♪ this morning, uncertainty about rod rosenstein's future. he's still deputy attorney general, but that could possibly change after a meeting with president trump later this week. plus, in a new interview judge brett kavanaugh is breaking his silence about the two sexual misconduct allegations he's facing, saying he's done nothing wrong and will fight to clear his name. and a dallas police officer fired after entering an apartment she thought was her own and killing a man inside. outrage mounts over the death of botham jean. ♪

good morning, everyone. it is tuesday september 25th. i'm ayman mohyeldin. deputy attorney general rod rosenstein may be out of a job by the end of this week. with the decision on his future postponed until thursday when president trump returns from the united nations, the meal ieting announcement capped off a dramatic few hours with reports that rosenstein had resigned or was on his way to the white house to be fired. it started with the report that rosenstein discussed recording and even ousting the president in may of 2017. rosenstein spoke on saturday with white house counsel don mcgahn. rosenstein made clear he would not accept being terminated by chief of staff john kelly, according to one person familiar

with the conversation, and said it needed to come from the president himself. trump consulted allies over the weekend and decided not to fire rosenstein. the uncertainty yesterday morning head the justice department spokeswoman to begin drafting a news release for attorney general jeff sessions, who was on his way back from a weekend in alabama if rosenstein were fired. with the decision put off, chief of staff john kelly was seen escorting a smiling rosenstein to his car outside the white house, while in new york president trump seemed calm. >> the meeting with rod rosenstein on thursday, we'll be meeting at the white house and we'll be determining what's going on. we want to have transparency, we want to have openness. i look forward to meeting with rod at that time. >> so one of the big questions now is who would supervise the mueller probe if rosenstein is

fired or quits? if that were to happen the solicitor general noel francisco -- it has not been permanently filled since associate attorney general rachel brand resigned back in february. francisco would supervise the special counsel and decide whether mueller can venture into new territory or not. according to justice department regulations, francisco would also become the person who would have to make the decision on whether to fire mueller if there were cause to actually do so. the "new york times" points out that critics have said francisco cannot oversee the russia investigation without a waiver from the white house because his former law firm is actually representing the trump campaign in the inquiry, creating a conflict of interest.

most republicans on capitol hill were silent yesterday over the conflicting reports concerning rod rosenstein. senator susan collins was one of the few gop lawmakers to weigh in, tweeting, i'm very concerned by reports that deputy attorney general rosenstein will either be fired or forced to resign. the attorney general made the correct decision to recuse himself from the doj investigation into russia's attempts to interfere in our elections. the deputy ag plays a critical role in overseeing the investigation headed by special counsel mueller. democrats meanwhile are renewing calls to protect the special counsel's investigation. here's what senator richard blumenthal had to say about the situation yesterday. >> if rod rosenstein is fired, which in my view is the only way he would leave the department of justice, it will be a break the glass moment. our democracy will be under

attack. the president had been in effect obstructing justice. supreme court nominee brett kavanaugh is defending himself against accusations from sexual misconduct from when he was in high school and in college. chuck gra kavanaugh writes, there is a frenzy to come up with something that will block this process. adding i will not be intimidated into withdrawing from the process. the coordinated effort to destroy my good name will not drive me out. the last-minute character assassination will not succeed. meanwhile, kavanaugh spoke for the first time publicly about the allegations, denying he ever engaged in any misconduct. >> i was never at any such party. the other people who are alleged to be present have said they do not remember any such party. a woman who was present, another

woman who was present who is dr. ford's lifelong friend has said she doesn't know me and never remembers being at a party with me at any time in her life. >> did you guys ever look at each other and say, i'm out, this is enough, this just isn't worth it? >> i'm not going to let false accusations drive us out of this process. we're looking for a fair process where i can be heard and defend my integrity, my lifelong record of promoting dignity and equality for women, starting with the women who knew me when i was 14 years old. i'm not going anywhere. >> joining us here legal analyst danny sevalles.

let's talk about brett kavanaugh for a moment. is anything that you heard in that interview, some of the sound bites that we played there -- you know, is that in any way changing your perception of the serious allegations that brett kavanaugh is facing? >> brett kavanaugh didn't say that much in his fox interview. he said he wants a fair process, opportunity to be heard, both sides and defend his integrity. he must have said those lines five or six times. in a way, he came off rather coached, but it was wise knowing that shows would be using snippets like that that he had to keep it to sound bites that would be helpful to his cause. what people were looking for is a little more humanity. justice clarence thomas came outs on firout on fire. he said this was a high-tech lynching. by contrast, brett kavanaugh is playing it very conservative in

his response. he's not pounding his fists. he's repeating sound bites that are safe and will not get him into any trouble. >> how does that preview what we expect his strategy to be on thursday when he testifies? >> we will not see a repeat of clarence thomas on thursday, someone coming out breathing fire with the anger visible in his face. he is going to deny the allegations. as with clarence thomas and brett kavanaugh, they have the challenge of proving negatives, which is not as easy as making accusations. but in a situation like this, if he's facing three different accusers, if the fox interview is any indication, the only thing he will do is give short denials, go back to his reputation, go back to his life of service and they may be what we see. on the other hand, maybe this is a false preview in that he is planning to come out full of

vigor, come out swinging and deny these allegations permanently. >> let me ask you quickly about rod rosenstein. noel francisco would take over next. would impact could rosenstein's potential ouster on thursday at on the mueller investigation? >> it's an open question whether or not trump can install any senate confirmed person or any person above a certain pay grade at the doj. rosenstein could refuse to resign, insist on being fired and in doing so thwart trump's attempt to install someone of trump's choice. instead, possibly the courts would require the doj establish succession order to come into play. so it depends who will take rosenstein's place. and rosenstein, believe it or not, has some modicum of power

in determining who his successor is if he is fired or resigned. >> we'll see how it all plays out. president trump and south korean president moon jae-in have signed a revised and updated version of the existing u.s./south korea free trade agreement. trump has called the original deal one of the worst ever signed. however, has bloomberg points out, the changes to the original agreement are largely cosmetic, modifications mostly due to president trump's desire not to invoke u.s. trade law that would require congressional approval of the final deal. the cap on the number of exports cars jumps from 25,000 per year per auto maker to 50,000. although as the "new york times" notes, no american car company comes close to reaching the

original cap, with ford coming closest at just over 10,000. trump chinearacterized the agreement as a brand new agreement. here's trump during the signing. >> it's a basic redoing of the agreement that was done before, which was a very unfair agreement for the united states. i'm thrilled to be here today with president moon of south korea to formally announce the successful completion of the new u.s. sh u.s.-korea trade deal. it's a very big deal. this is long in coming. many years, actually, i will say in coming. for decades, politicians have talked about fixing broken trade deals, only to do absolutely nothing about them. my administration is the first to actually keep our promise and deliver. i've never seen my name in

korean. looks nice. >> while the agreement does not need congressional approval, it still needs clear political hurdles in sockuth korea where lawmakers have vowed not to approve the deal if trump goes through the tariffs on foreign made cars. china called off the latest round of trade talks proposed by the u.s. after the white house imposed the latest round of hundreds of billions of dollars in tariffs on chinese goods. >> we're in an arguably a trade dispute with china that needed to start long ago. our position is really simple. we're happy to listen to the chinese whenever they want to talk. the chinese are well aware of the problems which we've raised. the challenge, of course, is that they engage in so many

egregious practices that it's difficult to get a deal with china than it would be with mexico. >> $200 billion worth of tariffs kicked in yesterday on top of the roughly 50 billion already installed by the trump administration. and the president has threatened to impose more tariffs on all of the good china exports to the united states. china's latest tariffs worth $60 billion also kicked in yesterday. beijing says it is considering taking additional measures as well. still ahead, the latest out of dallas after a police officer there was fired more than two weeks after fatally shooting a man inside his own apartment. plus, it's day two of bill cosby's sentencing. today he may learn whether he could potentially spend the rest of his life behind bars. ially st of his life behind bars. - [announcer] the typical vacuum head can struggle

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welcome back, everyone. the dallas police department has fired the officer who entered the wrong apartment earlier this month and shot and killed the man who lived there. the department says an internal investigation found that amber guyger engaged in adverse conduct when she was arrested for manslaughter but did not elaborate. meanwhile, 26-year-old botham jean was laid to rest last night in his family's home country of st. lucia. disgraced actor bill cosby returned to court on monday to begin the sentencing phase of his trial. the hearing comes five months after cosby was convicted of three counts of aggravated indecent assault for drugging and sexual assaulting andrea constand at his home in 2004. he initially faced up to 30 years in prison, but defense and prosecution agreed to merge the

counts. despite five other accusers who spoke during cosby's trial, constand was the only victim allowed to testify during the hearing. she appeared briefly and submitted a victim impact statement which was not read in court. members of her family also spoke. more than 60 women have accused cosby of sexual misconduct. he has denied all of their allegations. he could spend up to ten years in prison and be required to register as a sex offender. april freeman the democratic candidate in florida's 17th congressional district died unexpectedly yesterday at the age of 51. her husband wrote on facebook, it is with great sadness that i inform all of you that my beloved wife april passed away. he did not cite a cause of death. freeman was set to face off

against the republican senator for the seat in south central flori florida. tom rooney announced his retirement earlier this year. with the midterm election quickly approaching, a replacement candidate must be chosen by the chairs in the district. state law gives the committee five days to name a nominee to fill the vacancy. let's switch gears here and get a check on your weather now with nbc meteorologist bill karins. >> it will be a slow morning in the northeast with the rain moving through. we've got severe weather to worry about and a lot of stuff going on. we also have this little thing spins off the coast here. of course, we still have ongoing flooding in areas of south korea. there are still homes underwater that people can't get back to. it's been ten days since florence. this is a soaking rain that's in new york, the entire state of

pennsylvania, still raining in west virginia and still rain through tennessee. this is 98l. this one was leslie, this is kirk out here in the open atlantic. these are not any issues at all. the hurricane center says this one labeled 98l and found it could have a 50% chance of development. but the path takes it northward and away from the east coast. the other story today, there's enough heat that's going to build up for some severe storms. 43 million people from chicago to st. louis to indianapolis and later this evening detroit and cleveland at risk of severe storms. that cold front kicks through the northeast tomorrow with 59 million people at risk. if you have a late afternoon or even flight out of d.c., philly, new york, boston, hartford or albany, there's a chance you could be delayed as those thunderstorms come through. the rest of the forecast,

scattered storms through the southeast. nice in texas today, nice in oklahoma. denver beautiful at 66. no problems in areas of the west. still ahead, a big win in beantown last night as the red sox lock up home field advantage while setting a franchise record in the process. details next in sports. in the process details next in sports if you have psoriasis, ... little things can be a big deal. that's why there's otezla. otezla is not a cream. it's a pill that treats moderate to severe plaque psoriasis differently. with otezla, 75% clearer skin is achievable. don't use if you're allergic to otezla . it may cause severe diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting. otezla is associated with... ...an increased risk of depression. tell your doctor if you have  a history of depression or suicidal thoughts,... ...or if these feelings develop. some people taking otezla reported weight loss. your doctor should monitor your weight and may stop treatment. upper respiratory tract infection and headache may occur.

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welcome back. time now for sports. monday night football matchup between the steelers and the bucks, the steelers appear to have corrected course after a rough start to the season, earning their first win while the buccaneers suffer their first loss. pittsburgh responds with 23 unanswered points before capping the second with quarterback ben roethlisberger's third touchdown of the game as t. at the break, steelers up 30-10. the steelers first half advantage is enough to hold tampa's late surge off, winning by a final of 30-27. meanwhile the san francisco 49ers quarterback of the future will remain just that as mri has confirmed that jimmy garoppolo suffered a torn ligament in his left knee during sunday's loss to the kansas city chiefs, which means his first season as a starter is now over. expected to undergo surgery in the coming weeks, garoppolo will

be placed on injured reserve while backup cj bethard will fill in under center for san francisco. turning now to major league baseball where thanks to the rays' 4-1 loss to the yankees in tampa, the oakland athletics clench a post season berth for the first time since 2014. popping the champagne there. in boston the red sox set a franchise record with their 106th win of the season, a 6-2 victory over the populbaltimore orioles last night. the win earns boston home field advantage throughout the playoffs. a lot of good baseball going to happen at fenway this playoff season. >> a lot of heart break for the folks in san francisco after jimmy garoppolo is out for the season. >> that is a big deal. he was slated to be such a big power house for them, such a reliable quarterback. he's out early on in the season.

>> heartbreaking. still ahead, after a second allegation of sexual misconduct, democrats and republicans are at odds over brett kavanaugh's supreme court confirmation. plus, u.s. sanctions on iran could be front and center at the united nation this is week. what has s-- has s-- sometimes, the pressures of today's world can make it tough to take care of yourself. but nature's bounty has innovative ways to help you maintain balance and help keep you active and well-rested.

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♪ welcome back, everyone. i'm ayman mohyeldin. it is the bottom of the hour. let's start with the morning's

top stories. deputy attorney general rod rosenstein is scheduled to meet with the president on thursday to discuss his future at the justice department amid reports that rosenstein offered to resign yesterday morning, the president's personal attorney speculated that special counsel robert mueller's probe would come to a halt once rosenstein is no longer in charge. >> i think it's really important that there be a step back taken here and a review, and i think it's a review that has to be thorough and complete and a review that has to include an investigation of what has transpired with all of these statements and all of these allegations and basically a timeout on this inquiry. >> joining us now from washington, d.c., nbc news national security and justice reporter julie ainsley.

what do we know about the president's thinking as far as the deputy attorney general is concerned? >> well, it seems that both the deputy attorney general and the president were kind of headed toward a future yesterday. at first it seemed like there was no future from the deputy attorney general, but something pulled both men back from the brink. as we understand it, the people who were talking to rod rosenstein over the weekend helped him come to this decision of, well, if i'm going to be fired, it needs to be by the president. i'm not going to resign. it will make it harder for the president to pick anyone he wants to fill that position. as far as the president's thinking, we've been able to see people like sean hannity say things like, mr. president, don't take the bait on this "new york times" story, it's actually something that will only hurt you down the line if anyone is

trying to make an obstruction case. >> there's always speculation that what is happening with rosenstein is a distraction from what's taking place on capitol hill, both headline making on their own right. j how would this shakeup affect the russia investigation? >> the thing is jhe doesn't hav a lot of control on the timeout on the russia investigation. that's up to robert mueller. the senate, especially democrats, have done a lot to make sure that stays preserved. and robert mueller has done a lot to make sure his documents stay preserved with the fbi and at countless us attorney's offices across the country. what i think he's calling for is something conservatives have been calling for for a while, and that is more investigations

into what led to the russia probe. they want to know more about who signs fisa warrants. they want to be able to trace all of this back to the dossier, which they say is shaky. they think this is their opportunity to undermine everything robert mueller has built his case on, at least in the court of public opinion if not in any real legal recourse. republicans have coordinated an effort to salvage brett kavanaugh's nomination to the supreme court after a second allegation emerged accusing the judge of sexual misconduct. on the hill, senator majority leader mitch mcconnell and minority leader chuck schumer accused each other's parties of playing politics with the allegations against kavanaugh. >> this shameful smear campaign has hit a new low. >> if you really believed these allegations are part of the

despicable smear job, leader mcconnell, why don't you call for an fbi investigation? >> meanwhile, republican senator susan collins, a critical swing vote for kavanaugh's confirmation, said she thinks debra ramirez should be allowed to testify. a spokesperson for the judiciary committee tells nbc news that committee staff have reached out to ramirez's attorney for a preliminary inquiry. this all comes as senators are torn in their support for kavanaugh as the potential vote looms. >> he has the right to clear his name so let's give him that opportunity. this is extremely serious. we take it very serious. again, these are allegations that are made and they have to come forth and he has a right to clear himself. >> it's amazing to me that these allegations come out of nowhere at the last minute and they weren't brought up earlier in

this process. it's not untypical for our friends on the other side to pull that kind of crap. >> president trump is standing by his supreme court nominee leading the charge to try and keep his confirmation from being derailed. trump called mitch mcconnell on saturday with an unmistakable message, call the vote on judge kavanagh's nomination and call it soon. that's according to two people familiar with the conversation. amid his meetings at the united nations yesterday, the president defended kavanaugh. >> he's a feinman with an -- fine man with an unblemished past. these unsubstantiated statements of people represented by lawyers, we should look into the lawyers doing the representation. judge kavanagh is an outstanding person and i am with him all the way. we'll see how it goes with the

senate and the vote. i think it could be -- there's a chance this could be one of the single most unfair, unjust things to happen to a candidate for anything. >> we hope he's going to be confirmed. he's a fine, fine man, a great scholar, great at everything he's ever done. it would be sad indeed if something happened to reroute that. this is a fine man and we certainly hope he's going to be confirmed and quickly. his family has suffered. his family has suffered. what's going on is not something that should happen. >> do you believe that president trump is going to stand by you throughout? >> i know he's going to stand by me. he called me this afternoon and said he's standing by me. >> brett kavanaugh possibly

facing another delay in his confirmation if we see more of these allegations come forward and if they decide to have more hearings beyond just thursday. the supreme court session is scheduled to begin next week. it is possible that we're going to see the supreme court begin with only eight justices. what are the implications of that without justice kavanaugh being confirmed to the supreme court? >> you have the possibility of a tie. in the case of a tie, it's important to understand that the lower court decision will stand. that would essentially give tremendous power back to the appellate courts, the circuit courts in this country. as it is, they are usually the final word on most cases, because the supreme court really doesn't hear that large of a percentage of cases that are requested of it. >> let me ask you about these allegations we're hearing. michael avenatti saying he

represents a third possible accuser. democrats trying to push for a delay in this process. republicans saying they are going to plow through with this confirmation one way or the other. all of this is going to have a huge impact on the supreme court one way or the other. but talk to us a little bit about this standstill politically and what it means for the confirmation process. >> it's an interesting moment. because on the one hand finality is an objective that courts have as well. we want to get this hearing over with at some point, but what degree of delay is an appropriate amount of delay? to the democrats, the approach will be let's get everything out on the table as long as it takes no matter what it takes. of course, republicans will probably take the position even if they don't say it out loud that any number of accusers could keep coming forward, we need to have some finality here. this is ultimately a political issue. i may be here as a legal analyst

but in as far as i may talk about the judiciary. this hearing is not a trial. the rules of evidence do not apply. i'm paraphrasing the exact words of senators from the clarence thomas hearing. that's important to remember because cross examination may have few of the strictures we see in court. in many ways it is a free for all and a political process. >> i think a lot of people are saying that's why you need an investigation to try to ascertain some facts. one of the main focuses of this week's u.n. general assembly is the situation with iran. president rouhani said he has no intention of meeting with president trump, saying that tus has made only sanctions, threats and empty promises against tehran.

he said if trump wants a meeting, he would have to reenter the united states into the landmark nuclear deal. iran's revolutionary guard claims that saudi arabia, the uae are responsible for funding and arming the attackers. still ahead, president trump rejecting the idea of state hood for puerto rico, citing critics of his response to hurricane maria. who he says needs to leave office before he'll even entertain the idea. entertain the idea sometimes, the pressures of today's world can make it tough

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president trump says he doesn't support statehood for puerto rico at least while

critics like the mayor of san juan remain in office. trump said he was an absolute no when it came to statehood for the island and slammed puerto rico's current leadership. >> with the mayor of san juan as bad as she is, puerto rico shouldn't be talking about statehood until they get some people who really know what they're doing. >> she's running for governor, i hear. >> with people like that involved in puerto rico, i would be an absolute no. >> the mayor of san juan hit back, writing trump is accusing me again for telling the truth. now he says that statehood doesn't come for me. puerto rican governor weighed in writing the president said he is not in favor of statehood for the people of puerto rico based on a personal feud with a local mayor. this is an insensitive disrespectful comment to over 3 million americans who live in

the u.s. territory of puerto rico. let's get a check on your weather now with nbc meteorologist bill karins. some severe weather today that you're tracking. >> it's an umbrella day, travel delays and storms too. we've got a lot of weather up through the appalachians pouring from pittsburgh, rochester, buffalo, syracuse. as we go throughout the day, this mess is going to be with us through the northeast. then back here in the ohio valley in the midwest, new storms are going to form. with it will come the risk of severe storms. you're going to get a little sunshine, it's going to get warm. cold front comes through that pops up those storms. chicago, st. louis, columbus, indianapolis and detroit and everywhere in between, that's why we have 43 million people at risk. that front will sweep through and we'll have the threat of some storms with some damaging

winds. 50% chance in the next 48 hours this little area of low pressure becomes a tropical depression. thankfully it's going to head to the north, maybe bring a little bit of rain to the outer banks and then heading out to sea. here we are at 8:00 p.m. this morning. there's the rain in new york. fast forward to the ride home. so you neither it's not that widespread at 8:00 p.m. but that line is right over the top of milwaukee heading for chicago. st. louis it looks like the storms come through maybe 9:00 or 10:00 p.m. here's that line as it approaches new york city, washington, d.c. and philadelphia about 8:00 p.m. wednesday. if you have any flights, that's the time when you could get delayed or even cancelled. still ahead, big news in the business world. syria shells out more than $3 billion to buy one of the most well-known names in online music. plus a major shakeup.

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let's turn to business. instagram's cofounders are stepping down from the wildly popular app.

they say they're stepping down pause they want to explore the creativity again, but i'm guessing there's a little bit more to this story. >> you would think so, but they haven't actually said the reason they're stepping down. said then they're stepping down. challenge for facebook there was no formal reason they did say they want to take some time off tore explore creativity and philosophy. they are credited with turning instagram into what it is today with one billion daily activ it's unclear who is going to head the platform going forward. at sirius, the satellite radio company said they will be acquiring pandora for $3.5 billion in an all-stop transaction..5 no surprise at all there, but

pandora has come under pressure because of the likes of new streaming services such as spotify and apple. but the news yesterday sent shares up about 9%. in celebration of its 20th birthday google gave itself a face lift. what more can you tell us about this? 20 years ago, google didn't exist. that's an insaneis thing to say. anybody that uses the internet has to go through google. so it's interesting to think about that. >> hiyeah, yeah, showing your a there, lewis. but introduce something of the new features that google will be incorporating. so they will be using more artificial intelligenceg capabilities. the first one they're going to roll out is something called a featured video card. they'll start showing videos one after another but only show things relevant to your search.

something you should be wary of, lewis, they're introducing an activity card which will show all of your history realtime, all the pages you've checked out. >> all right. j on mana, thanks so much. >> that's nerve-racking thinking about that. >> comingth up, axios has a loo at this morning's one big thing. coming up on "morning joe," the deputy attorney general, is he on his way out? the latest on rod rosenstein as questions swirl over his future in the justice department and what the exit of the man overseeing the russia probe could mean for that investigation. plus, the man who set up the meeting between members of the trump campaign and a russian lawyer. rob goldstone joins the conversation to provide insight into that fateful day, he says. into that fateful da hy,e says sometimes, the pressures of today's world can make it tough

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your doctor should monitor your weight and may stop treatment. upper respiratory tract infection and headache may occur. tell your doctor about your medicines and if you're pregnant or planning to be. otezla. show more of you. welcome back, everyone. joining us now from washington, d.c. with a look at axios, political reporter from axios, alexa mckemmen. what is the one big thing for

us? >> good morning. good to see you again. today's one big thing is a look at how democrats are preparing for the kavanaugh hearing on thursday. we have learned from democratic sourcers involved in the preparation that they are consulting experts in sexual assault victimization and college drinking to sort of better prepare dr. ford for any surprises that might come up from republican questioning about the allegations she had made against kavanaugh. >> and let me ask you about some of those reports and sources you guys are talking to. is the strategy among democrats to try and use thursday's hearing to potentially derail the confirmation of brett kavanaugh? do they have confidence that they're going to be able to do that? >> you know, on the republican side, top republicans have told us that they remain confident that kavanaugh will be confirmed to get the votes he needs to make that happen. but democrats are planning to take advantage of the situation either way, according to sources

who have spoken with us. they have plans, the advocacy program in person. we saw some of those yesterday with national protests that took out across the country against kavanaugh. i think it is no secret that democrats wants to derail the confirmation on thursday. it is not certain they think that will happen. but even if he gets confirmed, we know democrats will plan various activist protests and things moving forward across the country. >> this year has kind of been dubbed the year of the woman. democrats are seizing on that theme with a record number of women candidates running. what did you find? >> my latest reporting is exactly on this and it short of shows, as you mentioned, that this cycle has been called the year of the woman. but, really, research shows it's the year of the democratic woman. on the democratic side, women make up 42% of not votes. on the republican side, it's 14%. that gap in representation is something that goes against what the president refers to as a red

wave because women as voters and candidates are crucial to this midterm election southbound cycle. >> so to that effect, how confident are they that the surge in female candidates will translate into widespread wins for democrats and more importantly for some of the key issues that they are fighting for. >> we've had a gender gap in voting in the presidential election since 1980. in polls this cycle alone, we have seen democrats leading among women voters by an average of 20 percentage points. so i think democrats are confident that women, not only as voterses but as candidates will help them across the finish line come november. >> i know next year is shaping.in terms of diversity. what could we see in the wake of midterms in terms of the ethnic and religious and gender composition of a new u.s. congress? >> you know, women and

minorities in the house of representatives for democrats make up something like 32% and 42% of lawmakers in the house respectively. we have seen how women and minorities have been rushing it in elections this cycle. it is no secret because of that that congress will look more diverse after november. i don't think that means we'll be a gender parity. but at least on the democratic side, we could expect it to be more loose and more women. >> it will be interesting to see that composition and whether or not it reflect as a greater diversity. great to see you, alexi. signup.axios.com. that does it for us on this tuesday morning. "morning joe," everyone, starts right now. >> i am looking for a fair process. all i'm asking for is a fair process. just asking for a fair process.

again, i'm just asking for a fair process. fair process. let me be heard. fair process here from both sides. i want a fair process. i want an opportunity, a fair process. i want a fair process. fair process. fair process means hearing from both sides. fair process. i just want that fair process. i just want a fair process. i just want an opportunity, a fair process. we're looking for a fair process. >> all right. he's on mussage, brett kavanaugh, now senate democrats are waiting for their opportunity to requestion the supreme court nominee. good morning and welcome to "morning joe." it is tuesday, september 25th. a lot to talk about this morning. >> we have obviously brett kavanaugh and everything going on there. there are a lot