that is our broadcast for a tuesday night. thank you so very much for being here with us. good night from nbc news headquarters here in new york. ♪ this morning uncertainty surrounds brett kavanaugh's supreme court nomination. plus intelligence officials were reportedly blindsided by the request. now they're going to conduct a formal review before releasing those documents. the damage left behind as flooding continues to ravage the area. ♪

good morning everyone. it is wednesday, september 19th. she says an investigation should be the first step before she testified before the senate. ford a college professor who revealed yesterday she referred the alligations to the fbi. ford and kavanaugh have been invited to testify before the senate judiciary committee on monday. ford said she wants to cooperate with the committee and law enforcement officials but believe as full investigation by the fbi would be necessary to form an objective assessment. >> and republican senator jeff blake called on ford to accept the commit a's invitation to testify next week. tweeting when dr. ford came forward i said that her voice should be heard and asked the judiciary committee to delay its

vote on judge kavanaugh. i did so. i implore dr. ford to accept the invitation in a public or private setting. and "after learning of the allegation, grassley took immediate action to insure both dr. ford and judge kavanaugh have the opportunity to be heard. republicans saying yesterday that ford's testimony was the only reason for holding monday's hearing. >> but this is primarily to hear her. so if she's not planning on attending, i don't know what the point of going forward would be. >> she deserves to be heard and will be challenged and kavanaugh deserves to be heard and defend herself. but if she does not want to am can on monday p, we will vote

wednesday. >> how important is it -- >> i don't think want to be involved. if they wanted to be involved, i would certainly do that. but they say this is not really their thing. i think politically speaking the senators will do a very good job. >> after accuse canning kavanaugh of sexual assault in the '80s, she's undergone -- they called for a peaceful protest at her california home. it was a third time a twitter user revealed her address online. she's had death threats since

made public sunday, that includes be imporousinated online. due to the threats she and her husband are staying apart from their two teen age children. her lawyers add quote while dr. ford's life was being turned upside down, you and your staff scheduled a public hearing for her to testify at the same table as judge kavanaugh in front of two dozen u.s. senators who have appeared to makeup their mind that she is mistaken and made up. >> and allegedly in the room has declined to testify. judge wrote quote i have no memory of this alleged incident. brett kavanaugh and i were friends in high school but i do not recall the party described in the letter. and i never saw brett act in the manner she described. i do not wish to speak publicly

regard thing incidents described in dr. ford's letter. this is after the staff reached out. ford told the washington post that judge was in the room and that he jumped on top of her and kavanaugh, knocking them off the bed, allowing her to flee. they claimed the chief counsel during the anita hill hearings, tweeted to the refusal to testify. quote this should not be an option. all witnesses with relevant information should be compelled to testify. >> the professor who accused then supreme court nominee anita hill is offering her owned a vus. she advises against rushing the hearings and that one week is not enough time to have a

meaningful inquiry. and select a neutral investigative body that will investigate the experience in question. thau they' they're reliable. senators must then rely on the investigator's conclusions, along with advice from experts to frame the questions they judge cavanaugh and blasey. the fact-finding roles must guide their behavior. it should frame hearing, not politics about sexual assault. he said it would not bother him if they reopened the investigation into kavanaugh. but the fbi doesn't want to be involved because it's quote not their thing. and stressed that kavanaugh is eager to testify and clear his name. >> judge kavanaugh is anxious to do it.

i don't know about the other party. but a delay and certainly acceptable. we want to get to the bottom of everything. we want a everbody to be able to speak up speak out i think specifically i haven't wanted to speak to judge kavanaugh because i knew somebody would ask me the same question. so specifically i thought it would be a good thing not to. he can handle himself better than anybody. he's a very outstanding man. oh, i'm totally supportive. i feel so badly for him that he's going through this to be honest with you. thus is not a man that deserves this. this should have been brought to the for, it should have been brought up long ago. i just think he is at a level that we rarely see, not only in government, anywhere in life. and honestly i feel terribly for

him, for his wife who is an incredible lovely woman and for his beautiful young daughters. i feel terriably for them. >> joining us onset, legal analyst. so what's the expectation here? does the fbi take this on? do they investigate further? >> there are two ways the fbi could investigate. one is if there was a potential federal crime and that does not appear to be the case. even sexual assault cases are normally the province of state courts and state prosecutors. so we look to the other role of the fbi and that's to do background check cas on nominee. but typically will not look for these kinds of unreported assaults. the kinds of things they look for are cases and issues that have already happened that might retliet fitness of that judicial

nominee. >> and he's already passed through some background checks certainly to get where he's now. >> not for this job but for other past federal jobs. i think he's quoted as saying that's why you have 65 different people ready to wrietd a letter for him because they've probably been contacted so many times in the past. but any federal employee knows if you live a lifetime with all these different federal appointments, then you're going to get background checked quite a bit. it's not necessarily going to pick up something that was never reported. >> brett kavanaugh's friend, mark judge says that hoois not going to testify publicly. does he even have an option of saying no, he doesn't want to testify, publicly, and at what point does a subpoena become an

option >> if they him to -- they want him to testify, he will come and if not, they have a -- they have long had the power to hold individuals in contempt who defy a subpoena and that's in congress's power to legislate, deliberate and it's separate and apart from the executive power to enforce laws. congressional contempt is a lot like judicial contempt. it's part of the congress's own power to enforce its own integrity and so if he does not appear and they subpoena him, he can be held in contempt. >> but they haven't subpoenaed him yet? >> they will not. >> what's the benefit of having him speak if he says i don't remember anything? would it be a waste of time of i don't recall, i don't recall >> there's almost no precedent

and if there was, it wouldn't really apply because each member of congress is a new political body. this is not a dispassionate, imparlgi impartial body. that's why when we talk about anita hill as an analogy. that was that congress, this is this congress and never the twin shall meet. >> thank you so much. we'll see you soon. so president trump's monday order to declassify documents in the russia probe took u.s. intelligence agencies by surprise and now they're hope thing white house will allow them to have a review and damage assessment before they're forced to release those documents. one challenge is that trump ordered the release of only those text messages related to the russia investigation. so that's going to require the fish to sort throughtens of

thousands to figure out which ones apply to that. >> his order to declassify the previously classified documents as historic. this might be the most important thing because thus was corrupt. i hope to be able to put this up as one of my crowning achievements that i was able to expose something that is truly a cancer in our country. the president's attorney said they expect a treasure trove corruption while former cia director said it could help america's adversaries. >> i suspect what they're going to find is this is not only a rigged investigation as some have called it, but it may be much, much worse than that. >> i'm sure russian intelligence services are just waiting to see what am kz out. not just russians, but others as well as what fbi's collection

abilities are and they can put the pieces of the puzzle together and come up with insights that could negatively effect u.s. government's ability to carry out its law enforcement, intelligence responsibilities. . so still ahead new polling shows troubling signs for republicans in states where president trump did big. and dealing with major flooding days after hurricane florence tore through and the governor is asking residents be patient. patient. - [announcer] the typical vacuum head can struggle

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carolina's governor is asking for patience. >> i know it was hard to leave home and it's even harder to wait and wonder whether you even have a home to go back to. but please, for your safety and the effectiveness of our emergency operations, do not try to return home yet. >> but 10,000 people are still living in shelters and first responders have made more than 4,000 rescues because of the flooding there. that's extraordinary. >> lot of people are still questioning what is the remnant of hurricane florence on the rest of the country. >> it's bun six long days for them and the good news is florence is florence officially off the coast. we're not going to see better conditions until at least saturday when the rivers start to come can back done. the northern plains, upper

midwest, we're looking at strong storms even where you see purples, oranges and yellows. severe thunderstorm watches in parts of south dakota and into iowa and illinois. we're looking at the potential for flooding threats. we're going to see another round of heavy rain today into tomorrow. so this is your rainfall forecast up to three inches in some spots but isolated amounts. the reason we have a very slow moving front, and that's going to be the story today. we're going to see the potential for gusty wind as well as rain throughout the day. still the front moves pain slow by thursday and we're looking for the potential of severe wednesday thursday. >> thanks, michelle. wisconsin scott walker trails the democrat.

tony evers by five points in the marquette university law school poll. a cnn poll finds republican governor doug ducey leading his democratic opponent garcia but that's within the poll's margin of error. democratic senator tammy baldwin with an 11-point lead over her republican challenger and in texas a poll shows republican senator, ted cruz ahead of congressman orork. that is a wider spread than other polls showed. and after meeting with the president of poland yesterday, president trump says the united states is considering a request for a permanent u.s. military base. poland has long sought a permanent u.s. military presence to help act as deterrent to russia.

they even offered naming rights as a new incentive. >> translator: i said i would very much like for us to set up permanent american bases in poland which we would call fort trump and i firmly believe this is possible. >> the president also said publicly that he would pay the united states -- meaning poland would be paying billions of dollars for this and we're looking at that more and more from the standpoint of defending really wealthy countries and not being paid. >> fort trump in poland. the pennant race heats up but would it be enough to deny the red sox a chance o deny the red sox a chance

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hornets have teamed up with apparel brand and a carolina strong t-shirt designed will go to -- proceeds will go to the hurricane response fund. continue drama in pittsburgh, realing in the continued absence of le'veon bell. and that move after brown wrote quote trade me let's find out on twitter. and a comment suggesting the player wouldn't be as successful without his supporting cast. but brown's agent says the tweet was a personal response to insult and does not indicate a desire to in fact be traded. adding brown's absence involved a personal matter unrelated to the tweet or his relationship with the team. in the braurngs aaron judge mod his return that yankees line up against boston last night but it was neal walker whose bat made the difference in the game. he launched a three-run homer in the seventh inning to help the

yanks beat boston 3-2. while new york has turned its focus on the american league wild card game, champagne bottles corked for now as their magic number to clinch the al east remains at two. and fine that he will orioles make history on camden yard but rather for their fashion in honor 40th anniversary of the foundation for the blind moving its head quarters to boston. their players and team names written in braille, becoming the first sports team to do so. >> i think that's a great initiative by putting it in the spotlight there. >> it's really cool. >> they should sell those jerseys and sthend proceeds to the national federation of the blind. more uncertainty surrounding

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welcome back everyone. and it is just about the bottom of the hour. we're going to start you off with the morning's top stories. the white house has reportedly

been engaged in full-on effort to prepare the judge for monday's hearing if it does happen. kavanaugh and white house counsel along with other white house officials met again monitoring news coverage and discussing a strategy. known as a murder board. balker says kavanaugh answered questions on his partying,dating and his accuser's story. in addition, participants included bill shine, press secretary sanders. and meanwhile, orrin hatch's comments regarding what kavanaugh told him. hatch said kavanaugh denied being at the party during a phone call between the two. but yesterday the senator meant to say kavanaugh said he wasn't

at a party like the one the party described. and a newly surface video showed him commenting during the time the alleged assault took place. frrgs >> we have a good saying as the dean was reminding me before, before the talk which is what happens at georgetown prep stays at georgetown prep. that's been a good thing for all of us i think. >> a number of republican senators weighed in on whether the assault accusations against kavanaugh should disqualify him from the supreme court nomination. >> if the allegation was true, it would be disqualifying? >> if it's true, of course. >> i would think if the incident occurred as she described it, that would be disqualifying. that's why we're having this hearing. >> i cannot make that determination.

i should not make that determination. i am not going to make a predetermination without hearing from the -- from dr. ford, who has come forward and also from hearing from judge kavanaugh himself. >> all i can tell you is we have in the past changed our minds on judges in the past. we saw that several weeks ago where members of the republican conference changed their mind on a judge at the last minute because of additional information we found. >> so republicans are trying to avoid the same bad optics during the anita hill hearing when the all male jury questioned a woman who claimed she ehad been sexually harassed. all of them are democrats, the women. so republicans are reportedly considering using female

staffers to question ford and collins floated the idea of having them examine the first round and geto committee for the second round. >> i think that would turn the hearing into a circus. it is not the job of outside lawyers to cross examine witnesses in front of the judiciary committee. that is the job of the senators oon the judiciary committee and if republican senators are unwilling, they shouldn't be on the committee. >> and called it quote absurd. >> and political analyst and demi devols is joining us again. republican staffers, not the white male republican senators questioning potentially ford. >> that's not going to solve the republican's problem. your lead in said they want to

avoid anita hill the optics behind that. they can't. that's the same optics. it's all men. and no matter how you question dr. ford, it will be perceived as an interrogation of sorts. and i'm not sure -- i understand that she wants to create a buffer at least to try and avoid that but having lawyers cross examine kavanaugh and ford faz they're -- as if they're on trial and this is testimony is also very difficult. i don't see that working. >> because then you would have maybe democratic senators doing. >> i can't say this often but senator jill brand is right it's the job of the judiciary committee. >> what would you advise the gop

if they were genuinely interested to find out what happened? >> they can't. it is political at this point. you're going to an incident that happened 35 years ago. the only people you can speak to are the people who are there. you're not going to have hard evidence on anything. what type of an investigation should happen? but there's no waw around getting this to be political. i even say if they have a hearing, this a may open up more questions besides what happened with ford. it could go back to other questions from previous testimony >> if dr. ford does not testify, will he still go forward in trying to clear his name unfront of his committee. >> this hearing is a big if. that's a world away. >> it's only wednesday. >> because as you bring us back to the reason she has not committed yet is because she wants to have an fbi investigation.

a, is this the fbi's role to investigate now and what if they don't agree to do it? dh >> their role is limited to investigating federal crimes and unless you characterize this as a kidnapping, the fbi has no jurisdiction. on other hand their role is providing background checks for federal nominees. but this is not the kind of thing that would typically fall within what they search for. an alleged crime of assault 35 years plus. >> she says she was held against her will. isn't that technically kidnapping? >> we're told the movement element of can kidnapping can be even just a few feet to qualify. that's for the textbook definition. in real world, most assaults involve some movement of the bodies and the fbi is an agency

of limited resources and they can't investigate and prosecutor every alleged abuse of kidnapping, that's why state courts take on the majority of criminal cases. >> at what point can we see the committee want to call in other witnesses? is that even likely a possibility that between now and then ---ing >> who? >> and not necessarily new alligations or someone to say i in fact remember seeing judge kavanaugh there. could those witnesses be called to. >> to tcome to the commit canny testify? >> yes. it goes back to an earlier discussion, is this. this is the key to victory. this is the path through to republicans and it is this. frame this controversy like a criminal assault trial and not like a senate hearing because if the republicans do that, they will create this aura that the

nominee is entitled to presumption of innocence, that burden is on the accuser and that there is a burden of reasonable doubt, beyond a reasonable doubt. so if you equally believe both accuser and nominee, then tie goes to kavanaugh. if they do that, then if they create this aura a of criminal trial and not a senate hearing with no rules like a criminal trial, then that is a path to victory. >> in the era of the #me too movement is going to be very difficult. i can see that argument maybe five years agoe. but to do that is a tough argument for a bunch of male republican senators to do as they also have to question this woman. >> that's true but even in the last few days you've been hearing words like credibility, people have been evaluating this witness as if she was a witness in court whether her statements were consistent.

in the anita hill testimony, they were cross examining her with random affidavits. and if the senate republicans are smart they will frame this as the rules of evidence and all the burdens and presumptions that burden like the nominee. and the justice department has ordered two leading chinese state organizations to register as foreign agents as they toughen their stance on china and foreign influence. they say china global television network were told to register under foreign registration act. in the past rt and sputnic registered in the u.s. in that act. they both denied acting as a foreign government but they registered.

significantly limiting access to law makers and other american officials. the chinese also have those credentials but not accused of spreading propaganda on behalf of beijing. fuelled by trade conflicts after the trump administration green lit tariffs on nearly 200 billion in tariffs. still ahead north and south korea agreeing to usher in a new wave of peace. what this could signal about a possible second sit down with president trump and kim jong-un. and another check can on the forecast. r checcak n on the forecast on the forecast. on the forecast

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the meeting brought south korea and north korea together again in an effort to rekind canal momentum. their joint statement revealed north korea's pledge to dismantle their missile site and launch pad but not go into details of how and when. depending on if the united states responded with further concessions. >> the leaders agree to ratchet down their militarized borders by reducing guard numbers by the ind of the year. imalso agreed to meet with president moon in seoul. a first for north korean leader and a bid for the summer games. it's to be a litmus test for a second meeting of trump and kim. the north korean leader said since meeting with trump, the

quote political situation is stabilized and expects more advanced results. in a series of late-night tweet said, president trump praised kim's diplomacy. i got caught in a torrential down pour. it's unreal and you say now there's more rain heading to the midwest. >> yeah, sorry about that. i know a lot of people probably got caught unthat rain. we knew it was come canning. and we are looking at the potential for heavy rain and the midwest today. we had so much rain last month that any sort of rain is going to cause flash flooding. already seeing rain fall in the parts of northern plains. we're looking at rainfall totals up to three inches, maybe isolated. so it will be heavy. gusty winds as well.

doesn't look like it severe weather will come can before thursday. the air conditionings are working over time in many spots. we're looking at temperatures 10 to 30 degrees above normal. wichita, 93. warm in little rock, cincinnati. and it can could feel warmer than that. we have a front dividing us. cool air from canada. and all that warm air from the south. and we're going to keep that in place thursday and friday before we start to get a break by the weekend. so thursday kansas city, 89 chicago 91 degrees. well above norm. normally they're drinking their pumpkin spice lattes and by the weekend we're going to start to cool down and fall does arrive this saturday at 9:54. >> stay and enjoy the warm weather while it lasts. >> we'll be tracking snow soon. >> come on.

still ahead more on the global fallout over increasing trade tensions of u.s. and china. and elon musk's struggles get wursz as the justice department lookinize to his comments about take thing company private. s comments about take thing company private. and packages. and it's also a story about people. people who rely on us every day to deliver their dreams they're handing us more than mail they're handing us their business and while we make more e-commerce deliveries to homes than anyone else in the country, we never forget... that your business is our business the united states postal service. priority: you ♪ so shark invented duo clean. while deep cleaning carpets, the added soft brush roll picks up large particles, gives floors a polished look, and fearlessly devours piles. duo clean technology, only from shark. to take care of yourself.

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six-million low-income people to low-cost, high-speed internet at home. i'm trying to do some homework here. so they're ready for anything. let's turn to business. stocks rose tuesday after the retaliatory tariffs were not as bad as oorig neal feared. but some warn the effect said could last decades.

live from london with with more. what more can you tell us and will these tariffs impact consumers? i know there's a lot of speculation about that, going back and forth. lewis. how long do you think this trade sentence is going to last? a week, a month, a year? jack marr, founder of alibaba, thinks it could last 20 years, two decades, as well. elsewhere, the u.s. chamber of commerce using department of commerce data says 14 states could be badly hit by this. i pulled out a couple. ohio, which exports soybeans, they could be badly hit. not as badly, though, as washington state, as well. they also do soybeans, passenger vehicles. 86.5% of their total exports could be hit there, as well. elon musk talking about taking tesla private at $420 per share, there is now a criminal probe by the justice department according

to bloomburg. tesla says they have received a voluntary request for documents and they are cooperating with the doj. united airlines introduced a new process to fight gate overcrowding. i guess that's the rubik's cube of traveling. you try and board the plane, it's always a mess. have they figured this thing out? >> you sxhi might say no. they think they have. how many tests do you think they've carried out? 12,000 tests to try and make this work, as well. they're cutting the number of boarding lines from two to five. but we all know the truth. i was traveling yesterday. it's all about cramming in to get your overhead bin space for your carry on luggage. we all know that's going to happen. let's wish them luck on this one. >> we wish them lots of luck. you don't want to gate check that bag. you want to be able to walk off the plane. steve sedgwick, always great to have you with us. >> there's no way. the aisle, it only allows for

one person. >> and the five lines is just a bit too much, to be honest with you. coming up, nick johns ton has a look at this morning's one big thing. also, why christine blasey ford wants the fbi to investigate the allegations against the supreme court nominee brett kavanaugh. plus, the new film looking at the social economic and political impact of president trump's election victory. "morning joe" just moments away. y "morning joe" just moments away. . it's time to get out of line with upmc. at upmc, living-donor transplants put you first. so you don't die waiting. upmc does more living-donor liver transplants than any other center in the nation.

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neutrogena®. see what's possible. welcome back. nicholas johnston, talk to us abo about the one big thing. >> republicans are starting to get worried about the explosive

fallout of this sexual bombshell accusations against brett kavanaugh. as one republican told us, it's the ugliest situation imaginable. what they're worried about is the timing of the vote, whether new allegations could come forward, whether this becomes sort of a national politicized issue that could move into the midterm thes, whether some republican senators like bob corker, jeff flake who aren't huge fans of the president could use this as a moment of leverage. all of these things piling together leading up to this hearing that is now scheduled for monday with the accuser's lawyer saying that it should be held off. more uncertainty for republicans and sort of the nationalization of it. last night, hillary clinton on a book tour for her paper back weighing in saying it should all be held off for would weeks to help the fbi get to the bottom of it. >> timingwise, this is a pretty big road block for the

republicans. the next session has two weeks from now on october 1st, right? >> yeah. we're not get ing any sense from republicans yet that they want to delay this vote. bob corker, one of the republicans maybe a bit on edge about this was telling people yesterday he thinks they should hold the public hearing on monday and move forward. mitch mcconnell is showing in signs of delaying the committee hearing next week or the follow-up vote by the full senate later that week. people are telling us that he certainly thinks he has the 350 votes, specifically with vice president mike pence as a tiebreaker. republicans are telling us you could investigate this for a hundred years before you get to the truth. >> kavanaugh's nomination has been polarizing. but there is a new ad that's making its way online this morning featuring one hollywood star who is trying to rally senators to vote against confirming kavanaugh. what more can you tell us about this ad? >> absolutely.

musician and actor john legend in a brand new ad is out with an ad calling on senators to block the kavanaugh vote. what's interesting about this one is the wide variety of groups backing it, everything from the naacp to certain unions, to planned parent hood to abortion rights group. this is a sign that democratics understand the importance of a lifetime nomination. >> but, again, timingwise, nick, why now? they're putting this out there at this stage of the confirmation process. do they really think it's going to make an impact? >> if you had asked me this question on friday, that was a nomination sailing through the committee. now there's a lot of uncertain thety here and i think that's why republicans are so upset and that's why democrats are trying to bounce. i don't know how this story is going to end, as i did last week. and i think that's why both sides of the aisle are trying to move quickly. there's a lot that can happen in the next four five days ahead of

this committee that can flip this one way or the other. >> so with all the moving pieces, what are you looking at over the course of the next two days between now and monday when this hearing is supposed to take place? what are you looking for in terms of what should shift the discussion one way or the other? >> it's any of the 51 republicans in the senate wavering on their support. there's been a lot of pressure earlier on. lisa murkowski of alaska, susan collin from maine to withhold their support. jeff corker, bob flake have expressed does ittishness over the allegations. if any of them begin to waiver, does that sign a crack? now as we said before, there will probably not be any democrats on this nomination, at all. >> and you have that question a lot of people are asking, will the fbi investigate this? >> nicholas johnson, thank you so much. we have about 20 minutes or so new mexico a

until the axios comes into the inbox. signup.axios.com. >> that does it for us this morning. "morning joe" starts right now. >> translator: i said that i would very much like for us to set up a permanent american bases in poland which we would call ft. trump and i firmly believe this is possible. >> so you have to assume that ft. trump would have the most spectacular military parades anywhere and he's already seeing them. can you see that thought bubble? good morning and welcome to "morning joe" on this wednesday, september 19th, along with joe, willie and me. we have mike barnacle, susan