pat leahy, democrat from

vermont and senat vermont. there are ten democratic senators. in a half-hour votes as we continue here on c-span 3. we'll continue to have the video posted on our website at c-span.org. but right now, the opening statement earlier today. the hearing began shortly after 10:00 and christine ford speaking just before 11:00. here it is in its entirety. >> do you swear that the testimony you're about to give before this committee this be will be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you god? thank you very much. please be seated. before you give your statement, i want to say that to everybody that she has asked for any time you ask for a break, you get a

break. and any time there's something that you need you don't have, just ask us. and you can have as much time for your opening statement as you want. just let us know if there's any issues. proceed please. >>. >> thank you, senator grassley. i think after i read my opening statement i anticipate needing some caffeine is that is available. >> can you pull the microphone just a little bit closer to you, please? can the whole box go a little further. >> i'm trying, senator, no. >> i'll lean forward. >> thank you. >> is this good? >> yeah. >> okay. thank you, chairman grassley and ranking member feinstein, members of the committee. my us name is christine ford and

i'm a professor of psychology at palo alto university and research psychologist at the stanford university school of medicine. i won't detail my educational background since this has already been summarized. i have been married to russell ford since 2002. we have two children. i am here today not because i want to be. i'm terrified. i'm here because i believe it is my civic duty to tell you what happened to me while brett kavanaugh and i were in high school. i have described the events publicly before. i summarized them in my letter to ranking member feinstein and again in a letter to chairman grassley. i understand what happened to me and the impact that it has had on my life and my family. i grew up in the suburbs of washington, d.c. i attended the school in

bethesda, maryland, from 1978 to 1984. it's an all girls school that opened in 1901. girls frequently met and became friend ly with boys from all bos schools in the area including the landon school, georgetown prep, gonzales sa ga high school. this is how i met brett kavanaugh, the boy sexually assaulted me. during my freshman and sophomore school years when i was 14 and 15 years old, by group of friends intersected with brett and his friends for a short period of time. i had been friendly with a classmate of brett's for a short time that i attended a number of parties that brett also

attended. et we did not know each other well, but i knew him and he knew me. in the summer of 1982 swimming and practicing dyeing. one evening that summer after a day of diving at the club, i attended a small gathering at a house in the bethesda area. there were four boys i remember specifically being at the house. brett kavanaugh, mark judge, a boy named pj and one other boy whose name i cannot recall. it was a spur of the moment gathering. i truly wish i could be more helpful with more detailed

answers to all of of the questions that have and will be asked about how i got to the party and where it took place and so forth. i don't have all the answers and i don't remember as much as i would like to, but the details about that night that bring me here today are the ones i will never forget. they have bye-bye sered into my memory and haunted me as an adult. when i got to the small gathering, people were drinking beer in a small living room/family room-type area on the first floor of the house. i drank one beer. brett and mark were visibly drunk. early in the evening i went up a very narrow set of stairs leading from the living room to a second floor to use the restroom. when i got to the top of the stairs, i was pushed from behind into a bedroom across from the bathroom.

i couldn't see who pushed me. brett and mark came into the bedroom and locked the door behind them. there was music playing in the bedroom. it was turned up louder by either brett or mark once we were in the room. i was pushed on to the bed and brett got on top of me. he began running his hands over my body and grinding into me. i yelled hoping that someone downstairs might hear me. and i tried to get away from him but his weight was heavy. brett groped me and tried to take off my clothes. he had a hard time because he was very inebriated and because i was wearing a one-piece bathing suit underneath my clothing. i believed he was going to rape me. i tried to yell for help. when i did, brett put his hand over my mouth to stop me from yelling. this is what terrified me the

most and had the most lasting impact on my life. it was hard for me to breathe and i thought that brett was accidentally going to kill me. both brett and mark were drunkenly laughing during the attack. they seemed to be having a very good time. mark seemed ambivalent at times urging brett on and at times telling him to stop. a couple of times i made eye contact with mark and thought he might try to help me, but he did not. during this assault mark came over and jumped on the bed twice while brett was on top of me. and the last time that he did this we toppled over and brett was no longer on top of me. i was able to get up and run out of the room. directly across from the bedroom was a small bathroom. i ran inside of the bathroom and

locked the door. i waited until i heard brett and mark leave the bedroom laughing and loudly walk down the narrow stairway, pin bawling off the walls on the way down. i waited and when i did not hear them come back up the stairs, i left the bathroom, went down the same stairwell, through the living room, and left the house. i remember being on the street and feeling enormous sense of relief that i had escaped that house and that brett and mark were not coming outside after me. >> brett's assault on me drastically altered my life. i was too afraid and ashamed to tell anyone these details. i did not want to tell my parents that i at age 15 was in a house without any parents present i convinced myself

because brett did not rape me i should just move on and just pretent it didn't happen. over the years i told few friends that i had this traumatic experience. i told my husband before we were married that i experienced a sexual assault. i had never told the details to anyone the specific details until may 2012 during a couples counselling session. the reason this came up in counselling and that my husband and i had completed a very extensive, very long remodel of our home and i insisted on a second front door, an idea that he and others disagreed with and could not understand. in explaining why, i wanted a second a front door, i began to drab the assault in detail. i recall saying that the boy who assaulted me could some day be

on the u.s. supreme court and spoke a bit about his background at an et elitist all boys school in bethesda, maryland. my husband recalls that i named my attacker as brett kavanaugh. after that may 2012 therapy session, i did my best to ignore the memories of the assault because recounting them caused me to relive the experience and cause panic and anxiety. occasionally, i would discuss the assault in an individual therapy session but talking about it caused more reliving of the trauma, so i tried not to think object it or discuss it. but over the years, i went through periods where i thought about the attack. i confided in some close friends that i had an experience with the sexual assault. occasionally stated that he was a prominent lawyer or judge but did not use his name.

i do not recall each person i spoke to about the assault and some friends have reminded me of these conversations since the publication of the "washington post" story on september 16th, 2018. but until july 2018, i had never named mr. kavanaugh as my attacker outside of therapy. this changed in early july 2018. us saw press reports stating that brett kavanaugh was on the short list of a list of very well qualified supreme court nominees. i thought it was my civic duty to relay the information about his conduct so that those considering his nomination would know about this assault.

i called my representative and let her receptionist know that someone on the president's short list had attacked me. i also sent a message to the inen crypted "washington post" confidential tip line. i did not kwluz my name but provided the names of brett kavanaugh and mark judge. i stated that mr. kavanaugh had assaulted me in the 1980s in maryland. this was an extremely hard thing for me to do, but i felt that i couldn't not do it. over the next two days, i told a couple of close friends on the beach in california that mr. kavanaugh had sexually assaulted me. i was very conflicted as to whether to speak out. on july 9th, i received a return phone call from the office of

congresswoman anna eshew after mr. kavanaugh had become the nominee. i met with her staff on july 18th and with her on july 20th describing the assault and discussing my fears about coming forward. later we discussed the possibility of sending a letter to ranking member feinstein who is one of my state senators describing what occurred. my understanding is that representative eshew's office delivered a copy of my letter to senator feinstein's office on july 30th. the letter included my name, but also a request that it be kept confidential. my hope was that providing the information confidentially would be sufficient to allow the senate to consider mr. kavanaugh's serious misconduct without having to make myself, my family, or anyone's family vulnerable to the personal attacks and invasions of privacy that we have faced since my name became public. in a letter cated august 31st, senator feinstein said she would not share the letter without my explicit consent and i appreciated this commitment. sexual assault victims should be able to decide for themselves when and whether their private experience is made public.

as the hearing date got closer, i struggled with a terrible choice, do i share the facts with the senate and put myself and my family in the public spotlight or do i preserve our privacy and allow the senate to make its decision without knowing the full truth of his past behaviors. i agonized daily with this decision throughout august and september of 2018. the sense of duty that originally motivated me to reach out confidentially to "the washington post" and to anna

eshew's off when still a list of extremely qualified candidates and to senator feinstein was always there. but my fears of the consequences of speaking out started to exponentially increase. during august 2018, the press reported that mr. kavanaugh's confirmation was virtually certain. the persons painted him as a champion of women's rights and empowerment. i believed that if i came forward, my single voice would be drowned out by a chorus of powerful supporters. by the time of the confirmation hearings, i had resigned myself to remaining quiet and letting the committee and the senate make their decision without knowing what mr. kavanaugh had done to me. once the press started reporting on the existence of the letter i had sent to senator feinstein i

faced mounting pressure. reporters appeared at my home and at my workplace demanding information about the letter in the presence of my graduate students. they called my bosses and co-workers and left me many messages making it clear that my name would inevitably be released to the media. i decided to speak out publicly to a journalist who had originally responded to the tip i had sent to "the washington post" and who had gained my trust. it was important for me to describe the details of the assault in my own words. since september 16th, the date of "the washington post" story, i have experienced an outpouring of support from people in every state of this country. thousands and thousands of people who have had their lives dramatically altered by sexual violence have reached out to share their experience and have thanked me for coming forward. we have received tremendous support from our friends and our

community. at the same time, my greatest fears have been realized and the reality has been far worse than what i expected. my family and i have been the target of constant harassment and death threats and i have been called the most vile and hateful names imaginable. these messages well far fewer than the expressions of support, have been terrifying and have rocked me to my core. people have posted my personal information and that of my parents on-line on the internet. this has resulted in additional e-mail, calls and threats. my family and i were forced to move out of our home. since september 16th, my family and i have been visiting in various secure locales at times separated and at times together, with the help of security guards. this past tuesday evening, my

work e-mail was hacked and messages were sent out trying to recant my description of the sexual assault. apart from the assault itself, these past couple of weeks have been the hardest of my life. i have seen my life picked apart by people on television, on twitter, other social media i have been accused of acting out of partisan political motives. those who say that do not know me, i am an independent person and i'm no one's pawn. my motivation in coming forward was to be helpful and to provide facts about how mr. kavanaugh's actions have damaged my life so that you could take into a serious consideration as you make your decision about how to

proceed. it is not my responsibility to determine whether mr. kavanaugh deserves to sit on the supreme court. my responsibility is to tell you the truth. i understand that a professional prosecutor has been hired to ask me questions and i'm committed to doing my very best to answer them. i have never been questioned by a prosecutor and i us will do any best. because the committee members will be judging credibility, i hope to engage direct ly with each of you. i lo will do my best o to answer requester questions. >> the opening statement by dr. ford as the senate committee continues. a lunch break recess with also votes now live on c-span 2. let's recap where we are now.

just past 1:00 in the east coast time. we need to hear from six senators. three of those republican senators are seating the time to attorney rachel mitchell, who is questioning dr. ford on behalf of the 11 republicans on the committee. on the democratic side, we still need to hear from democrat of hawaii, kocory booker of new jersey and the senator from harris, who her herself is an attorney and prosecutor. we want to open our phone lines and et show you the scene around capitol hill. this is an anti-brett kavanaugh rally take place on capitol hill. there's also a pro brett kavanaugh rally. we'll show that to you as well. but as we look at that scene and also look at the scene inside 226 of the office building, let's hear from you. on the republican line from california, sherri, you're next. >> caller: hello. >> go ahead, what do you think so far? >> caller: what i think is that

when i was 17, i was attacked by three men. they tried to sexually assault me. they broke me, they slugged me in the chest so hard i couldn't breathe and i thought i was going to be raped. however, a passing motorist on a deserted road came around the corner, jumped out of his truck and started running. he got ahold of one of them and then all three eventually were prosecuted. >> how old were you at the time? >> caller: all i felt was relief because i wasn't raped. there was three guys grabbing at me and trying to throw me to the ground. and all i could feel was relief. had i been raped, i don't know how i would have felt. i think it would have been totally different thing. >> how old were you at the time?

>> caller: i was 1. >> how old are you now? >> caller: i'm 65. >> i ask you that because as you heard the opening statement and the questions to dr. ford, does she seem credible? >> caller: no, because right now i can talk about it. it doesn't bother me because i didn't get to go through with what they were planning to do. it's a relief when you're saved. and i felt like i was saved even though what they had done to me prior to that they were attacking me, her like she's going to cry after 36 years is just unbelievable. she keeps saying sexually assaulted. they laid on her and groped at her, that's horrible. but she didn't get raped or further stuff done, but she talks like she was raped. and when the one senator was talking, he kept saying rape. and i'm saying was she raped or

not. and apparently, she wasn't. i don't understand why she's trying now like it was -- it's a horrible thing to be attacked by anybody, but you get over it. especially you feel so good that it didn't go any further. you didn't die and you weren't raped. >> sherri from california, thank you for the call. we know the president is watching the hearing. he's at the white house returning from new york rlier today. at this hour we're told he's in the residence and we also know from a statement from the white house press secretary that that scheduled meeting with rod rosenstein and the president has been postponed. in a statement saying in light of the hearing today, we will meet next week. so no announcement on that front. the focus is all inside the office building and the hearing will continue this afternoon. we also know that judge brett kavanaugh is on capitol hill. he will is have an opening statement later this afternoon live here on c-span.

independent line from minnesota, what do you think so far? what have you heard? >> caller: thank you for taking my call. i have lost all respect for the chair senator grassley and his ability to conduct fair and just proceedings. by disallowing fbi interviews, those who collaborate the truth of dr. ford's testimony, or to disavow it, the committee and probably the president are acting in unconstitutional manner. the supreme court position is very important for our children and our democracy and however, the president is behaving like an autocrat. this committee is kowtowing to him. et think we should be et embarrassed and we are challenged to hope for a constitutional democracy where

people are listened to and proper procedures occur. >> thanks for the call. in case you missed any of the hearing, all of it available on our website and reairing tonight in prime time. 8:00 eastern. from chicago, democrats line, jessica, you're next. >> caller: i just wanted to talk a bit about what i have been personally experiencing and what i have heard both from a lot of women i know and online through social immediamedia. that is that we find dr. ford very credible because of how familiar her experience is. but also how her experience of recalling it and her experience of having difficulty sharing it with other people. >> jessica, what is your story?

>> caller: i was sexually assaulted when i was 19 in college. i prefer not to go into too much more detail than that. i'm sorry. >> i'm so sorry to hear about that. you still with us? >> caller: yes, i am. i apologize. >> no need to worry. as you watch this unfold today, what's going through your mind? >> caller: just that it's very important, i think, to victims of sexual assault that we take these accusations seriously. and i'm disappointed that there hasn't been an fbi investigation because it's 2018. the me too movement has happened and i think we need to come from a perspective of believing women when they come forward with these stories because it's not an size thing to do and i don't think it's something anyone

would undertake lightly. >> how old are you now? i'm curious the time difference? >> caller: i'm 26. so relatively recent. >> thank you for calling and thank you for sharing your story with us. >> caller: thank you for hearing me. >> let's go next to michelle in fort pierce, florida, republican line, good afternoon. >> caller: hi, just to give you the background. i'm 53 and i went to high school in upper middle class area in new england area in those same years as judge kavanaugh. with that being said, i'm a survivor myself. when i was 12, my best friend and her parents were also best friends, our families were best friends, sleeping over at her house. and around 4:00 in the morning in the dim light of the night light, her 17-year-old brother

was hovered her on to me on the other side of the bed with his hands in my underwear and fondling me. and i remember being so frightened and not want iing to not wanting anybody to be upset because i love this family a lot. so i thought i would pretend to wake up. then he left and that was the end. and the only person i told that to was my husband when i first married him a few years later. and a girlfriend since then. that being said, i'm still friends with that person, so i would never, ever want to cause harm. it's not worth it. my daughter who is now 23 is a twice victim. the first time she was 13 and had the last ballet dance teacher in the area was a 4 2-year-old male. and he was fondling her and it was something my daughter loved

very much and as a child could not make a proper decision. and he made it seem like all was safe because i was behind a curtain, but he would fondle her in private. and so a couple months later i pulled her out anymore because something felt wrong. and i found out when she was 19 through behavior she was exhibiting. and she did file a police report. you don't do that lightly. because doing it again just lets them win. you get to suffer all over again. and you get to relive it. i don't call us survivors. i call us victims that overcome. yes, they are painful. people go through all kinds of tragedies in the world.

and we as human beings to live on this earth need to overcome and move on. >> we're short on time. we want to show what's happening, but your story is compelling and very similar to what christine ford is alleging. does she come across from your experience as a credible witness? >> caller: she comes across as a credible person that's been through the trauma. but i will say i have cav the yats about some of the things she might be directing it in the wrong place and i also find judge kavanaugh just as compelling. i believe the right to innocence -- i love america and bless. ed to be an american. i think that should be held up to the highest thing. you don't destroy people's lives without evidence. i'm wondering what she chooses to accomplish. if i was going to do this, it would be if i saw he did records of hurting women on the bench and these kind of cases. then i'd see the point of this.

but if that's not the case, why? why would you do this if it's not to prevent him harming women on the bench in this particular type of instance of sexual abuse? >> michelle joining us from fort pierce, florida, thank you for the call. >> again, we're well past the half hour break and we expect the senate committee will gavel in as soon as the senators walk in the room. we want to show you that. there's a demonstration taking place outside on capitol hill. this is a demonstration opposed to judge kavanaugh. fox news is reporting that judge kavanaugh is in the ceremonial office of the vice president on capitol hill monitoring the proceedings. he will then enter the room after dr. ford has left the room. we'll have it here on the c-span networks. hillary on the democrats line, gompb. >> i have to say i'm really

wondering how my senator toomey is planning on voting after listening to all of this. i am also a survivor of a violent assault and listening to dr. ford, i recognize what she's saying is horrifying. i can't imagine if someone who had the attitudes that allowed for attacking another person in this way to be on the highest court in the land, i just can't imagine why are we putting this man forward. >> do you want to and don't have to, but do you want to share your story? >> caller: very concisely, i was in college. i was at a party. and i didn't know that someone there was continuing to keep spiking my drink. when i realize d it, i stumbled out of the building and found me

and violently attacked me. i got away. i was able to fight him, but it was a horrible incident. >> i have asked the same question to everyone else. as you watch dr. ford and outlines her testimony, takes questions from the attorney representing the republicans and the democratic senators, your take away is what? >> i think the republicans right now are heartless and spineless. and i can't imagine why they are putting a victim of assault or even just a supposed victim of assault up under prosecution. she's not on trial. and i think they are treating her badly. >> thank you for sharing your story with us. >> thank you. >> we're going to continue with more phone calls during the course of the afternoon. again, there's probably another

45 minutes of questioning by the republican lawyer and the democratic senators and that will follow presumably by a break as we hear from brett brt. he will also be sworn in in opening statement and questions from the republican lawyer and the democratic senators. there are 11 republicans on the judiciary committee. let's take you back inside 226 of the office building as staffers continue to gather around the room. dr. ford expected to enter momentarily reminder all of it available on the website at c-span.org. thanks for being with us.

>> you're locking at live. pictures of the senate office building. a lunch break that has extended into the hour. we want the to take you outside on capitol hill to show you what's been happening. this is an anti-brett kavanaugh protest and march. they are now leaving the capitol. you can hear some of the chants. this is happening right now outside the u.s. capitol. one of three senate office buildings. the 226 is much smaller than where the confirmation hearings took place for brett kavanaugh earlier in the month and earlier today on capitol hill a group of supporters in support of brett kavanaugh with a demonstration saying that it's time to confirm judge brett kavanaugh to the supreme court. that occurred before the hearing got underway this morning at 10:00 a.m. eastern time. the events happening on capitol hill, we continue to look live

inside the hearing room. senators expected to come back momentarily. dr. ford and there are three democratic senators and attorney mitchell asking the questions for the republican senators. this is inside the senate office building outside 226. you can see the security detail and members of the committee beginning to arrive. we'll continue to watch the scene here on the c-span networks.