>> 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 become toxic. >> narrator: and behind the scenes, one powerfullican r.na >> mitch mcconnell is a tactical genius. >> he has succeeded in establishi a conservative coref. at lea >> narrator: now on frontline... >> we're living in the era of the mcconnell court now. >> narrator: ..."supreme revenge: battle for the court". >> frontline is made possible by

contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. and by the corporation for public broadcasting. major support is pvided by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation, committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world more information at macfound.org. the fordoundation: working with visionaries on the frontlines of social change worldwide at fordfoundation.org additional support is provided the abrams foundation, committed to excellence in journalism. thpark foundation, dedicated to heightening public awareness of critical issues. and by the frontline jonalism fund, with major support from jon and jo ann hagler. t,>> this is a fox news al u.s. supreme court justice ruth bader ginsburg has died at the

age of 87. >> the pioneer of men's rights and gender equality. >> president trump may have opportunity to nominate a third 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-changing was happing and you have the president of the united states standing on stage unaware. >> mr. president, rbg! >> narrator: as he le stage... >> mr. president, rbg! delivered the news.epoer >> ruth bader ginsburg has died. ruth bader ginsburg has passed away. >> she just died? >> wow. i didn't know that, i just... you're telling me now for the first time. >> i thought, "this is going to upend the election." this was the october surprise just a few weeks before october. >> mourners gathered in front of the supreme court to pay tribute to ruth bader ginsburg.

>> narrator: for democrats, the death of the iconic leader of the court's liral wing was a nightmare-- just over a month before the eleion. >> it really was a stunning moment when we finally realized she was gone. i wahoping she would be able to hold on for a new president, and i'm sure she was t. >> as people around the nation react to the death o trailblazing justice ruth... >> narrar: from her deathbed, >> her family had said to her, "is ere anything you would 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 mcconnell 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 mcconnl has longed for, dreamed about,

worked for during his enre career in the senate. mcconnell reached the president on air force one. >> mcconnell told him two things. he said, "first, i'm going to put out a statement that says we're going to fill the vacancy." second, he said, "you've got to nominate amy coney barrett." >> narrator: amy coney barrett, a 48-year-old nservative appeals court judge, mcconnell's way of securing control of the supreme court for years to come. >> to be able to say that, conservative court for another generation" is important to him. for mitch mcconnell, the court is everything. >> this is going to be a rough battle on capitol hill... >> narrator: mitch mcconnell's determination to transform the supre court had been his life's work. >> ...the dismay of several senators, u.s. supreme court

nominee clarence thomas managed to elude... >> potentially ensuring a m conservatiority for decades... >> narrator: through bruising confirmation battles... >> ...democrats to keep an open mind about kavanaugh... >> narrator: a struger ideology and power... >> ...white house has been packaging clarence thomas like a political candidat.. >> ...expected to be one of the most contentious confirmation hearings in memory. >> narrator: ignited by a devastating defeat... >> ...rejecting the nomination of judge bork..... >>dge 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...g ecades-l judicial wars started at the reagan white house. >> t is with great pleasure and deep respect for his extraordinary abilities that i today announce my intentio nominate unid states court of appeals judge robert h. bork to be an associate justice of the supreme court. >> i thought, "well, this man is an ideal person to be on the supreme court." >> judge bork, widely regarded the most prominent and

intellectually powerful advocate of judicial restraint... >> borwas sort of the hallmark of ultra-conservative legal though this was going to dramatically change the court. it was going to change it in are far onservative direction. >> narrator: reagan had already successfully appointed conservatives to a court heco idered too liberal: sandra day o'connor, william rehnquist elated to ief justice, antonin scalia. and now, with the retirement of lewis powell, reagan could secure conservative control of the court. really change the direction, not just for the next four years, but republicans were hoping for the next 40 years. >> narrator: reagan's attorney general made a phone call to pitol hill. he wanted to alert one powerful democratic senator. >> senator kennedy got a note that attory general meese was calling for him.

and he stepped out of the hearing into a phoneooth and took the call. was going to be bork.im that it >> narrator: kennedy headed for the senate chamber. to the liberal senator from massachusetts, bork was a dire threat. >> everything that bork had written and stood for meant that tie civil rights and affir action push of the civil rights movement was in danger. >> ...and the senator from massachusetts is recognized... >> narrator: it had only been an hour since reagan's kennedy let the president and bork know they were in for a fight. >> mr. predent, i oppose the nomination of robert bork to the supre court, and i urge thect senate to ret. >> and our staff said, "hey, go hear what kennedy is saying." so i went over. >> robert bork's america is a land in which women woulbe forced into back-alley abortions, blacks would sit atse

egated lunch counters, rogue police could break down citizens' doors in midnight raids. >> whoa, this sounds a little over the top. i knew roberbork, he'd been a professor of mine, and i liked the gu but certainly my journalistic instinct was, "okay, the fight's on, the fat's in the fire. something."lly going to be >> no justice would be better than this injustice. yield back the balance of my time. >> when he finished, there was just silence. i said, "what is all this (bleep)? what, what are you doing?" he said, "just know that we'llro have to dehim." >> and we were watching th 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 about it." well, they weren't ready.dy nobody was r 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. s >> it e first moment that you saw all-out war over a supreme court nominee. it was the first example of the politics of destruction of the modern era. >> the name and future of robert bork tops the agenda insh gton this morning. >> and nowhere is the debate hotter than at the confirmation hearings for supreme court nominee robert bork... n >> this is news special report... >> narrator: the judiciary committee hearings, led by the democrats, were broadcast on national television. >> it is a momento 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, it was tv lights-- very hot tv lights.ai there's a cesense, when there's absolutely nothing you can do.

>> narrator: it was a cast designed for classic television drama-- the attackers: biden, heflin, metzenbaum, leahy, and kenny. >> judge bork looks at senator kennedy and senator kennedy 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 publicans simpson and grassley. here this is the nominee and he is sort of the supplicant here beforehese senators. they do hold the power of office over him, don't they? h >> tring will come to order please. >> somebody was going to win and somebody was going to lose. how was this going to play out? and that, i think, had a gripping effect on an audience. hi>> i welme everyone here

morning. judge bork... >>arrator: joe biden was t chairman of the committee, and at the time in his first bid for president. >> because joe biden was running for president, his staff set the hearing room up in a way to elevm and to make him shine and turned it into a kind of tv reality show event. >> the senator minority leader, republic leader... >> they chose particular places where cameras could go that would be the least flattering for robert bork.ge >> jdo you swear to give the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you god? >> i do, mr. chairman.nk >> tou. duly sworn. >> also when joe biden made his opening statement... >> in passing on ts nomination to the supreme court... >> his aides were not behind him, sthere was kind of an oval office quality almost to what he had to say.as so thereuite 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 controversial statements he has made as a professor ana judge i've compiled... >> narrator: for five days they clashed. >> can y 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 know your record do fear you. >> it was epic. i mean, they were discussing very serious things. >> do we have a constitutional right to speak recklessly? >> busing and... >> ...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 autonomyts to determine all. >> you do not believe that there st a general right of privacy that is in the cution? >> not one derived in that... >> narrator: bork's advisers told him to be succinct, not lecture the senators.

>> i'll be happy to answer the committee's questions. >> nrator: 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 geon the record right now that i don't feel very free to disregard what congress decided, that the re fact that a law is outrageous is not enough to make it unconstitutional.>> didn't think it was going well. i just thought it was torture. you want to tap your dad on the shoulder and say, "i would say" it this wa um, can't do that. >> they have been hammering you with ting for five days. >> narrator: near the end, in an effort to save him, bork supporter wyoming senar alan simpson asked him one last question. >> why do you want to be an associate justice of the united stat supreme court? >> narrator: many believe bork's answer was the death knell ofno hination. >> i think it would be an intellectual feast. >> some more bad news for supreme court nominee judgeor robert..

>> ...by telling the senators the first attraction of the supreme court is the intellectual pleasure of it.ed >> that seo be a big thing, "oh, intellectual feast." oh, well, what the hell, you know, but that's washington. >> and instead of saying, "i want to do justice and show mercy and protect the rights of individuals," he says, "it'll be an intellectual feast." and most people said, "who'sth dinner?" (chuckles) >> regular order wl be followed. the clerk will continue calling >> 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 repuicans, 42 to 58. >> mr. cranston, no. mr. kennedy. mr. kennedy, no. >> the job was to cut this guy down. get bork.

it's now in the dictionaries oft the states and, and the world, it's called "getting borked." (gavel pounds) >> narrator: joe biden, the chairman, got much of the credit for bringing bork down. >> he's proud of what we did on the court. we shaped the direction of the court for 30 years. we kept that majority in place, basically the warren courthe consensus onourt, on a lot of these issues, in place for 30 years. very important.shamed of, very, >> ...senator from kentucky. >> i thank the chair. >> nartor: 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 judgment, by a majority of the senate prospectely.

your dead body, so to speak,er politically.to >> nar mcconnell threatened that he and his republican colleagues would use mattered.tactics when it >> 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 outithout paying a price for it later on down the road. >> and if we don't like the philosophical leaning of thene no.. >> narrator: it was a promise of revenge, a warning of what could happen if republicans took control. >> the danger of that approach, of course... ♪ >> thurgood marshall, a man who ayed 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 mitch mcconnell...nt forenator >> thurgood marshall is stepping

down... >> narrator: ...an opportunity to replace a liberal justice with a conservative. >> some senators implied it would be good to get another minority member... >> narrator: one name stoode out: clarencomas, 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. >> narrator: the white house was determined that clarence thomas was not going to be borked. >> he individuals in the 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 >> narrator: the republicans built a war room. they prepped thomas.e >> senarings began on the supreme court nomination of... >> narrator: they warned him it could get ugly. >> clarence thomas, a black conservative originally from. >> narrator: once again, the proceedingwould be a television event, here in the ro where the bork hearings captivated americans. >> ...see judge thomas now with

the chairman of the judiciary committee... >> narrator: the cast was familiar-- biden, kennedy, sison, metzenbaum, heflin. this time, the republicans had. an adv it wld be hard for biden and the democrats to forcefully take on an african-american nominee. >> when the hearings started, i was reminded of the hat 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.om weto the blinding lights. it's a pleasure to, e you here. >> politically they were in a very difficult positn. it's very difficult to attack an african-american judge, and they wanted to befriend him, not attack him. >> heck, you're six, seven yeax

younger thanm 48. how old are you, judge, 42, 43? >> well, ied over the last ten weeks, but, uh... (audience laughing) i'm 43. >> 43 years old. >> nrator: thomas' white hou handlers, sitting behind him, waited for the democrats' questions. >> he was advised-- i know this-- to be very careful, to be skry modest. they're going toou about every controversial issue that has ever come before t supreme court. >> ...in the area of civil rights... narrator: unlike bork, thomas wouldn't be so candid. ...i don't remember or recall >> he was like a steady brick he just wasn't going to answer anything, and, and he didn't. >> i think that to take a positionould underne my ability to be impartial. at >> s biden was determined to try to probe that and kind of take it as a bork battle redux. but unlike bork, who said, "yeah, these are my views, lik

them or not," thomas disavowed everything. >> what i am trying to do, senator, is to respo to your question and at the same time ueoffer a particular view on this difficult if abortion... >> it was going to work.ng he was squeahrough. >> president bush said he has no doubt clarence thomas will be confirmed... >> confirmation hearings continue this rning in washington for clarence thomas... >> narrator: it had been eight days of hearings. >> if clarence thod soon vote. confirmed to the supreme court, his nomination is certainly the most controversial since robertk ... >> narrator: but national public radio reporter nina totenberg heard something unusual. >> biden says somethg about, "people have tried to smear youp wisonal allegations." >> i believe there are certain things that are not at issue at all. and that is his character, or characterization of his character. >> narrator: totenberg was surprised. no issues of charact had been

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 haanita hill's name, ahe up. >> narrator: anita hill had worked with thomas athe equal employment opportunity commission. >> according to hi's affidavit, thomas talked about pornographic materials depicting individuals with large penes or breasts involved in various sex acts. >> here is a person who is in s charge of protecting rig women. he is also really violating the laws that he's there to enforce. >> it was just a giant explosion.gh i, i... (l i mean, i walked up to capitolll . (makes explosion sound) it was like a mushroom cloud. >> good evening.

we begin tonight with the potential for political explosion on citol hill. >> clarence thomas ran into trouble today... >> questions are growing over charges of sexual harassmentth agaiomas... >> narrator: as the story broke, senator mitch mcconnell rusheden to thee floor. >> as soon as the president announced s choice, the special interest groups lined up their firing squad and vowed to bo him and to kill him politically. the process is being hijacked... >> narrator: mcconnell saw the yet another liberadown.mas as >> mcconnell understands implication and conseqnce better than any united states senator. when you vote on legislation in the house and senate, you're playg for the xt election. when you put in a judge, you're playing for the next generation. >> the sexual harassment storm aroundlarence thomas is intensifying. >> narrator: now mcconnell would watch as anitaill threatened to derail thomas' nomination. >> the stage is set for what eryone anticipates will a brutal hearing. (gavel banging)

>> professordo you swear to tell the whole truth and you god?but thtruth, so help >> i do. >> thank you. >> it seems to have been ar nightmare e biden. as a man, he felt uncomfortable about it. a ashite man, he felt uncomfortable taking clarence thomas, a black man, on about it. and the whole subject tter just made him incredibly uncomftable. >> can you tell the committee what was the most embarrassing of all the incidences that youve lleged? most embarrassing was hisas the discussion of, of pornography involving these women with large breasts and, and engaged in a variety of sex with different people or animals. that was the thing thatd embarras the most and made

me feel the most humiliated. >> here inomen were just mesmerized by the hearings, outraged at what had happened.ke they lup and saw a very non-diverse united states senate judiciary committ. 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 close friend, republican a specter, led the charge. >> i find the references to the alleged sexual harassment not only unbelievable, butpr osteus. >> narrator: he cast doubt on her memory. >> how reliable is your testimony on events that occurred eight, ten years ago...

>> there's this array of white men who were treatinll as kind of a hostin simply attesting to what herce experiith sexual harassment had been in clarence thomas's office. >> you took it to mean that 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. >> so that was an inference that you drew? >> yes, yes. >> she stood between clarenceth as and the supreme court. they had to destroy her in order to get him confirmed. if what she was saying was, tr had lied under oath. placed in the record. it will be again, i thank your family, thank you. adjourned until 9:00. (gavel bangs) >> all america had its television sets tuneto the >> nothing like whappened today has ever happened before... >> washington, d.c., a city disgusted by the gutter politics ayed out on capitol hill.

>> narrator: but it wasn't over. inside the senate offices, t clarenmas prepared to answer anita hill's allegations. senator alan simpson was in the room. >> we, we sat with thomas. fand i told him my theory political life: an attack believed.d is an attack not only that, but agreed to. and he was teary. but i said, "you must have something to say." he said, "i do." s d, "i really do have something to say." >> this is a circus. it's a national disgrace. id as far as i'm concerne is a high-tech lynching for uppity blackwho in any way deign to think for themselves, to do for themselves, to have different ideas. >> i remember sitting behind a senator and hearing that and gone off in the roa bomb had

and it sucked all the oxygen out of the room. >> and it is a message that unless you kowtow to an old orde this is what will happe to you. you will be lynched, destroyed, caricatured by a committee of the u.s., u.s. senate rather than hung from a tree. >> the question is on the confirmation of the nomination l clarence thomas of georgia. the clerk will ce roll. >> up to robert bork, there was a see of civility to this, that you could disagree without destroying. robert bork anged that, and clarence thomas confirmed it. odd with the clarence thomas nomination, everwas watching. >> this vote, the yeas are 52 and the nays are 48. the nomination of claren thomas of georgia is hereby confirmed. >> narrator: whi biden and most democrats voted no,

clarence thomas prevailed. he vowed to stay on the court for 43 more yes. in the years after thoma confirmation, mcconnell watched as democratic and republican presidents tried to tip the balance of the court. >> president clion today nominated ruth bader ginsburg... >> narrator: with republicans in the minority, bill clinton pled ruth bader ginsburg a stephen breyer on the bench. >> ...the president senthe congress t name of his nominee to fill the seat... >> narrator: george w. bush, with republican senate, put john roberts and samuel alitort on the cou >> barack obama is projected to be the next... >> narrator: with democrats ck in control, barack obama appointed sonia tomayor and elena kagan. >> still, many republicans are asking if she's the right person for the job... >> narrator: through it all, mcconnell had been climb power inside the senate. majority whip.

republican leader. and finally, majority er. >> 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. it was how much could win and how much power he could achieve. >> narrator: mcconnell had real power, and still holding on toth grievance about what happened to robert bork, he waited for the right moment to use . >> this is cnn breaking news... >> breaking news just in to us here at cnn. united states sueme court justice antonin scalia has died. >> scalia is found dead in his, in his bed one day. and what to do in this... in probably the defining moments of, of mitch mcconnell's career. >> ...and breaking news, u.s. supreme court justice n... >> narrator: mcconnell immediately understood the political implications of scalia's death. >> within a matter of moments, mitch mcconnell had a decision

to make-- was he going to turn over entire control of the supreme court to barack obama at the end of his tenure? or was he going to make the a decisileader of the senate thathey weren't going to confirm any nominee. >> with that vacancy, the question is, will a >> narrator: president barack.. obama's replacement would give democrats a five-justiceco majority on tht. wait for the day taftern't even antonin scalia dies to put out a statemensaying, in effect, "we're not going to let president obama replace him." >> majority leader mitch mcconnell just releasing a statement. >> ...this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new president. >> he points to th that they're in the last year of obama's term, and that's why they shouldn't have this seat filled, as if somehow or another, 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 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, obama was undeterred by mcconnell. >> today, i am nominating chief judge merrick brian garland to joinhe supreme court. (audience applauds) >> president barack obama's thinking at e time was that by nominating merrick garland and putting forward candidate that he might have been able tothat 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... b (voiaking): other than

lynn agreeing to marry me 28 years ago. >> here is a man of distinguished education, diinguished background. this is the kind of person that should be on the sreme court. and if it's obama who's president, i was thrilled that he was appointing someone likerr k garland. >> narrator: joe biden, now vics ent, would work his connections in the senate to try to win over republican support. >> five reblican 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 hands. >> i met with merrick garland. i liked him. he's a person who would have esgotten 98 votes or 100 vn the 1990s,ust a few years before. >> ...blasting his party's leadership for stonewalling the nomination process >> to not even allow t judiciary committee to hold a hearing on his nomination just did not sit right with me. >> mitch mcconnell joins us nowh

from capitl. senator, thanks for being here. >> narrator: he fought back, hittg the airwaves. >> the right-of-center world does not want th vacancy filled by this president. we're not giving a lifetime appointment to this prt on the way out the door, to change the supreme court for the next 25 or 30 years. >> senator moran from kansas said he thought maybe there b shoua hearing. and mcconnell just said to him,a "you keeing like that, and i'm running a primary opponent against you," and moran backed off. mcconnell was ruthless and brilliant. >> narrator: mcconnell kept the reblicans in line. therwould be no hearings, no votes, no consideration of judge garland. hi >> the one that i've learned about mitch is if he says this is the way it is, that's the way it is. >> (chuckles) i don't ever question mcconnell. i mean, i worked with him-- you don't want to mess withl. mcconnel

>> democrats are outraged by senate majority leader.. >> narrator: mitch mcconnell had done what had never been done-- he'd blocked any consideration of a supreme court nominee. --w he needed one more thi republican president. donald trump will be the 45th president of the united states. >> senator mcconnell turned to his lleague and said, "looks like we' going to be making america great again." i have to think that a big partw of that t he saw as a coming to fruition of the plans that he had for the supreme court. >> narrator: with trump in the white house, mitch mcconnell would be able to fill scalia's at. wiin months, conservative favorite neil gorsucined the cour >> ...confirmed as justice gorsuch... >> narrator: then, a year latern another oppoy. >> ...monumental moment... >> narrator: veteran justice anthony kennedy unpectedly resigned. >> kennedy really was the middle of the court. so it's, it's a really serious

moment, the most seriousoment in the balance of the court, really, since even before bork. >> narrator: mitch mcconnell understood the stakes. kennedy's replacement couldfu shift the courher to the right. >> president tru's pick is in for the next supreme court nominee... >> brett kavanaugh to replace the retiring... >> narrator: mcconnell and trump again swung intoction. the president nominated judge brett kavanaugh. >> kavanaugh is the perfectne mcconnell no he's very conservative on economic issues, on executive power issues. he's the perfect blending of establishment and sort of red-state-bad politics. (gavel banging) >> narrator: at the confirmation hearings, the democrats immediately put up a fight. >> mr. chairman, i'd like to be recognized to ask a question.

>> mr. chairman, it's a pending moti... >> if we don't even know what the rules are,ow can we... >> i'd like to respond to... >> mr. chairman. >> mr. chairman, we waited for more than a year with a vacancy the supreme court. the treatment was shabby of merrick garland, presidents obamminee... >> democrats are really madab t garland that happened in 2016, very recent history. >> people see through this. >> replicans are still mad about bork. >> to my friends on the other side, u can't lose the election and pick judges. if y want to pick judges, yo better win. >> this stuff is now intensely polarized and super-partisan. (gavel banging) >> narrator: and as the republican-led hearings gotbr underwayt kavanaugh would follow the 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 asng me... senator, i think that pothetical that you're asking is... ...a hypothetical that, uh, about y statute that you're asking me... >> narrator: from his office, mcconnell watched the hearings. it all seemed to be going smoothly. >> what you fear is the known. you don't know what you don't know. and and if there is something out there, some bombshelrop, or some way of captivating media attention, then you could ve problems. >> dropping a bombshell exactly one week before the committee is set to vote... a 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...>> arrator: 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 name is leaked. >> her name is christine blasey ford. >> the woman's ne is christine blasey ford. >> christine blasey ford... n rator: mcconnell wouldn't

back down from the coming fight. >> i think he was furious. you know, this was the torpedo that he dreaded. >> cistine blasey ford described kavanaugh as stumbling drunk... >> narrator: he was worried about losing the sate in the upcoming midterms. he had to get kavanaugh confirmed fast. l, "you will rue theords of day," back in the bork fight? those ually applied to him if he lost the kavanaugh fight, because the democrats, if they controlled the senate after this election, he would rue the day of what he'd done in garland. >> majority leader ised recogn >> narrator: mcconnell launched a counterattack. >> senate democrats and their alies are trying to destr man's personal and professional life on sis of decades-old allegaons... >> narrator: bork. thomas. now kavanaugh. the fight for the court had become personal.

mcconnell blamed the democrats. >> democrats wouldn't let a few inconvenient things get between them and a good smear. it's despicable. >> he's never faced a fight like this. he never faced one where he d could go, n like this. and it was right 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 testify in public for the first time. >> it will certainly be an historic day on capitol hill. >> remember, nobody had seener and nobody had heard from her. not ev the senators. so it was a total surprise. >>voice shaking): i am her 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 school. genuinely terrified she was to be there, it shocked a lot of the older, longer-rving senators, that once again, this issue was being brought into the public sphere. >> (voice breaking): i believede as 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.at this is errified me the most, and has had the most lasting impact on my life. it was hard for me to breathe, ani thought that brett was >> it was, of cour to kill me. 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 loed dead honest.

>> it was a huge burden oner >> it was impossib to be riveted with her testimony. she was compelling. >> narrator: some of the senators that day had also been at the clarence thomas hearings. patrick leahy was one. >> when dr. ford tesfied, i asked he "what do you remember of that incident?"i anineverybody in that hearing remembers her answer. >> the laughter, the laugh-- the uproarious laughter between the two, and they're having fun at myxpense. i was, you know, underneath one of them while the two laughed,ng two friends ha really good time with one another. >> narrator: it loed bad for brett kavanaugh and the republicans. >> this is over, this wasin devast >> i believe those who wanted to believe her did. >> the mood among reicans on the hill was one of gloom.

>> we had a meeting right after her testimony. and i uld tell that my colleagues were moved and they were saying, you know, "he'd bett be good. he'd better have an answer, because she sounds very credible." w >> tst-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, including watchinghouse the the testimony of both ford and kavanaugh. the president watcheit live. and the president and i have both said, each of us have said publicly, she gave, sh rendered compelling testimony. >> narrator: the president picked up the phone. on the other end-- mitch mcconnell. >> both of them are kind of testing each other a little bite

"whereou at on this?" you know, "how strong are you?" and mcconnell basically says to the president, "you don't worry about me. a i'm stromule piss." that's his quote. "i'm strong as mule piss." in otherords, he's not going to let up, he's not going to give up, he's not going to surrender. ♪ >> to say that everything thate could have gong for brett kavanaugh has is an understatement. >> the impetus is on judge kavanaugh. the senate...have the vo >> do not underestimate the importance of the next few hours for brett kavanaugh. >> at some point, if you poke a 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 legation against me by d ford. i never had ansexual or physical encounter of any kind with dr. ford. >> it was like watching clarence thomas all over again. this was another version of then "high-teching."

>> this confirmation process has become a national disgrace. but you have replad advice and consent with search and destroy. >> narrator: clarence thomas had invoked race.va now brett ugh launched a partisan attack on the >> this whole two-week effort has been a calculated and orchestrated political h fueled with apparent pent-upt anger abesident trump, revenge on behalf of the clintons, and millions ofdo ars in money from outside left-wing opposition groups. >> it has become this completely politicized drama. he took the allegations away from christine blasey ford and turned it into a huge fight between democrats and republicans.he trying to rally all the republicans to his side. >> narrator: kavanaugh had become a combatant in the war between republicans and democrats.

>> does this reflect what you are?ye does thibook reflect your focus on... >> narrator: they squared offer is high schoolearbook. >> that's easy, yes or no, you don't have to filibuster... >> narrator: and hisrinking. >> oh, no, no, no, no, no, you got this up, i'm going to, i'mk going to tout my high school... no, no, i'm going to talk... >> let him answer! >> i'm going to talk about my high school reco if you'reer going to sitand mock me. >> senator graham. >> narrator: on the republicannd side, y graham led the fight. >> this is the most unethical sham since i've been in politics boy, you all want power. god, i hope you never get it. hope the american people can see through this sham. god, i hate to say it because these have been my friends, but let me tell you, when it comes to this, you're looking for a fair process? you came to the wrong town at the wrong time, my friend. this is not a job interview. this is hell. >> this is...

>> this isng to destroy the ability of good people to comefo ard because of this crap. your high school yearbook! >> it serves to rally s-blicans and make it an versus-them kind of issue. and if it's an uversus-them kind of issue, when you have the majority, that's what you want. > he clerk will call the roll. >> mr. cruz. >> aye. mrs. ernst. >> aye. >> mr. flake. mr. gardner. >> aye. >>s. duckworth. >> narrato with mcconnell's republicans almost entirely in line... >> mr. toomey.arrator: brett kah was confirmed. >> mr. udall. >> n >> narrator: partisanship would now reign.th >> mor any of the other fights, the kavanaugh nomination hearings really ended up tarnishing arnishing the cous reputaon as an apolitical institution.

what seemed like a sort of shocking freak occurrence when it happened wi bork, now seems like a fait accompli with kavanaugh. he now is up there on the bench and everybodassumes it's only because of politics. >> narrator: with kavanaugh's confirmation, mcconnell had moved the court further to the right. but then, just over a month before the 2020 election, the death of the court's most prominent liberal, ruth bader ginsburg. once again, it was mitch mcconnell's moment. he was ready.>> his is a conversation that he has been having with his or more.at this point for a year and mcconnell made it ve h clear colleagues, that if there is a vacancy, whomevern

that v is presented by, we will fill it. >> narrator: to mcconnell, it didn't matter that it was only weeks before the electn and that he'd opposed filling a seat in the last year of the obama presidency. >> the fact that it was occurring while the presidential election was underway, unprecedented. it's never happened in the history of the senate,or all of their explanations and excuses. it's never been done. anparticularly in light of what happened four years ago, it really seemed to be hypocritical. cc >> narrator: butnell shrugged off the charges of hypocrisy. >> it wouldn't phase senator mcconnell to be called "ruthless" or "determined" or whatever adjectives or labels o people might phis behavior. he did it because he could. >> today it is my nor to nominate judge amy coney barrett.

>> narrator: with election day fast approaching... >> do you solemnly swear the testimony you're about to give e is committee... >> narrator: ...arings for amy coney barrett were a rush job. >> i do... >> everything moved really rapid-fire fast. and, of course, the goal 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." "confirm," which basically gave away the whole deal right ther it's like, "we're not considering anything, we're just here to vote." bl >> this is pronot 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 fashn. there was not even the routine investigation of opinions and writings and speeches. this was done in a hurry and it showed. >> to my democratic colleagues... >> nrator: the partisanship was on full display.

>> our republican colleagues are riveted on rushing a judge through this sham process. >> this was a hypocritical tire- sqaling 180 for many republican colleagues. >> narrator: democrats complained... >> hypocritical, illegitimate process... >> narrator: ...but in the minority, theyere powerless to do anything... cc>> mitch monnels 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 conebarrett... >> narrator: all of the democrats voted no. >> ...to the supme court of the united states is confirmed. (gavel banging) >> this most recent barrett confirmation may have been the was purely partisa memory that it has become so bitterlyis pa that the american people have no choice but toas think of ihis individual is a... is reflective of the

people who vote against him or her or the people who vote for him or her. the presidential election,efore the new justice was sworn in. >> i, amy coney rrett, do solemnly swear... >> that i will support and defend... clarence thomas did the honors. >> ...so help me, god... >> so help me, god. (applause) >> for senat 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 split on the court. >> narrator: three decades after bork, itas now mitch mcconnell's supreme court. >> he has been working towards this moment his entire professial carr, and it was all coming to fruition. all of the judicial wars that started with robert bork andom justice , the kavanaugh

situation. now was the moment that he finally got whate came for. >> he succeeded in establishing a conservative court for the next couple of decades, at least. that's an accomplishment, if you look at that alone. i think in the process, you know, we've damaged another institution, the senate. 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...r: >> narran election day... >> mcconnell is the longest- serving republican senator... >> narrator: mitch mcconnell wot r six years in the senate. >> ...we've reached a historic moment in this election... >> nrator: he'll face joe biden as president, an old adversary from the judicial wars. states...sident of the united >> narrator: now, the supreme court that mitch mcconnell built. >> ...conservative majority on the court for the foreseeable future. new president...ooms or the >> meanwhile, democrats are

worried about the country's future... >> narrator: ...and ington as divided as ever. >> a lot of eyes going to be on the supreme court. >> huge numb of issues coming across the supreme court... >> ...among those issues are sex discrimination, gun rights, abortion, and immigration... ...a huge array of enormously important issues... >> go to pbs.org/frontline for frontline's transparency project. explore the dozens of intervws in the film. >> unprecedented. it has never happened in the history ofhe senate. >> he did it because he could. >> i have never seen anything like this one. >> it's something that mcconnell has longed for, dreamed about, worked for... >> connect to the frontline community on facebook and twitter, and stream any time on the pbs video app or pbs.org/frontline. we don't have school because of the coronavirus, bumy schoolwork is not very well. >> narrator: they are growing up in uncertain times. >> when we say we don't like have money, we really don't.ra >> nr: the experience of

poverty through the eyes of children. >> i think anyone can end up how we are, being homeless. >> when i get older i wouldn't want to live here. i want to get a good stable jobm >>imes life just happens and things go the wrong way. >> frontline is made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. and by the corporation for public broadcasting. major support is provided by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation, committed to buildinre just, verdant and peaceful world. more information at maound.org. the ford foundation: working with visionaries on theo frontlines oal change worldwide at fordfoundation.org additional support is provided by the abrams foundation, committed to excellence in journalism. the park foundation, dedicated to heightening public

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

♪ . >> you're watching p >> ...continues to grapple with the impact of the ongoing pandemic... >> narrator: the truth is rarely and white. >> ...protesters versus frontline workers... >> ...filled with so much uncertainty... he narrator: but if we ask hard questions... >> ...ath toll in the u.s. tops 200 thousand... >> narrator: check the facts. >> ...the internet is disrupting...ma >> ...isn taking over the world a good thing?" e>> narrator: dig a littl deeper. >> boom! >> narrator: and take a the truth is closethan 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. - the nazis were here in rome at the gates of his palace. he was a prisoner in the vatican. - the zepe has come to symbo moral test for the catholic church during world war ii. [dramatic music] - major funding for "holy silence" was provided by barbara slifka. additional funding was provided by the powell family foundation, the posen foundation, sheila and dennis hartzell, david dossetter, and susan fine, and by the following individuals and institutions.