captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening, i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight, brettnf kavanaugh's mation to the u.s. supreme court is now all but assured, with a final vote set for saturday. then, guilty: a jury in chicago convicts a police officer in the murder of a black teenager. plus, the plastic problem-- a report from ster island in the south pacific to see how the world's overuse of plastic reaches the most remote places on earth. >> the world is trashing the ocean. and that trash, we are receiving it in our coast in rapa nui. it's like someone putting a gun to your head and telling you, you must receive that. >> woodruff: and it's friday... mark shields and david brooks consider the fallout from the kavanaugh confirmation process.

all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: ♪ ♪ moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us. >> consumer cellular understands th unlimited wireless plan. our u.s.-based customer service

reps can h based on how much you use your phone, nothing more, nothing less. nsumercellular.tv to >> the ford foundation. working with visfrnaries on the tlines of social change worldwide. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: and friends of the newshour. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcastin and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you.

>> woodruff: supreme court nominee brett kavanaugh is gnight on his way to winn the showdown over his confirmation. p ked up crucial support in the past few hours after a day of high drama in the united states senate. congressional correspondent lisa desjardins begins our coverage. >> desjardin a dramatic scene, with senators in their seats voting one by one on wheorer to moverd with supreme court nominee brett kavanaugh. >> murkowski. for alaska senator lisas murkowski, it quiet no. >> desjardins: the lone republican no vote said she made up her mind as shealked onto the senate floor. >> the truth is that none of this has been fair.. i believe he is a good man. it just may be that in my view he's not the right man for the court at this time. >> desjardins: murkowski was one of four key quesonable votes

when the day started. republicans needed two of those four to break the procedural motion, and ended up with three: republicans jeff flake and susan collins and democrat joe manchin. that got kavanaugh past a key procedural vote. >> the ys are 51-49. motion agreed to. >> desjardins:ut it wasn't clear if collins would vote yes on his confirmation , until she took to the floor in the afternoon. h no senat under more pressure from both sides-- she spoke to many issues including whether kavanaugh would overturn the roe v wade decision legalizing abortion. s>> protecting this right geportant to me. to my knowledge, javanaugh is the fir supreme court nominee to express the view that precedent is noterely a practice and tradition, t

rooted in article iii of our constitution itself. >> desjardins: on the allegations of sexual assault. >> the facts presented do not mean that professor ford was nol se assaulted that night, or at some other time, b they do lead me to conclude that the allegaons fail to meet the" more likely than not" standard. >> desjardins: minutes after collins spoke, democrat joe manchin confirmed he too w final yes. republicans were happy, with president trump tweeting he was "very proud" of the senate. judiciary chairman chuck grassley. >> we had a campaign of distraction from hisutstanding qualifications, a campaign of distraction from this fine individual. >> what we have seen and

>> desjardins: the senate floor action came after weeks of heated hearings and debate along with a re-opened f.b.i. investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct. democrats, like dick durbin of ,linois, who voted no tod pointed to kavanaugh's temperamt at the hearing. >> it's hard timagine how a nominee who has displayed such raw partisanship could then claim to serve as a neutral umpire in the supreme cot. judge kavanaugh through his own testimony has lled his own impartiality into extreme doubt. >> desjardins: in a rare move, kavanaugh himself addressed his emotional testimony in an op-ed for the "wall street journal" last night, writing: "my hearing testimony was forceful and passionate.... i might have been too emotional at times. i know that my tone was sharp, and i said a few things i should not have said." white house press secretary sarah sanders defended the nominee on fox news: >> i thought his tone in lasea week'sng was exactly what you would pect from somebody going through what brett kavanaugh and his tmily have beough over the last

several weeks. >>ou'll have to tell your children, your grandkids where you stood today. >> desjardins: around the capitol, anti-kavanaugh protestersathered again. those concerns were dismissed b republicside the chamber. john cornyn of texas applauded the vote: >> our vote today was impot ant ly because it will allow us to move forward and conclude this confirmation process, butmp it wastant because it showed the u.s. senate will not be intimidated. we will not be bullied by the screams of paid protesters and name calling by the mob. desjardins: democrats, like california's kamala harris, still question the thoroughness of the latest f.b.i. investigatio >> this was not a search for the truth, this was not an investigation. this was an abdication of responsibility and duty. >> desjards: if confirmed tomorrow, kavanaugh could join the other eight justices on the supremcourt early next week. >> woodruff: lisa joins me now,

along with newshour white house correspondent yamiche alcindor. lisa, as we said, what a dramatic day. tell us a little bit more abo what it was like. when did these yes votes decide and what factorswent into the decision? >> after such a dramatic week, judy, going intth vote, i spoke to several republican leaders who did not know if they had the votes going in.t te lme it happened on healthcare, they lost. it was a big gamble, but, in ts end,u sat in that chamber, i saw lisa murkowski with her head down, looking at her hands. i saw susanollins next to her. the two weren't speaking. they weren't cold to each other but it seeey were probably going to go different ways. so when murkowski announced that no vote, it really sent shockve through the chamber, is he in trouble. then collins was a yes, manchin was a yes, another surprise vote. it was quite a dramatic day, and i think the yes votes were very import look at. collins talked a lot about the

homework she did, she went ino a lot of substance. but manchin, he was really truck by his personal time with judge kavanaugh, and, in the end, he felt judge kavanaugh convinced him he would consider human ings in his decisions. essentially, manchin was trting kavanaugh based their personal interaction. >> woodruff: so, yamiche, you have been at the white house talking to them. take us behind the scenes. what are they saying? were they wringing their hands all day long? what was going on there? >> well, the white house fought for thean nominationd won. president trump watched closely as all the drama played outn the hill. don mcghan personally went to the hill to shpherd this vote through. the white house was very, very inlved in brett kavanaugh nomination. the president himself was calling senators, engaging senators throughout the week, but als today. the white house really was making the case, look, this is onbrett kavanaugh's charne's going to be a od conservative

dge, you should trust him. i you should -- i should say that the white house coachedfo brett kavanaughours and hours first about his initial testimony and then when he went back a second time. they told brett kavanaugh, yowrkd be aggressive in your defense of yourself. they coached him to go on to fox news to go and defenourself and write the op-ed in the "thel ystreet journal" and sa know what, i know you saw me get emotional but i can be an impartiality judge.me weets sarah sanders put out she said, thank you, senator llins for standing by your convictions and doing the right thing to confirm judge kavanaug, donald trur. also tweeting tonight, he is attackie joe manchin ly democrat who voted to clear brett kavanaugh. waited till kavanaugh had enough votes security before he announced his support. i bet he had another presst releasgo if collins went the other way.

ingyou see the president after people who even democrats who voted for brett kavanaugh for still a very highly political moment here. >> woodruff: interesting going after somebody who voted first. so lisa, nay lost prominent kstes. tell us about foho went the other way. >> lisa murkowski had a lot b weighing on het had some winds blowing toward no, including the governor and lieutenant governor of alaskat who both came no votes. she talked about healthcare. she was a critical vote against the healthcare real in part because alaska has such great healthcare. the alaska has one to ha highest rates of sexual assault against women in this country. she also has a very native american population that doesn't trt judge kavanaugh and has been vocal about it. all these factors weigh. but she decide as she walked into the chamber, so it was a close call for her. heidi heitkamp is int

because polls show her losing or behind in her race, where she is behind, voters under 45 and with women. as a no vote, you have to wonder is she wondering if that helps her with key groups democrats win. >> woodruff: what does the white house say this means for their agenda. >> this is a campaign promise filled for president trump. he ran on the notion of even if you don't like me, i can get you conservative justices on the supreme court and, tonight, he is almost at having two supreme court justices to point to and insay this is to be my legacy. so you have white evangelical vors i've talked too think the president is someone they lln't persolike, but the idea that the president really won this and is feeling great about this. >> woodruff: we are going to have to leave it there, bu thank you both for great reporting. lisa desamjardins,heyo alcindor, than we'll look at the effect of the kavanaugh decision on the #metoo

movement, later in the broadclet. the struver the supreme court played out as the jury in a chicago court convicted aof white policemaurdering a black teenager. uijason van dyke was foundy of second-degree murder in the death of laquan mcdonald. the teen was shot mu times in a 2014 confrontation. we'll get the details, and locah reaction, aftenews summary. in the day's other news, job gains in the u.s. slowed in ymptember, but the unemploent rate still fell to a nr-50- year low. the labor department says employers addea net of 134,000 jobs, the smallest number in a year, and likely affected by hurricane "florence". the unemployment ratped to 3.7%. that is the lowest is been since december of 1969. this year's nobel peace prize goes to two people who have fought to end sexual violence as a weapon of war. nadia murad is one of 3,000

yazidi women who were raped and tortured by islamic state militants in iraq. denis mukwege is a gynecological surgeon in congo who has treated thousands of rape victims there. in indonesia, hundreds of people mourned their losses today, from la week's earthquake and tsunami. ficials say at least 1,5 were killed in the disaster. orslim worshipers gathered friday prayers outside damaged mosques across the smashed city of palu. meanwhile, volunteers buried more of the dead in a mass grave. >> ( translated ): one of my sons who works in a bank was called by allah. he was buried the day after. i hope my dead son has gone to heaven, because he was in the middle of praying. allah willing, heaven for him. i have faith in that >> woodruff: in addition to the dead, thousands were injured, and more than 70,000 are living in shelters and makeshift tents.

questions are mounting over the fate of the president of interpol, thinternational police agency. meng hongwei has been missing since he traveled from france to his native china near the end of last month. a hong kong newspaper reports meng was picked up by chinese authorities, but the chinese have not commented. india signed a $5 billion deal with russia today, to buy advanced air defense systems. it could lead to u.s. economic sanctions for doing business with russia's defense sector. that's under a law aimed at inishing moscow for annexing crimea, and meddlithe 2016 u.s. elections. and, on wall street, stocks slumped again on worries aboutyi rising bonds and interest rates. the dow jones industrial average 80 points to close at 26,447.el the nasdaq91 points, more than one percent, and the s&p 500 slipped 16.

still to come on the newshour: f police officer is convicted in the shooting deathchicago teen. the nobel peacprize is awarded for efforts to curtail rape as a weapon of war. asking where the me-too movement stands one year later, and much more. >> woodrf: now, we return to today's guilty verdict in the chicago police shootial. john yang has our report.e >> we jury find jason van dyke guilty. >> yang: jurors deliberated about 7.5 hours before convicting jason van dyke of second degree murdernd 16 charges of aggravated battery, one count for each of the shots the former chicago police officer fired into 17-year-old laquan mcdonald in four years ago this month.

van dyke sat stone faced while the verdict was read, and a short time later was led out in oucuffs. outside the courthse on chicago's south side, there wasa jution. jedidiah brown is a community activist. >> this is the best moment as a chicagoan i've experienced in my erfe. this is my first ence as a black man, as a chicagoan, as an illinoisian, and aa man in the united states of america. we never get justice. today we got justice, sir. >> yang: the case of a black teenager killed at the hands of a white police officer gained national attention a inflamed long-simmering tensions between chicago police and the cidy's minorityents. van dyke's trial marked the first ti in more than three decades a chicago officer faced murder charges for a killing while on duty. the prosecution's case centered

on graphic dash cam video that showed mcdonald seemingly moving n away from officers as vake opened fire seconds after arriving. van dyke testified he acted in self defense. >> he waved the knife from his lower right side upwards across his body towards my left shoulder. >> and when he did that, what did you do, officer? >> i shot him. >> yang: defense attorney daniel herbert, a former chicago cop, called van dyke's conviction "a sad day for law enforcement." >> if police officers think they can't fire against someone who as acting the way laquan mcdonald did when they are 12 feet away from him, then i think what we are going to have is police officers are going to become security guards. >> yang: prosecutor joseph mcmahon praised the verdict. >>t.his is a gratifying verd

we are all pleased we have been successfuln our pursuit of justice to laquan mcdonald. >> yang: van dyke could face decades hind bars when he is sentenced. for more on today's verdict and the reaction to it, we are joined by brandis friedman, a repoer for "chicago tonight" on pbs station wttw. she covered the trial. brandis, thanks so much for joining us. what's the reactn? we've seen in the taped piece, we've seen the scene outside the courthouse, marchers going through downtownh cicago, what's the reaction been? t community members think this is some sorof justice for laquan mcdonald. a lot of people are calling these protests. they're more like demostration. i don't think any are protesting the verdict, they're celebrating, marching inli rity, in remembrance of laquan mcdonald.

>> van dyke was originally f charged wirst degree murder, the jury convicted him on second degree murder. i understand thasugsted they believed he did believe his wife was in danger but that believeso was unrble. i know you heard some of the jurors talk about their verdict. what did they sayeir decision turned on? >> well, they say a number of shings. so one of them whe option to convict on second degree murder instead of first degree murder. the jurors said they felt tha jason van dyke actually felt he was in danger, that he and the officers faced an imminent risk and that's what they convicted on second degree instead of first degree. they say van dyke's testimony wasn't credible, said he had a hard time recalling wht happened the night of the incident and a lot of what he said didn't match the vieo, specifically when van dyke testified he saw laquanom mcdonald, is perspective, raise that knife in his direction, they say the .ideo does not bear that out

then there is the video. they say they watched it, obviously, many times in theut courtroom,hey also watched it a lot in their own deliberations,nd that had a good deal to do with it. they also felt van dyke being an officer of almost 20 years that he should have been able to deescalate the situation rather than opening fire. >> and so much was made in leading up to the trial about the makeup of that juror. what was the racial makeup of the juror? u>> so the jry, a lot of people say it was not diverse. i cakdt recall the brn of men and women as far as racial diversity, but the cae was made out to be a rot about race and there was only onean african-ameruror, and we did hear from her this afternoon as well. but when we heard from those jurors, one of tem said race came up very little in their deliberations, for them this was not about race. in fact, one said we were here tice.us >> this has had a big effect on the city of chicago. a police commissioner lost his job, the prosecuting attorney

ser the county was voted out. is there some sehat this is a turning point? >> i think a lot of people hope at this is a turning point and, like you said, a lot has happened since then. a lot of theo prtesters, and since the video has come out, a lot have been asked for mayor rahm emanuel's job and he announced he's not running and the former police superintendent who lost his job at the time, he is one of the mawhy peoplo is running to replace him, so that will be another change. t the police accountability task force appointed short riafter the video was released, it was one of many in succession. i think also some people are a bit jaded in thinking this is going to be a turning point. the turning point could be when thd video was releaecause a lot has happened since then. the city came to an agreement on consent decree with the state's attorney general. t re is hope. i think the city's history of distrust between the com and the police department is

generations old so it will nrobably take a lot more th this verdict to implement lots of heavy change. >> brandis friedman of wttw chicago tonight, thank you so much. >> woodruff: as we reported earlier, the nobel peace prize was awarded this morning in oslo, norway. william brangham reports on then s, two champions of women who have survived sexual violence and the use of rape as a weapon of war. >> the norwegian nobel committee >> brangham: the decision to award the prize to an iraqi survivor of wartime sexual violence and a congolese doctor who treats such survivors was especially significant given the world's growing e cognition of idemic of violence against women.

>> we want to send a message of awareness that women who constitute half of the population in most communities actually are used as a weapon of war and that they need protection, and that the perpetrators have to beut prosec and held responsible >> brangham: prize winner nadia inrad, a member of the small yazidi religious mity in iraq, escaped from enslavement e the islamic state and became a fighter for thoso've survived human trafficking. trad was 21 when isis militants captured, raped,ortured r back in 2014. during three months in captivity, she was bought and sold forex multiple times. after her escape, murad showed remarkable candor in telling her story. she quickly became a well known advocate for victims of sex trafficking, and fought to protect the rights of refugees in europe. in 2016, she spoke at the united

nations urging the world to more forcefully confront isis and defend the victims of its crimes. >> ( translated ): all those who commit the crime of human trafficking and genocide need to be brought to justice t women and children who live in peace in syria, iraq, nigeria and somalia and everywhere in the world, all these crimes must be brought to an end today. >> brangham: tt same year, murad was named the u.n.'s first ambassador for survivors of human trafficking. now, at the age of 25, murad has said she hopes to be "the last girl with a story like mine." ear, newshour special correspondent jane ferguson traveled to iraq for a closer look at the plight of women like murad in the yazidi community. ferguson spoke with one woman who had been sold as a slave in neighboring syria. >> ( translated ): isis familiel wanted yazidwomen to clean for them, but not if they came with children. nthey put my picture and e on social media as a slave for

sale, and said i come without ildren. i told the woman who bought me that ireamed of going home, and she said "you will never go home. you will d in my house." >> brangham: in 15, special correspondent marcia biggs reported from northern iraq on a group of girls who maned to escape from the islamic stat >> ( translated ): they brought from our mothers and beating us. the children were rsl put in they said, "we're going to sell you to others and you will have sex with them." the last time i saw my moty r was when tok me away. >> brangham: murad shared today'prestigious prize with dr. denis mukwege. the -year-old gynecological surgeon has risked his life, and his family's safety, to eat tens of thousands of female victims of sexual violence in the democratic republic of congo mukwege learned of today's news just after he'd finished surgery at the hospital he heads in eastern congo. this longtime advocate for human rights celebrated the

achievement with his colleagues and their patients. >> ( translated ): i dedicate is nobel peace prize to the women of all the countries of the world wounded by conflict and confro day.y violence every dear survivors around the world. i want to tell you that through th prize the world is listening to you and refuses indifference. the world refuses to stand immobile before yourfering. >> brangham: in addition to e treating victims, mukwegs spoken out publicly against the congolese government for turning what he says is a blind eye to the rampant sexual violence in his country, which has flourised amid congo's decades- long conflicts. many of his patients were brut safi kungwa is one of them.tr >> ( slated ): my problems started with rebels from rwanda. they grabbed me when i was carrying my twins. my children were holding onto my legs and my husband was standing next to me. the rebels proceeded to rape me in front of my chiren, after they shot my husband.

>> brangham: back in 2011, dr. mukwege descrid the horrific injuries he's witnessed. >> ( translated ): all the victims have been raped withbe evable brutality. those who manage to survive reach the hospital in a state of credible physical and psychological destruction. often they arrive with the genital system desoyed by bullets or sharp objects, an act of savagery unheard before in the history of the region. >> brangham: the doctor spoke of e personal connection he develops with each victim when he addressed the european parliament in france back in 2014. >> ( translated ): i identify each violated woman with my wife. i identify each violated mother with my mother and i identify each violated child with my children. f >> brangha the pbs newshour, i'm william brangham. >> woodruff: stay with us, coming up on the newshour: the analysis of mark shields and david brooks.

today's cloture vote on judge kavanaugh falls one year to the day after allegations agains harvey weinstein were reported in the "new york times" and the sose reports sparked a global conversation aboual misconduct, and prompted scores of women, and some men, to share their experiences of harassment and abuse publicly. the #metooovement marked the beginning of action on a personal and political level. twelve months later, how far have we come? kelly dittmar of the center for american women ipolitics at rutgers university is with us to examine whether today's ntte marks a mof reckoning in the #metoo movement. welcome back, kelly dittmar. setting aside kavanaugh and today as of a short while ago if you can do this, where doesth "me too" movement stand? how far had it come since the

revelations of a year ago? >> you know, i think we've se a lot of successes in terms of progreua in holding indiv people accountable this year, as well astarting a national dialogue about this issue of sexual assault, sexual harassment, but even more broadly the imbalance of power between men and women aourosr institutions -- political, corporate, media, educational, and religious institutions. so in that way, there's been a lot of progress in having that conversati, but that doesn't mean that the conversation isn't highly contentious and ha't led to a lot of questions about how we actually start to change these institutions in ways that not only prevent the abuse in the fit place but alsfigure holdays the adjudicate and them accountable for the abuse that both holds due process as well as ensuring the safety as well as the health of those who he coming forward are often at a power differential frm

those who are accused. so i think we see some movemt but we also see all of the challenges that are coming along with really the reckoning that has been the #metoo movement, and i should just add thathe work that's been done this year isn't just this year alone.ly it's re building on decades of work that women have done in thming forward and takin risk to bring this issue from the forefront, from anita hill to the women coming forward today. >>woodruff: you'rescribing it as a work in progress today. a lot of progress has been madil but more to go. so having said that, how do you see this fight, this brawl we'vr witnessed he last few weeks over judge brett kavanaugh? how has that intersecond with the "me too" movement, do you think? >> yeah, i think, on the one hand, you sawhe emergency of the #metoo movement stand behind dr. ford and other woen who came forward with allegations against judge kavanaugh to say

that this person needs to be taken seriously, heds story nee to be taken seriously. but, on the other hand, what you saw st. fact that our institutions -- in this case the senate and senate judiciary committee -- are still pretty ill equipped toeal with the types of accusations. so not having a full investigation, the politics that were really surrounding tis issue demonstrate the weaknesses of our institutions to really look at the nuance ofssues of gender power differentials as well as these types of particularly traatic events that are around sexual abuse, sexual harassment or sexual assault. >> woodruff: and you could even say there was a baklash to what she did because the pushback not only from judge kavanaugh, do you think it added up to a moment that akens the the meet to

movement? >> i think it energizes those who arethakinr voices heard. once this started athand you saw women comiting in solid behind it, it's going to be hard to slow it down. even though this week you saw bill cosby going to jail just a couple of weeks ago which i think also energizes those who will continue fighting, at the same point we have toze recog this has become a highlyti pozed and partisan issue. so the recent poll from huffington post showed, for example, among trump supporters the majority feel like the the #metoo movement has gone too far and you also seefferences along party lines and perceptions of false allegatione g a bigger problem than actual instances of sexual assault or sexual harassment. so the politicization of the movement doesn't mean the movement itself is struggliner

but are partisan pushback and people are going into partisan camps in teirrms of the support for some of the work to have the movement which is changing our institutions, changing publipolicy and holding individuals accountables >> woodruf kelly dittmar, to wrap up, where do you see the movement going from here? you describe it's become politicized, partisan.do ho it go forward?t >> part ofs trying to continue to push for a real true nuanced dialogue about what we mean when we talk about imbalances oa power and wht the implications are for women and victims, and so, trying to fin the spaces that are not highly politicized to h ie the versioortant. also making sure we have more women in positions of power is sy. w in the senate judiciary committee and the majority no wometo so you neehave women who can understand some of these experiences. unfortunately, in a much more

nate way to bevolved in these dialogues. we wrote a book rerecently whe we interviewed women in congress, and senator gillibranh talked about, about how she comes to this issue, knowing what it's like to beed disbeli or victimized in these types of situations. abwe need people at the who understand these issues and can help in terms of moving forward with the solution across party lines. >> kelly dittmar with the rutgers center for american women in politics, thank you very much. >> woodruff: now the analysis of shields and brooks. that's syndicated columnist mark shields and "new york times" columnist david brooks.h hello to b you: david, i heard senator susan collins today talk about how the supreme court confirmation process has

been on a steady decline and hopes it's hit rock bottom with what we've watched with judge kavanaugh. have we? >> it's hard to see any down here. ethis is one of th most unpleasant, undig any fide and depressing spectacles i've seen in covering my career, and i say that because we essentially had a very complicated case of o different stories thrown before us. it was very hard to tell how to sort them out, how much importance to give to high school behavior. it required an honest conversation. what i saw in th senate and the country at large is everybody eturned to thir tribal corners. if you support democrats you move forward. if you believe republicans, you believe kavanaugh, and you just return to your tribal corner.h to me te core problem is the supreme court which used to be held up above politics as a series of wise men and women who interpret the constitution are

on party lines when it comes to votes. when the supreme court falls on party line votes ten the senate confirmation process false on party line votes and the american public falls on party line votes. so any conversation or attempt to persuade seemeto play no role in this process. it was about base mobilization and the mobilization of power, and, so, to me, it's a deessingmmentary. >> woodruff: depressing commentary, mark? >> i'm notte quis dark and bleak as david, but, of course, i've always been cherful. i think, judy, the reality is our politics isroken, it's broken. in the congress, we can argue about why. think the central source is money and gerrymandering, but that's forth ano day to argue. but there's no question hat if you're going to deal with important political public policy questions, the supreme court is the only place it's been done for the last generation it's become the legislature of

last resort and in many cas first resort, whether you're talking about the legality ora illegality ofy marriage or abortion, the big questions, thi societal questions, it isn't the congress that deals with them, the congress is happy -- they're locked in gridlock. it has been the court. the cot, for the mo part, have acted as gros,wn think particularly chiefojustice jhn roberts, who i think basically preserved the court and our electoral process in upholding the affordable care act, that this had been a political decision, litically made, arrived at, people knew what they were doing and he refused to overturn it. so right now, judy, what we have is a campaign, and david is right, it was a bitter and ugly campaign, but kavanaugh bcame the candidate, and there were millions spent in his behalf on

television, millions spent against him. there was mobilization toe mak his case. he went on fox television to present himself as a family man, a loving father, a devoted husband, a solid citizen, and a week later, under siege, he chose fox's ownll "treet journal" editorial page to make his cas an apology for, perhaps, his overreaction. i contrast this with 1960 where oohn kennedy under -- was under seize and chose to to the own silos and i think that's where we are.th >> woodruff: ire another any where this could have been avoted? her criticism of senator feinstein, but once there was the accusation t there that

then unleashed the backlash, thu reaction froge kavanaugh, was there any way to have a real, legitimate conversation abt this charge against him and have it dealt with? >> s the an article -- alternative universe, but there is universe that says she's making a charge and tailing vry passionate story, and he's telling -- what is the record of memory in these cases? how well do pople remember 36 years ago, how well to people who have been traumatized remember that and go through the information and evaate the evidence. what's the record with other cases like that, go back in his past. instead we've had micha avenatti and people saying he's be in gang rapes an rallied republicans and it became immediately everybody decided. then if you agreed there was a

core issue about what happene to him 36 years ago, well, he was a bigrinker, threw rice at people in college,, and that happenedleft and rig so basically, i think i look at where everybody came down, and in a rationale world, we look -- the story was no an ideological storks it was two people telling different stories. it was not about capitalism, immigration, agsrtion, the the really disagree about, it was two human beings, and what i saw was te pull veerization of human beings for ideological reasons. so it was this person and this person, deal with it on a personal level, didn't hppen. >> woodruff: christine blasey ford, was her story doomed from the start? i the messa if you have a story, something you believe is true, forget it?

>> well, i mean, i hope not.k i th the she has what she has going for her is that she made the case long before he ws nominated. she didn't join in some par she didn't come out, he was obviously reluctant to doo. she had registered her own belief, conviction, memory. this is not uncommon that a person who is a vicm reembers vividly the aftershave lotion worn by the attacker and can't tell youhe address.nn chung had an experience with her fay mysician. at the same time, david's right, they went to their camps. i do thinkhere was a facile reaction on the part of some

people tt saidomething happened but it wasn't him. >> the polling that suggest people believed her, they were uncomfortable convicting without corroboratin evidence, sowf 60% of the american people say if another witness says yes, i'll remember that, or some physical piece of evidence, yes, but owithout that, a lot of pple who just felt uncomfortable really changing the trajectory of a man's life over this without tat corroborating evidence. >> just adding one thing, judy,a how imp the court is, it's only 18 years ago that the supreme court resolved bush v gore. that's the case where te vice president of the united states won the popular vote and his challenger was shen by a 5-4 vote, and in generosity of spirit, al gore send it andll upon his supporters to

september it. i don't know given today's aimant if a court decision would be accepted without fighting in the straneets. i will say the critics of judge kavanaugh who are holding basically rallies in the capital today and tomorrow are only hurting their cause.n' they ahelping anything. there are odd purposes of protest. there is a time for protest on this and shrieking is over. >> woodruff: meanwhile, yto have bee it's the backlash, what you mentioned a minute ago the pro-kavanaugh, that he has unleashed a powerful force in his behalf that's going to be out the. >> over the last couple of weeks, donald trump's approval rating has gone up eight points. in the red states there's ad strong te. you play a real political price if you're against kavanaugh w. heidi heitkamp will probably pay a very serious price fothe

position she took. the political wind at least in the red states is pretty strong right now and republican fortunes. democratlast week were super engaged. now republicans are engaged. kavanaugh support tracks trump uupport. if you like tmp you like kavanaugh. ites a tribal thing. it's not about the individual. >> i disagree. >> woodruff: you disagree. yeah, on the point david makes. i thi t, judy, ihe final analysis of midterm election is an analysis of the president ote the united s up or down on donald trump. make no mistake about it, woen who did not go to college, working women are no trending democrat. you have women, white women voting democratic, and that's a new development in this country,

and thaitt's -- yess. it a chang without the college education. i mean, the group donald trump carried by 27 points. i don't think there is any -- this will be a factor in the. electi i don't think by any means it's resolved on which side it comes down. >> woodruff: we have probably only a little more than a minute but my last question was going to be how do we heal from this? und like doesn't so lot of healing going . >> when you see how far we've ne, a lot of people e-mailed me and saiod how d we learn tot persuade eacher again? people react to bad things. they're not stupid. >> i hope david's right. i hope -- i don't think we have a leader who wants to heal. i mean, we have 3.7% unemployment in the contry and, yet, we're still talking about eriving ourselves into the oth corners and writing people off

disdainfully. i think it has to begin at the bottom because it's not beginning at the top >> woodruff: words to remember. we will remember them. mark shields, david brooks, thank you both. >> thank you. >> woodruff: follow our coverage of the kavanaugh confirmation and the nal vote tomorrow, streaming live on our website pbs.org/newshour and on air, on the pbs newshour weekend. ludeoodruff: next, we co our series on the growing plastic problem. it's now considered one of the largest environmentathreats to both humans and animals. jeffrey brown takes us to a tiny island in the south pacific that's increasingly dealing with more and more of the world's trash. >> brown: tiny pieces of plastic in the sand, larger pieces

caught in the rocks, for this cleanup crew, it's a never ending fight. >> this is the reality here. this is micrlastic. this is a rock, this is plastic. if you see that, that's it. >> brown: that's plastic. >> it's plastic. >> brown: anna maria gutierrez , a civil engineer who works for the local government, leads the effort >> ( translated ): bhiause the wavethe coast, the bigger plastics get smaller and smaller and it is very difficult to remove them. because you have to move very big rocks along the coast and the trash just gets inserted in them. and it's becoming part of nature.f >> brown: panature, part of this place. fit what a place! and what a place t so much trash! for we are in the middle of th south pacific, on easter island, one of the most remote, inhabited spots on earth, some 2200 miles from the coast of chil called "rapa nui" in the lynesian language, easte island is homeo roughly 6,000 residents and some of the most

breathtaking sites ithe world, including more than a thousand ancient statues, called moai, that date back to as early as 1100 a.d. it's a place of beauty and wonder, but increasingly something else: >> the world is trashing the ocean. and that trash, we are receiving it in our coast in rapa nui. it's like someone putting a gun to your head and telling you, you must receive that. >> brown: mayor pedro edmunds paoa is the long-time mayor of hanga roa, the island's e town. he says because easter island is located near what's known as a trash vortex in the middle of the south pacific ocean. floating waste is constantly washing ashore. >> it's coming from everywhere. it's too much. every years more and more. brown: also more and more here: people. i eastand has seen tremendous growth in the last 2a

years, espy from tourism, with planes now bringing mor than 100,000 visitors every year. that's meant new jobs and more money, but also enormous new challenges. >> this place is like being in a big museum of crystal. >> brown: ofrystal. >> very fragile. d if you bring in vehicles, you are accelerating tage on the land, on the premises, on what i call our ancien sacred sites, which is the entire island. >> brown: so more pele, more cars, more trash? >> more trash. >> brown: on an island where virtually everything consumed is imported, local officials now estimate that more than 20 tons of trash are produced every day onoblem: space. there's just one garbage dump on an island that's roughly 63 square miles. civil engineer ana maria gutierrez.

>> ( translated ): we only have one place to deposit our garbage because the majority of the territory is a national park and the community is growing so fast, demographically, that there is no space for waste treatment or disposal. >> brown: the islanders are taking this serirtsly. and effos are underway to alleviate the situation, pcluding this recycling plant, home to mountains stic, bottles, electronics and much more. tahere waste is crushed, sed and sorted. some of it is then shi or flown to mainland chile, which governs the isla. alexandra tuquivera runs the plant, which opened in 2011. >> ( translated ): it's an issue distinctly about changing people's attitude. if we achieved a change in attitude from 20% of the people who are already recycling today, i think i can achieve it at 100%. udt it depends on how we can change those att about this issue.

>> brown: there's also this-- a smaller but wonderfully creative way to deal with excess waste. mahani teave grew up on easter island before leaving to study piano and build an ongoing international concert career.w she's ck,teaching children. and helping to build and run a music school-- one made of garbage. >> we thought, okay, we have the we have the teachers, we have the children, we have the interest.st what kind of cction can we do which is in a way will teach the children how to take care of their place, will not generate will attend to the problems which we have on this island >> brown: amsigned by the ican sustainable architect michael reynolds, the rapa nui o schoolmusic and arts first opened its doors in 2014. >> 2,500 tires are in the walls.

os40,000 glass bottles and 40,000 cans also. we have the solar panels, which provide the electricity. we have rainwater water collectors which provide with 40,000 liters of water. ys>> brown: today, mahina he school trains more than 100 students in both classical and traditional music, passed down from rapa nui ancestors. >> we are the descendants of the people who built t statues, and we are a living culture. we have our same language which the ancestors spoke back then. we have the culture which was transmitted orally until today. and this is a culture which is dying out because of globalization because we have not known how to, how to hold on to this. i and thsuch a big treasure which we have that we have to take care of it now because it's still alive. >> brown: that kind of pride, e says mayunds, is key to balancing rapid growth with protection of the natural environment.

>> there is something that you must know about our island. the people of this island are very aware of the brand, of the importance of the culture, of how fragile is the island. rapa nui to me is the perfect example for the world of how you can develop and get to a maximum of utilizing the resources, but at the same time how you can destroy it. >> brown: here on easter island, the anstors are watching. for the pbs newshour, i'm jeffrey brown in the remote south pacifi >> woodruff: tonig on "washington week," analysis of the busy day on capitol etll as kavanaugh's confirmation appears assured. and we'll be back, right here, on monday, with my report on the competitive u.s. senate race in north dakota. that's the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. have a great weekend.

thank you and good night. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> kevin. >> kevin! >> kevin. >> advice for life. life wn l-planned. lere at raymondjames.com. >> the william and flora hewlett foundation. for more than 50 years, advancing ideas and supporting institutions to promote a better world. at www.hewlett.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions

and friends of the newshour. >> his program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contrutions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

hellond welcome to "amanpour & company." here's kpa ee's what's coming. zero hour, u.s. senators have the fbi's new report on brett kavanaugh. but what cruci information does it not contain? my guests have been doing the deep research on the supreme court nominee's conduct in high school and at college. also, will we soon stop choosing our supreme court all together and let computers make the decision for us? the author of same yens of api what he thinks. and the actress and jackie of

all trades explains hott