that does it for "the beat" we'll be back at 6:00 p.m. eastern tomorrow. don't go anywhere. "hardball" with chris matthews is up next. thursday is d day. let's play "hardball." good evening. i'm chris matthews in washington. we're now two days away from the most consequential hearing in the nomination process of judge brett kavanaugh, looking for a victory at all costs republicans are gearing up for a brutal fight. in new york donald trump launched a full scale attack on democrats and kavanaugh's accusers. >> i think it's horrible what the democrats have done. it's a con game they're playing. they're really con artists. 36 years ago? nobody ever knew about it? nobody ever heard about it?

now a new charge comes up and she said, well, it might not be him, there were gaps, she said she was totally inebriated. she was all messed up and she doesn't know it was him but it might have been him. oh, gee let's not make him a supreme court justice because of that. the second accuser. the second accuser has nothing. the second accuser doesn't even know -- she thinks maybe it could have been him, maybe not. she admits that she was drunk? >> that's the president doing jackie mason. anyway, deborah ramirez told "the new yorker" that when kavanaugh was a freshman at yale he exposed himself at a dorm party. kavanaugh denies the accusations. republicans on the senate judiciary committee confirm that they brought on an experienced female sex crimes prosecutor to do the questioning of dr. ford and judge kavanaugh at the thursday hearings coming up. in other words, the 11 men that make up the panel's majority are

outsourcing their roles as questioners of the accuser. meanwhile, someone close to the president told the washington post that he is simmering, the president is, with frustration over the slow pace of kavanaugh's hearing and demanded that senate majority leader mitch mcconnell move onto the vote. earlier today senate tore mccobble promise today do just that. let's listen. >> we're going to be moving forward. i'm confident we're going to win. confident he will be confirmed in the very near future. >> according to politico the aggressive push forward comes that kavanaugh doesn't have the vote to be confirmed. senator lisa murkowski, a swing vote, delivered a stark warning to her fellow republicans. she told "the new york times," we are now in a place where it's not about whether or not judge kavanaugh is qualified. it is about whether or not a woman who has been a victim at

some point in her life is to be believed. this comes hours after kavanaugh denied the accusations in an unprecedented public plea. >> what i know is the truth and the truth is i've never sexually assaulted anyone in high school or otherwise. i am not questioning and have not questioned that perhaps dr. ford at some point in her life was sexually assaulted by someone at some place, but what i know is i've never sexually assaulted anyone in high school or at any time in my life. >> so when she says -- >> well, late tonight chairman grassley scheduled a committee vote on brett kavanaugh's nomination for friday morning only hours after the testimony thursday. something senator diane fine fi -- feinstein has called outrageous. joining me is my panel. thank you all. i want to talk to susan about the oddness of 11 men who have

waited all their lives to be members of the judiciary committee, they've been elected and selected to be on that committee, waited with baited breath for these hot on television hearings with everybody watching, free advertising and they don't want it. they don't want to touch this. they want somebody -- they're outsourcing to some sex crimes prosecutor, a woman to come in and do the work for them. >> not even the committee counsel, an outsider whose name we don't know yet, a female assistant. >> a mercenary. >> mitch mcconnell called her this afternoon. >> what do you think of this? >> it illustrates how toxic they think this has the potential to be for themselves and their party. they're struggling withholding support of suburban women. their support has been eroding since president trump was elected and could get eroded a lot further depending what happens next. >> what do you think the camera will look like, michael? the camera is going to be on that hearing and it's going to be on the members of the committee. >> yeah. >> they're going to be potted plants sitting up there, people

like orrin hatch saying the woman is confused, mixed up. sitting there with their facial expressions emoting some sort of support for the tough questioning or dismissingly comments and the testimony of dr. ford? what's their role there? >> their role is to do exactly what you just described. they are hiding behind the skirt of a woman who will question in their stead another woman about allegations that she's made, and that to me -- i don't care how you try to reframe this, the cameras are not going to be on the kwquestioner. the cameras are going to be on the 11 white men sitting behind the questioner, and the questions are going to be part of what they want asked, so they'll be reflective of what their particular staffs have come up with. >> without their attitude. >> without their attitude, right. but no one, no one watching this will walk away thinking, oh,

well this was a conversation between two women. no, it's 11 men behind a woman asking dr. ford these questions and that image is going to be one that's going to haunt them right through to november. >> i wonder what the questioning is going to be like because this brought in outside prosecutor with a record experience in sex crimes, that's interesting in itself, sex crimes, that's her specialty, will also be questioning the supreme court nominee, brett kavanaugh. that's going to be interesting. i wonder how tough that's going to be. your thoughts, zerlina? >> i do think it's very funny if you noticed, chris, we haven't mentioned the name of this sex crimes prosecutor. >> we don't know yet. >> republicans are withholding her name to protect her safety. they're putting more thought into the safety of the prosecutor they're bringing in to basically shil on their behalf and not thinking about dr. ford and what's appropriate for her and that is proof because they've already

scheduled the vote, chris. so if they are really going to take her word seriously. >> friday morning. >> then you can't schedule a friday morning vote because you don't know what anyone is going to say on thursday. >> when you said to protect her safety, what do you mean? >> it's been reported that they're withholding the name of this prosecutor that she'll become the target of attacks. >> are you sure that's for real or that's for shows? that sounds like theater. >> look, chris, i'm going based upon reporting. >> your based upon reporting of what the republicans are saying. >> right. >> i wonder whether they're not playing a game of theater, oh, boy, it's been so terrible, the left wing on, this the progressives, na we have to protect her physically from the assaults, it sounds like pr. >> it is pr, chris. i was giving them way too much benefit of the doubt. i think republicans are putting on a complete and total sham hearing here on thursday. we still don't know the full details of the al will he details that michael avenati's

client is going to put forward. what he's put out into the public domain is very serious, even more serious than the first two allegations. we've had an interview with brett kavanaugh and his wife although he didn't allow her to answer questions directly posed to her. he repeated the same lines over and over. today we're in a very difficult place. republicans are not understanding the moment we are in. we are a year into the me too movement which is a response to the election of donald trump. today we saw bill cosby finally be held accountable for raping nearly 60 women over the course of decades and so i think that they're misunderstanding this moment and it's at their peril. >> during his interview with fox kavanaugh did -- that was last night at 7:00. he denied the claim made by debra ramirez in the new yorker and others found the -- he said the others found the allegation inconceivable. he's speaking for others here. let's hear the judge. let's watch. >> never did any such thing. the other people alleged to be

there don't recall any such thing. if such a thing had happened, it would have been the talk of campus. the women i knew in college and the men i knew in college says it's inconceivable that i could have done such a thing. >> well, he says they say it was inconceivable. however, kavanaugh's yale roommate at the time, james roach, issued a statement that ramirez's claim is credible and consistent with the kavanaugh he knew of his roommate. in that statement roach noted, quote, i would see him as he returned from nights out with his friends. it is from this experience that i concluded that although brett was normally reserved, he was probably a notably heavy drinker, even by the standards of the time, and that he became aggressive and belligerent when he was very drunk. tonight ramirez's lawyers tweeted that they have reached out with the senate judiciary committee to cooperate so they're keeping ramirez pretty far away.

what do you make of this dr. jekyll and mr. hyde description of the guy's roommate, judge kavanaugh? >> yeah, well, you know, i think it's part of the mix of -- we've got people who say, no, i -- we've got people who say, no, this isn't the way he behaved. >> it's his roomy. >> it's his roommate. that is a pretty close associate. >> by the way, you would have a little room -- i would think in the interest of justice i'd try to tell the truth in courts and would but you would feel a little bit hesitant to trash the guy you were a roommate with when he has one chance to become supreme court justice and you know that your testimony publicly like this may kill him. >> it runs the same risk these women have stepping forward, that you'll be the target of attack. this is the first thing they'll know about you when they google your name. >> i don't think republicans are misjudging the women, they're making a calculated decision that it is so important to so e solidify a conservative that they are willing to take the political hit in november. >> getting the five out of nine

is more important than listening to these three? >> it's been a prime conservative goal since roe v. wade. >> winning dirty is okay for them? >> winning dirty is okay and it's one step closer to a 6-3 conservative court because the anticipation is trump gets the re-election, there will be another appointment down the road. so to your point, susan, this is really -- this is the hill that they're willing to die on. >> he might have 53 senators. this senate fight is back and forth even this year. "the new york times" investigated brett kavanaugh's high school yearbook by the way and discovered number of references to sports, drinking, beach parties. there was a cryptic club. two of judge kavanaugh's classmates said there were part of a football player's unsubstance she eighted conquest. a woman told "the new york times" i can't begin to

comprehend what goes through the minds of 17-year-old boys who write such things, but the insinuation is horrible, hurtful and simply untrue. i pray their daughters are never treated this way. zerlina, on that thought, your thoughts? >> i was really disgusted by the latest reporting in "the new york times" because it demonstrates that not only did brett kavanaugh in his circle of friends have this view of women at the time, but if you really look at the reporting, he's lying about what happened with her today. he said to the "new york times" that he had kissed her and that was all so he was essentially exaggerating by calling himself a rinata alumnae. she dmies they had any physical contact. in the year 2018 he is still lying about having some sort of romantic interaction with this particular woman that he went to high school with. i think that that is actually something that is very problematic m a moment where he's been proven to be not truthful on many different

issues, including this one when it comes to how he behaved in high school and how he treated women. saying that he went to church all the time and all he did is study. i mean, does anybody really believe that? i'm a preacher's kid and i still got into enough shenanigans in high school. i think we have to be honest in this moment and have some common sense. we need to take these allegations very seriously because we're talking about potential crimes. >> thank you so much, susan pij, michael steel and zerlina maxwell. coming up, while president trump is simmering, his white house is dealing with another crisis at the same time, the fate of the man overseeing the mueller investigation into the russians and trumps. plus, i'm going to talk to a member of the senate judiciary committee hearing this thursday in washington. it is d-day. trump addressed the u.n. today, the general assembly, and this is what happened. >> in less than two years my

administration has accomplished more than almost any administration in the history of our country. america's -- so true. didn't expect that reaction, but that's okay. >> they were laughing at him. united states was being laughed at. anyway, that's the president of the united states being mocked by world leaders. let me finish tonight with trump watch. this is "hardball." got directions to the nightclub here.

and if you get lost, just hit me on the old horn. man: tom's my best friend, but ever since he bought a new house... tom: it's a $10 cover? oh, okay. didn't see that on the website. he's been acting more and more like his dad. come on, guys! jump in! the water's fine! tom pritchard. how we doin'? hi, there. tom pritchard. can we get a round of jalapeño poppers for me and the boys, please? i've been saving a lot of money with progressive lately, so... progressive can't protect you from becoming your parents. but we can protect your home and auto when you bundle with us. as you heard, president trump turned his focus to the world stage today. used his address to the u.n. general assembly this morning to bash iran. >> iran's lead er leaders sew c destruction. they do not respect their

neighbors or borders or the sovereign rights of nations. instead, iran's leaders plunder the nation's resources to enrich themselves and to spread mayhem across the middle east and far beyond. >> well, domestic politics were never far from his attention however. before his u.n. address, the trump -- well, mr. trump dismissed a reporter's question about his embattled attorney general, rod rosenstein. let's watch that. >> i'm meeting with rod rosenstein on thursday. today i'm doing other things. >> well, more on that coming up with that meeting with rod rosenstein and other political crises facing the president back in d.c. when he gets back after the break. but mania, such as unusual changes in your mood, activity or energy levels, can leave you on shaky ground.

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welcome back to "hardball." thursday's shaping up to be an immensely consequential day for

donald trump's presidency. the highly anticipated testimony of judge kavanaugh and christine blasey ford as well as the president's face-to-face meeting with the deputy attorney general rod rosenstein. the washington post says the probe has plunged them into turmoil and the president is antsy, impatient and according to trump's associates, both issues are especially personal for trump. he sees the russia investigation as existential. a threat looming over his presidency and as someone who has been accused of sexual assault, he's sensitive to the fear that a powerful man's career could be ruined by a single accusation. that's the reporting what they say trump is thinking, who knows what he's thinking. today sarah huckabee sanders declined to say whether the president has confidence in rosenstein. >> does the president have confidence in mr. rosenstein? >> the president has confidence in the system and he -- >> that's not what i asked. >> well, he wants to -- again,

i'm not going to get ahead of the conversation that's going to take place. >> if rosenstein refuses to resign, will the president fire him? >> i'm not going to get ahead of the president's decision making. >> while the president's questioned the credibility of kavanaugh's accusers, sanders maintains he wants them to be heard. >> the president had that tweet last night reining against false accusations against mr. kavanaugh. why does he think they're lying? >> certainly the president has said a number of times that these individuals should be heard. >> he called the accusations false already before they're heard. >> brett kavanaugh has been unequivocal in his denial of this. he knows brett kavanaugh, he spent a great deal of time with him and he trusts them. >> he says everybody's voices should be heard. does he want ms. ramirez to be before the hearing? >> certainly we would be open to that. that process could happen on thursday. >> the president will hold 5 p.m. press conference tomorrow

where he's sure to be asked about kavanaugh's and rosenstein's future. we have jennifer rubin a. the president of the united states, is he grabbing this as a power play tomorrow night, 5:00, which gets you on the edge of the news, right up to your deadlines, peter. i think he wants to front page headline, trump says, trump will, trump demands going into thursday morning. what's his game? >> well, i think you're right. i think he's trying to frame the two big events we're talking about for thursday, the kavanaugh hearing and the rosenstein meeting. he's trying to set the stage in effect for it on his own terms rather than wait until after they've played out to see how they go. and i think that, you know, they've decided to be more aggressive about the nomination of brett kavanaugh. you heard the president today go after debra ramirez in a

personal wade. said she was all messed up at the time she had this encounter with judge kavanaugh, this alleged encounter, and he went after the democrats for a con game. tougher words. i think he tried to frame it going into thursday. >> well, you know, he can say debby's drunk over and over again debby was drunk, debby was drunk, but that does nothing to take down dr. ford's claim. dr. ford's claim sounds sophisticated. no reason to believe. pretty sound, documented -- not documented. pretty particular. they locked me in the room, they turned up the music so my screams wouldn't be heard. they threw me on the bed, jumped on top of me, rubbed himself, put his hand on my mouth, a lot of detail. >> yes. >> no exculpatory. i was drinking, i forgot. that story that she told senator

feinstein and congresswoman eschew. >> and she also told her therapist, she told her husband. >> years ago. >> yes, taken a lie detector test. there is corroborating evidence. what do they do? the president tried to attack her the other day. that didn't go so well. you're right, now he goes for a different person, but what is he going to do about that woman sitting in front of the cameras on thursday who looks poised, who looks sane, who looks completely credible? how is he going to erase that? i don't know how he does that. i think she gets up there -- she doesn't even have to be more credible, she has to be credible than she's been accused of being. she doesn't have to be more credible than kavanaugh, she has to be credible. >> how do they dominate this thing, peter? they're going to use the power of the media wednesday night, tomorrow night at 5:00,

dominating with an hour long press conference where he gets all the headlines on north korea, whatever play he wants to make he can get a headline out of it tomorrow, he's president. then friday morning they call the vote on the committee. looks like they're putting the doctor into a squeeze between wednesday's media power going into thursday morning and friday jamming that vote. by the way, they probably do have 11 votes on that committee until they come out saturday morning heading towards a tuesday vote with a lot of pressure on the more nervous republicans to vote yes. >> well, that's right. look, they're not guaranteed a majority vote on the committee because jeff flake, the republican from arizona has expressed some concern about this. they seem to be very confident. they wouldn't have scheduled that vote unless they felt like they could advance the nomination. senator mcconnell said this will get a vote on the floor regardless of what happens at the hearing on thursday. they feel confident at the moment they have the votes. that could change.

we don't know what it will be like after the thursday hearing. we don't know how she will come across. as jennifer said, if she comes across as credible, if she comes across as believable, that's going to be a hard nut for the waiverers to deal with t. either way for susan collins, jeff flake, lisa murkowski, that's a pretty tough vote. >> sthethey're going to try to some reasonable doubt. let's talk about trump's power here. a press conference going into it, a vote coming out of it, he throws the rosenstein meeting in the middle of it. thursday he's talking about whether he'll fire rosenstein. >> he sets up multiple kris cease, multiple scandals all at once and throws it up and sends the press running around in circles. i don't think he's going to be

able to take a camera off this woman. she is the most important -- >> he's not going to fire rosenstein on thursday. >> no, he's not. it's going to be impossible to take the eyes of the camera off of her. by the way, scheduling it on friday just really makes the point of women that he's not taking any of this seriously. >> peter, it looks like the orchestration of this is being done by sean hannity told him not to fire rosenstein and bill schein and everything. this is a fox-run presidency this week. your thoughts? you're in new york. you cover this thing. >> well, yeah -- >> it's a media circus, but i wonder if it's not a precede yeah production. >> yeah, no question that he relies on the advice of some of these folks at fox news more than even some people on his own staff. sean hannity has a regular channel into the president. the president respects him. listens to him. i think sean hannity felt, as some of the other fox people did, that it would not be a good job to fire rosenstein right

now. wait until after the election. attorney general and rosenstein at the same time. this has kind of come to a head a little bit because of the argument about -- the discussion about whether to wire tap him and whether to invoke the 25th amendment. that's a hard thing to let go. he's very upset about that as you can imagine. rod rosenstein feels like he's been put in a bad position. >> that's the says at the bottom of the deck, isn't it? any time he wants he can fire rosenste rosenstein. he was quoted about having wire tapping and bugging the president and/or discussing as getting him unfit under the constitution. those are certainly problems if i was president. the washington post reported on rosenstein just now that people inside and outside the department of justice clearly increasingly more likely that rosenstein would stay on the job until after november's election and then depart, there's a phrase, probably with the attorney general. "the wall street journal" also reported just minutes ago that a

person who had spoken to trump said the president is genuinely conflicted. he has an open mind about whether rosenstein -- as shakespeare might have said in "hamlet" sessions and rosenstein are dead. is that the way you see it? tlaer great line? >> yes, i definitely remember that. it's a great line. i think that's true. no, i think you're right. the expectation is that they're both out of there. the only question is timing. do you do it now and inflame a campaign season that's already, you know, focused on a lot of these issues and will be focused on the brett kavanaugh hearing as well or do you wait until after the election and take a chance on what the blow back is. some of the republican senators have signaled the president, look, we understand you're likely to do it after the election. please don't do it beforehand. >> lindsay has green lighted this totally. >> lindsey graham. >> absolutely. chuck grassley who's of course

steering the kavanaugh nomination through his committee right now. >> by the way, can you imagine lindsey graham staying quiet while the woman prosecutor takes his job away from him. jennifer, both dead by the end of november? >> yeah, i think so. >> rosen -- sessions and rosenstein. thank you, peter baker. thank you, jennifer. you're always great. up next, what should we expect from thursday's hearing when brett kavanaugh basically faces his accuser and will senator mcconnell follow through with a vote friday morning and then the full senate get their 50 votes. if they're going to get them, they're going to get them tuesday. this is "hardball" where the action is. or delicious. or fun. but since you need both car and home insurance, why not bundle them with esurance and save up to 10%? which you can spend on things you really want to buy, like...

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we have two people here who have a different version of what has happened. we need to at least listen to them both respectfully and then make a decision. that's what we're here to do, to vote on this confirmation. >> welcome back to "hardball." that was senate majority leader mitch mcconnell. according to politico he's warning his colleagues publicly and privately, to hold a floor vote, that's the whole senate, no matter what happens in the judiciary committee on thursday, possibly as soon as early next week. i think it's tuesday they're talking about. joining me is one of the democrats, senator richard bl m

blumenthal. there must be a lot who don't want to vote? >> i think there are a number who are very reluctant to go on record because clearly this process is a rush to judgment. they want to close down the evidence and exclude the facts, conceal millions of pages of documents that are relevant to his credibility and now preclude really getting at the facts. >> let me ask you about the accusation of what happened 30 some years ago. if you liked everything else about him, this were, say, a progressive justice, would this keep you from voting for him? >> it would because without a hearing, a real hearing as opposed to the sham we're likely to have on thursday, these

credible serious allegations really need to be a barrier to his going to the court. the burden is on him to refute them. if he really wanted to present the facts he would call for an investigation by the fbi. if he wanted to clear his name, he would call for the other witnesses like mark judge. >> will you be calling during the hearing for that investigation by the fbi? >> i have called for it. >> when the cameras are on. >> i have called for it from day one. an fbi impartial objective investigation must be done, not only as to her allegations but also as to deborah ramirez and they would include all of this. it's more than two people. there are other witnesses that need to be called and they need to be called first by the fbi. yes, i will go on the record in this hearing demanding that there be an fbi investigation. >> will that motion be in order? can you say, mr. chairman, i move that we have an fbi investigation and vote on it. >> i was ruled out of order when

i moved to adjourn. >> can you move to have an fbi investigation right there on national television with all of the networks covering it live? >> i can move for it but, really, it's the white house that has the power to order it and they are silenced. they're blocking this. >> it's not an order. you can't say, i move we have an fbi investigation and make the chair respond and vote on it? >> in practical terms, you know, reopening investigations is done all the time and there are ten of them that have been done in june. this isn't normal, you have a woman selected, experienced sex crime prosecutor coming in to replace, to outsource basically the republican 11 majority members. instead of 11 men who would normally play the role of questioners, this woman will stand there as their substitute. what do you make of that? how's that going to look and how will it work? >> the best explanation for their reason for doing it that

way, hiding behind a so-called prosecutor or counselor is the one made by bob corker earlier today when he said they were afraid of saying something insensitive that would be repeated 24/7. they want to hide behind -- >> so grassley gagged his own members? he's afraid they're going to look stupid. >> they gagged themselves. here's the serious thing, chris. we have a constitutional duty. i'm going to be doing my job in the united states senate asking my questions because that is what i have a responsibility to do, advising and consenting. i'm really disappointed in republican colleagues not only for hiding behind this prosecutor and they have insulted a survivor. >> what's going to happen if you vote in the committee on friday, you're told to vote, the majority rules, and you have not heard from the other witnesses, ramirez, what avenati has to

say. it's in the room. how do you vote before you have the witnesses testify? >> there's no way to vote and if they do vote, the message is clear. serious credible allegations from a sexual assault survivor matter less than putting supremist ideologues, they're filling to listen to this survivor and the entire survivor community. up next, if nothing else, kavanaugh has sticking to his script an interview aimed at regaining momentum on his nomination. that's straight ahead.

he repeats phrases over and over again very carefully of anything that he might say that's interesting. you're watching "hardball."

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i am looking for a fair process. all i'm asking for is a fair process. again, just asking for a fair process. again, i'm just asking for a fair process. i want a fair process. i want a fair process. have a fair process. a fair process. i just want a fair process. i just want a fair process. i just want an opportunity, a fair process. we're looking for a fair process. >> you're hearing from a man who's well lawyered up. that was judge brett kavanaugh saying one message in his interview with fox last night. kavanaugh denied the two allegations of sexual misconduct against him and his main talking point requesting a, listen up, fair process, 17 times he said

it. i'm joined by the "hardball" round table. dana millbank. whitey columnist. what do you think of a guy so obviously lawyered up. how many times can he say this? it's like poor marco rubio, remember him? when he went into robo. >> i didn't realize it was 17 times, thank you for that. but, i mean, there was a good part and a bad part. the good part is he didn't stray off message. >> no. no. no. >> he did not say anything he didn't want to say. he didn't slip up. all of that's good. the bad part is when you say it that many times he doesn't look genuine. he doesn't seem relaxed, free, able to say what he wants. >> when you repeat yourself verbatim, you're lying over and over again, the same exact words. >> my take away is he wants a fair process, but i did -- i ran -- >> does that mean he'll win -- >> i ran the numbers on this. you have 17 times for that. he said he wanted to be heard

nine times. he wants to defend my integrity eight times and then he wants dignity and respect and american fairness four times each. i think the strategy here is to lull everybody into a coma or some sort of sleep, they can quickly have the vote and move on. i mean, he deserves a screen actors guild card for that performance there. i think you're going to see him sticking to that as much as possible and trying to bore everybody to tears. >> when it comes to sticking to his script, i think the president could learn from him. clearly he doesn't stick to his script. >> you don't get the president acting like brett kavanaugh. >> at this point the bar is very low but i think the sad reality of that interview is that he really wanted to come out there and clear his name before dr. ford testifies and i think that the republicans really have done a disservice to women and victims of sexual assault everywhereby trying to rush this forward without a fair process.

it's great that kavanaugh wants to mention 17 times fair process -- >> i think if he wanted a fair process he would have gone to lester holt. he went to fox. >> kevin cramer is running for senate against republican heidi heitkamp is drawing criticism for his allegations against kavanaugh. here's what he told a local tv station monday. >> even if it's all true, does it disqualify him? it certainly means that he did something really bad 36 years ago but does it disqualify him from the supreme court? >> what could youdo you think? is that going to kill him? north dakota. >> i don't know anyone who lives in north dakota. >> it's a small state. you can almost know everybody there. >> you can assume by these statements that are being made very flippantly that some republicans really just are sticking to the rhetoric that this administration has had towards women, to be pretty degrading and to not recognize

the peril that they face with suburban women voters who were the biggest block that turned out for trump in '16 as a surprise factor. >> more than we thought. not a majority. >> a lot more. >> i visited north dakota recently and i have some reporting on this. there are women in north dakota and they will vote and they are affected by this sort of thing. previous to this he talked about this being even more absurd than anita hill because teenagers were involved, as if it's not a serious matter if teenagers -- >> in the tradition of mourdock and aiken. where do they come from? >> it's also not just north dakota, it's happening everywhere. you have people in the republican party, republican officials joking about ruth b e bader ginsburg being groped by abraham lincoln. >> president trump repeated one of his standard stump speech lines and was caught off guard by the response. >> in less than two years my administration has accomplished

more than almost any administration in the history of our country. america's -- so true. didn't expect that reaction, but that's okay. >> they were laughing at him. anyway, when president obama was in office trump had a very different perspective. back in 2014, not a million years ago, trump wrote on twitter we need a president who isn't a laughing stock to the entire world. >> he handled it right. he laughed it off. i hear he's not so happy right now. you know -- >> those third world bozos. i'm sure he has comments like that. you know how many times we have heard what he said, a million times over the last year and a half. it doesn't even phase us anymore. those people weren't used to it. they thought it was outrageous. >> the best part is he said during the campaign all the time, the world is laughing at us. now he has finally made it true.

it's like promise made, promise given. >> it wasn't a laugh track either. it's real. >> the sad thing is the vague generalities every single time, you're right, have become so common place. at this point we are the laughing stock of the world in these situations and we should not be but our president again sticks at the twitter and picking fights and name-calling and being a bully. >> did you vote for him? >> i did not. i was a never trump republican. >> from day one? you saw it coming. >> don't blame her. >> you're on sound ground. the roundtable is sticking with us. up next these people tell me something i don't know. you're watching "hardball." and at expedia, we don't think you should be rushed into booking one. that's why we created expedia's add-on advantage. now after booking your flight, you unlock discounts on select hotels right until the day you leave. ♪ add-on advantage. discounted hotel rates when you add on to your trip. only when you book with expedia.

checking in on hardball ten, the ten senate races that will control the senate in november. there's new polling out of florida tonight, good for the democrats, incumbent democrat bill nelson is leading rick scott by three points, among likely votes, a key number. a new nbc poll of likely vote es shows the democrat winning, kyrstensinema against sally.

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we're back with the hardball round table. anita, tell me something i don't know. >> remember way back when, two weeks ago, when "the new york times" had their anonymous op-ed that came out. >> oh, yeah. >> a couple days later we saw nikki haley, the u.n.

ambassador, write an op-ed, a rebuttal in the "washington post," my old paper. and what i wanted to tell you today is what we reported today that some of the people in the white house were irritated by that op-ed because they felt like it was unnecessary, too splashy, too attention grabbing, that this has been their problem at the white house with nikki haley for the last two years, she's getting so much attention. >> who looks like could well be, some day, a woman president, nikki haley. >> there's a lot of buzz about her. >> go ahead. >> well, last night some people already know, ted cruz and his wife heidi were hounded out by hecklers from having dinner. i don't approve of the hecklers, but they did reveal an extraordinary scandal. ted cruz and his wife were at fiola where the tasting menu is $145 -- it starts at $235 a

bottle, on a monday night a month before the election. >> sitting on his rear end. >> it would appear that with a. we all know the shock factor in the 2016 election was the amount of women who came out to vote for donald trump. i know, as an analyst on television, i had said multiple times there's no way, i, a female myself, no way i could do that. well, now 35% of those suburban women regret their vote for president trump. >> what percent to start with? >> 47% was the bloc among women for trump. shockingly high. break it down further into college educated, not college. >> the rival of trump -- >> interesting question. >> thank you, that's the kind of questions we ask here. >> when we return, let me finish tonight with trump watch. you're watching "hardball."

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trump watch tuesday, september 25th, 2018. the president was out there arguing this afternoon that the accusation by dr. ford against his supreme nominee, supreme court nominee is a cultural issue. just another battle between conservatives and progressives on what's right and what's wrong in 2018. really? i thought the question of dr. ford's testimony should be about the truth, if what she says happened this trump nomination to the country's highest court should be in serious trouble. if dr. ford is not convincing in her testimony, brett kavanaugh

still deserves a chance to be considered on his resume. for a good while trump seemed to accept this basis of judgment. that was before trump began hearing from his base that they want this thing done, period. trump now wants his nominee confirmed and pronto. he's joined with mitch mcconnell now in wanting the senate to plow through the dr. ford matter all together. to protect himself, give himself a plan "b." trump is touting this fight is about political correctness. as if the correction involved more than a difference in cultural mores. as if being assaulted was par for the course, something a good sport would toss and forget about. if a democrat was accused of such behavior, the attack would start with the conservatives. the fact is, it clearly works against kavanaugh and trump, if

what dr. ford says is true, it's a problem, no matter your culture or politics, whatever. that's where trump began before he got the whistle that the base will blame him if he loses this fight. this fight he never looked to me he was so thrilled to have to make in the first place. thanks for being with us. "all in" with chris hayes starts right now. tonight on "all in". >> the accuser has nothing. >> the president uses the world stage to attack kavanaugh accusers. >> she admits she was drunk. >> tonight, mounting evidence, the kavanaugh nomination is in serious trouble. >> do you have 50 votes to confirm judge kavanaugh? >> i believe he'll be confirmed, yes. >> and my interview with senator kirsten gillibrand. >> she's being disparaged publicly by this president, it's disgraceful. >> mitch mcconnell's new hire. >> we have hired a female assistant. >> and the growing concerns about