call, go online, or demo in an xfinity store today. that a wraps it up for me. i turn it over to my friend alex witt. >> sure you don't want to hang out and stay? so much to cover. thank you so much for the setup. good morning to all of you. i'm alex witt here in new york at msnbc world headquarters. 8:00 on the nose here in the east, 5:00 a.m. out west. what's happening, a live look at the senate floor. rare all-night debate after key undecided votes swing in favor of president trump's embattled supreme court nominee. >> mr. president, i will vote to confirm judge kavanaugh. >> senator susan collins, republican of maine, delivering the deciding vote, sparking both

celebration and outrage. >> i have never been angrier or sadder as a member of the united states senate, because it is the result of a cover-up. >> we are now just hours away from the final vote to confirm brett kavanaugh. it is all but certain to go his way, but there are lingering and key questions about his place on the supreme court. and breaking news. at this hour, new reaction from senate democrats as they continue to use up every single hour of debate before the full senate makes its final vote on judge kavanaugh. >> i don't know how you can come to the floor as many republicans have and say, we believe dr. christine ford but end of the day we really, it just can't -- we can't bring ourselves to the point of believing it could have been brett kavanaugh. >> ours was an investigation to figure out enough about what happened to determine if brett kavanaugh is fit to serve on the

highest court in our land. is he fit to be a jurist? that is our role. when it comes to dr. ford's allegations, and we fell short. we fell short. we did not do her justice. we did not do the american people justice. >> but republicans just hours away now from confirming their second supreme court justice under president trump. they are pushing back against these claims and what this confirmation fight will mean for midterms. >> we watched what was happening. they were trying to destroy this good man with all of these rumors and the rest of the stuff. we needed to have the vote to bring it to a conclusion. >> also new reaction from one of the lawyers representing christine blasey ford in an interview with msnbc last night. >> there was no effort to leak this letter and have this unfold

as it did. that's an absolute falsehood. >> we keep hearing there are no corroborating witnesses, but there are who haven't been interviewed and talked to and those witnesses can say several years well before judge kavanaugh was ever considered for the supreme court she told me that he sexually assaulted her. >> they cherry picked who they spoke to. >> covers this morning's developments with the help of nbc's kelly o'donnell at the white house. and our reporter on capitol hill and jonathan allen in washington and laura baron lopez here in new york. good morning to all of you. first to are mike viqueira on capitol hill there. talk about the timeline for this final confirmation vote today. >> reporter: you're right, alex. suspense may be over in terms of the outcome of the final vote we expect around the 5:00 hour here in washington, but the repercussions are still felt both inside the capitol and

outside the capitol where protesters continue their activity, expected to be another day of chaos, disorder and protests in and around these buildings on capitol hill as we move towards that final vote. again, expected around 5:00 p.m. we've seen all night those senators, mostly democrats, taking the floor of the senate to voice their displeasure and their anger over the way this has gone. kirsten gillibrand on the floor early this morning and others all night long. brian schatz from hawaii as well. prominently taking up that time, because what happened yesterday at that cloture vote that vote to end debate and move towards today's final passage, the vote that had all of that drama surrounding it start add clock of 30 hours, per senate rules that will bring us to 5:00. now, yesterday as i mentioned, a lot of republicans still on the fence. that outcome very much in doubt until about the 3:00 hour when susan collins took the floor, but other republicans had hemmed and hawed and in one case made up their might at the very last

minute. >> i did not come to a decision on this until walking in to the floor this morning. i believe that brett kavanaugh is a good man. i believe he is a good man. it just may be that in my view he's not the right man for the court at this time. >> difficult decision for everybody. it really is. so, anyway, we did our best. >> confirmed tomorrow? >> i would think so. >> the facts presented do not mean that professor ford was not sexually assaulted that night or at some other time, but they do lead me to conclude that the allegations failed, to me, the more likely than not standard. mr. president, i will vote to

confirm judge kavanaugh. >> and susan collins waited about 45 minutes in to that speech where she meticulously laid out her thinking for the big reveal for that last line there. alex, 51-49, you know, the partisan balance of the senate in favor of republicans. what's happened essentially one for one switch. mur kokowski voting yes, and collins no. >> susan collins well knew she had to make her reasons before making that pronouncement for sure. the 45 minutes you talk about, mike. thank you. we'll see a lot of you today. thank you for that. bring in our panel. jonathan allen and lauren baron lopez with a welcome to you both. jonathan, look, you write about senator susan collins. what is the read how they came to her decision? yes, chronicled that in the 45-minute leadup to where she stated what she was going to do, but your takeaway from all of this is what? >> my takeaway is twotwofold.

first of all, something implicit at odds she said with what some republican suggested, certainly republican voters i've talked to lately traveling around the country for trump rallies. that is that she basically seemed to be saying that if she believed brett kavanaugh had attempted to rape christine blasey ford she would have been a no vote, and that may not have been true for some of the other republican senators. the other important thing to take away from it is what she basically said is that she doesn't believe dr. ford suffered an assault at the hands of brett kavanaugh. that clip you just played, that it failed to meet the more likely than not test, and so few republicans were willing to say that they didn't believe ford. i think senator lindsey graham said she had a problem, meaning a psychological problem. for the most part, something even the president avoided.

the closing argument for the republicans was, kavanaugh didn't do this. and susan collins was the wuoneo give it. >> don't you remember, in the immediate aftermath of christine flossy ford's testimony, all the way up to the president they said they found her testimony credible. it's as if they're saying something happened to her, just not at the hands of brett kavanaugh? is that the general consensus on republicans, or those voting to confirm him? >> reporter: i don't know what they personally believe in their hearts. that's certainly the message they're sending and what susan collins said yesterday. you know, i think that the thinking on her part, and she laid it out there, was exactly what you suggested, and that it's just not something that brett kavanaugh did. she did -- susan collins went further than president trump or really any other republican in saying, clearly, that she did not believe christine blasey ford suffered an assault at the

hands of brett kavanaugh. >> yeah. laura, i know you've written there about democratic senator joe manchin and his position here. what was the calculation in coming to his conclusion? >> reporter: well, i think manchin very much like collins was, you know waiting to see what this fbi report, what the summaries ultimately said. you know, he -- he's someone that early on we thought could possibly vote for kavanaugh, given his stance as a centrist democrat, one who likes to reach acontrol the aisle, from west virginia in a difficult re-election bid there. although polls recently have him with a substantial lead. so there was some talk about, oh, he could possibly survive voting against kavanaugh, and early on he had raised issues about, you know -- kavanaugh's rulings and opinions on pre-existing conditions and concern that kavanaugh could rule against that if those come

before the supreme court, but ultimately, again, manchin i think one key thing to know as well is that he waited until pretty much his vote wasn't going to have an impact. he waited until everyone who was undeclared said where they were going to fall and then he said, okay. now i can have -- decide what i want to without causing a big storm. >> yeah. that's something, by the way, donald trump jr. called him out on in a tweet in asking west virginias to vote for the republican senate candidate there, which may pose difficulty for manchin going forward in the next four, five weeks. may i ask, though, the sentiment of the fellow democrats for joe manch manchin's actions. do you have a read on that? >> a lot of them are not surprised, to be honest with you. again, you know, chuck schumer wasn't going to try to whip manchin or even heitkamp, who is another centrist democrat who ultimately decided she's going

to vote against kavanaugh. that came as a surprise to manchin. they usually, the two of them, end up on the same side of votes. they both voted for neil gorsuch, trump's other supreme court pick, but, you know, i think democrats as whole, the ones opposed to kavanaugh are sad, they're frustrated, but i don't expect them to be attacking manchin or taking any of their anger out on him. >> so this fbi report, jonathan. do we know what's in it? will it ever be released to the public? >> we have characterizations of it, alex, but, no, we don't know what's in it, and i'm not sure it ever will be released to the public. you would think something like that would come out at some point. that little bits, if they're leaking here and there and you see reports on the fringes of what was in it, what wasn't. senators sort of characterizing it, you would think at some

point it would come out but i'm not 100% sure of that. >> and democratic senators, laura, complaining about this report, you write about senator sho schatz? >> his response was interesting. i've actually never seen schatz speak in that manner. he's usually very upbeat. leaving the secured rumor holding this one report he was very upset, know, down trodden and he said he's never been more appalled with the institution of the senate, an institution that he loves, but the primary complaint from democrats about the report including schatz, you can't find what you aren't looking for. republicans saying there is no corroboration for christine blasey ford's account or for deborah ramirez, her account of sexual assault, but you can't find corroboration if you aren't

looking for it and schatz equateded that to looking for your keys in your apartment and only look on the bathroom floor and say i can't find my keys that's not a thorough investigation. >> thank you both for joining us. i had not introduced you with the "washington exam" and wanted to make that affiliation. thank you. and two senators breaking from party ranks in today's vote for entirely different reasons and reaction to it. >> listen to the people here. >> sure. i'm very much -- # but allstate helps you. with drivewise. feedback that helps you drive safer. and that can lower your cost now that you know the truth... are you in good hands? discover.o. i like your card, but i'm absolutely not paying an annual fee. discover has no annual fees. really? yeah. we just don't believe in them. oh nice. you would not believe how long i've been

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quorum call: . a live picture now of capitol hill this morning where in about nine hours or so we will have a divided senate that will make the final vote on the confirmation of supreme court nominee brett kavanaugh. now, i in a show of defiance, democrats spent the night using the full 30 hours of debate time making impassioned floor speeches to delay the kavanaugh vote until later on this afternoon. nbc's kelly o'donnell as usual following developments for us from the white house. kelly, a good and busy and long saturday, it feels like already, but let's get to what's new from your vantage point. >> reporter: sure does feel like a long day ahead and it was a very long night on capitol hill. the lights never went out, but today it is expected the white house will get what is absolutely a legacy win for president trump if the vote to confirm kavanaugh goes as

expected, and it comes after what has been a difficult three months of his confirmation process with a raw and personal battle over judge kavanaugh's character and his credibility, and protesters now say they will keep their fire through the midterm elections next month. the suspense is over but the struggle is fought. >> all: we're all survivors! >> reporter: senators mostly democrats debating the future of the supreme court. >> he is not telling the truth about what he did! >> reporter: and the fault lines over how sexual misconduct claims are heard. >> i believe her. i believe dr. ford. i still believe her. >> reporter: the lone republican who will vote no -- >> this has been agonizing. >> reporter: alaska's lisa murkowski said judge brett kavanaugh's conduct at the hearing was too overtly partisan for an impartial supreme court justice. >> i could not conclude that he is the right person for the

court at this time. >> reporter: the only democrat to back kavanaugh is west virginia's joe manchin. in a tough race for re-election. >> all: shame! shame! shame! >> reporter: shouted down by protesters who believed dr. christine blasey ford's sexual misconduct allegation against kavanaugh. >> something happened to dr. ford. i don't believe that the facts showed it was brett kavanaugh. >> reporter: in a dramatic turn friday, on the senate floor, republican senator susan collins said she listened to victims' voices. >> the #metoo movement is real. >> reporter: but will vote for kavanaugh, because there was not enough evidence to deny his presumption of innocence. >> it is when passions are most enflamed that fairness is most in jeopardy. >> reporter: and susan collins gave a 45-minute address to her colleagues and the nation. going point-by-point through the

issues that had been raised about kavanaugh for his legal opinions as well as the issues about the allegations of dr. christine blasey ford, and the character issues around brett kavanaugh. after she made it clear there would be enough, even though it's just a two-vote margin, the white house, of course, erupted in cheers and the west wing offices relieved that they will get their nominee on to the high court after a difficult fight. today the president hits the campaign trail himself heading to topeka, kansas, where we will expect to hear some public reaction for the first time about all of this, and that may come after the final vote late today. alex? >> all right, kelly o. at the white house. long day ahead. we will see you again. thank you so much. also new today a report that u.s. congressman jared nadler is promising to investigate brett kavanaugh if democrats win control of the house in november. joining me now, congressman meeks and member of the foreign affairs committee and others. good morning, my friend.

get to it here. if democrats were to try to investigate judge kavanaugh after being seated on the court, to what end? what would you be looking for? >> what you want to do, you want the facts, the truth to come out. what is a shame about what's taking place is, we are a government of institutions. and what we're doing now, we're most hallowed institution, it's the supreme court. the supreme court now will have a big question mark on it, and you need to make sure that you erase that question mark. you know, it would seem to me that the best thing to do is, i mean, the republican senate, what they did previously, they withheld a nomination for over, almost a year. what you should do here, so that the people would have integrity in the process say, okay. we are going to do an abbreviated instigation. we want to stop and do a complete investigation. >> you want to look at what happened? try to get to the bottom of

that? >> right. talk to all the witnesses. >> conflicting stories. >> resolve it so that the american people know that we're putting the appropriate person on one of the most cherished institutions of our land. >> would you also be looking at how the white house directed the fbi to do this investigation? >> absolutely correct. because the analogy someone made earlier, that if you only look at the bathroom floor for your keys. >> yep. >> you know -- >> senator schatz did that. >> you're not going to look through the whole house but say the key's lost. also talking about individuals asking for information and for months the white house and others withheld information from democrats just to review to see who he is. that's not good for our country. it's not good for democrats. it's not good for republicans. it's not good for independents, because what year doing is tarnishing the value of our institutions in saying, ah, because of the time and because we want this president who we know is a liar, everybody, all

news media, all checks show that he's a liar, he wants to pick his judge to decide his cases, because he is currently under investigation. it questions the very, our institutions, which he wants to destroy. >> where does that put the potential of associate justice kavanaugh? while sitting on the supreme court? if a court case relative to donald trump rises to supreme court level here, what happens? i mean, can you assume he'll have a fair and impartial -- >> no. you cannot assume that. the appropriate thing would be, he would have to step down. but you also saw already how this president despises his own attorney general, who decided to recuse himself and goes after him on a continuous bases. you can assume that this president also knows he doesn't want to make that mistake again and wants to make sure he has someone on his side who would

never recuse himself on a case that would come before him. and guess what? kavanaugh's history when you look at his writings indicates that he would not. that he would make a judgment therein. >> i mentioned jerry nadler. he sidestepped answering this question, but i guess if you follow the bouncing ball, should democrats take back control of the house, the possibility of pursuing impeachment against brett kavanaugh. a. is that a viable possibility? and when you talked about tarnishing the reputation of, or at least these institutions that we have here in this country by all of this process, would that not then tarnish the supreme court? >> what i think we should do, as i said, the american people would need to know all of the facts. one of the things that should happen first is, all of -- this investigation, the fbi had, whatever they did or did not do, should be made public to the american public. it should not remain secret. that might be a great step forward so we know what the next step would be.

we should open it up. let everybody know. why is it going to be a secret what, you know, what was the narrow scope that the president put in? >> can i ask you -- do you even know everything that was in that fbi report? >> absolutely not. >> you're not in the senate. >> correct. i was not there. i am not in the senate. i would like to be able to go in and see what is in that report and i think that the american people are entitled to it, and the reason why it is tremendously important is because of all along, our institutions now, the credibility of our institutions are at stake. and the credibility of our institutions were put at stake by who? by this president of the united states. whether it's now the supreme court, whether it's the fbi. whether it's the attorney general's office. this president has put our very institutions which is the hallmark of our country, the credibility of it, at stake. we as americans must come back and make sure that there is

transparency and to preserve and protect our country. >> i can hear and feel the passion in your comments. thank you for bringing them to us, gregory meeks, good to see you. and coming up, why the fierce battle of brett kavanaugh can trace its roots back to the '90s. o the '90s

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so if the vote goes as planned judge brett kavanaugh will be confirmed with the closest margin in history likely two votes second to justice thomas in 1991. kavanaugh's confirmation fight is the latest example how polarizing politic has gotten over this last 30 years or so. i'm bringing in steve kornacki, msnbc national political correspondent and author of the new book "the red and the blue: the 1990s and the birth of political tribalism". my friend, former weekend colleague, i see why you difficulted us on the weekends to get going on this book, which is so good. my takeaway, we get a lot of books, steve, with a lot of wonderful and important information. your reads like a novel. part of my big purse now that i'm carrying around everywhere i go. fantastic. really appreciate it. >> thank you. >> before we get to details of the book what is your takeaway from