i , am >> i, amy coney barrett, do solemnly swear... >> democrats call it a rush job. >> narrator: a supreme court takeover 30 years in the making. >> it is a system that has come toxic. >> narrator: and behind the scenes, one powerful republican senator. >> mitch mcconnell is a tactical genius. >> he has succeeded in at least.ing a conservative cor, >> narrator: now on frontline... >> we're living in the era of the mcconnell cot now. >> narrator: ..."supreme revenge: battle for the court". >> frontline is made possible by

contributions toour pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. and by the corporation for public broadcasting. tjor support is provided john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation, committedo uilding a more just, verdant and peaceful world. more information at macfound.org. the ford foundation: working with visionaries on the frontlines of social change worldwidat fordfoundation.org additional support is providedam by the afoundation, committed to excellence in journalism.nd the park fion, dedicated to heightening public awareness of critical issues. and by the frontline journalism fund, with major support from jon and jo ann hagler. >> this is a fox news alert, u.s. supreme court justice ruth bader ginsburg has died the

age 87. >> the pioneer of men's rights and gender equality. >> president trump may have opportunity to nominate a thd person. >> the president is at a rally right now. do you think he knows that this happened? >> it was a surreal moment where something country-channg was happening and you have the president of the united states anding on stage unaware. >> mr. presint, rbg! >> narrator: as he left the stage... >> mr. president, rbg! >> nrator: .a reporter delivered the news. >> ruth bader ginsburg has died. ruth bader ginurg has passed away. she just died? >> yes >> wow. i didn't know that, i just...re yoelling me now for the first time. on i thought, "this is going to upend the electi." this was the october surprise just a few weeks before october. >> mourners gathered in front of the supreme court to pay tribute to ruth bar ginsburg.

>> narrator: for democrats, the death of the iconic leader of the court's liberal wi a nightmare-- just over a month before the election. >> it really was a stunning moment when finally realized she was gone. i was hoping she would be able to hold on for a new preside, and i'm sure she was t. >> as people around the nationt re the death of trailblazing justice ruth... >> narrator: from her deathbed, ginsburg's last request... >> her family had said to her, "is there anything yld like to write?" she said, "my most fervent wish is that my seat not be filled until after a new president is elected." >> narrator: but that was not what republican senate majority leader mitch mcconll had in mind. >> what it meant for senator mcconnell was to cement a conservative majority on the u.s. supreme court. it's something that mcconnell has longed for, dreamed about,

worked for during his entire career in the senate. >> narrator: that night, mcconnell reached the presidentr on air one. >> mcconnell told him two things. he said, "first, i'm going to put out a statement that says vacancy."ng to fill the second, he said, "you've got to nominate amy coney barrett." >> narrator: amy coney barrett, a 48-year-old conservative appeals court judge, mcconnell's way of securing control of the supreme court for years to come. >> to be able to say that, "we're goi to have a conservative court for another generation" is important to him. for mitch mcconnell, the court is everything. >> t going to be a rough battle on capitol hill... >> narrator: mitch mcconnell's determination to transform theha supreme courbeen his life's work. >> ...the diay of several senators, u.s. supreme court

nominee clarence thomas managed to elude... conservative majority for decades... >> narrator: through bruising >> ...democrats to keep an open mind about kavanaugh... >> narrator: a struggle over ideology and power... . white house has been packaging clarence thomas like a political candidate... th ...expected to be one o most contentious confirmation hearings in memory... >> narrator: ignited by a devastating defeat... >> ...rejecting the nomination judge bork... >> ...judge bork, the long public ordeal... >> narrator: and a promise to retaliate. >> ...foreshadowing of what could be one the great supreme court nomination fights of the century... ecades-long judicial wars started at the reagan white house. >> it is wh great pleasure and deep respect foris extraordinary abilities that i today announce my intention to nominate united states court of appeals judge robert h. bork toe an associate justice o the supreme court. >> i thought, "wl, this man is an ideal person to be on the supreme court." >> judge bork, widely regarded

as the most prominent and intellectually powerful advocate of judicial restraint... o >> bork was sothe hallmark of ultra-conservative legal thought. this was going to dramatically change the court. it was going to change it in a far more conservative direction. >> narrator: reagan had alreadyi successfully aed conservatives to a court he considered too liberal: sandra day o'connor, william rehnquist elevated to ief justice, antoniscalia. and now, with the retirement of lewis powell, reagan could secure conservative control the court. >> so this was an oprtunity to really change the direction, not just for the next ur years, but republicans were hoping for the next 40 years. ga >> narrator: rs attorney general made a phone call to capitol hill. he wanted to alert one powerful democratic senator. >> senator kennedy got a notene that attgeneral meese was calling for him.

and he stepped out of the heing to a phone booth a took the call. and, and meese told him that it was going to be bork. >> narrator: kennedy headed for the senate chamb. to the liberal senator from massachusetts, bork was a dire threat. >> everything that bork had written and stood for meant th the civil rights and affirmative actionush of the civil rights movement was in danger. >> ...and the senator from massachusetts is recognized... >> narrator: it d only been an hour since reagan's announcement. kennedy let the president and bork kw they were in for a fight. >> mr. president, i oppose the nomination of robert bork to the supre court, and i urge the senate to reject it. >> and our staff said, "hey, go hear what kennedy is saying." so i wt over. >> robert bork's america is a land iwhich women would be forced into back-alley abortions, blacks would sit at

segregated lunch counters, rogue police could break downns citidoors in midnight raids. >> whoa, thisounds a little over the top. i knew robert bork, he'd been a professor of mine, and i liked the guy, but certainly my journalistic instinct was, "okay, the fight's on, the fat's in the fire. this is really going to beme ing." >> no justice would be better than this injustice. i yield back the balance of my me. >> when he finished, there was just silence. i said, "what is all this (bep)? what, what are you doing?" have to destroy him."hat we'll >> and wwere watching this on tv as we were drinking champagne in the counsel's office. and i said, "are you guys ready for this?" and they said, "oh, yeah, don't worry ab." well, they weren't ready. nobody was ready. i don't think they had any clue what was coming.

(protesters shouting >> narrator: what was coming was a full-on political assault led by liberal democrats, with protests, phone banks, and attack ads. >> it was the first moment that you saw alout war over a supreme court nominee. it was the first emple of the politics of destruction of the modern era. >> the name and future of robert bork tops the agenda i washington this morning. >> and nowhere is e debate hearings for suprertonfirmation nominee robert bork... >> this is a nbc news special report... >> narrator: the judiciary committee hearings, led by the democrats, were broadcast on national television. it is a momentous day in washington d.c... >> judge robert bork began his battle for confirmation to the supreme court today. >> it was kif tense. it was tense, was tv lights-- very hot tv lights. there's a certain sense, when you're the family mber, that there's absolutely nothing you can do. >> narrator: it wast

designed for classic television drama-- the attackers: biden, heflin, metzenbaum, lend kennedy. >> judge bork looks at senator kennedy and senator kenny now recognizes him. >> i was glued to the television like everybody else. i was as smitten by all the television theatrical drama that, that everybody else was. >> narrator: and there were the defenders-- conservative republicans simpson and grassley. >> as we're going down the line here this is the nominee and he is sort of the supplicant hereat before these ss. theyceo hold the power of offi over him, don't they? >> the hearing will come to order please. >> somebody was going to w and .mebody was going to lose how was this going to play out? and that, i think, had agr ping effect on an audience. >> i welme everyone here this

morning. judge bork... >> narrator: joe biden was the chairman of the committee, and at the time in his first bidpr foident. >> because joe biden was running for president, his staff set the hearing room up in a way to elevate him and to make him shine and turned it into a kind of tv reality show event. >> the senator minority leader, republican leader... >> they chose particar places where cameras could go that would be the least flattering for robert bork. >> judge, do you swear to give the truth, the whole truth, d nothing but the truth, so help you god? >> i do, mr. chairman. >> thank you. duly sworn. >> also when joe biden made hisn opening stat.. >> in passing on this nomination to the supreme court... >> his aides were not behind him, so there was kind of an oval office quality almost to what he had to say. so there was quite a lot of stagecraft involved as well by biden.

>> narrator: all eyes were on biden's adversary, robert bork. >> so the question was, "okay, how is this guy going to present himself? what's going to be the drill?" >> ...many controveral statements he has made as a professor and a judge i've compiled... f >> narrato five days they clashed. >> can you derive a right to an abortion from the constitution? >> narrator: they challenged bork's views on controversial issues. >> yesterday you said women and blacks who kur record do fear you. >> it was epic. i mean, they were discussing very serious things. >> do we have a constitutional right to speak recklessly?g >> busd... >> ...were made in busing... >> ...law and order, privacy... >> would we allow the police to search the sacred precincts of >> ...abortion rights... >> ...the human life bill, which would have changed roe against wade... l autonomy.s to termine all >> you do not believe that there is a general right of privacyth is in the constitution? >> not one derived in that... >> narrator: bors advisers told him to be succinct, not

o cture the senators. >> i'll be happyswer the committee's questions. >> narrator: he did not follow their instructions. >> oh, no, oh, no, senator. >> well, let me, let me pick that strain up >> all right, but i... but i'd like to get on the srcord right now that i don't feel very free tegard what congress decided, that the mere fact that a law is outrageous is not enough to make it unconstitutional. >> i didn't think it was going well. i just thought it was torture. you want to tap your dad on the it this way."say, "i would say um, can't do that. with that thing for five days.u >> narrator: near the end, in an effort to save him, bork supporter wyoming senator alan simpson asked him one last question.wa >> why do yo to be an asdciate justice of the uni >> narrator: many e bork's answer was the death knell of his nomination. >> i think it would be anec inteal feast. >> some more bad news for robert bork...nominee judge

>> ...by telling the senators the first attraction of the supreme court is the intellectual pleasure of it. >> that seemed to be a big thing, "oh, intellectual feast." oh, well, what theell, you know, but that's washington. >> and insad of saying, "i want to do justice andhow mercy and protect the rights of individuals," he says, "it'll be an intellectual feast." and most people said, "who's the dinner?" (chuckle >> regular order will be followed. the clerk will continue calling the ll. >> mr. bumpers, no. mr. burdick. >> narrator: bork's candor had become a liability... >> mr. chaffee. >> narrator: ...for democrats and even some liberal republicans. it was a resounding defeat for bork and the conservative republicans, 42 to 58. >> mr. cranston, no. mr. kennedy. mr. kennedy, no. >> the job was to cut this g down. get bork.

it's now in the dictionaries of the united states and, and the world, it's called "tting borked." (gavel pounds) >> narrator: joe biden, the chairman, got much of the credit for bringi bork down. >> he's proud of what we did on thcourt. we shaped the direction of the court for 30 years. we kept that majority in place, basically the warren court consensus on the court, on a lot of these issues, in place for 30 yes. nothing to be ashamed of, very,p very itant. >> ...senator from ktucky. i hank the chair. >> narrator: but bork's defeat was a searing experience for first-term senator mitch mcconnell. enraged, he took to the senate floor. >> and so to robert bo, you happened to be the one who set the new senate standard that will be applied, in my judgmen by a majority of the senate prospectively.

unfortunately, it got set over your dead body, so to speak, politically. >> narrator: mcconnell threatened that he and his republican colleagues would use the same tactics when mattered. >> we're going to dot when we want to. and when we want to is going to be when the president, whoever he may be, sends up somebody we don't like. >> he'll be darned if he's going to allow them to just get away with taking somebody out without ying a price for it later on down the road. d >> and if 't like the philosophical leaning of the nominee... >> narrator: it was a promise of revenge, a warning of what could happen if republans took control. >> the danger of that approach, of course... ♪ >> thurgood marsha, a man who played a pivotal role in the redefinition of justice in america, is leaving... >> narrator: when the nation's first african-american justice, thurgood marshall, retired, it was a pivotal moment forenator mitch mcconnell... >> thurgood marshall is stepping

down... >> narrator: ...an opportunity to replace a liberal justice with a conservative.e >> snators implied it would be good to get another minority member... >> narrator: one name stood out: clarence thomas, a deeply conservative african-american appeals court judge. >> ...that i will nominate judge clarence thomas to serve as associate justice of the united states supreme court. >> narra the white house was determined that clarce thomas was not going to be borked. >> the individuals in e george h.w. bush administration knew what was coming. they remembered vividly what had happened with robert bork. >> clarence thomas could not have been prepared for the mob of still photographers... >> narrator: the republicans built a war room. >> senate hearings began on the supreme court nomination of... >> narrator: they warned him it could get ly. >> clarence thomas, a black conservativeriginally from... >> narrator: once again, the proceedis would be a television event, here in thehe room whereork hearings captivated americans.

>> ...see judge thomas now with the chairman of the judiciary committee... >> narrator: the cast was familiar-- biden, kennedy, simpson, metzenbaum, heflin. this time, the republicans had an advantage. it would be hard for biden and the democrats to forcefully take on an african-american nominee. >> when the hearings started, ie wanded of the fact that this nominee was supposed to replace thurgood marshall as the black person on the united states supreme court (gavel banging) >> the hearing will come to order. good morning, judge. welcome to the blinding lights.a itleasure to, to have you here. >> politically they were in a very difficult position. it's very difficult attack an african-american judge, and they wanted befriend him, not attack him. >> heck, you're six, seven yeaxs

younger than... i'm 48. how old are you,udge, 42, 43? >> well, i've aged over the last ten weeks, but, uh... (audience laughi) i'm 43. >> 43 years old.ho >> narrator:s' white house handlers, sitting behind him, waited for the democrats' questis. >> he was advised-- i know this-- to be very careful, to be very modest. they're going to ask you about every controversial sue th has ever come before the supreme court. >> ...in the area of civil rights... >> narrator: unlike bork, thomas wouldn't be so candid. ...i don't remember or recall particating... >> he was like a steady brick he just wasn't going to answer anything, and, and he didn't.ha >> i thito take a positionould undermine my ability to bimpartial. >> senator biden was determined to try to probe that and kind of ta it as a bork battle redux. but unlike bork, who said, "yeah, thesere my views, like

them or not," thomas disavowed erything. >> what i am trying to do, setor, is to respond to yo question and at the same time t offer a particular view onth difficult issue of abortion... >> it was going to work. he was squeaking through. >> president bush said he has no doubt clarence thomas will be confirmed. >> confirmation hearings continue this morning in washington for clarence thomas.. >> narrator: it had been eight days of hearings. the committee would soon vote. >> if clarence thomas is confirmed to the supreme court, his nomination is certainly the most controversial since rober bork's... >> narrator: but national public radio reporter nina totenbergun heard somethinual. >> biden says something about, "people have tried to smear you with personal allegations." >> i believe there are certain things that are not at issue at all. and that is his characte or characterization of his character. >> narrator: totenberg was surprised. nonssues of character had b

raised during the hearings. >> and so i just started kicking tires, and i managed to get stuff. >> narrator: s discovered a secret-- allegations of sexual harassment by clarence thomas. >> and pretty soon, i had anita hill's name, ahe up. >> narrator: anita hill had woled with thomas at the eq employment opportunity commission. according to hill's affidavit, thomas talked about pornographic materials depicting individus with large penises or breasts involved in various sex acts. >> here is a person who is in charge of protecting rights ofwo n. he is also really violating the laws that he's there to enforce. >> it was just a giant i, i... (laughs) i mean, i walked up to capitol hill... (makes explosion sound) it was like a mushroom cloud. >> good evening.

we beginonight with the potential for political exosion on capitol hill. >> clarence thomas ran into trouble today... >> queions are growing over charges of sexual harassment against thomas... >> narrator: as the story broke, to the senate floor.ell rushed >> as soon as the president announced his oice, the special interest groups lined up their firing squad and vowed to bo him and to kill him politically. the process is being hijacked... >>arrator: mcconnell saw t allegations against thomas as yet another liberal takedown. >> mcconnell understands implication and consequence better tn any united states senator. when you vote on legislation in the house and senate, you're ioplayg for the next ele when you put in a judge, you're playing for the next geration. >> the sexual harassment storm around clarence thomas is inteifying. >> narrator: now mcconnell would watch as anita hill threatened to derail thomas' nomination. >> the stage is set for whatnt everyoneipates will be a brutal hearing. (gavel banging)

ar>> professor, do you swe to tell the whole truth and >> i do.but the truth, so help >> thank you. nightmare for joe biden. a as a man, he felt uncomfortable about it. as a white man, he felt uncomfortable taking clarence thomas, a black man, on about it. and the whole subject matter just made him incribly uncomfortable. >> can you tell the committee what was the most embarrassing of all the incidences that you have alleged? >> i think the one that was the most embarrassing was his discussion of, of pornographyth involvine women with large breasts and, and engaged in a variety of sex with different peop or animals. that was the thing that embarrassed me the most and made

me feel the most humiliated.in >> heren were just mesmerized by the hearings, they looked up and saw a very. non-diverse united states senateudiciary committee. there was not a woman there, not to mention person of color. it was just all these, like, cookie cutters, and folks were really horrified by it. >> narrator: the republicans had watched bork attacked for his ideology. now it was thomas's character that was under assault, and they would go all out to defend their nominee. >> my purpose is to find out what happened. >> narrator: biden's closend frrepublican arlen specter, led the charge. >> i find the references to the alleged sexual harassment not only unbelievable, but preposterous. >> narrator: he cast doubt on her memory. >> how reliable is your testimy on events that occurred eight, ten years ago...

>> there's this array of white men who were treating anita hill as kind of a hosti simply attesting to what her experience with sexual harassment had been in clarence thomas's office. >> you took it to meanhat judgthomas wanted to have sex with you, but in fact, he never did ask you to have sex, correct? >> no, he did not ask me to have sex. that you drew? an infere >> yes, yes. >> she stood between clarence thomas and the supreme court. they had to destroy her in order to get him confirmed. if what she was saying was true, he had lied under oath. >> without objection, it will be placed in the record. again, i thank your family, thank you. adjourd until 9:00. (gavel bangs) >> all america had its television sets tuned to the u.s. senate... >> nothing like what happened today has ever happened.. befo. >> washington, d.c., a city disgusted by the gutter politics ayed out on capitol hill.

>> narrator: but it wasn't over. clarence thomas prepared to answer anita hill's allegations. senator alan simpson was in the >> we, we sat with thomas. and i told him my theory of political life: an attack unanswered is an attack believed. not only that, but agreed to. and he was teary. but i said, "you must have something say." he said, "i do." he said, "i really do have something to say." >> this is a circus. it's a national disgrace. and as far as i'm concerned, it is a high-tech lynching for uppity blacks who inay deign to think for themselves, to do for themselves, to have different ideas. >> i remember sitting behind ahe senator and ing that and just feeling like a bomb hadne

ff in the room. and it sucked all the oxygen out the room. >> and it is a message that unless you kowtow to an old w order, this t will happen to you. you will be lynched, destroyed, caricatured by a commiee of the u.s., u.s. senate rather than hung from a tree. >> the question is on the confirmation of the noon of clarence thomas of georgia. the clerk will call the roll. >> up to robert bork, was a sense of civility to this, that you could disagree without destroying. robert bork changed and clarence thomas confirmed it. and with the clarence thomas nomination, everybody was tching. >> this vote, the yeas are 52 and the nays are 48. the nomination of clarence thomas of georgia is hereby confirmed. nd>> narrator: while biden

most democrats voted no, clarence thomas prevailed. he was 43 years old. he vowed to stay on the court for 43 more years. in the years after thomas' confirmation, mcconnell watched as democratic and republican presidents tried to tip the balance of the court. >> president clinton nominated ruth bader ginsburg... >> narrator: with republicans in the minority, bill clintonba placed rutr ginsburg and stephen breyer on the bench. >> ...the president sent congress the name of his nominee to fill the seat... >> narrator: george w. bush,ca with a repubsenate, put john roberts and samuel alito on the court. >> barack obama is projected to be the next... >> narrator: with democrats back in control, barack obama anappointed sonia sotomayo elena kagan. >> still, many republicans are asking if she's the right person for the job... >> narrator: through it all,d mcconnell habeen climbing to power inside the senate. majority whip.

republican leader.na and fiy, majority leader. >> there's nobody who's more focused on political conquest than he is. there may not have been anybody who has spent his entire life calculating. he knows more than everybody else. init was how much he could and how much power he could achieve. >> narrator: mcconll had real power, and still holding on to that grievance about what happened to robert be waited for the right moment to use . >> this is cnn breakg news... >> breaking news just in to us here at cnn. tunited states supreme co justice antonin scalia has died. >> scalia is found dead in his, in his bed one day. inand what to do in this.. this moment of crisis becomes probably the defining momentof ofitch mcconnell's career. >> ...and breaking news, u.s.e suprurt justice antonin... >> narrator: mcconnell immediately understood the political plications of scalia's death. >> within a matter of moments,l mitch mcconnd a decision

to make-- was he going to turn over entire control of t supreme court to barack obama at the end of his tenure? or was he going to make the decision as leader of the senat' that they wegoing to confirm any nominee. >> with that vacancy, the question is, will a republican-controlled senate... >> narrator: president barack obama's replacement would give demoats a five-justice jority on the court. >> mitch mcconnell doesn't event or the day to end after intonin scalia dies to put out a statement sayingffect, "we're not going to let president obama replace him." >> majority leader mitch mcconnell just releasing a statent... >> ...this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new president. >> he points to the fact that they're in the last year of obama's term, and that's why they shouldn't havthis seat filled, as if somehow orot r, obama's presidency ends before january of 2017. >> "it doesn't matter if you name anybody or not, i'm...

we're not considering anybody because it's too close to the election." >> how shocking was that to you? >> it was amazing to me. i mean, they can say, "oh there's precedent." this was unprecedented. >> four-and-a-half weeks after justice scalia died, today president obama... >> friendly crowd in the rose garden there as president obama nominates merrick garland... >> narrator: with ten months left in his presidency, obamawa undeterred by mcconnell. >> today, i am nominating chief judge meick brian garland to join the supreme court. (audience applauds) >> president barack obama's thinking at the time was that by nominating merrick garland and e putting forward a candidat he thought was qualified, that he might have been able to persuade senators to lean on senator mcconnell to allow the confirmation hearings to go forward. >> thank you, mr. president. this is the greatest honor of my life... (voice breaking): other than

lynn agreeing to marry me 28 years ago. >> here is a man of distinguished education,d distinguisckground. this is the kind of person that rtould be on the supreme c and if it's obama who's president, i was thrilled that he was appointing someone like merrick garland. >> narrator: joe biden, now vi president, would work his connections in the senate to try to win over republican suppo. >> five republican senators have agreed to talk with garland. >> a handful of republicans to break ranks, including some facing tough re-election bids... >> narrator: mcconnell had a mini-revolt on his han >> i met with merrick garland. i lid him. he's a person who would have gotten 98 votes or 100 votes in the 1990s,ust a few years before. >> ...blasting his party's leadership for stonewalling the mination processno >> teven allow the judiciary committee to hold a hearing on his nomination just did not sit right with me. >> mitch mcconnell joins us now

from capitol hill. senator, thanks for being here. >> narrator: he fought back, hitting the airwaves. >> the right-of-center world es not want th vacancy filled by this predent. we're not giving a lifetimetm appot to this president on the way out the door, to change the supreme cou for the next 25 or 30 years. >> senator moran from kansas said he thought maybe there should be a hearing. and mcconnell just said to him, "you keep talking like that, and i'm running a primary opponent against you," and moran backed off. mcconnell was ruthless and brilliant. >> narrator: mcconnell kept the republicans in line. theruld be no hearings, no votes, no consideration of judge garland. >> the one thing that i've learned about mitch is if he says this is the way it is, that's theay it is. >> (chuckles) i don't ever question mcconnell. i mean, i worked with him-- you don't want to mess with mcconnell.

>> democrats are outraged byaj senateity leader... >> narrator: mitch mcconnell had done what had never been done-- he'd bcked any considerati of a supreme court nominee.de now he none more thing-- a republican president. >> donald trump will be the 45td prt of the united states. >> senator mcconnell turned to his colleague and said, "looks like we're going to be making america great again." i have to think that a big part of that is what he saw as a coming to fruition of the plans that he had for the supreme court. >> narrator: with trump in the white house, mitchcconnell would be able to fill scalia's seat. within months, conservativeri fa neil gorsuch joined the cot. >> ...confirmed as justice gorsuch... >> narrator: then, a year later, another opportunity. >> ...monumental moment... >> narrator: veteran justice thony kennedy unexpected resigned. >> kennedy really was the middle ofourt.

so it's, it's a really serious momentthe most serious moment in the balance of the court, really, since even before bork. >> narrator: mitch mcconnell understood the stakes. kennedy's replacement could shift the court further to the right. >> president trump's pick is in for the next supreme court nominee... >> brett kavanaugh to replacere thring... >> narrator: mcconnell and trump ain swung into action. the president nominated judge brett kavanaugh. >> kavanaugh is e perfect mcconnell nominee. he's very consvative on economic issues, on executive power issues. he's the perfect blending of establishment and sort of red-state-based politics. (gavel banging) >> narrator: at the confirmation arings, the democrats immediately put up a fight. >> mr. chairman, i'd like to be recognized to ask a question.ma

>> mr. cha it's a pending motion... >> if we don't even know what the rules are, how c.. >> i'd like to respond to... >> mr. chairman... >> mr. chairman, we waited for more than a year with a vacancye on the s court. the treatment was shabby of merrick garland, president obama's nominee... >> democrats are really mad about garland that happened in 2016, very recent history. >> people see through this.re >> republicanstill mad about bork. >> to my friends on the otherlo side, you can' the election and pick judges. p if you want k judges, you better win. >> this stf is now intensely polarized and super-partisan. (gavel banging) >> narrator: and as the republican-led hearings underway, brett kavanaugh would followhe clarence thomas playbook. >> i can't give you an answer on that hypothetical question. senator, that sounds like a hypothetical, i... >> narrator: he wouldn't engage.

>> ...that's the hypothetical that you're asking me... yonator, i think that hypothetical thare asking is... ...a hypothetical that, uh,e about any statat you're asking me... >> narrator: from his office, mcconnell watched the hearings. it all seemed to be going smoothly. >> whayou fear is the unknown. you don't know what you don't know. and and if there is something oute, thome bombshell to drop, or some way of captivating media attentio then you could have problems. >> dropping a bombshell exactly one week before the committee is set to vote... >> and then you begin to see the newspapers' vague references to anonymous allegations that had been lodged against brett kavanaugh about his conduct. >> an allegation from his... >> narrator: the allegation-- sexual assault. >> word of her leaks out without her name at first, and then when there's, the news breaks, just like with anita hill, her nameis leaked. her name is christine blasey ford. >> the woman's name is christine blasey ford. >> christine blasey ford... >> narrator: mcconnell wouldn't

back down from the coming fight. >> i think he was furious. you know, this was the torpedo that he dreaded.la >> christiney ford described kavanaugh as stumbling drunk... >> narrator: he was worried about losing the senate in the upcoming midterms.va he had to get ugh confirmed fast. l, "you will rue theds of day," back in the bork fight?pl those equally d to him if he lost the kavanaugh fight, because the democrats, if they controlled the senate after this election, he would r the day of what he'd done in garland. >> majority leader is recognized. >> narrator: mcconnell launchedn a rattack. >> senate democrats and their allies are trying to destroy a man's personal and professional life on the basis of decades-old allegations... >> narrator: bork. thomas. now kavanaugh. the fight for the court hadbe me personal.

mcconnell blamed the democrats. >> democrats wouldt let a few inconvenient things get between them and a good smear. it despicable. >> he's never faced a fight like is. he never faced one where he could go, go down like this. and it wasight there on the razor's edge. ♪ >> just moments away now from the historic testimony of christine blasey ford before the senate... >> dr. ford has arrived here on capitol hill to testy in public for the first time. >> it will certainly be anhi oric day on capitol hill. >> remember, nobody had seen her and nobo had heard from her. not even the senators. so it was a total surprise. ak >> (voice g): i am here today not because i want to be. i am terrified. i am here because i believe it is my civic duty to tell you

what happened to me while brett kavanaugh and i were in high hool. >> when you realized how genuinely terrified she was to obe there, it shocked a l the older, longer-serving senators, that once again, this issue was being brought into the public sphere. >> (voice breaking): i believed he was going to rape me. i tried to yell for help. when i did, brett put his hand over my mouth to stop me from yelling. this is what terrified me the st, and has had the most lasting impact on my life. it was hard for me tthe, and i thought that brett was accidentally going to kill me. i was, of course, a larger-than-life moment. christine blasey ford had to go before the eyes of a nation and the world. >> i thought she was enormously courageous, enormously persuasive. >> she was very polite and just looked deahonest.

to come forward. burden on her >> it was impossible not to be riveted with her testimony she was compelling. >> narrator: some of the senators that day had also been at the clarence thomas hearing patrick leahy was one. >>hen dr. ford testified, asked her, "what do you remember of that incident?" and i thineverybody in that hearing remembers her answer. >> the laughter, the laugh-- the uproarious laughter between the two, and they're having fun at my expense. i was, you know, underneath one of them while the two laughed, o friends having a really good time with one another. >> narrator: it looked bad for brett kavanaugh and the publicans. >> this is over, this was devastating. >> i believe those whod to believe her did. >> the mood among republicans

on the hill was one of gloom. >> we had a meeting right after her testimony. and i could tell that my colleagues were moved d they were saying, you know, "he'd better be good. he'd better have an answer, because shsounds very credible." >> the worst-case scenario for kavanaugh and his defenders was what just transpired. >> narrator: at the white house, the president of the united states had also been watching. >> both the president and leader mcconnell found her testimony to be incredibly compelling. ay, inuding watchinge house the the testimony of both ford andka naugh. the president watched it live. d the president and i ha both said, each of us have said publicly, she gave, she rendered compelling testimony. >> narrator: the president picked up the phone. on the other end-- mitch e connell. >> both of them nd of testing each other a little bit.

"where are you at on this?" you know, "how stronare you?" and mcconnell basically says to the president, "you don't worry about me. i'm strong as mule piss." that's his quote. 's'm strong as mule piss." in other words, ot going to let up, he's not going to give up, he's not going to surrender. ♪ >> to say that everything that could have gone wrong for brett kavanaugh has is an understatement. >> the impet is on judge kavanaugh. they did not have the votes in the senate... >> do nounderestimate the importance of the next few hours for brett kavanaugh. >> at some point, if you poke stick and you torment that person and you attack that person, at some point, that individual's going to fight back. >> i categorically and unequivocally deny the allegation against me by dr. ford. i never had anseal or physical encounter of any kind with dr. for >> it was like watching clarence thomas all over again. "high-tech lynching."ion of the

>> this confirmation process haa becoational disgrace. but you have replaced advice and consent with search and destroy. >> narrator:larence thomas had invoked race. now brett kavanaugh launched a partisan attack on the democrats. >> this whole two-week effort has been a calculated and orchesated political hit fueled with apparent pent-up anger about president trump, revenge on behalf of the, clintod millions of dollars in money from outside left-wing opposition groups. >> it has become thicompletely politicized drama. he took the allegations away from christine blasey ford and turned it into a huge fight between democrats and republicans. he's trying to rally all the republicans to his side. narrator: kavanaugh had become a combatant in the war between republicans and

>> does this reflect what you are? do this yearbook reflect your focuon... >> narrator: they squared off over his high schoolearbook. >> that's easy, yes or no, you don't have to filibuster... >>arrator: and his drinkin >> oh, no, no, no, no, no, you going to talk about my highi'm school... no, no, i'm going to talk... >> i'm going to talk about my high school record if you're going to sit here and mock me. >> senator graham. >> narrator: on the republican side, lindsey graham led the ght. >> this is the most unethical sham since i've been in politics. boy, you all want power. god, i hope you never get it. i hope the american people can see through this sham. god, i hate to say ibecause these have been my friends, but let me tell you,hen it comes to this, you're looking for a fair process? you came to the wrong town a the wrong time, my friend. this is not a job interview. this is hell.

>> this ... >> this is gng to destroy the ability of good people to come forward because of this crap. your high school yearbook! >> it serves to rally republicans and make it an us-ki versus-the of issue. and if it's an us-versus-them kind of issue, when you have the majority, that's what you want. >> the clerk will call the roll. >> mr. cruz. >> aye. >> mrs. ernst. >> aye. >> mr. flake.ga mrner. >> aye. >> m duckworth. >> narrator: with mcconnell's republicans almost entirely in line... >> mr. toomey.arrator: brett kah s confirmed. >> mr. udall. >> n >> narrator: partisanship would >> more than any of the other fights, the kavanaugh nomination hearings really ended up tarnishing arnishing the coua reputation as litical

institution. what seemed like a sort of shocking fak occurrence when it happened with bork, now seemf liket accompli with kavanaugh. he now is up there on the bench and everybody assume only because of politics. >> narrator: with kavanaugh's confirmation, mcconnell had tmoved the court to furth the right. but then, just over a month before the 2020 election, the death of the court's mostra prominent li ruth bader ginsburg. once again, it was mitch mcconnell's moment. he was ready. >> this is a conversation that he has been having with his members at this pot for a year or more. clear to his colleagues, that if there is a vacancy, whomever

that vacancy is presented by, we will fill it. >> narrator: to mcconnell, it didn't matter that it was only weekbefore the election and that he'd opposed filling a seat in the last year of the obama presidency. >> the fact that it wasg occurrile the presidential election was underway, unprecedented. it's never happened in the history of the senate, for all of their explanations and excuses. it's never been done. and particularly in light of what happened four years ago, it really seemed to be hypocrital. >> narrator: but mcconnell shrugged off the charges ofhy crisy. >> it wouldn't phase senator mcconnell to be called "ruthless" or "determined" or whatever adjectives or labels ople might put on his behavior. he did it because he could. >> tod it is my honor to nominate judge amy coney barrett.

>> narrator: with election day fast approaching... >> do you solemnly swear the testimony you're aboutgive this committee... >> narrator: ...the hearings for amy coney barrett were a rush job. >> i do... >> everything moved really and, of course, th was to have her take her seat before the november 3rd election. >> ...the hearing to confirm... >> he said, "we're here to confirm justice barrett." b "confirm," whiically gave away the whole deal right there. it'sike, "we're not considering anything, we're just here to vote." this is probably not about persuading each other unless something really dramatic happens. all republicans will vote yes and all democrats will vote no. >> it was done in a hurry-up fashion. investigation of opinions ande writings and speeches. this was done in a hurry and it showed. >> to my democratic colleagues...ar >> narrator:tisanship was on full display.

>> our republican colleaguesre riveted on rhing a judge through this sham process. >> this was a hypocritical tire squealing r many republican colleagues.to >> nar democrats complained... >> hypocritical, illegitimate process... >> narrator: ...but in the minority, they were powerless to do anything... >> mitch mcconnels from start to finish. he knew it and he behaved that way all along. >> on this vote, tthis vote, the 52... >> narrator: barrett was confirmed: 52 republicans voted yes. >> ...amy coney barrett... democrats voted no. the >> ...to the supreme court of the united states is confirmed. (gavel banging) >> this most recent barrett confirmation may have been theon one in recent memory that was purely partisan. it has become so bitterly partisan that the american think of it as this individual is a... is reflective of the

people who vote against him or her or the people who vo for him or her. the presidentiallection,efore the new justice was swn in. >> i, amy coney barrett, do solemnly swear... >> that i will support and defend... >> narrator: fellow conservative clarence thomas did the honors.h >> ...elp me, god... >> so help me, god. (applause) >> for senator mcconnell this would be the achievement of his life's goal. with justice barrett on the court now you have a solid 6-3 conservative sit on the court. >> narrator: three decades after bork, it was now mitch mcconnell's supreme court. >> he has been working towards r,is moment his entire professional carnd it was all coming to fruition. all of the judicial wars that started with robert bork and justice thomas, the kavanaugh

situation.wa nothe moment that he finally got what he came for. >> he succeeded in establishing a conservative court for the nextouple of decades, at least. that's an accomplishment, if you look at that alone. i think in the process, you institution, the sd another i don't think it's a good trade overall. but in the end, will it have been worth it? i don't know. >> narrator: senate majority leader mitch mcconnell has just won a seventh term... >> narrator: on election day... >> mcconnell is the longest- serving republican senator... >> narrator:itch mcconne won another six years in the senate. >> ...we've reached a historic moment in this election...e' >> narrator: face joe biden as president, an old adversary from the judicialwa . >> ...president of the united states..., >> narrator: ne supreme court that mitch mcconnell built... >> ...conservative majority on the court for theeeable future. >> narrator ...looms over the new president... >> meanwhile, democrats are

worried about the country's future...ar >>tor: ...and a washington as divided as ever. >> a lot of eyes going to be on the supreme court. >> huge number of isoming across the supreme court... >> ...among those issues are sex discrimination, gun rights, abortion, and imgration... >> ...a huge array of enormously important issues... >> go to pbs.org/frontline for frontline's transparency project. explore the dozens of interviews in the film. >> unprecedented. history of the senned in the >> he did it because he could. >> i have never seen anything like this one. >> it's something that mcconnell has longed for, dreamed abt, worked for... >> connect to the frontline community on facebook and twitter, and stream any ti on the pbs video app or pbs.org/frontline. >> we don't have school because of the coronavirus, but my schoolwork is not very well. >> narrator: they are growing uu ertain times. >> when we say we don't like have money, we really don't.

>> narrator: the experience of poverty through the eyes of children. >> i think anyone can d up how we are, being homeless. >> when i get older i wouldn't wa to live here. i want to get a good stable job. >> sometimes life just happens and things go the wrony. >> frontline is made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewersike you. thank you. and by the corporation forro publiccasting. major support is provided by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation, committed to building a more just, verdant d peaceful world. more information at n:cfound.org. the ford foundat working with visionaries on the frontlines of social change worldwide at fordfoundation.org additional support is provided by the abrams foundation, committed to eellence in journalism. the park foundation, dedicated to heightening pubc

awareness of critical issues. and by the frontline journalism with major support from jon and jo ann hagler. captioned by media access group at wgbhce .wgbh.org >> for more on this and other "frontline" programs, our website at pbs.org/frontline. ♪ ontline's, "supreme revenge: battle r the court" is available on amazon prime video.

♪ >>e watching pbs. >> ...continues to grapple with the impact of the ongoing pandemic... >> narrator: the truth is rarel. black and wh >> ...protesters versus frontline workers... >> ...filled with so much uncertainty...r: >> narraut if we ask the hard questions... >> ...ath toll in the u.s. tops 200 thousand... >> narrator: check the facts. >> ...the internet is >> ...is amazon taking over the world a good thing?" >> narrator: dig a little deeper. >> boo narrator: and take a breath... the truth is closer than you

that millions of europeans could see the jews in such demonic terms they'd be willing to massacre little children and old people? for that, i think the church bears great responsibility. th nazis were here in rome at the gates of his palace. a he wrisoner in the vatican. - the pope has come to symbolize a moral test for the catholic churc during world war ii. [dramatic music] - major funding for "holy silence" was provided by barbara slifka. additionpr funding was ided by the powell family foundation, the posen foundation, sheila and dennis hartzell, david dossetter, and susan fine, and the following individuals and institutions.