mike will have a look at your traffic in a few moments, but first we look at weather. you say another warm one in the bay area today. >> definitely another warm-up. it's cool to start right now, in the 50s, but you may want to rush if you're heading out for a morning workout because the temperatures will be quick to warm. if you notice by 10:00 a.m., we'll be at 74 degrees. eventually jumping into the 80s by 12:00. check out your microclimate highs for today. concord, antioch and livermore all climbing into those 90s. have no fear, i am tracking a 20-degree drop. i'll let you know when that's expected to happen. first, we have to check in with mike. >> yikes. we'll watch out for the dramatic changes there. no dramatic changes for most places on the map. bay area commute shows a predictable pattern. we're following the issues in san francisco that will affect folks getting across the bay bridge as they did yesterday. i'm talking about the closure of that transit center. the salesforce transit center

continues the closure today. it's a top story as our news goes and pete will talk about that coming up. i'll note the closures near salesforce and moscone center. in less than an hour we'll hear from christine blasey ford telling her story to congress for the first time on live tv. then supreme court nominee brett kavanaugh tells his side all about these sexual assault allegations. >> late last night, more allegations of sexual misconduct against kavanaugh. "today in the bay's" tracie potts is live to bring us up to speed. >> reporter: hi. we are waiting for this hearing to start in less than an hour now. we know that there have been some new anonymous allegations against judge kavanaugh. in the meantime, he may address

those but quooef seen his opening statement. we know he's going to continue any involvement in sexual misconduct when he speaks later this morning. headed into today's hearing, there are now five accusations against supreme court nominee judge brett kavanaugh. he denies them all. two came anonymously to republicans. in interviews with lawmakers this week, kavanaugh said he was never even there. >> this is getting into the twilight zone. you're talking about brett kavanaugh being a serial rapist. >> reporter: julie swetnick says judge kavanaugh was present when she was drugged and gang raped in the '80s. >> no one has gone to the police to report those allegations? it's truly outrageous. >> reporter: the first accuser, dr. christine blasey ford will tell the senate judiciary committee, i thought brett was

accidentally going to kill me, when he allegedly attacked her. >> i do want to hear what she says. and maybe she'll say -- i can be convinced of anything. >> she is fierce and determined and undaunted. we shouldn't underestimate her when she shows up this morning, she'll be ready. >> reporter: kavanaugh will admit he drank too much in high school and did things that now make him cringe but nothing like this. both will be questioned by veteran sex crimes attorney, rachel mitchell, brought in by republicans. >> the republicans are fooling themselves if they can hire a person for one day to hide behind. >> reporter: republicans accuse democrats of an orchestrated smear campaign. >> now, we do know the president is still backing judge kavanaugh. he says that his own experience, the president's experience, with sexual misconduct allegations has him thinking that maybe

these allegations are false. we'll start to see that testimony now in less than an hour. back to you. >> it will be interesting to see. thank you very much, tracie. you'll be able to watch the full hearing right here on nbc bay area. we'll also stream it on our website and app so you can take it on the road with you, even in the car, watch it wherever you are. coverage starts at 6:30 this morning. meantime, in the bay area, people are rallying to support dr. ford. >> not just her but for also the other women who have come forward. one of those rallies right there in palo alto at city hall. that's where "today in the bay's" kris sanchez is this morning. >> reporter: hi there. by the time all these folks gather here at palo alto city hall, we may have a pretty good idea of how the testimony is going as brett kavanaugh and christine blasey ford go before that senate judiciary committee. one week ago today i was reporting on a huge banner that was flying over palo alto with the message, thank you,

christine. we have your back. there have been other shows of support, large and small, all around the bay area. today in addition to this rally, at noon folks will gather at montgomery and market streets in san francisco and at the federal building on clay street in oakland. one of the questions dr. ford will be asked is why she didn't tell her parents or the police or any trusted adult about that alleged sexual assault by kavanaugh back at that time in high school or at any point since. a new uc-berkeley survey may help shed light on that. student, faculty, staff were asked the reason they didn't report their own sexual assault. 32% of the people who responded said they feared poor treatment or no action. 49% feared they would be blamed for what happened. 27% were concerned about confidentiality. these don't add up to 100% because the victims often have more than one reason for not coming forward. now, christine blasey ford and brett kavanaugh had to submit their opening statements ahead of time.

those are posted on our website. i put a link in my twitter feed. that's @krisnbc. i asked the question, are you going to follow live, online or you don't care about what's happening today? kris sanchez, "today in the bay." 6:06 right now. the chp is investigating an apparent road rage incident in the south bay. this left an uber driver hurt. this happened during the morning commute yesterday on highway 87. the chp saying the uber driver got into an altercation with the driver of another car. they say it's possible the driver of a third car accidentally told him to pull over. that's when things turned violent. officers say the attacker also kicked the uber driver while he was on the ground. they're hoping someone may have dash cam video showing that incident. it's 6:06. more problems in san francisco at the transbay transit center. today we expect more gridlock as crews work to fix cracks found in two steel beams. once again, riders will have to

go to the old, temporary transit center to try to catch their bus. pete joins us live in san francisco with where all that repair work stands right now. pete? >> reporter: good morning to you. this will be the new normal, at least through next week. we're standing on fremont street, taking a look over my shoulder. that's the type of gridlock you'll see, at least right now. it's going to pick up even more as the morning goes along. now, this is all, of course, happening because of a cracked steel beam at the salesforce transit center. we know engineers will continue to look at it through next week. if you remember, it was on tuesday they had to clear out that transit center. that's when they had to close it down because of that issue. upon further inspection, they're able to find two cracked beams in that area. the people's abeams are a key p structure. you'll have that closure on fremont street between howard and mission. bus riders will have to go back to that temporary bus terminal. of course, there's plenty of

unanswered questions as far as why this all happened. >> basically supports the roof, the bus deck and spans fremont streets. it's holding up fremont street -- the bridge over fremont street. >> i'm sick. get it done right so we can get back to normal and a more efficient service. >> the initial correspondence cost of operating it is more than it's bringing in in rent. right now that thing is a white elephant. >> reporter: the investigative unit uncovered the steel beams were created by the -- or the beams they're using were made by the herritt corporation in southern california. some research we found with industry research is the beams are considered risky due to its massive size, and could hide irregularities. officials do not know at this time what caused those beams to crack in the first place. live in san francisco, "today in the bay." 6:08. happening today a new honor

commemorating the legacy of san francisco mayor ed lee. city leaders are renaming the chinese education center as edwin and anita lee newcomer school. that school is located near the financial district. it's a transitiditional school chinese children. lee died nine months ago of a heart attack. 6:09, thursday morning. today is going to be your last chance to enjoy some warmer weather that we've been seeing all week long. your mike crow climate highs will climb into the upper 80s for south bay. morgan hill hitting a high of 90 degrees. san jose, 95. east bay we have 74 degrees in oakland, in through concord, 93 degrees. that ridge of high pressure that's been keeping us extremely warm this past week will linger for just one more day, bringing, unfortunately, some elevated fire danger for the interior valleys. peninsula expect breezy

conditions into the area. no big changes for san francisco. 69 in mission. enjoy those 80s and 90s because we've got a 20-degree plus drop heading into the weekend. let's get a check of traffic with mike. >> no drop in traffic. we're starting to see more cars on the roadway and a few patches of slowing. san jose holds steady. more slowing for hayward and across the san mateo and dumbarton bridges. there's your commute just starting to build by the toll plaza. over here we have this and it should be recovering, northbound 280 approaching 101, a crash. a quick traffic break. chp said that shouldn't be a problem. we'll track that. i trust them because they're very reliable. we'll let you know if anything complicates that issue. this will complicate your drive through the san francisco area and into the city via the bay bridge. this is that closure for the transbay transit center. the sals salesforce transit center. it's closed. fremont street is also under the

overpass. getting off the bay bridge to fremont off-ramp on your right side, one lane is closed but still open. that's to metered traffic getting into the area. remember, the other side of the skyway has harrison street, which loops around. that was just jammed up late morning and all afternoon yesterday as well. those are both issues. unfortunately, if you go down towards ninth and civic center off-ramp, that will have to take you back through city streets and possibly complicate things because moscone, there's that closure of howard and third and fourth. that will cause minor delays for muni. b.a.r.t., unaffected. back to you. >> thank you very much, mike. 6:11. coming up next on "today in the bay," celebrating google. new video you have to see from overnight. the rare look back in time the company is giving us this morning. first, making b.a.r.t. safe. the push today to get real people to talk about their ideas to improve security. this is after a streak of violence. looking live in washington. a palo alto professor getting

ready to talk to congress and the world about her allegations of sexual assault against the president's supreme court pick. you'll hear it all live this morning. this is "today in the bay." distance relationship.

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tight over san francisco. you can see sunlight peeking in through the fog. i'm tracking in one final warm day but a cooldown and rain. i'll have all the details coming up. looking towards the east shore freeway. now we're at the 20-minute mark. more slowing at richmond and hercules. mostly through berkeley. over here, the san jose getting crowded as well. there are a couple of spots i'm watching. i'll point them out. >> thanks. safety on b.a.r.t. is a big concern. you've probably seen a lot of stories talking about the violence and robberies. b.a.r.t.'s board of directors will meet today to try to figure out how to make it safer for riders. >> bob redell is outside the b.a.r.t. station. they have some possible proet posal, bob? >> reporter: b.a.r.t. wants to do a number of things under the new so-called safety and security plan, like increase police presence, improve video surveillance and deter fare

evaders, among other things. this comes after three people were murdered on the transit system in recent months, including 17-year-old nia wilson, who was stabbed to death at the macarthur b.a.r.t. station in oakland in late july. her family believes her suspect was a fare evader. if he wasn't able to jump the gates, nia would still be alive. tonight the board will discuss replacing the gates, one harder to penetrate without a ticket. also what can be done to improve b.a.r.t.'s proof of payment system. the b.a.r.t. chief of police will report on recommendations on how to better adequately staff his agency. you might recall, we recently reported on another b.a.r.t. proposal that would create a community ambassador program. it would be modeled after sfumuni's transit system to allow them to de-escalate situations, in addition to the police presence. take a look at the tv screen.

that b.a.r.t. board of directors meeting is tonight at 5:00. you'll notice the location is different. it's at the pittsburg city hall in the town of pittsburg. it will be held there in an attempt to reach more members of the public who might not be able to make the b.a.r.t. board regular meetings at b.a.r.t. head quarters in down totown oakland. >> thank you. time now for business and tech headlines. for you, wall street is set to open slightly lower this morning. stocks fell yesterday after the fed raised interest rates for a third time this year. the fed signaled another possible hike in december. as many as three times neblgs year. the fed chair says the u.s. economy is strong and growth is healthy. on today's watchlist, reports on unemployment, durable goods, pending home sales and second quarter gdp. 6:17. google continues to celebrate

the company's 20th birthday. >> check out this morning's google doodle. it caught our attention overnight. here's a look at it. >> what is google? >> remember those sounds? the whole clip is about 1:30 and ends by saying, thank you to all of us. another cool thing the company is doing, you can take a virtual tour of the original garage in menlo park where the company was founded back in 1998. i remember the first time someone said, try the search engine called google. it stands out to me. >> we're going way back. the weather, something to talk about today. >> something to talk about because there's a lot going on. i'm tracking a couple of systems that will impact not just today but your weekend plans as well. you definitely want to listen up. san francisco right now, we have

fog, marine layer at about 1,000 feet in san francisco. we've been waking up to cool temperatures in the 50s right now in san jose, but we've been quickly warming by the afternoon into 70s, 80s and 90s. today will be no different in terms of hour high temperatures because that ridge of high pressure wants to give us one more day of 90s. for interior valleys. nice spread. san francisco, 66 degrees. then we kick it up to oakland in the 70s. kick it up another notch, another 10 degrees in martinez of 87. let's kick it up some more for good ol' microclimates, 93 degrees for con volunteered. y concord. let's talk about the next several days. these could easily impact any plans, especially if you're outside. the heat peaks today. that means increased fire danger, especially for the valleys. we have an approaching low just

off the west. that's going to bring much cooler temperatures. a drop of about 20 degrees with some good rain chances. if you live south of the golden gate bridge, saturday and sunday shouldn't be a big impact in terms of the rainfall. as we look ahead towards monday, we have a second low approaching and that will bring the best chance of seeing widespread rain with pretty good rain totals which is why we have our storm ranger. this will be ready to go once this system approaches. the timing intensity and rainfall totals will change as that second system approaches. i want to give you an idea of what we're tracking. futurecast by 4:30 a.m. on saturday. we see that system approaching.

it sticks offer to the north bay in santa rosa. monday, mike, you might be a tad more busy as that second storm approaches. >> we've been warned. be prepared. we'll track those changes. we're looking over to the south bay peninsula, no major changes. a nice, easy drive right now. we're picking up the volume from 101. the airport where there was a stall that should be over on the shoulder now. 101 near 87. this is an issue, this crash in the backup formed by the traffic break. 280 approaching 101 at the connecter. we had a stalled vehicle reported in the backup as well. hopefully get to that to the shoulder. ch pchlgt will give us more updates. we'll continue to talk about the closure for that salesforce transit center. we talk about two cracks that

were discovered after another inspection there. that will remain closed right now, so will fremont street and that will complicate the fremont exit which has one lane blocked getting off the bay bridge. that will cause more slowing from treasure island, the build for the morning commute just started. across the san mateo bridge, we see more volume. folks traveling westbound. we're tapping those brake lights already. back to you. 6:22. coming up, arrests after a rash of apple store robberies. the update we expect in a few hours. we continue to keep an eye, watching on washington, looking ahead at the high-stakes hearing which could determine the future of the supreme court for generations. a major appliance with a minor complication. a $700 refund left in limbo. that's pretty major. nbc bay area responds next.

welcome back. it is 6:25. we're keeping an eye on capitol hill. less than an hour from the start of today's hearing. palo alto professor dr. christine blasey ford will speak first about her assault allegations against brett kavanaugh. the coverage from washington starts in a few minutes, about 6:30. it's 6:25 right now. two other top stories we're following. today we'll learn more about who authorities arrested from stealing from apple.

we talked a lot about these grab and go thefts in cities across the bay area. today the justice department will talk about new arrests just made, including which cases they're connected to. all we know so far, several people were arrested in oakland last night. also today, people living in hope village will be going to an empty city-owned lot near the san jose airport. we followed the fight over this tent community for weeks now. it was on state land. this week county supervisors agreed to lease city land and run hope village as a six of my month pilot program. nbc bay area responds to a woman who never got her money back after returning an appliance. >> how we helped sort things out. >> reporter: erin coffman bought a dryer from sears in february. after a few days she decided to return it. she says sears picked it up and

promised to refund her $700, but the money never came. erin filed a dispute with her credit card company. and lost. sears indicated it had already refunded her. erin went back and forth with sears and the bank for more than three months. then decided to contact us. we reached out to sears and it agreed to investigate further. erin told us she then got her $700 back. sears sent us a statement that says, our top priority is the satisfaction of our members. our member services team resolved the situation by issuing a refund. returning big-ticket items like appliances can be tricky. we say keep all the original packaging until you with sure you want to keep it. also, save those receipts, including the delivery paperwork. if you have a consumer complaint, let us know, 888-996-tips or on nbcbayarea.com/responds. 6:27. after the break, a special

report from lester holt, savannah guthrie and the entire nbc news team. live coverage of the kavanaugh hearing starts any moment right here on nbc bay area. as we look live at capitol hill, remember, we'll also stream coverage on our website and app, so you can watch no matter where you are. >> if the network is running a little late, we'll see you in two minutes for another check of local weather and traffic. you're watching "today in the bay."

this is an nbc news special report. here's lester holt and savannah guthrie. >> good morning, everyone. we're coming up to bring you the

may opt to rely on outside counsel hired by them, a female to question ford for them. >> this is an extraordinary moment in our politics. the most anticipated and potentially explosive hearing in recent memory. the stakes are very, very high. not just for the individuals involved, of course, butter also for the president. he nominated kavanaugh, he stands by him this morning. then there is the supreme court itself. kavanaugh is nominated to fill the seat of retired justice anthony kennedy who for years had been often a pivotal swing vote on a sharply divided court. this is the lifetime appointment, which means if confirmed, kavanaugh, who is 53 years olds, could hold one of this country's most powerful positions for decades. if he's confirmed could very well be determined by what happens today in the hearing room. it's a big deal. it's playing out amidst a tense national conversation about sexual abuse of women, the me too movement. >> our colleagues are here to help us cover this story.

chuck todd, andrea mitchell and megyn kelly. we want to take a look at how this hearing will unfold. chairman chuck fwrasgrassley wi make an opening statement. he's been a member since 1981 and was part of the hearing commission in 1981. dianne feinstein will then make her opening statement. also 85. feinstein was elected to the senate in 1992. the so-called year of the woman in the wake of the thomas hearings. >> and it's feeling a lot like deja vu. after senators make those opening statements. we'll hear publicly from christine blasey ford, the first time before the cameras. she's a psychology professor, a researcher and she says crucially when she was 15 in the early 1980s she was sexually assaulted by a teenage brett kavanaugh. in the early 1980s, she was sexually assaulted by a teenage brett kavanaugh. what to expect from there, we go

to hallie jackson. she's in position. good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, savannah and lester. dr. ford has arrived, currently in a holding area outside the courtroom where this all will happen. it's noticeably smaller than we saw from the initial confirmation hearings at the request of dr. ford's team, there is simply fewer media, fewer people who are present. they wanted to prevent this from turning into a circus-like atmosphere. you ticked through how this is going to unfold. the opening statements from grassley and senator feinstein and dr. ford will have her time to deliver her opening statement. she's expected to be led by her two attorneys and in her prepared remarks, talk about how he's a reluctant witness here. who did not want her name revealed and struggled with this terrible choice. stay private or go public and share her story. she says she does not want to be here today. she actually says she is terrified in these prepared remarks but believes it's her civic duty to talk about what

she says happened to her. judge brett kavanaugh will have his opportunity not only to deliver an opening statement but answer senators in the room and should be noted rachel mitchell, the veteran prosecutor here with decades of sex crimes experience talking about this will likely be the one to be asking dr. ford on behalf of the republicans on the senate judiciary committee some of these questions. there's a lot at stake here. dr. ford, a lot of folks are watching to see, is she incredib credible, compelling? they want to see judge kavanaugh more indignant than he was earlier this week and vehemently deny the allegations against him but he has to be careful not to look like he's going on attack against dr. ford given the moment we are in. we know that the president will be watching. he's actually in new york this morning wrapping up at the united nations but will be in transit traveling to washington. he is now opened the door to potentially withdrawing kavanaugh's nomination depending how this goes today.

>> hallie, stand by there, of course. >> we want to bring in kkasie h with late reporting here. >> reporter: lester, we've seen as this unfolds, the audience that matters is a small universe of republican senators who are currently undecided. this hearing would not be going forward if mitch mcconnell had the 50 votes. he's the republican leader to actually pass this nomination through the senate. while we've been focusing very carefully on two women, susan and lisa murkowski as well as jeff flake of arizona, my sources are telling me that this hearing could actually influence a wider universe of republicans and if, in fact, dr. ford comes across as credible and especially if it seems to republicans as though judge kavanaugh has lied at some point during this process or hasn't told them the truth, that this could really swing against him

and mitch mcconnell's public strategy and you've heard him say this over and over is to push through fast as possible with this nomination process. they've actually scheduled a committee vote on judge kavanaugh for 9:30 tomorrow morning. they've talked about keeping the senate in through the weekend so that they could potentially have a final vote as early as monday or tuesday of next week. but i'm told that one thing to look for as this unfolds is whether republicans start to say among themselves behind closed doors, you know what? that's just too fast for us. we're not convinced yet. we need to talk to some more people, potentially open the investigation more widely. susan collins expressed some interest in subpoenaing mark judge who is the person that dr. ford places in that room. so an incredible amount at stake here and many minds that could be changed. lester? >> kasie, thank you. >> we should mention, it's the republicans who hired this special prosecutor, somebody who has a lot of experience with sex crimes to do some of the questioning today. meanwhile, the president, we

know will be watching. he had a news conference yesterday and said he believed these allegations to be false, also had an open mind and could be convinced and brings us right to kristen welker, from the white house. >> reporter: i spoke with a white house official moments ago who tells me the mood here today, ready and focused. this is a critical moment for president trump and as you say, he continues to stand by his nominee, but also said during that wide ranging news conference yesterday, if ford's testimony is convincing, it could change his mind about kavanaugh. i also spoke with top adviser kelly anne conway who said the president is not eyeing a replacement for kavanaugh but focused on the hearing. at the same time, there is some concern within the white house in the wake of that interview that kavanaugh did earlier this week and he wasn't strong enough in some of his answers. the white house today is going to be looking for him not only to be firm in his denials but

speak as a father and as a judge and say sexual assault cannot be tolerated under any circumstances. mr. trump likes to remind people that he got elected in part because of the supreme court. so for him, the stakes couldn't be higher and could, of course, have implications for the midterms as well, savannah. >> thank you, kristen. >> let me start with andrea mitchell. this is not happening in a vacuum. we're hearing one accuser's testimony but we've heard bits and pieces about background, about parties, about drinking. how is this all going to play? >> it really will depend on the presentation of these two people. how they respond, she certainly has no experience in this kind of a public setting. he has a lot, a practiced litigator. if you think back to 27 years ago when i was covering thomas and anita hill, after the first day of testimony with anita hill going first, the public and certainly the media felt she had been compelling but then the

white house really orchestrated judge thomas coming in at the last minute that night and then all day the next day and it moved quickly. the high-tech lynching comment and by the time we did "meet the press" sunday morning, the overnight polling persuaded the democrats to back off and not bring in a corroborating witness from anita hill or her polygraph exam. they decided the public had made their decision on a he said/she said moment and well could become, who looks authentic? does he say too far? does he deny too much? a lot of people who look to the fox interview thought he said too much about his high school and it was incredible given a lot of extenuating circumstances and information that this was a drinking crowd at georgetown prep. he should not deny everything if that's the presentation and how nervous is she in this atmosphere? >> some things never change.

it's not a legal proceeding per se, it's politics. so that brings me to you, chuck. >> that's the troubling thing about today is it's not a fact finding mission. we are not, there is going to be an irreconcilable feeling to this hearing for many americans. this is going to be a test. maybe it's compelling and breaks this polarizing cycle but i have to say, the fact that we're, that this hearing is about performance rather than the substance itself should be a little troubling, but this is our politics in 2018. >> megyn is our lawyer here and in courts of law every day of the year, credibility is weighed. you have an accuser and you have the accused and in some sense, that is what we're going to all be judging today. >> the democrats should be happy that this is not a trial because if it were, she would likely lose. he would be afforded the presumption of innocence and she

would have to prove it beyond a reasonable doubt. she has no corroborating witnesses and she has a jury as does brett kavanaugh who has made his mind. this would be a nightmare criminal trial but that's not what this is. it is about advice and consent and the senate's duty to do that, on the president's chosen supreme court pick. their goal, their constitutional mission is to figure out whether brett kavanaugh is qualified to sit on the supreme court. if you've got some guy who's a serial sexual harasser, you can obviously make the case that he's not but my own take on it is that the republicans are determined to believe he's not and to hang that decision on the absence of hard proof and the democrats are exactly opposite minded. >> you know, politically, it's possible if kavanaugh gets confirmed and benefits the democrats in the midterm and if kavanaugh today goes badly and forced to withdraw, it could serve as a rallying point on the right and help republicans in the midterm. the biggest difference between anita hill and clarence thomas

and today is the timing. we weren't six weeks away from an election. they are less than six weeks away. we actually were 13 months from an election. >> we await the hearing at 10:00 a.m. eastern time. we take a quick break as nbc news of the kavanaugh hearing continues.

well, earlier this morning, we heard from a former classmate of christine blasey ford. samantha gary. she spoke about ford's state of mind as she goes into the hearing this morning. >> she is fierce and determined

and undaunted. so we shouldn't underestimate her. when she shows up this morning, she'll be ready. >> i want to bring in pete williams now, our justice correspondent. pete, we know the testimony of one, but what about other evidence? is there anything else in terms of statements, in terms of a polygraph test that would go on the record here? >> there is a polygraph test that was administered to dr. ford and her lawyers have released it. the polygraph said she was truthful. that's one thing undoubtedly democrats will bring up. on the other hand, the majority staff said that some of the people she says were at the party have since said they don't remember anything like this. a couple of the other witnesses that have been asked to come and testify said they have nothing to add, that they don't remember anything about this. and then, of course, beyond simply the allegations of dr. ford, there are two others that lurk in the background here. debra ramirez who says that

brett kavanaugh exposed himself to her and julie sweatnick who said in her words was present at a party in which she was gang raped and then there have been three, just since, the fourth allegation came out, three other anonymous claims about brett kavanaugh from people in colorado, rhode island, and california and another wrinkle here, lester, last night, the committee majority staff said that in the past couple of days, two men have come forward independently to say they think they are the ones that christine blasey ford is talking about, not brett kavanaugh. so all of that lurks in the background and remember, lester, we're just a couple of days away from the actual supreme court whose term begins on monday and issues a new set of cases they'll be hearing in the coming term. so the supreme court will be open for business on monday regardless of what happens to brett kavanaugh. >> pete, thanks. as you go through that, i think all but one of these cases,

there were multiple people supposedly present but yet we hear from none of them today. >> i think that's been something susan collins has brought up. that troubles her that they haven't decided, if mark judge, his friend, named multiple times, he should be interviewed in some form or another. not necessarily a public hearing perhaps but at least privately and that's, i think, today, depending on, in many ways, it could be a focus group of one but depending on how much we know or don't know, if she says, i want to know more, they may be compelled to have to go to the judge. >> but the complaining accusers in these cases are the ones, the names they have given have come forward to the press and say, they didn't remember that at all. it's not that these are, other than mark judge, not a field of witnesses saying i'd love to tell you my story and back her up and the republicans ignored them. they're not there. they said it didn't happen. >> and mark judge, i believe,

submitted a statement to the rae republicans on the judiciary committee but he wasn't subpoenaed to testify. and if there's not a huge universe of people to testify, does that not strain mark judge? >> that's the one thing that stands out here. the eyewitness, even if he was too drunk to remember, something happened. in the prepared statements goes beyond what she told "the washington post" and specific details, talks about going up the stairs to go to the bathroom, coming from a swim meet at the country club nearby, going up the stairs to go to the bathroom and then being grabbed and dragged into this room. so it's much more graphic and literal. i just want to say, there's other senators involved here. the committee, by the way, they could tie if thomas was a 7-7 tie reported out unfavorably. there's ways to adjust the committee rules. there's other senators though, there's a republican who's been

really silent. shelly moore capito. different era but the -- >> where christine ford went to. >> circling around strongly. she'll be under enormous pressure from her own roots from that school to break away. >> we wait, about 12 minutes away if they start on time. the center of the political

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her story under oath here. the hearing is scheduled to get under way in about 9 minutes or so. let's go to hallie jackson right now who can set the scene. i know there were a lot of negotiations leading up to the moment in terms of the number of cameras and how things are placed. describe the scene for us. >> who goes first and who goes when, dr. ford's team had made some requests, some demands, if you will, for how this will go. the senate judiciary committee will accommodate some but not others. the order this morning was a question for days leading up to this. who goes first? brett kavanaugh or christine blasey ford? she wanted him to go first, ultimately, she will be speaking first. but what was accommodated, the two of them are not sharing space in the room. they have a holding area where they have an opportunity to watch these hearings. dr. ford is here on the hill, so far as we know, judge kavanaugh has not arrived. it will be several hours before he has his opportunity to speak given that the questioning will begin with dr. ford. as for the room itself, lester,

i think back to when you and i were talking about the hearings over the summer when there was a scene in the room. broadcasting live, for example, overlooking from a balcony where judge kavanaugh was seated, some 50 plus still photographers gathered in the well in front of the desk snapping pictures. that's not going to happen today. dr. ford's team did not want that kind of an atmosphere. she is, as talked about earlier, having some concerns about this. she's nervous, scared, talked about that in her prepared remarks and at the same time, her friends say she's gathering strength and ready for this moment but didn't want to have this circus feeling here. that's why you'll see a maximum of 8 photographers in the room compared to 50 of kavanaugh hearings initially and the press, 150 media members in the room over the summer and now limited to fewer than 50, roughly 48 reporters who will be able to be there and witness these proceedings on what is an historic day.

the details are obviously worked out. it was not an easy and quick process. it was back and forth between the senate judiciary committee, chuck grassley and his staff and dr. ford's team. she will be able to have her attorneys seated next to her. we understand her husband will not be here but she does have others in the room with her. >> all right, hallie. thank you very much. we should note, we saw a picture a moment ago of rachel mitchell. she is the prosecutor who will be doing the questioning on behalf of the republican senator. >> before i turn to megyn kelly, a tweet from senator feinstein. republicans didn't learn from the mistakes of the anita hill hearing and are making new ones. blocking an fbi investigation, no outside witnesses, having a prosecutor examine dr. blasey ford and scheduling a vote before her testimony are among their bad decisions. the ranking member of the judiciary committee perhaps previewing the opening marks she'll make in a few minutes but on the subject, megyn, of this

prosecutor, this experienced prosecutor. i think a lot of people hear that word and say, boy, is she going to go in there and cross examine this witness but a sex crimes charge is generally on the person on the side of the accuser. so how do you think she plays this? she's been hired by the republicans. >> a word on the feinstein tweet, of course, she had these allegations brought to her weeks ago and sat on them. they remained anonymous but she did nothing until the eve of the vote, so there is, you know, a question about her indignation under these circumstances but secondly on the subject of rachel mitchell, some people are saying that this is a gift to dr. ford because she will be more ideologically aligned with the alleged victim having been a prosecutor and a talented one in maricopa county for years. she's award winning in putting bad guys away who abused women and so on. the criticism from some republicans has been prosecutors

wind ups settling or getting deals in 90 plus, so she may not be experienced a cross examiner as people otherwise think and his defenders want to see her press dr. ford robustly on her claims because everyone accused. >> by the way, what rhythm can you get, if i understand the proceedings here today, she'll get five minutes to question if the republican senator yields and then over to the democratic senators there and then back to her presumably for another five minutes. >> some republican senators might say, hang on, i have a couple of questions. lindsey graham said he would do that. >> about the tone the republicans have, watching the anita hill thing but what about the tone of democrats here? do they have to challenge her perhaps more strongly than they'd wish? >> they have to make sure this doesn't look like a pile-on

either and litigating teenage behavior. part of it, he may have opened himself up to a line of questioning that i do think is going to be an interesting line that democrats have to walk. he's been, you could argue, overdenied about his behavior perhaps, or we don't know if he's overdenied but not, like, i did drink too much. a little bit. but the question is, if democrats look like they're harping almost too much on it, that, i think is. >> he did an interview with fox news where he asked if he'd been black out drunk and said, he had not. the legal drinking age was 18. i was focused on school and my church and my service activities and some have said, wait a minute, does that open up the flood gates to evidence he was anything but the church boy portrayed there? >> as democrats and republicans also want to know, democrats in particular have been saying, it's just not credible.

his story doesn't add up because of other things that came up during the hearing. policy issues, policy disagreements. they really have to stay away from that today. this is focused on these two people. just about dianne feinstein to clarify what her statement is and there have been democrats as well who are not happy about the way she handled it. she's saying in a case like this when dr. ford demanded confidentiality, she felt to share it even with her democratic colleagues would inevitably lead to leaks but i know she's very vulnerable on this. i'm just saying that is her position that until she was willing to come forward, she felt she did not disclose. >> we're only here because the united states senate has been broken. okay, we are here because harry reid and mitch mcconnell went on a game of chicken of how to do judicial nominations. we would not be here if not for the filibuster. i believe that. it takes two to tango. >> mitch mcconnell stood up and

said, you will rue the day you did this because the democrats will not always be in charge. >> in terms, the filibuster needed 60 votes to move the judicial nomination instead of 50. >> it was set at 50. harry reid said the supreme court justice, he was frustrated because he thought mitch mcconnell was holding up obama judges and when mcconnell came in, he said, fine. i'll get rid of the filibuster too and everybody decided to partisanize judicial nominations into this 51-49 world we live in and i think we're finding out how this is a way to break the judiciary if you're not. >> and to break congress and that's going to be the reaction very likely of the public. >> and if somehow this confirmation, this nomination fails, we're back here again, the rules are the same. almost a higher standard against the next nominee. >> yes, and no. you remember, after a high profile fight, sometimes everyone wants to pull back. >> take a deep breath.

>> i don't think that's the democrat's plan. i think this is all part of a plan to get rid of kavanaugh and then try to take control of the senate in the midterms and get a more democratic friendly nominati nomination. >> we want to pause for st a moment now as we are joined by more of our nbc stations across the country. >> good morning, everybody. 10:00 a.m. in the east, 7:00 a.m. in the west and then in just a few moments, a woman named christine blasey ford, a ph.d. and psychology professor will come in and offer testimony against judge brett kavanaugh who is seeking an appointment to the supreme court. she's accused him of sexual assault when they were teenagers and this morning, the he said/she said will be poured right out into the public arena with senators like the ones you're seeing on your screens right there sitting in judgment. >> here with us right now, an