[ indistinct chatter ] >> based on what you heard

hear -- [ inaudible ] >> dr. blasey-ford showed us what courage looks like. she's an extraordinarily strong individual who just told, unfortunately, the worst moments of her life in front of the world and that took enormous grace and strength and courage, and i think the authenticity and the heartfelt remarks just showed not only that she's telling the truth but how believable her story is. >> and we have heard from the white house. it's a situation of a motion versus facts, that her testimony may be compelling, but they note there are gaps in the story as well. >> and if they bothered to have an fbi investigation, as they would for any judicial nominee have a complete background check, they would have a lot more details. we would know, for example, when mark judge was working at the local grocery store, so she could try to pinpoint the date of this event. but the president and republican leadership of the judiciary

committee have not initiated the background check. [ inaudible ] >> i would ask him about his record of drinking, which he bragged about in his own high school yearbook. i would go through every line of that yearbook and say what does 100 kegs mean, what do these remarks about the fourth of july mean? why are you bragging about sexual conquests and large amounts of alcohol? were you someone who drank large amounts of alcohol in high school and college? why does your college roommate say that you came home drunk and belligerent? are you a drunk and belligerent person when you drink? >> senator, he has admitted that he was not a perfect person, that he made a lot of mistakes. >> he has not admitted to drinking and he has not admitted to not being able to remember details in the morning and certainly said i was never harmful toward with women or had aggressive actions toward women. i forget his actual quotes but basically said i've never done anything bad to women when, in

fact, there are corroborating witnesses who said yes, you did do that. the most recent woman to come out said she witnessed him being aggressive toward women and touching them and doing things to them without their consent. there are many corroborating witnesses and the fact that this judiciary committee did not bother to call any corroborating witnesses, did not bother to make mark judge testify under oa oath, first to an fbi investigation and then second to this committee is an outrage. this hearing has been unfair to dr. blasey-ford and to ask a prosecutor to question her, she's not on trial. >> what do message does this send to survivors of sexual assault? this is an issue you have been fighting against passionately. >> what -- the way this hearing has been held, what senators -- republican senators have already said, the message we're sending to survivors is that we don't believe you, that your voice doesn't matter and we don't value you.

it tells american women we don't value women. and it is such a traumatic experience for women all across america to watch what this committee is doing to dr. blasey-ford. they have had their own experiences that they are also reliving and it's a very, very difficult time. many women could not watch her testimony without their own tears. >> and your message for mitch mcconnell? >> do the right thing. vote no. >> thank you, senator. >> all right, guys. [ indistinct chatter ] new york senator kirsten gillibrand, democrat, taking questions from a reporter. lynn sweet for the chicago sun times in her interview with the senior democratic senator and member of the senate judiciary committee dick durbin of illinois. we are inside and outside 226 of the office building, also demonstrations that took place

in the capital now moving to the steps of the u.s. supreme court, as this story continues to unfold. we heard from dr. christine blasey-ford and in about 45 minutes to the next hour, judge brett kavanaugh will testify. he will begin with opening statements, followed by questions from democratic senators and rachel mitchell, who is taking the questions for the 11 republicans on the senate judiciary committee. our phone lines are open. we want to hear from you. 202 is the area code. give us a call and tell us what you think about what you've heard so far. 748-8920 and 202-748-89 1 for republicans for independents, 202-748-8922. let's begin with denise in arlingt arlington, texas, republican line. good afternoon. >> caller: hello. can you hear me? >> we sure can. go ahead, denise. >> caller: i have watched the testimony of dr. ford through the entire proceeding and i remember at one point she was

ask asked. she remembers most the laughing of the two men in the room but earlier she had said that during the alleged attack, she had her mouth covered by judge kavanaugh's hand and that at that point she was afraid, she was really worried he might even kill her, that she might not even be able to breathe. that, to me, seems like it would be the event most memorable out of the entire experience rather than the fact that they were laughing. so that just calls into question her voracity, i believe. >> denise, do you believe her? do you believe her story? >> caller: i am not certain that i do because of other things she said as well. also during her initial opening statement, she said that once

allegedly judge kavanaugh had been thrown off of her or whatever happened, she ran through the door and just ran out. now, at the beginning of that statement, she mentioned that they had locked the door behind them when she went into the room. and i think she would have struggled. i would have been in a panic and i would have struggled with the door, trying to unlock it, but she didn't even mention that. she said she got up and ran out. that kind of makes me a little bit suspicious of also her conversation. >> denise, thank you. we'll move on to charlie, joining us from waterville, maine, our line for independents. good afternoon, charlie. >> caller: hey. i would like to say some of the stuff she said doesn't make sense. she was dining at the clubhouse pool shortly before the party and that supposedly he was trying to take her clothes off and her bathing suit.

who puts a wet bathing suit on after they go swimming, under their clothes? >> jennifer from st. paul, minnesota, good afternoon, jennifer. >> caller: hi. calling from minnesota. i've been watching the hearings today and following this in the news. it seems to me that this isn't a hearing for brett kavanaugh but a hearing for the cause and that kavanaugh is being sacrificed for all women who have been assaulted, regardless whatever is true in the ford case. he is the perfect lamb. >> jennifer, i'm going to stop for a moment. here is senator dick durbin. >> senator, any reaction? >> she's credible, calm. she told us she was terrified but i thought she handled the questions professionally and honestly. volunteered answers when she didn't have to. i thought she made a very

credible presentation. >> do you think it backfired on the republicans to have an outside counselor or counsel question dr. ford? >> if you listen to the prosecutors conclusion, doing an interview in five-minute segments is not recommended. you can tell she, too, was frustrated. i couldn't follow her line of thinking. i tried to understand where she was coming from. it seemed so oblique and so fragmented. i never quite understood what she was trying to say. [ inaudible ] >> the thing we didn't hear tis the most obvious. if there is no evidence to support what she's saying, why aren't you supporting an

investigation by the federal bureau of investigation? wouldn't you want to clear your name and make sure that the court didn't have a person that came under a shadow of suspicion? >> senate kyle expected to stay at least the end of this year. we're in a 45-minute break. your reaction to what you heard this morning and what you expect this afternoon and then questions from members of the committee. jennifer, we had to cut you off

a moment ago, so please continue. >> thank you. >> attorney brother to name a few. i can't say what happened. assault is terrible. and maybe we need to talk about making a better path for women who are assaulted in a way that allows people being accused to have their say as well. >> go to mark in bloomfield, connecticut, democrats line. go ahead, mark. >> i know. i just recently turned 65 and grew up as a male and, you know, what i find amazing is so much

of my memory of adolescence in high school and college has to do with this kind of locker room talk. guys going after girls, things like this happen all the time. he's not willing to have it investigated. whether or not it happened is almost a sidelight to me. it seems to be more important that it's obvious with drinking patterns that we've heard of and knowing how the american male grows up in this society that the chances are that things like this happened. >> mark, just to be clear -- >> caller: would want to have that be investigated if i were him. >> he is categorically denied that it ever happened or he has

ever done anything like that, across the board. high school, college or ever. >> caller: that's my point. yeah, that's my point, you see. because especially being in a school of law with that kind of camaraderie and all the things that we have heard about in that society, it just seems like -- it seems pretty obvious todrink college, that things get out of hand when you're drunk, that those kinds of things are a common occurrence. and for me, if i were wanting to be a member of the highest court in the land for a lifetime appointment, i would want to make sure that my slate was clean, my plate was clean as far as any -- or my slate was clean as far as any of these kind of allegations. >> sure. let me jump in. i want to move on but bottom line, do you think he is still confirmed to the u.s. supreme court? >> caller: say again.

>> do you think he will be confirmed to the next associate justice on the supreme court? >> caller: if he is, i will be sorely disappointed with the republican county. >> bernie, republican line, cuyahoga falls, ohio. your reaction so far? >> caller: hi, this is bernie. >> hi, bernie. >> caller: i think that something really happened to her. somebody wouldn't get up and have as much emotion as she does and look as she does. but there is no evidence that judge kavanaugh did it. and it's not up to him to prove he's innocent. it's up to the prosecution to prove he's guilty. >> so why not have an investigation? >> caller: this should be in a court of law. she should file charges against him and have it in the court of law. >> she can't do that because of the statute of limitations. do you think there should be an fbi investigation? >> caller: there's already been an investigation. >> not on these charges. there hasn't been one on this. >> caller: they would have uncovered it, if they had done a

good job. >> bernie, thank you for the call. john, lumberton, texas. go ahead, please. >> caller: yes, sir. i was looking at this circus, it looks like, they're having. from what i see here is the more that it goes, it looks like this has been -- i hate to say but orchestrated. people trying to support dr. ford, you know, the other guys let the lady speak but when she starts asking questions about certain things at the end, then they started interrupting. and it just looks like, you

know -- i don't know if anything happened to this lady or not. but the way that it looks and going on, it's a frame job. or i would hate for them to ruin this man's credibility and then a few years down the road, she says oh, i made a mistake. >> john, thank you for the call. the rain continues to fall here in washington. but there are protesters outside, adjacent to the u.s. capital in front of the u.s. supreme court. these demonstrators saying we need to hear from us. some saying they are victims of sexual abuse and they are demonstrating in opposition of judge brett kavanaugh. there is also a demonstration in support of judge kavanaugh. that got under way this morning. judge kavanaugh is on capitol hill. we heard earlier he was inside the vice president's ceremonial office and he will deliver opening statements followed by questions. if all goes as scheduled, there

will be a senate judiciary committee hearing tomorrow morning, 9:30 eastern time and the senate will likely be in session this weekend for a series of votes. the timeline right now, according to senator mitch mcconnell -- of course, things could change. final vote tuesday. of course, live coverage on c-span 2. cheryl in new york, democrats line, good afternoon. >> caller: good afternoon. how are you? >> fine, how are you? >> caller: good, thanks. i want to say that i find dr. ford to be 100% credible and, in fact, there is absolutely no doubt in my mind -- and i'm shocked and appalled that there could be anyone who doesn't believe her. i guess men might not understand, but this same kind of sexual assault happened to me twice in high school in the 1970s. very similar scenario. i lived it.

and this woman is -- has such integrity, is so honest and she stands nothing to gain by coming out and everything to lose. >> again, i'll ask the same question to you, if you want to share your story and how that resonates from your standpoint from which you heard from christine blasey-ford today. >> caller: i will, thank you. i wasn't as blameless as miss ford. i was already kissing a boy at a party, kissing him and he pushed me on to the floor and got on top of me. i didn't know what could happen when you were kissing a boy on the floor and he started grinding and i said no, and i ended up having to bite and kick to get him off of me.

and i'm very assertive, and i was able to get him off of me. it happened a second time at another party similarly. it's absolutely classic and even happened to me at the same age. >> same individual? >> as dr. ford. >> same individual in both cases or somebody different? >> caller: no, different individuals. i was even the same age, a tenth grader, stupid little tenth grader at a party with twelfth grade boys gl did you tell others what happened, parents, friends or siblings? >> caller: no, you know, i didn't. >> were you embarrassed? >> caller: i was embarrassed for a short -- i felt embarrassed that i was so naive and that i

had, you know, brought it -- i thought i had brought it on myself by starting to kiss him. >> uh-huh. so, what would you tell members of the senate judiciary committee, democrats and republicans as they proceed with judge kavanaugh's nomination? >> caller: well, because i believe that she is 100% credible, then i believe that he is lying. and, you know, here is the thing. the question is, in a country that elected a president who bragged about grabbing women, how much do we care about this? how much do we care about the importance of men resisting their aggressive impulses and demonstrating a respect for women? >> cheryl, thank you. and thank you for sharing your story. i assume now you're in your 60s

if that took place in the 1970s? >> caller: i am. i'm 65. i became a senior this year. >> congratulations and have lived a full life, i suspect. >> caller: yes. thank you. >> cheryl, thank you very much for the call. we appreciate it. >> caller: you're welcome. bye-bye. >> next is carol, joining us from atlanta. republican line. go ahead, carol. >> caller: yeah. i just have a comment. i just wonder why her attorney hasn't marched her in to a police station and filed charges because this is ridiculous. if something happened, then these women need to file charges. >> thank you for the call. brendan, philadelphia, democrats line. go ahead, please. >> ok >> caller: hi. i've been watching the hearing and listening to some of the comments. i find the lack of nuance really sickening. like you can actually believe that the person, that the

accuser is actually credible, but you can also believe that the democratic establishment is setting up a hit job. it's not they are trying to go after him and he is lying or she is lying and republicans are completely innocent. >> thank you. we'll go to lance, joining us from indianapolis. >> caller: hi. i want to thank you, first of all, for your coverage throughout the morning and afternoon. i've enjoyed watching and following along. i want to thank cheryl, a few callers back, for sharing her experience as a survivor of sexual assault. >> we've had a number of them today. it's been very moving. >> caller: it has. it's inspiring. i think the point she ended with was what are we trying to demonstrate to our country? i think it's important that the supreme court, the highest judiciary in our country, that we hold people to account and are properly vetting them. and i understand some callers

have voiced kavanaugh is innocent until proven guilty. yeah, that's a judicial argument. unfortunately, we're not in the court of law. we're in the court of public opinion right now. and the senate, right now their job should be to ensure that someone who is going to sit on this court is not only qualified from an experience standpoint as a judge but morally and of high character to sit on the court like that. and from my vantage point it's been disappointing to see republicans, one, drag their feet in terms of opening up an investigation or even letting other witness testimonies occur like mark judge, for instance. i think watching today, it seemed like a lot of the questions that are still unanswered could be flushed out if some other people were called to testify. and, to me, it just seems like republicans are trying to rush it through. i understand if it's a great

chance to get -- to consent to judicial interview. but the process needs to occur in the natural way. i think -- but people on both sides should be able to agree that testimonies are needed, additional information, additional time is needed to ensure that this gentleman, kavanaugh, is fit to serve on the supreme court. >> bottom line, yes, no, or to be determined. does he survive this? will he be confirmed by the senate? >> i think it's indicative that the senate is already scheduled to vote in the morning before -- >> committee vote. >> and i assume that with the republican majority there it would pass. i assume that they're going to go ahead and try to get this passed through before the november mid terms because i think they probably fear that their majority in the senate could be lost then and they would have to settle for a moderate or somebody else on the court and they seem pretty set

on kavanaugh for some reason. >> okay. lance, thank you. and they scheduled that three days in order to announce a committee hearing and, of course, they can always cancel it. it is scheduled to take place tomorrow morning 9:30 in the morning. key republican senator and key defender of judge kavanaugh, senator jon cornyn telling fox news that the texas republican said, quote, i found no reason to find her not credible. let's go to annie next from gardner, kansas. democrats line. are you with us? >> caller: yeah, hi! >> hello. go ahead, please. >> caller: i just -- i've been listening to some of the comments. i wanted to say you had a commecaller a few moments ago who was talking about sexual assault. one, it's never your fault, no matter how far you are. two, i've been watching the trial -- it seems like a trial.

i'm sorry. >> right. it's a hearing. >> caller: yeah. and i find dr. ford fairly credible. this -- democrats are not doing themselves any favors right now. they -- it seems like they're kind of crawling up her butt a bit. why aren't they asking her any questions? they could further the process along as much as they can. other than the fact about the fbi investigation. we know he didn't have an investigation. >> thank you for the call. the rule was that each senator would have five minutes. so christine blasey-ford's questioning is over. up next is judge brett kavanaugh. follow-up tweet from senator jon cornyn's office writing the following. but we haven't heard from judge kavanaugh yet and no

corroboration for her allegations. we need to consider all the evidence to see whether burden of proof has been met. that from republican senator jon cornyn of texas. kevin, from brighton, massachusetts, on the republican lien. what have you seen so far, kevin? what do you think? >> caller: thanks for taking my call. i wanted to watch this hearing. i really didn't know what to think. the whole thing has been a real circus. i have to say i was totally stunned by my perceived cowardness of my own party. i mean, we've got -- what is it, six republican senators up there and none of them can ask their own questions. >> 11. there's 11. >> caller: sorry, 11 republican senators and they put a prosecutor in front to ask her questions, like she's on trial for something? i didn't believe dr. ford at the beginning of the day, at the end of the day i'm pretty sure what she's saying is the truth and i'm worried that kavanaugh is going to get confirmed. i don't want to see that guy on

the court. i'm a republican but i don't want to see that happen. >> kevin, thank you. next to ann from piston, pennsylvania, democrats line. good afternoon, ann. >> caller: good afternoon. i wanted to reiterate one of your other previous callers, cheryl, as someone who was a victim and was abused in every way possible, both sexually, physically and mentally, you are not at fault. no victim of abuse is at fault. sorry. and i'm deeply dismayed at the conduct of our congress and our elected officials. i can't even believe that this has fallen on party line. this should transcend party lines. we should not want someone who could be a potential sexual predator to be in the highest office of the land, determining the value and worth of women's bodies. and as a victim of abuse i can

say that i empathize and understand her point of view. my own stepfather, he twisted my arm repeatedly until it almost broke. my mother took me to the e.r. and i told a room full of doctors and medical personnel what had happened. they told me that because he had not broken my arm that there was nothing that could be done. i don't remember how i got to the hospital. i don't remember the doctor's names or their faces. i don't remember how i got home from the hospital. but i do remember my stepfather absolutely was the individual responsible for my being there. so i really think that it's time that victims start talking about their stories and people start listening and believing them. >> let me ask you about your situation in terms of your father. did you press any charges? how old were you at the time? >> caller: i was young. i eventually did take out a psa

against my stepfather. i was a senior in high school and told a judge tell me if i didn't like the abuse i should leave because i was an adult. >> what about your mom at the time? did you confide in her? >> caller: of course, she knew. of course she knew. she condoned it. >> why? >> caller: i don't know. because she was abused as a child herself and she thought, you know, she deserved it. i don't know. she is still married to him. you would have to ask her. i've been struggling my whole life trying to understand why. you feel worthless. you feel not good enough. >> one of the things -- >> caller: i don't -- i don't think i will ever get over this my entire life. >> one of the things that has come up is that she is now coming forward, 36 years after the fact. can you relate to that?

>> caller: yeah, of course, i can. i mean, i came out to many, many people. and i wasn't believed. i even -- i tell people and they would say, well, the foster care system is no better. better. it's rife with abuse. so this is everywhere. this is pervasive throughout our culture and i really think it's time that we -- i know i sound angry because i am. >> you have every right to feel that way. >> it's -- it's team that we as a country start dealing with these issues. abuse is around us. it's everywhere and we need to start recognizing it for what it is. >> and what are you doing today? >> what am i doing today? i'm watching the senate hearings >> what have you done since your abuse? how have you moved on with your life is what i meant to ask. >> i feel like i'm trapped. like, i wasn't. i didn't do well in school. so i wasn't able to get a formal education. i'm unemployed.

i've worked in customer service and i've had to deal with screaming customers which is another form of trauma, and i probably have ptsd that's undiagnosed, but i can't get medical treatment and i'm 34 years old. i haven't had health insurance since i was 16. i imagine that there are many people in my shoes that are suffering in the same ways that i am and they're not getting treatment that they need and they're not living fulfilled lives and i'm really sad. i'm really sad. they have tried to shame her. i've seen comments online people trying to shame ford for being successful, for persevering despite the abuse she endured. >> hang in there. >> it's disgusting. >> thank you for the call. >> thanks. >> we appreciate it. from pennsylvania, senator dianne feinstein is ranking member and just a short while ago, what i find most inexcusable is the rush to judgment and the unwillingness

to take these kinds of allegations at face value and look at them for what they are, a real question of character for someone asking for a lifetime appointment on the supreme court. next is jody lynn joining us from west jordan utah, republican line. you've watched the proceedings thus far. what do you think? >> well, after that last lady i kind of got lost in it all. i'm sorry. i'm an older lady, in my 60s and i have two stories before i get into this. >> i had an older gentleman, my boyfriend's dad who raped me, and his son actually had to pull him off of me. my boyfriend's brother, and then i tried to get away and he tried to run me over in the field when i was trying to get away. if that wasn't bad enough then my father raped me. i couldn't tell my father about this, and i brought this all out

of me and in eight years i didn't tell anybody about it because the cops said suppressed memory. >> can i stop you. why are victims so reluctant to talk about it, to speak out? >> well, i really do remember my dad at all. he said don't tell your mom. from that point on i did not remember. >> you blocked it out. i blocked it totally. i don't remember so i really did not remember, and one day i was mad and i told him he would be sorry and my mom came home from work and it just came out and i don't even know from where and it just shocked me, you know what i'm saying? and i remember every little detail. i mean, i remembered everything and then years later when my mom was working in the oilfield one day my ex-boyfriend's brother came in 30 years later and that's when i remembered about his dad. that was 30 years later.

so yeah, you suppress this stuff just like this lady says, but when i remembered, i remembered every detail and i remember every place and i remembered everything. >> why do you think you blocked it out in your mind? >> because it was just suppressed and i didn't want to remember. i did not want to remember. it was horrible. how old are you now, judy lynn. >> i'm in my 60s. >> so this is, what? 47 years ago. i was on the honor roll through my high schooling and it was totally different from this lady. and i used to make good money when i worked. i always made good money and i had good jobs. >> so would you tell -- orrin hatch? how should they vote? >> at first i was all for kavanaugh, but i watched her and sometimes -- and i believe you

can suppress it and then i started hearing the political views about how she didn't know how she was paying for it so i'm going to wait and i'm not going to say anything until i watch kavanaugh. i'll let him say his, and i just wanted to let you know that i know you suppress it. i feel sorry for her, actually, because i feel like she's being used as a pawn. >> jody lynn, thanks for the call. we'll move on with more calls and you're looking on one side of the screen inside the dirksen, this is 226, second floor of the dirksen building named after the republican of illinois, a former republican leader and outside on the steps of the u.s. capitol, the sounds, the chant, the demonstrations. these demonstrators opposed to judge greg kavanaugh. judge kavanaugh will deliver an opening statement and then take questions, five minutes from each side, attorney mitchell is doing the questioning for the

republicans and they'll each have five minutes in the round. alex from georgia. independent line, go ahead, please. >> hello. i just wanted to say that all these republicans talking about -- well, not even talking. they had this female attorney out in front of them and it's just awful. i can't believe, like, this has echoes of conspiracy theories of people not believing shooting survivors. can you not believe this victim? how can you not believe all these victims? and i just think all reps are just awful, trying to push this nomination through. >> alex, thank you for the call. this is the headline from the chicago tribune.

utah senator during the hearings and this is from "the washington times," a photograph of christine blasey ford during her hearing and christine blasey ford tells senators she is 100% sure that brett kavanaugh was her attacker. let's go next to maya joining us from brooklyn, new york. democrat line. go ahead, please. >> hi. thank you for taking my call. i wanted to share my perspective on what was going on. i usually vote democratic and to me when i first heard about these allegations, to me it sounded more like a question of cruelty rather than a question of sexual assault. when i first heard the allegation the first thing that came into my mind was the way that judge kavanaugh treated fred guttenberg when he

approached him, a very icy, lack of compassion and only a short while later -- >> we should point out that his daughter was killed on february 14th in that florida school shooting. >> yes, and only a short while later when judge kavanaugh was being questioned by judge tillis he was laughing fondly about being able to come home every night and greet his own daughter. so i'm not worried that judge kavanaugh would commit another sexual assault, but for him to be on the supreme court, the highest justice in the land, i think the character of, like, you have cruelty. if you were born in such a space -- in such a crucible of privilege and and you did these things when you were a kid and something happened where you grew as a person that would be one thing, but to me she's sexual allegations only

corroborated other things that i found to be disqualifying about him, and it made me really start thinking about the paradigm of advancing people who come from such privilege and are they able to relate to people in the working class. >> this is senator tillis as members of the committee come together and i want to show you the front page of the new york times and you will see christine blasey ford. as you look on the screen, seated behind brett kavanaugh is christine blasey ford's attorney. he will be there and he will be in the shot as judge kavanaugh begins his opening statement. i just want to make that point. we'll take you back outside to the hearing room as members of the senate continue to come in and try to squeeze in maybe one or two more call, but the hearing presumably will start momentarily. let's go to chase joining us

from terre haute, indiana. go ahead, chase. >> hello? >> you're on the air. >> hey, thanks for taking my call. can you hear me? >> we can, chase. go ahead. >> hi. thanks for taking my call. >> chase, you have a minute because the hearing will begin shortly. >> oh, well i just wanted to say that, of course, kavanaugh's going to be confirmed kind of what the republicans are going for and it's kind of their motto, they'll force him through. it's their way. >> we should point out that capitol police have now moved the attorney for christine blasey ford. so he is now no longer directly behind judge kavanaugh. we'll go to cheryl in blaine, washington, democrats line. good afternoon. >> hi. i'd just like to comment

regarding on being sexually assaulted. i was sexually assaulted at 14. i was issued drugs and if it hadn't been for my mother it would have never gone to court. but even this happened back in 1976. going to court and the questions that the police ask you and the prosecutor ask you are so intimate and degrading and you don't want to talk about it and it is a hard thing, and you never -- you never forget it. i'm now 58 years old. this happened when i was 14. i can tell you their names and i can describe to you what they looked like and even though i

was drugged. i can tell you exactly what happened. if this man gets confirmed and there are other women now that have come forward, it is a horrible thing for this country to do that and that's my opinion and i thank you for listening. >> cheryl, just stay on the line, chris coons, do you find christine blasey ford credible? >> yes, i do. >> thank you for the call and thank you for sharing your story with us. >> thank you. >> we're going to continue to watch the room both inside and outside as members of the committee begin to gather their proceedin proceedings. we'll go to scott for a quick moment from texas city, texas. >> good afternoon. thank you for taking my call. >> go ahead. >> i've become -- with the instant credibility that each side has been giving to dr. ford

or judge kavanaugh. it's just become so politicized that everyone instantly has their own opinion and they're so entrenched that they won't open their ears and listen to it. thankfully we'll get to watch both sides answer questions and at that point i think we can make credibility assessments, but this is -- in the end it should come down to the burden of proof and hopefully we can get some burden of proof from one side or the other and we can make a good decision on who should and shouldn't be supreme court justice. >> thank you for the call. >> we're going just watch the room for the moment. if there is an extended break and there is tom tillis of north carolina and let me share with you the headlines of the new york times. christine blasey ford she is 100% sure that kavanaugh was her attacker and also the twitter feed and a reminder, all of our coverage is available on our

website of c-span.org. our live coverage continues.