>> in 1979 c-span was created as a public service by america's cable television company, and today we continue to bring you unfiltered coverage of congress. the white house. the supreme court. and public policy events in washington, d.c. and around the country. c-span is brought to you by your cable or satellite rovider. >> live here on c-span in about half an hour with remarks by craiglist -- craig's list founder craig newmark as he discusses public trust in the news at the national press club in washington, d.c. live coverage at 1:00 p.m. eastern on c-span. lisa mascaro is back at our desk, chief congressional correspondent for the associated

press, spent her weekend tracking down the negotiations over christine fozzie ford's testimony. areyou take us through what the biggest questions in your mind three days out? --st: this is such a set fast-moving, constantly changing story. over the weekend, there were long negotiations, they had been going on all last week, between ford'sne blasey attorney and their agreement to testify. weekend,agree over the there was some breaking news saturday they reached a tentative deal for her to come thursday. of course, brett kavanaugh would also testified. about the allegations she is raising against him. today, noon, they were able

put the final touches on the deal, they announced they had an agreement. forwardthat was moving in this long, protracted negotiations come to a close last night, there were new allegations being raised in an aboute in the new yorker breck kavanaugh from his years at yale university. so now we start monday morning .ith a whole new landscape is this thursday hearing still on and will the senators want to ?ush forward with it senator dianne feinstein said last night it is time to halt the proceedings and take a look at all of this. the white house this morning does not appear to be slowing anything down. in fact, brett kavanaugh issued a statement last night denying the new allegations, saying this

smear, plain and simple, a smear of his reputation, he is extremely eager to come forward thursday and clear his name. he says he wants to come forward as soon as possible and clear his name. host: if this happens thursday, how this will go down in the senate judiciary committee, with everything from who will be doing the questioning. guest: the judiciary committee agreed to meet in the smaller meeting room it has. the big one was used for the brick kavanaugh hearing at the start of this month in september, those four days of hearings. ford, thed with dr. california professor making these allegations against kavanaugh, to hold it in their smaller meeting room. her lawyers were trying to avoid the big media onslaught. it is a very crowded room, we

were there a few weeks ago for another meeting on this issue. there were dozens of protesters outside, members of the media. fit, so that is a challenge. they came to an agreement on terms that she would in fact testify first, as the accuser, which is sort of normal in a proceeding. she had wanted to wait and testify second. brett kavanaugh, he is an appellate court judge here in d.c. he will have his time to testify. the panel is made up of 11 republicans on the majority side, 10 democratic senators on the minority side. one of the sticking points remains who actually will question these two witnesses about this incident. normally in a situation like

this, senators will ask the questions. we saw that at the start of september when the senators at the judiciary committee posed in their questions during to the viewer days of hearings with judge kavanaugh. this time around, republicans want to bring in outside counsel to represent their side. they say they want to just have lawyers, people familiar with being on the stand, doing questioning, take this over. but we are in the backdrop of the me too movement, this whole situation has echoes of 27 years ago with the anita hill hearings for justice clarence thomas. senators are 11 men. there is a concern among republicans that the optics of the 11 men questioning this

woman over these very detailed the way judge kavanaugh, when they were teenagers, assaulted her at a party, that that would be too uncomfortable, not the kind of image republicans would want heading into the midterm election. that detail, who will do the questioning, remains an outstanding debate among the lawyers who are negotiating the terms of the agreement. the republican side had been trying to hire outside counsel. we will see if that proceeds. democrats, of course, have plenty of questions they want to bring in. have you atlad to the beginning of another busy week on capitol hill. the phone lines are a little bit different, if you want to talk to lisa mascaro. if you support the nomination, (202) 748-8000. if you oppose the nomination,

(202) 748-8001. if you are not sure, (202) 748-8002. you have any names surfaced on the republican side if it is not the senators asking the questions, do we have any idea who it might be? guest: that's a good question, one that we have considered looking at. week, one of the names that was floated was the former senator kelly ayotte who has been integral in the earlier supreme court nomination from president trump. now justice neil gorsuch. she is a former senator from new hampshire, she had been instrumental in helping bring him around to meet the senators during their one-on-one negotiations. her name was floated at one that isut we understand

not who is being considered for this point. so we don't know the answer to that question. host: nancy is in ohio. on the line for those who support the nomination. caller: i am just calling to say i do support him. think i would i be, i think, very surprised and disappointed. but i do think, if this is about groping, i don't understand why they are calling for fbi investigations. on theisa mascaro, status of whether an fbi investigation would happen at this point. somethings is democrats have called for from the beginnings when these allegations surfaced, almost two weeks ago, 10 days ago. they said -- the fbi does what

is called a background investigation on the nominees. is not a full, normal fbi investigation that you may think of. it is really just april mary review -- preliminary review that becomes a part of the judges file, sent to the white house, judiciary committee. the fbi has said it will include this information in its background investigation, update its background file with the allegations that have been democrats, actually to ato senator feinstein congresswoman in california -- another roundabout story. they would include that in his file but they were not pursuing additional investigation. the white house also indicated

it does not plan to have the fbi take this on in another way. no, there does not seem to be an investigation planned or going forward. democrats last night, with this new allegation being raised of a second woman coming forward, renewed their call. yorker, the new associated press trunk to follow up on that second allegation? guest: we have tried. at this point, we are working on that. the new yorker story stands as it is. we will see what else comes out from that, who is able to add additional information on that. jenn mayer,farrow, the authors of that story. dorothy is in silver spring, maryland, on the line for those

that oppose the nomination. caller: on this nomination for mr. cavanaugh, this is a doubt for him. i know for a fact the fbi investigated back in the day 32 years ago, my daughter who had already had clearance from the department of navy. almost toa four year --m my daughter host: are you talking about a background check or specific sexual assault allegation? the background check goes from when she is an elementary school all the way to high school. they did not do a background elementaryr as school. they only did a background check

on what he did in the present. they need to investigate this. about how do we know intense the background check was. didt: christine blasey ford not share her allegations publicly. she held these close for some 30 .ears so it is perhaps understandable that this was not raised, had she not come forward, filed any sort of complaint, told authorities. that is something that you will hear a lot of people on capitol hill talking about. what do you do with these older allegations that had not come to light previously? dr. ford in her case, as we know from her interview with the washington post, when she first came forward to tell her story,

these were allegations that she kept close, came out in 2012 during marriage counseling with her husband. tos is a difficult situation look at these issues. host: lisa mascaro, chief investigative correspondent for the ap. talking about the members that you'll be hearing from, one of the members on the panel is lindsey graham republican from south carolina. he was on fox news sunday and asked if there was anything ford himd say that would make vote against judge kavanaugh. this was his response. but would listen to her, being honest with you and everyone else, what do you expect me to do? you cannot bring it in criminal court, you cannot even get a warrant. what am i supposed to do?

ruin this guy's life based on an accusation? i don't know when it happened, where it happened, and everyone named in regard to being there says it didn't happen. unless there is something more, no, i will not ruin judge kavanaugh's life over this, but she should come forward, have her say, she will be respectfully treated. what do you expect us to do with an anonymous letter to begin with? what do you expect someone to do with an accusation this of, not verified in any way? i will listen but i will not play any game and tell you this will wipe out his entire life. if nothing changes, it will not with me. host: your thoughts? this was early sunday morning, before the second accuser came forward publicly. throughout this entire debate, the republicans have been split

into two camps. there are those like senator graham, the senate leader, mitch , whonell, the white house have stood by judge kavanaugh. as asee this court battle long process of republicans to bring more conservatives onto the court. this is an enormous accomplishment for leader mcconnell, president trump, his second nominee to the court. they would like to push forward, past the allegations, and focus on the judge now. dissent among is the republican senators. you see a number of senators came out last weekend when this was first aired. jeff flake, who is retiring, also bob corker.

of course, susan collins of ,aine, lisa murkowski of alaska are two of the most watched senators throughout this debate because they are two women on the republican side of the aisle. they do support the right to abortion. these have been long-standing issues for them, as they weigh this judge who could be pivotal on the court. there are views on what to do with these allegations, how to proceed, are critical. i will also say senator collins did say that if any of this thes out to be true, if judge has not been honest in his senator collins said that would be disqualified for her. if democrats stick together as no votes, republicans can only lose one

vote. a tie would be broken by the vice president. senate is narrowly divided right now. 51 republicans, 49 democrats. they can lose one vote if they pick up no democrats. if they lose more than one, they have to pick up some of those democrats, or they need the vice president to come in and break the tie, which would be a substantial development, to have a vice president break a tie to present a nominee to the court. host: has that happened before? guest: i was just thinking last night, i need to look back. off the top of my head, i cannot remember that. i'm hoping that someone is watching and can remind us of that. in auburn, new york, on the line for those that support the nomination. good morning. lisa brought up the fact that there are 11 men on the republican side.

all, i would ask her what she thinks of cory booker, and the article he wrote when he was at stanford in the daily about his own abuse of a 15-year-old girl? also, keith ellison. girlfriend had pictures, videos, and a doctor statement. blastedbeen totally from the democratic party. and one more thing. out in oure people united states to ask that all people that used the slush fund be exposed, as we have taxpayers have the right to know what they used our money for. thank you for listening to me. host: lisa mascaro? are these stories

from the other side of the aisle, we certainly saw what happened to another prominent , ascrat, senator al franken soon as the stories and photos of his behavior began circulating, he was essentially forced to resign from the senate . democrats said they would not tolerate that. those are the questions about mr. ellison, mr. brooker, i'm not working on that story, i know others are looking into whatever those allegations are. but at this point, the focus in front of us is the situation with whether or not judge kavanaugh will be confirmed in a matter of days or weeks, to the supreme court. host: stewart is in mechanicsville, virginia. on the line for those that support the nomination. caller: i think i am leaning

toward having a smart idea to have secured lawyers doing the questioning, rather than listening to all the speeches and grandstanding, like spartacus, like a spartacus moment. that was a joke. here is the point. a good, skilled lawyer should ask on the democratic side, you guys have been knowing this, how many of you have been no one does, how long have you known about it? with regard to the second person that came out now, correct me if said,ong, i believe she she didn't really see him expose himself but she heard that he did. she was too drunk to remember. this is a circus. you are ready to destroy this man's life. the me too movement, you are

getting ready to destroy his wife and his daughter's. they don't care about that. to achievest out what they want to achieve, and that is denied trump -- deny trump. the new yorker story, she acknowledgment's alcohol and intoxication but also remembers it was brett kavanaugh that exposed himself to her at that party. those are the details from the new yorker story. host: i would also say -- guest: i would also say, a lot of republicans, the white house, agree with what stewart was looking at. the white house advisor, kellyanne conway, was on one of the shows this morning. she saidporting that this second allegation sounds

like a vast left-wing conspiracy. i think there is concern among republicans that this is all coming out late in the process. of course, senator feinstein had granted dr. for the privacy she sought, through the broughtwoman, eschoo these in july, but did not want to go forward. , and thendid not know a few days before it became public, started trickling out. question in the age of the me too movement, that folks wrestle with. what do you do when an accuser has an accusation but they don't want to come forward publicly. we see what happens to those that raise these allegations. it's a difficult process. how do you handle this?

i think the country is looking at the situation now and trying to understand how we balance looking at allegations, not as , bringing down somebody who is falsely accused yet also giving voice to women and men who feel they have a story to tell. host: you are the chief congressional correspondent for the associated press. is there a policy in place if somebody were to come to you against,llegation whether it be somebody up for confirmation, high-profile politician? what is the process before that gets published? guest: these stories take a long out.to vet, figure that is why different publications have been able to take on different aspects of these stories but not everyone is able to quickly confirm all these details, interview all the

, in theseo back situations, 30 years, interview people who were at the party. in dr. ford's case, or with this new situation at yale or this is old-fashioned reporting, calling people, knocking on doors, asking people to tell their stories, looking into the validity of it. it all takes time and effort. jamie is on the line for those that oppose the nomination. petersburg, virginia. caller: i was calling because of one key point that has not been mentioned very much. this nomination from the beginning has been very controversial. there have been many documents that have been withheld. that is extremely questionable

, and would seem to be disqualifying. what are they trying to hide? ,hen when you come up with this all i can say is, this woman, dr. ford, has asked for an investigation, she has taken and passed a lie detector test. she has asked for an investigation, has asked for that other gentlemen in the room to testify before the senate. thatreally strikes me is an innocent person wants an investigation. they want to be able to prove their innocence. only a guilty person does not becauseinvestigation they will be discovered to be lying. host: lisa mascaro?

caller raises several points. let's back up to the issue of the documents. judge kavanaugh is the first supreme court nominee to be put forward in the email age as a public figure where there is an enormous access to his paper trail. this was a daunting challenge from the beginning. he had worked at the white house during the george w. bush white house, for five years, had asviously worked in a not heavy email era, on the ken starr investigation into former president clinton, monica lewinsky. so there was an enormous amount of information about him publicly available. republicans knew that when he became the nominee. on the judiciary committee, they set up a new process to bring on .he documents

it is accurate that they did not collect all the documents. they initially looked at a cache of not quite a million documents that they were looking at, when he worked at the white house counsel office, they did not go after another cache from the white house years when he was the so-called staff secretary to bush, a position that republican described as the inbox and outbox of the president. the president needs to see passes through the staff secretary's office. democrats wanted the treasure trove of documents, but it was voluminous. the estimates from the archives was it was beyond the millions. at some point, republican said no, we are going to take a is whatcache, and that

they did. this has been an ongoing debate. host: about 15 minutes left with lisa mascaro. earlier we showed lindsey graham . another member of the judiciary attention,ot of mazie hirono of hawaii. she was on cnn and was asked about specific questions she asked brett kavanaugh from his first run of confirmation hearings. >> the last time you question brett kavanaugh, you asked whether he committed sexual harassment or assault as a legal adult. i know you ask every trunk nominee this question. the allegation took place when he was supposedly 17 years old. why do you caveat the question with legal adult? that would have extruded this incident, which he denies. >> of course, 17 years old is no child. juvenile records are sealed. that is why. >> it does seem to delineate

behavior 18 and older, and behavior under 18. >> generally we hold on responsible for their behavior. these are questions that have never been asked before of any nominee. i have asked this of any nominee and i have asked this of men and women, the same questions. we need to change the environment that says women and men who suffer from this kind of not in as supportive of an environment where they can come forward. this is very underreported. why? the victims and their survivors are not believed, vilified, all those things that are happening to dr. ford, happens. host: can you explain the background on that? -- hironoator geraldo has been asking this question of every nominee that comes forward, a sign of the me too

movement, that senators are now asking a question that has not really been a part of past confirmation hearings for judges , administration officials. -- hirono is a former prosecutor. there are prosecutors on both sides and they know how to pose questions, get the kinds of answers they want. interestingme an figure because she has been so outspoken, she has her own background as a young girl coming to the united states, one of the only immigrants in the senate. as a young girl, her mother left her father behind in japan, i believe, came to the u.s. and hawaii, so she brings her own story to this debate, has taken

on a very prominent role in bringing up these questions, trying to hold folks accountable. pennsylvania is next. robin, on the line for those that support kavanaugh. caller: i have a few things i want to say. first of all, dianne feinstein is a disgrace for what she did, holding the letter. number one. number two, this happened to me. from tell you every detail the time that he grabbed me by my hair and drug me into a hotel room. i can tell you everything that happened. three, keith ellison, democrats are not even caring what he did. it is all politics. nobody will change my mind. i think everybody knows it but they don't want to admit it. god bless the kavanaugh family. host: lisa mascaro? guest: the caller reflects the

deep polarization in the country that we have seen grow in years, we have seen it in the way folks vote, the way they look at the ,residential candidates candidates for congress in the house, senate. now we are seeing that partisan loyalty extend to the judicial way that isy be a different for the country, senate, and supreme court. routinely, supreme court nominees, in the past, have enjoyed fairly bipartisan votes. even president obama's fix for the court won widespread support. judge gorsuch last year had bipartisan support. but we are in an age of deeply polarized politics. that is often the defining decision for a lot of people, where their politics lie.

host: kensington, maryland. kate, on the line for those that are not sure. what could make you sure in the i'm 70 years old. i was not in the bedroom with her but in a bedroom just like the caller last time said was dragged from her car. i bet if you look at anyone my age, any woman, there will be an incident on a scale of 1-10 somewhere very, very similar to what dr. ford is experiencing. and she is -- you know, this

was a sleeping giant. i had a flashback, a ptsd flashback listening to some of the things going around this case. driving last week -- if it's happening to me it's happening to women all over this country. who have not talked to their parents, not begun to the police, boys will be boys, don't ruin his career, don't talk about it. i reallyord needs adequate hearing and part of that adequate hearing is a --rough investigation, which experts will be able to testify about survivors of sexual abuse, the psychological effects of

trauma which, in my case do, and can last a lifetime. this is a sleeping giant. host: thank you. onfor who will testify thursday, can you talk about that because that seems to be up for debate? caller: guest: -- up for debate. dr. ford wants trauma specialists to testify. that has not been agreed to. dr. ford also wants the polygraph administered -- host: two brett kavanaugh? take adr. ford did polygraph this summer and she wants the results of that polygraph -- host: injured into evidence in the hearing? a senator ifask democrats would be trying to have the polygraph entered in and i got a mixed response

because the particular senator, democratic senator, said a formal trial lawyer, senator durbin does not necessarily agree with the validity of polygraphs. i think there is a split decision. i have not heard they would want to do that. i have not heard anyone say that. but the caller raises a fair point. that remains to be discussed. >> the national press club. we are so privileged to headliners, -- newmark,, craig founder