thank you, betsy, don, tim. i'm nicolle wallace. "mtp daily" starts right now with the fabulous katy tur. thank you, nicole. the search expands in the truth in the kavanaugh investigation. good evening, i'm katy tur in new york in for chuck todd and welcome to "mtp daily." and welcome to another day of fast-moving developments surrounding brett kavanaugh's confirmation fight. with nbc news confirming that the white house has authorized the fbi to expand its supplemental investigation into the president's supreme court nominee. that decision came shortly after the president defended the scope of that investigation, as well as kavanaugh himself. >> what i said is, let the senate decide whatever they want to do is okay with me, and also

the fbi. i think the fbi should do what they have to do to get to the answer. i think he's a fine man, i think he's a great scholar. i so believed him, when he -- when he said, what he did, he focused on being number one at yale, being number one in high school, at being number one at law. i can so understand that. >> this is the white house's second conciliatory move in the kavanaugh confirmation process in just the past few days. remember, the president didn't even want this investigation, but was forced to authorize it when republican senator jeff flake requested it in exchange for his vote to advance kavanaugh's nomination through the senate judiciary committee and to the senate floor. today, flake said he's been in contact with the white house counsel's office to ensure all credible allegations against kavanaugh are actually investigated. >> we certainly want the fbi to do a real investigation, and we

are working to make sure that that happens. it does no good to have an investigation that just gives us more cover, for example. we actually need to find out what we can find out. >> this expanded investigation must still be completed by friday, but this is now twice president trump, a man who prides himself as a fighter, has relented on the kavanaugh confirmation process. is this just a negotiating tactic? the art of the deal, if you will? or a sign of dwindling support for the supreme court nominee? with me now, nbc news intelligence and national security reporter ken delanian. along with msnbc political an cyst susan delpersio. and lanny chen, former policy adviser to the romney campaign and now a research fellow at the hoover institution. ken, first, to you. this expanded investigation, i know you left my show to work on

confirming what "the new york times" had. what can you tell us about where the investigation goes now and who they are allowed to interview. >> as it turns out, peter alexander and jeff bennett were able to get it confirmed, katy. and there are still some mysteries about it, but at least in terms of the sexual assault allegations by christine blasey ford and debra ramirez, the fbi is now authorized to interview anybody they deem relevant. and that's actually pretty important, because as it stood before, and we were the first to report this on saturday, there was significant restrictions placed on the fbi and also on the investigative steps that they would take to corroborate these allegations. really unprecedented. nor ex for example, ramirez offered them witnesses that she said could corroborate her story, that kavanaugh exposed himself to her at a yale party, they weren't allowed to talk to those witnesses. now they are. we don't know if this issue of

kavanaugh's drinking, and the disputes about how he characterized his drinking in his testimony to the senate, whether the fbi will be able to examine that question, or this question of whether kavanaugh lied about certain yearbook references that many people believe were sexual but he said were not. so, and those things, some people believe are important, because they go to his credibility and particularly if he did have a drinking problem and could be blackout drunk, that could go to the issue if he sexually assaulted someone when he was drunk. we don't know if the fbi is going to investigate that, but clearly the white house has changed its tune here and it's in part about getting the 50 votes, because senator jeff flake and senator susan collins said they were involved in forcing this decision. >> do those small lies or misleading statements in the testimony mean he could be lying about something larger. that's a big question. in terms of the president opening this investigation even further, the fact that he opened it at all, where does that pressure stem from? is it jeff flake putting the screws even gently to the white

house or is this, as we said at the top of the show, a question of kavanaugh losing support? >> i think more than anything, it's the president, the opposition here is the math. he knows, the republicans' margin for error is so slim, they can't afford a couple of defections. if it was last week, commissioning the investigation in the first place, or today expanding it, you know, they need flake, they need collins, they need murkowski. if jeff flake is saying, hey, that needs to not be a shame. this needs to be a real probe or not i'm going to support you, you're in trouble. and certainly, there is some pockets of worry in the white house, about kavanaugh's prospects. most people that i've talked to inside the building or those outside the building that are close to the process are still cautiously optimistic, but the week delay, they know that doesn't help them. that gives the fbi more time to conduct this background check and who knows what it may turn up, but it gives a chance for other people to come forward with their own stories and allegations. and certainly they're not

walking away from him. the president and, we saw the republican senators, most of them, last week were really emboldened by kavanaugh's fiery performance. trump, you know, told people around him, this is my guy, i want to stay with him, but at the same time, they are aware of the political realities, aware of the math, they have to go through the process. >> mitch mcconnell, regardless of all this, did say today on the floor that there will be a vote on this nominee this week. >> yeah, i mean, limited scope, they know they need a discreet amount of time, because if they don't, the challenge is not just what additional information could come out, it is increasing pressure against these sort of marginal republicans who may or may not vote for kavanaugh. the more time there is, the more opportunity there is for pressure like we saw exerted on jeff flake in that elevator that caused him to change his mind. lisa murkowski, susan collins, they're all undergoing a very similar dynamic. and so if you set the date of the vote, you are saying, you are signaling, look, this is going to happen, and this investigation has to be wrapped up within this period of time.

>> how much does public polling matter here? he's not a popular nominee. it's a minority of americans, a distinct minority of americans that want to see him on the supreme court and it looks like in the polling that most of those americans that do want to see him there are men, so, how much is the public polling going to weigh on -- >> well, the public polling weighs on the president. we know that he likes watching his poll numbers. what is really going to weigh on a joe manchin or a heidi heitkamp is a private polling. what -- can they make this vote, if they vote no in a red state as a democrat up for re-election, can they thread that needle and can they get elected? so, that's what's happening. that's what the elected officials, and a lot of members of congress, too, the house, are all looking at their private polling. and that's what this week allows also the time for private polling to happen and, more importantly, for more people, not just to come forward, but

the press reporters out there, everyone's looking for contact, and rightfully so. it's not a criticism of the press whatsoever. but everyone's looking for that witness -- >> corroboration, more detail or more context. >> you probably have 100 fbi agents out there looking to interview, and then you probably have 100 more reporters out there looking to see what story they can find. >> there are sources, or, there are friends of brett kavanaugh, or people who knew brett kavanaugh at the very least, in college, ken, who say that they want to talk to the fbi. do we know how successful they have been in getting through to the fbi, getting a meeting with any investigator? >> well, in one case, you have a guy who was a classmate, who says that kavanaugh mischaracterized his drinking and he wanted to come forward, and he says the fbi told him to go to the field office in raleigh, north carolina, where he is located, and that's going to happen. the fbi will write up a 302, notes of an interview and it will pass up the chain. the question is, what relevance

will it have to this investigation? what will they do with it? because are they going to examine, you know, the question of his drinking and whether he was truthful about it? that remains to be seen. there are other reports, in "the new yorker" for example, people saying they have relevant information and they are being told to call an fbi tip line. we think that will change now, with the message from the senators saying, we want a real fbi investigation. >> there is news that mark judge has been interviewed. there were questions over the weekend as to whether dr. ford or brett kavanaugh themselves would be interviewed by the fbi. the president was asked about that a little bit earlier this afternoon, here is what he said. >> should brett kavanaugh be interviewed by the fbi? fwl i think so. i think it's fine if they do. i don't know. that's up to them. >> we actually did have that. so, i mean, if they are expanding the investigation --

mark judge should not been an expansion of the investigation, who should be interviewed, obviously, but getting brett kavanaugh back and speaking to the fbi, how important is that? >> i think it's extremely important. you can compare this interview with what he said in his public testimony this past week, there are certain ly things, did he le about the drinking, some of the things in the yearbook. i don't want to send everyone to urbandecisi urb urbandictionary.com, but there are certainly different phrasings than what is in his book. it points to his overall credibility. and i think that is something, as you have some republicans senators remaining on the fence, that's what they're going to look to. >> that is a question of credibility. if you're talking about the drinking, he says maybe sometimes he had a few too many, but he never blacked out. his behavior is being refuted by people who knew him at the time. the yearbook and those

definitions, that's a question. but the way he characterized the other people who were asked about the party, or the get-together, he says they all refuted dr. ford's claims. none of them refuted her claims, they said they didn't remember, they don't recall, her friend actually said that she doesn't remember a party like this, but she believes dr. ford. so, he's mischaracterizing them, he's a lawyer, he's a judge, do you think it's a big deal for him to do that? >> well, that's the reason why he care. these statements were made under penalty of felony. obviously, it's different -- you don't want anyone lying to a congressional committee anyway. but we're talking about people that are going to be upholding the rule of law in this country. and that's why it's sort of a different question. if he did misrepresent himself or if he did say something that was not truthful to the congressional committee, and the fbi discovers that later on, that is a significant problem and arguably, that is probably enough to tip collins, murkowski and flake over the edge. >> do you think so? >> i think if it's shown that he

misrepresented himself or lied -- >> hold on. he misrepresented those statements at the very least, is that enough? >> standards of misrepresentation differ. but if it's clear, for example, that there is evidence the fbi discovered that he did black out at some point from all the drinking, when he said he never did, that would be -- i don't know how they get that evidence, but the point is -- >> something even easier. if you take the woman's name that was put in the yearbook by 13 -- >> renata. >> yeah. if you take that and they speak to the 12 other boys and they all say, yes, it was about that, that, i think, is even more -- >> is that enough to break off susan collins and murkowski, something like that? >> i think so, because, again, lying under oath. and this is something that's also important to remember -- >> he has changed his story, right? at one point, it was saying because they shared a kiss, then he was saying it was nothing. am i confusing that with someone else's statement? >> it's evolved, what he's said. but certainly, there would be senators, not just change your

story, but that's such a tough thing to say about a high school woman. you could say that perhaps resonating with female senators or any senator. >> i think any girl who read that or any teenage boy or anyone who was a teenage boy who read that had a hard time swallowing that, it was meant to honor her. >> respect as a friend. >> let ken jump in, because he's got to go in a second. >> it's not clear at all that the fbi is going to look at any of this. because this is not part of the sexual assault allegation, but many people believe it's deeply relevant. you may never get to the truth of a 30-year-old sexual assault allegation, but you could get to the truth about whether he was candid about his drinking and about his yearbook. it's not clear the fbi is going to go there. >> the other thing i want to ask is, did he disqualify himself by getting overly partisan last week in the hearing? i mean, clarence thomas, when he was accused and he had his opening statement, was angry, as well, he did call it a national disgrace, the anita hill allegations and the hearing, but

he didn't go so far as to point to the left, he didn't say, it was any one side's revenge, brett kavanaugh called it clinton's revenge. he said that what democrats are doing, and he was -- he was angry with democratic senators, he interrupted them, he asked them questions. the way he behaved in that hearing as a partisan, when there were already concerns about being a partisan, because he came from the bush administration and his involvement with the ken starr investigation, does that give anyone cause for alarm, does that give susan collins, senator murkowski, a reason to say no? >> i know a lot of people he lost during his testimony for that reason, on top of his back and forth with senator slklobu r klobuchar. let's not forget, he was able to prep for this for a week. maybe he -- he knew what the situation was going to be. he knew what the questions were going to be. and just one little thing, let's not forget the 302s that everyone talks about, those go in on a rolling basis.

they may get some news literally any moment that can effect that nomination. >> i don't think it's enough for collins and murkowski. i think it is an unprecedented time and i think after her e garland -- >> it's just a different time. >> it's par for the course now. >> where partisanship is more -- >> might be enough for flake, but not murkowski and collins, not so much. >> guys, ladies, stick with us. next, we'll talk about how the political realities of the confirmation fight will play out at the polls next month. and as we go to break, here's a look at the global citizen festival that was on msnbc this weekend. thousands of activists and artists shared the stage on saturday in new york's central park. the festival was started to help end global poverty by 2030, and this year especially, bipartisanship took center stage. >> it was our personal relationship that made the

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made a stark admission last night about the political reality of him being the one leading that push for a delay. here's what he told cbs "60 minutes." >> senator flake, you announced you're not running for re-election, and i wonder, could you have done this if you were running for re-election? >> no, not a chance. >> not a chance? >> no. >> those fewrevealing about the current state of politics. mitch mcconnell cast doubt on the fbi investigation ever satisfying kavanaugh's critics. >> if you listen carefully, mr. president, you can practically hear the sounds of the democrats moving the goal post. >> i'm joined now by garrett hake from capitol hill. welcome back. do we have any idea when this is going to happen, and is there

anybody whose feathers are being ruffled with mitch mcconnell going out and being -- essentially brushing off this fbi investigation, calling it, or making it sound like it's not going to result in anything that would sway anybody's vote? >> well, that's the party line here, katy, for republicans, is that this investigation will be like the previous six background checks that judge kavanaugh has been through and won't turn up much of anything, but they say, that are making this concession to their colleagues to make everyone a little bit more comfortable taking a vote, which, the majority leader said will happen this week, essentially come hell or high water. he drew a very hard line in his remarks, saying, regardless of the status of this investigation, regardless of whether or not it is satisfactory to the senators who asked for it, there will be a vote. republicans have made the argument that every delay that happens here is really just a tactical move by democrats who are trying to introduction more

chaff, if you will, more blood in the water here, more anything to stop this process. mcconnell says that ends this week. >> you said regardless. does that include a scenario where jeff flake says, i don't think they did a full investigation here, or susan collins saying that or senator murkowski saying that? >> it's tough to imagine how that would play out. the real pressure point here was on that committee vote. now, again, mcconnell doesn't have the votes right now, right? that's the deal that was struck here. you had flake saying he wouldn't vote until we had this one-week investigation. but remember, right before he said that, he said he was a yes. so, jeff flake is someone that we should consider as inclined to vote yes on this nomination, unless this investigation turns up something otherwise. i think we should also assume his starting position is that it won't, right? that he was a yes, that he wants the investigation. at the end of the week, if there's nothing that shows up, it's hard to imagine him saying, okay, well, maybe just keep going, keep looking.

this is someone that wants to vote yes. susan collins and lisa murkowski have played their cards closer to the vest, because they can. we don't necessarily know where susan collins stands on this. we know she had positive meetings with kavanaugh. murkowski is always the wild card to me, all politics are local, the governor and lieutenant governor of alaska have come out and say, they're against brett kavanaugh, before any of this came out. so, she's got a little bit more air cover here if she wanted to vote no. but it's hard to see any of those three walking the plank by themselves in voting no. >> cynics will probably point to this investigation and the way it's being handled so far as political cover for collins and murkowski to vote yes, ultimately. they did an investigation, they didn't find anything that was dispositive, as garrett said, and, you know what, now i feel comfortable voting. >> well, let's not forget. the big thing that was supposed to p what, some republicans, but

mostly democrats was, we have to interview mark judge. he was in the room, that was supposed to really be the -- that was going to include everything, that was the most important thing and that's why back then -- back then, last week -- it was only going to take three days, it didn't need to be five days. everything happened. so, leader mcconnell is right, moving the goal posts because they are interviewing mark judge. so, that is, unless they have a lot of other evidence to prove whether he perjured himself on the stand or other people come out, i can understand the frustration on the republican side. >> garrett, one more to you. anything -- is there any instance, or any scenario where this investigation comes up with evidence that will exonerate brett kavanaugh or make it more doubtful that he did what dr. ford is alleging him of doing, and that would mean the democrats would vote yes for him, or were the democrats

already going to vote no? >> i think it's hard to picture the smoking gun that would prove this never happened. that's really the problem here. it's tough to prove a negative here, just as it's tough to prove that this event actually happened. but what you might see, if the fbi comes back, and this is why it makes a difference, if they come back tomorrow or thursday or friday. in the fbi comes back, and the fbi have their own reputations at stake here, and can say, after a week of solid searching, we weren't able to find any corroborative evidence of this -- i do think it's possible, i think it's unlikely you might see some of the democrats who have been on the fence, joe manchin and heidi heitkamp, and manchin, remember, he was in that meeting after last thursday's hearing with the republican senators, saying, look, if nothing can be proven here, maybe they get to yes -- i would be shocked if there's some smoking gun that clears judge kavanaugh's name. i mean, maybe it's a fill your of creativity on my part, but i can't imagine what that would be. >> i want to change gears

slightly here for a second and talk about something the president said today in his news conference on tariffs. he was asked about kavanaugh, he really did not want to talk about it, he kept trying to change the subject, or keep the reporters on topic for topic for tariffs, but ultimately he did take questions on kavanaugh, and at one point, he said something weird. listen to this. >> you know, i tell you what, i happen to know some united states senators. one who is on the other side who is pretty aggressive. i've seen that person in very bad situations. >> who is he talking about, john? >> ah -- i don't think we should perhaps speculate, but it goes to show just another norm that this president breaks, that he would just publicly assert, there is some democratic senator that is up to no good. and again, this is -- we see this time and time again. >> is just detlex? >> i mean, it could be deflection. one of donald trump's core

tenants is what-aboutism. so, i think that's part of it here. it could be a deflection, could be a distraction. it could just be a knee jerk counterpunch, which we know he likes to do. >> something he made up in his head? >> it's entirely possible. or certainly exaggerated. >> like his friend jim? >> but now, you know, maybe some people are going to spend some time looking for this, right? the whole idea is that it create -- distraction, deflection, that's one way of looking at it, but it sort of gives people something else to talk about during what otherwise a very busy news week. >> how appropriate is that -- >> it's not, and if there was any truth to it, don't you think he would have had an investigation? >> well, he would have just tweeted about it, because he likes tweeting about things like that. interesting. garrett haake, on that note. thank you very much. panel, stay with us. ahead, the other big breaking political news of the day.

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i have long contended that nafta was perhaps the worst trade deal ever made. throughout the campaign, i promised to renegotiate nafta and today, we have kept that promise. >> welcome back. that was president trump earlier today in the rose garden, touting his new trilateral trade deal with canada and mexico. the deal, which would replace nafta, will be called united

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i want to thank senator joanie ernst for being here, of iowa, and i'll be there very

soon. we'll be doing something very important in iowa, but this is maybe more important than all of it put together, right, j joni? >> president trump gave a shoutout to joni ernsterer yesterday. joining me now is kay henderson, news director for radio iowa and long-time political reporter there. our panel is back, as well. kay, let's start with you. how was today's news on nafta, or, shall i say, usmcs, doing out there? >> well, for iowa republicans, this was welcome news. if this is truly a base election, the most worrisome issue out there was in farm country, people were really nervous about trade. and this news has certainly bolster

bolstered, i guess, the countenance of iowa's governor. she was beaming when i spoke about this, very excited about that. and then, as your viewers just heard, the president alluded toe a trip he'll be making her on october 9th. he's coming, i'm told by sources, to council bluffs, iowa, and he will be essentially saying that the epa will allow year-round sales of a higher blend offette nol etthanol. that is something that iowa-elected republicans have been pressing the trump administration on for years, for the past, since the president took office. and among those would be senator ernst who was in the rose garden today. >> the president's campaigning for 2020 with a new slow gal, promising made, promises kept. this one can be slid into the promises made, promises kept category. >> yeah, he gets to check the box here. i mean, i think it can be debated how different this new agreement is from nafta. certainly, the united states seemed to gain some concessions

from mexico and canada, so, the president and his team are very happy about that. some of it is, of course, just rebranding, which we know donald trump likes to do. but yes, he needed to show he was going to do this. there were a number of these campaign promises that we would hear night after night on the campaign trail. a number of them haven't come to fruition yet. he's been railing against nafta for a long time. it's something to run on. >> democrats don't hate this. >> not necessarily, no. >> chuck schumer said about this, as someone who voted against nafta and opposed it for many years, i knew it needed fixing. the president deserves praise for it, but it needs to be shown how it effects the middle class in this country. >> it sets in place, essentially, a wage floor, for auto workers. we're going to see -- >> $17 an hour, i believe. >> right. we're going to see, probably, a little bit less, potentially, of

small car auto production in the long run in the u.s., but fundamentally, this is about the politics of this. and it allows the president to go to his base and say, we did this. and, look, i think the alternative, that a lot of free traders were concerned about, this is significantly better, i would say, than what the alternative could have been, which is no deal at all or some way in which we completely offended the canadians and the mexicans and would not be able to have a similar free trading order that we've benefits from for the last two decades. >> he's the one that kind of blew it all up to begin with. he created that drama. but what is also interesting to consider, it's not just the senate and the house races, but the governors races that are up. it will make a difference in iowa, where it's a two-point race. wisconsin, ohio, these are all places that the democrats are edging out the republicans, which will be important, who has the state houses in 2020. so, i think it will actually have even more positive effects for the president.

>> kay, eye wiowans didn't like tariffs. but the president today touted tariffs as the reason he was able to get a deal like this done. >> well, one side issue here is what will happen with steel and aluminum, and if you think about what's made in iowa, john deere tractors, grain bins, they use a lot of those materials, and so, there are businesses here that are still hoping with fingers crossed that those negotiations will bear fruit and some of the tough talk about tariffs will, i guess, not materialize. >> you know, i remember a campaign rally in iowa in 2016 where the president and sarah palin was supposed to be there, she tididn't show up. the president was standing in front of a number of john deere practi tractors. do iowans believe the president has watched out for them when it comes to manufacturing? he's talked a lot about coal miners, but what about manufacturing in iowa?

and farming, i should say. >> the thing manufacturers in iowa are finding most difficult is they can't find workers who are qualified welders and folks who have the technical skills to do the things on the floor with the robotics that is now pr prevalent in the high scale manufacturing in iowa. back to your previous point, one thing i heard over the past few weeks, after the tentative deal was struck with mexico in regards to the re-drawn, re-drafted nafta, was people were very concerned that canada would be left out. iowa, the top two export markets for iowa products, raw commodities and manufactured goods, canada's number one, mexico's number two. >> very good point. i do want to ask about kavanaugh and the midterms, and kay, while we have you, you're outside of d.c., you're outside of new

york. how is kavanaugh being either embraced or pushed away in iowa? what do voters feel about him? >> i attended, covered a group of conservatives, about 700 of them, a couple of weeks ago, having a banquet and they were very energized about the kavanaugh nomination. reached back out to many of the spokespeople for iowa's evangelical community and they were absolutely incensed by the hearing last thursday. some of them even volunteering without me asking, that they would go and help in other states campaign against republican senators who dare to vote against kavanaugh. this has really roiled the base in a way that is really interesting. and, again, it's an energetic issue here in terms of things that are motivating republican voters in a way that might not have been seen a couple of weeks

ago. >> what about in other states, guys? where do you think this makes a difference? >> i think, certainly, iowa is one. ohio, you know, parts of pennsylvania, perhaps. it's interesting. we've been talking about this earlier off-air, there's been such an enthusiasm gap, it feels like, this year. the democrats, so fired up and republicans perhaps less so. one wonders if this is going to be something that certainly stirs up the gop and gets them out in a way and motivates them in a way that the anti-trump forces have done for the democrats. >> i think the question, for the red state democrats, how costly is that vote against kavanaugh going to be? if there's a significant motivation in north dakota, west virginia, indiana, missouri, all the states where the president did very well, where there are vulnerable democrats, is that going to put pressure on them? they already said they're not going to vote for kavanaugh. now the energy is there, is that going to be a problem for them? >> and there is also a lot of republican women that don't want to see it. and what's interesting, some of the polling that came out interesting is that independent men actually increased their

favorability for kavanaugh. women, he tanked. >> interesting. kay henderson, thank you for joining us. panel, stay with us. president predicts midterm success for his party. again. fidelity is redefining value. introducing zero account fees for brokerage accounts. and zero minimums to open an account. at fidelity, those zeros really add up. ♪ maybe i'll win, saved by zero ♪ at fidelity, those zeros really add up.

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>> i think we're going to do well. i actually think. i mean, we have senate races that weren't even in play six months ago. when i started looking at it closely, i won't mention names, but there were senators that were not in play. >> the president's right about that. there are senate races in play that were not in play six months ago, but not in places that would benefit republicans. democrats are keeping key races very tight, especially in red states like, wait for it, texas and tennessee. the only blue state seat that's become more competitive is in new jersey. democratic senator bob menendez is facing a much tighter than expected race, it's his first time on the ballot since the justice department dropped the federal corruption charges against him. a new stockton university poll out today found that menendez leads his republican challenger, bob hugin, by just two points, 45% to 43%. still, president trump's optimism comes as republican

strategists are worried that the president's supporters are too complacent and won't show up to keep his party in control of congress next month. keep it right here, because we have got breaking news on the kavanaugh confirmation right after this break. whether it's a big thing, small thing, or something unexpected, pnc will be right there when you need us. because when it comes to your finances, if you focus on today, tomorrow has a way of working itself out. where people go to learn about their medicare options before they're on medicare. come on in. you're turning 65 soon? yep. and you're retiring at 67? that's the plan! it's also a great time to learn about an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan,

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we are following breaking news in the brett kavanaugh investigation. nbc news has learned that supreme court nominee brett kavanaugh and his team worked behind the scenes for days to get his friends to refute allegations by deborah ramirez that kavanaugh exposed himself to her while that were in college. this comes as the white house today authorized the fbi to expand its supplemental investigation into kavanaugh. that investigation must be wrapped up by friday. nbc news has learned that at least one mutual friend has attempted to contact the fbi with information pertinent to the investigation. but has yet to be contacted by

the bureau. with me now is one of the reporters who just broke this story, nbc news national political reporter heidi prisbella. heidi, first, run throughpresbe. run through your reporting. >> reporter: this is someone who did not want to go public but who has pertinent information who has been attempting to get through to the fbi, has made several attempts, and finally hired a lawyer yesterday. but is get nothing guarantees. he's tried contacting a local field office and told this is not their authority to take their information. she is a mutual friend of debbie ramirez and brett kavanaugh who knew them from yale law school. she is in possession of a series of text messages she says she has not drawn any conclusions about, but that suggest that they definitely need to investigate further, what was going on in the lead-up to this new yorker piece exposing debbie ramirez's story.

specifically, she wanted to get out these texts that showed that kavanaugh may have been trying to discredit debbie ramirez in the run-up to "the new yorker" story, even though he told the senate judiciary committee he wasn't aware of "the new yorker" story until it ran. so that needs to be looked into. whether he was pushing other classmates who were part of this tight knit circle that includes debbie ramirez and the lady that crafted her memo, he is 51 years old, former classmate who has been concerned for quite a while, trying to bring this information forward. the white house says this is normal. that kavanaugh would the this in the run-up to this story, that it's "pr 101," but we talked with experts who have been through this confirmation process before, specifically bob bauer, who say this would be highly imprudent for brett kavanaugh to be reaching out and

sway the information being put forth, that given the severity of the accusations, he had no business reaching out to these people. according to the text messages, that's what he did. the woman who exchanged the text messages with another friend had text messages saying that brett is asking me to do this, brett's team is asking me to do this, including procuring a photo of debbie ramirez and brett later that shows them smiling at a bridal party. another thing we attained suggests that debbie ramirez was very comfortable during that interaction in that photo you see there. that was taken at a wedding of a mutual friend and her husband. brett kavanaugh was apparently trying to procure this photo, presumably to discredit her account to show they're friends. according to the text messages, kerry bertram thought it was

very odd how deborah ramirez was behaving, that she was avoiding brett kavanaugh and so a lot to up pack in these e-mails. you can read it on nbcnews.com. >> this should shed light on kavanaugh and ramirez's relationship, that they knew each other better than we had previously been led to believe. >> right. that there was this tight circle of former yale classmates, that, in fact, they wound up ten years later being in the same wedding party. and to, yes, when kavanaugh came out, he was trying to, of course, distance himself from debbie ramirez, but what this shows is that they were in this tight circle, and that he personally according to these text messages, may have been trying to pressure some of his classmates to come out and refute debbie ramirez. and that's something that obviously needs to be looked at by the fbi.

but at this point, is not, according to kerry bertram. she's made several attempts to get to the fbi. this very relevant, given today is the day the white house says no holds barred. we want them to look under every stone. >> are we sure he was pressuring the friends, or could it be nor innocuous than that? what does the reporting show? >> the text messages show that the mutual friend, karen, who was texting to kerry bertram, said brett used his name and brett's team and brett's guy, the exact language, had asked her to, one, get a photo -- get that photo that we showed. and two, that brett used his name, which suggests that it was brett personally was asking her to go on the record to defend her. >> he's been accused of something and he wants to find the people around him at the time to say hey, listen, do you remember it that way? because i don't remember it that

way. >> that is, of course, what the white house is saying, that when you're being accused of something, you're going to go to the mat and try to find everything that can disprove that allegation. but the experts say that brett kavanaugh should not have personally given the position that he's in, be trying to micromanage this campaign to try and essentially discredit debbie ramirez's allegations. >> susan? >> that is bad pr 101. it is pressuring a person. he is a federal judge, if nothing else, just take that. if not, it's the white house asking for this information. it is also kind of what we talked about at the top of the hour. you saw that photo. there's six other people in that photo who can all speak to their relationship and it's going back to, this is a close knit group of people. i'm shocked to see this, and i think it's really bad news for kavanaugh. >> it sounds like what the fbi is going to have a harder time doing is confirm what dr. ford's alleged or what debbie ramirez has alleged or what the third

accuser has alleged, but they can confirm facts that would fly in the face -- >> they can paint a fuller picture. >> or fly in the face of some of his testimony the way he's described himself or described relationships or certain events. we're going to see what else they find out, what our press uncovers. heidi, thank you for joining us. we appreciate it. jonathan, susan, and lanny, thanks for this full-hour panel on "meet the press." loved it. we'll be right back. ht back. fact is, there have been twenty-six in the last decade. allstate is adapting. with drones to assess home damage sooner. and if a flying object damages your car, you can snap a photo and get your claim processed in hours, not days. plus, allstate can pay your claim in minutes. now that you know the truth... are you in good hands?

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that's all for tonight. we'll be back tomorrow with more "mtp daily." "the beat with ari melber" starts right now. >> we begin with president trump backing down in this kavanaugh fight. this has been the second time in less than a week. it was just days ago that president trump first reelemented to agreeing to reopen the fbi probe after claiming, well, that's maybe not what the fbi does. tonight's news is that he has agreed to an expanded probe of brett kavanaugh. that means fbi agents can speak to anyone necessary as long as it ends by friday. basically, the white house is no longer micromanaging the director of the probe of who they can talk to. but they're insisting on a tight and let's admit it, arbitrary deadline. "the new york times" reporting the fbi has interviewed the four people it was