grandfather he would have been. the jokes and the games and probably the toys he would have made for them. >> never got a chance to roll their eyes at jokes. >> yeah. that's all for this edition of "dateline." i'm craig melvin. thank you for watching. good morning. i'm dara brown in new york at msnbc world headquarters. it's 7:00 in the east, 4:00 out west. here's what's happening. confirmed. brett kavanaugh sworn in as the 114th united states supreme court justice. >> it was a very unfair situation. so i evened the playing field. once i did that, it started to sail through. >> what does the president mean by saying he evened the playing field during the bitter confirmation process. new this morning, how some democrats put wheels in motion to oust kavanaugh. next up, midterms. how president trump is already using this latest battle to try

to help the gop. the democrats have become too extreme and too dangerous to govern. >> is this the joke gop needs to prevent a blue wave or will it energize democrats. we begin with a live picture of the white house and president trump taking a victory lap after clinching his second supreme court nominee. the one republican senator who voted against justice kavanaugh. the president telling the "washington post" ahead of the final vote that senator lisa murkowski will never recover from this. the people from alaska will never forgive her what she did. it was unacceptable. really unacceptable. justice kavanaugh sworn in by chief justice roberts last night. he will travel to the white house tomorrow for an open ceremony. many believe this could boost their party's fortune and keeping the conversation alive

about sexual assault. >> they're worried about their daughters. men are worried about their spouses but also worried about due process. we have to have a real conversation and make sure that we keep this going forward. this has cemented the democratic women or the independent women who didn't think their vote mattered. but i am and i think we will take the house. that's the first time i've said that. >> we have the power to take the gavels away from these people. the power to take the jobs away from these people. we have that power in four weeks. so don't get mad. get to the polls. we can do something about this. >> let's bring in national political reporter for news day and chief washington correspondent from bloomberg. great to have you with us -- the senate vote for justice kavanaugh is the closest in history. how big of a deal is that or is it simply a win? >> it's a massive deal. this is a razor-thin vote that ultimately got decided. we saw president speaking out

against lisa murkowski who voted against all of this. look at senator joe manchin who voted to confirm judge kavanaugh in a state he's up for reelection in the midterms. a state that candidate donald trump carried by 42 percentage points. in alaska, it's interesting. 15% are native americans and they came out aggressively against having -- against judge kavanaugh. this was a local issue for senator murkowski. the bottom line, we look at all the polls, rightfully as we should. the npr marist poll, that's what my eye is on, this has motivated the progressive base and the republican base. that poll, which i just referred to showed that the enthusiasm gap has disappeared and republicans have the enthusiasm factor now. i'm not sure if that holds,

dara. keep an eye on the enthusiasm numbers, i think progressives are fired up about what happened. >> any sense of how long this will reverberate, the confirmation and the investigation, will we see it last and rise elsewhere? >> absolutely. i think you're going to see this, especially within the next four weeks. i don't think there's anything that can get done here at all. >> emily, you write that republicans and democrats are claiming an edge among energized voters. how is that? >> the poll that kevin pointed to showing that gaps narrowing from ten points to two points between july and this month. very much say both parties come out of the kavanaugh side very energized. the question of course, remains who will stay energized for the next four weeks. as we played the clip of president trump saying last night he wants the republican voters to go to the polls remembering that this is what he can deliver for them.

he delivered a conservative majority on the supreme court. he can do more for them. he can fulfill his promises. they can be -- any threat of democratic leadership in the house. you sort of remember that the democratic voters, especially the far left progressives, activists were energized from the moment that president trump was inaugurated. starting with the massive women's march nationwide. we're just now seeing sort of the republican energy catch up to democratic energy. at first pollsters campaign handicappers are saying it will be the democrats who can sustain that enthusiasm until election day, until the midterms especially because you might be more motivated by anger than happiness or contentment. >> kevin, majority leader mcconnell told the "washington post" that it's been a great political gift for us. the tactics energized our base

and i want to thank the mob because they've done the one thing we were having trouble doing which is energizing our base. the fight is over. kavanaugh is on the top court. can republicans count on the back and forth democrats to drive voters to the polls? >> they're going to try. moments after the -- it became apparent on friday that judge kavanaugh had the votes, you saw top trump surrogates pushing this issue that democrats centrist democrats in red states that the president carried in the presidential elections would try to work to remove judge kavanaugh from the highest court in the land. people like senator joe done ollie, senator heitkamp, senator mccaskill and manchin. these are votes going to get questioned about whether or not they feel that justice kavanaugh should recuse himself from certain cases or work to ultimately have impeachment proceedings for him, which is very difficult to do. so i think that you're going to

see republicans do that. to emily's point, i also think that you're really -- this factor of the voter on the left is something to watch here because moments after senator manchin announced he would support justice kavanaugh, they pulled all of their money, all of their ad buys from the state. senator manchin made a calculation. he's going after the independent voters more than the base voters. >> that was a big move from move on.org. i want to turn to something senator lindsey graham told reporters. i think the roles were reversed. the drunk was kavanaugh -- >> it's so hard for me to guess on that one. i do know when he made the very charged, very angry remarks during the testimony of judge kavanaugh, now justice kavanaugh not so long ago, it was sarah huckabee sanders, the white house press secretary that was

among the first from the white house to commend him for that. comments like this might be directed toward the president and his inner circle. but i think that senator graham was trying to make the point that a justice -- injustice can't be corrected by another injustice. he wanted them to both be treated fairly. >> you took a sigh there. >> i'm sorry. get ready. because i hate to interrupt. get ready. senator lindsey graham could be the senate judiciary committee chairman if republicans hold the senate and congressman jer you nadler, a democrat from new york, promised to investigate justice kavanaugh. emily, i want to go back to kevin's point. after friday's cloture vote that move on.org when they severed ties with manchin, which senate races will you be watching in the weeks ahead as a result of this kavanaugh fight? >> the senate race is where republicans are said to be

endangered because -- democrats are endangered because states in -- i will be watching arizona and nevada where there's a potential very much for a democrat to take office, particularly arizona where there's early voting. that's probably one of the tightest contests on the ballot ground right now. >> kevin, what about you? >> texas. centrist democrat down there in texas and giving senator ted cruz a run for his money. >> stay with us. we'll talk about the 2020 election coming up. we'll be back with that. >> he's been confirmed and sworn in. how long before he shows his true colors on the supreme court? that's up next. when their windshield got chipped. so they scheduled at safelite.com. they didn't have to change their plans or worry about a thing. i'll see you all in a little bit. and i fixed it right away

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a big week ahead for the supreme court and its newest justice, brett kavanaugh. usa today reporting his first cases will include product liability, immigration and the armed career criminal act. kavanaugh was sworn in last night. joining me now is ashley merchant. what a week it has been. justice kavanaugh now. he's going to take a seat on the bench on tuesday giving the court a consistent conservative majority without a glimpse of who he is based on his clinton revenge comment. so how many decisions will it take to interpret who justice kavanaugh is and how big of a factor will he play in the upcoming cases? >> he's going to be a huge factor. he's not going to be a moderate. we've seen a lot of moderates and the middle ground up until now in the court. we're going to have a 5-4 majority for very, very right conservative wing. so what we'll see with justice kavanaugh, the real question will be whether or not it will be within a year or four or five

years. we're going to see definitely a conservative swing on the court. there's going to be a lot of key issues coming up. there's going to be immigration issues, death penalty issues, warrantless search and seizure. he's got a lot of issues he can change. the big thing that -- i guess, i don't want to say frightens a lot of people. but causes some alarm is the fact that he doesn't necessarily believe in star i dee sies is. we're likely to see him turn over the laws and him wanting to change some of these standards that we've got on the court currently. >> ashleigh, president trump's first nominee, neil gorsuch, he was sworn in last year. what kind of justice has he turned out to be? would he be at the far right with clarence thomas? >> he's definitely conservative justice. but i think we're going to see kavanaugh a more conservative justice especially with religious freedom and abortion

issues. i think we're going to see the line between church and state blurred somewhat with this new justice. i think it's important for people to understand how cases get to the supreme court. they're groomed through the state courts. the state courts have issues coming up. issues of gun rights and immigration. those type of things come up and the court watches those. then the court determines which cases they actually want to hear. they'll be able to decide and pick and choose which cases they actually want to tackle and which issues they want to tackle. so you can, if you are partisan, have a political agenda on the court because you can vote to take certain cases and hear certain cases if you have a political motivation to do so. in the years past, we haven't seen that political motivation come forward. i think that's going to change. we're going to see a much more conservative motivation in taking certain cases. >> to your point, a recent article topped democratic -- are talking about impeachment of brett kavanaugh.

multiple federal judges 'em peached by the house. no supreme court justice has been removed. what can you tell us about the -- justice kavanaugh goes through impeachment proceedings? >> it's not likely. what would have been most likely is the fbi would have fully investigated before the confirmation. once it happens, it's a lifetime appointment. it's very unlikely that any impeachment process will happen. not saying that folks won't try to do that. what i do hope is that the investigation continues. whether it be through the media or the witnesses coming forward on their own. i do hope the investigation continues. if there is some concrete or definite evidence that comes forward, we definitely have the impeachment process available. but it's unlikely that we're going to see a supreme court justice impeached. >> during kavanaugh's confirmation hearing, he was an advocate for immunity from persecution. he was asked about whether he would recuse himself from some

issues. should he recuse himself from decisions involving the president? >> he's not going to recuse himself. it's unlikely that he would. he's been a sitting court of appeals justice this entire time. he doesn't have any conflict of interest on paper essentially. his partisanship has come forward but i don't think that that's going to be enough for him to recuse himself. i think that he very much wants to hear these issues. president trump wants him to hear these issues. i don't think it's likely we'll see him recuse himself from cases coming forward. >> ashleigh, in a political op-ed, a former law dean said, quote, for as long as kavanaugh sits on the court, he'll remain a symbol of partisan anger. the court moves to the right, kavanaugh inevitably become the -- distrust and motivation. it will undermine the court's claim to legitimacy. it will be an american tragedy. do you agree with the statement?

will his appointment question the legitimacy for years to come? >> i think it does because of the partisanship that we've seen. the squort historically has been the unbody immune from the part -- the one body immune from things. civil rights, desegregation. these types of issues, religious freedom, they're ones that the supreme court, we hold dear and we think the supreme court will enforce the constitution. when we see a partisan judge like this, someone like judge kavanaugh taking on for the bench, it does undermine the legitimacy of the court because it's so partisan. we're going to question his motives for years to come and not going to have the faith to do what is right versus what he thinks he wants his party to do sghiefrnlts harvard announced kavanaugh will no longer teach at their institution. in an article published on the

american bar association journal, he mostly taught at harvard after hiring by the dean. take a listen to what she said on friday. >> part of the court's lenl legitimacy depends on people not seeing the court in the way that they see the rest of the governing structures of this country now. it's not so clear that going forward that sort of middle position. you know, it's not clear whether we'll have it. >> does this put the court at risk? and what will this mean in a democratic government going forward. >> it definitely puts the court at risk. you are already going to know how he's going to rule. how justice kavanaugh is going to rule. with the 5-4 majority, it's a foregone conclusion how they'll rule on issues. we're used to seeing moderates

and folks in the middle who seriously consider these issues. we don't have that trust anymore. to go to the fact that he's no longer teaching at a preeminent law school, it's telling. because the american bar association has come out against him, a lot of law professors have and lawyers have. the legal community is distrust full at this point. >> ashleigh merchant, thanks so much for your insight. only 30 days until the midterm elections. will the kavanaugh confirmation give the republicans the boost they need or backfire?"saturday their take on the confirmation. >> for a while we thought it was going to be tied and we were going to have to go with our closer, mike pence much he was jog in and enter the sandman search at 100 miles an hour. thank the lord that was not necessary. how do you win at business?

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we're in the homestretch. early voting is under way in six states with seven more states to begin this week. >> the only reason to vote democrat is if you're tired of winning. right? we want to win, win, win. mr. president, the numbers don't bear that out. the democrats hold a seven-point lead in generic ballot polling. the democrats with a 3 in 4 chance of winning the house. they need 33 seats. two key democrats who fought against judge kavanaugh's confirmation are sending signals. camilla harris will be in ohio. last night, senator cory booker was in des moines tapping into his family --

>> this is an iowa story. this is an american story. buxton was ahead of his times. there's a book about him. black votes and european immigrants were all living together. they were living integrated. they went to school together and social events together. they were coal miners and went down in that coal mine together, black and white, digging out coal, hard jobs. union labor. >> let's bring back emily and kevin. if that is not a campaign speech, i don't know what is, right? >> absolutely. both senator camilla harris and cory booker have had the benefit of being in the spotlight the last several weeks. they've been -- had the chance to be empathetic towards that forceful and -- toward judge kavanaugh. now justice kavanaugh. for see that will turn into

campaign ads or something for them. now that they're iowa and ohio, we see the 2020 race again. >> your thoughts on camilla harris and cory booker could be positioning themselves for 2020. >> i thought it was interesting in this campaign, booker pitched in des moines, he was talking about coal workers the same week that the president renegotiated nafta. that was one of the driving forces why the president carried michigan, ohio, wisconsin and pennsylvania. look for that to be a potential divisive issue in the democratic primary. people like senator booker have to make the case they will be able to go against the clinton wing of the democratic party to get and more in line with someone like senator elizabeth warren who has come out against the multinational trade deals. that's an interesting populous argument on the left. she was perceived inside of the halls of congress as not being a

showboat but being serious and asking pointed questions. >> kevin, we have to leave you on that note. thank you for joining us both. great to have you. that will do it for me. i'm dara brown. thank you for watching. politics nation is coming up at the top of the hour. "your business" next. mechanic: midas has all the top brands of tires. king: yes! indeed. take these michelin tires for example... king: or these goodyear tires over here! now at midas, get up to $200 off select goodyear and cooper tires with the midas credit card.

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