all of us believed that anybody on the republican side would have put brett kavanaugh on their short list. so what happened was we saw this as an attack on us, conservatism. we saw what they were doing to brett, crossing a line of wanting power too much. i saw it in terms of an offense against a friend and a betrayal of what i had tried to do. since clarence thomas, bork, alito went through this -- every republican conservative is a racist, blah blah blah. why is it always our people? what i said that day i meant, that i looked everyone in the eye and said i never would have done this to your nominees. i would not have picked sotomayor or kagan but they were qualified. brett kavanaugh is as qualified as anyone ever nominated to the supreme court and was a good man and what we were doing to him is unconscionable. this is why that matters. if they had succeeded in driving him away and he had withdrawn, who would be next on our side? what young conservative man or woman would want to throw their hat in the ring go through this? you have to remember the accusations were five, three of the

after brett kavanaugh everything changed with me, they are not going to intimidate, not one local justice had their life ruined, they are talking about chasing the electoral college. if they keep the house, the senate and the white house this country will change fundamentally. the only thing stopping them is use voter. >> protesters that senator graham's home demanding he and fellow republicans hold off on confirming a new justice but showing up outside is some good too far? giano caldwell says he's not surprised by the left's upstream actions, he joins us live later this hour. >> as donald trump considers his topics ahead of his announcement later this week senior political analyst britt hume says after the brett kavanaugh hearing some may not even want it. >> the character assassination we saw visit on robert bork, and even greater extent, more recently to horrible extent toward brett kavanaugh, something any person in his right mind would fear, might just be something they don't want to run that goblet. i think that's a distinct possibility. >> republicans have 42 days until election d

this is the exchange between her and brett kavanaugh back then. would gather witness statements. do you have witness statements? >> i don't want to debate with you how they do your business. are you willing to ask the white house to do it and say yes or no and then we can move on. >> six background investigations. >> as it relates to the recent allegations, are you willing to have them do it? >> the lis witness testimony, no witness supports that i was there. >> i'm going to take that as a no and we can move on. >> martha: it takes you right back to how tense it was back then and you have to feel for what's coming with these potential candidates and what they're going to be put through. >> not only was it tense but unjust, unfair, and dishonest. there were a number of smears that were launched against brett kavanaugh and his family that ended up not being true. the media blew up all of the allegations against brett kavanaugh but when the senate judiciary committee issued a 400 plus page report showing the detailed investigations of every single on

what got me going is i have known brett kavanaugh for almost 20 years. i know him to be one of the most capable people any republican president would nominate to the supreme court. here is the one thing that united the party. he was the private secretary of president george w. bush. he met his wife working for the bush administration. president bush was on the phone day in day out, patching for cap. - vouching for him. group, thethe bush mccain group ann romney group. all of us believed that anybody on the republican side would have put brett kavanaugh on their short list. we saw thisened was as an attack on us, conservatism. we saw what they were doing to line of wanting power too much. it in terms of an offense betrayal friend and a of what i had tried to do. thomas and alito through this every republican conservative is a racist, lovable law. -- blah blah blah. why is it always our people? what i said that day i meant, that i looked everyone in the eye and said i never would have done this to your nominees. i would not have picked soto meyer or kagan

remember how close it was for brett kavanaugh. and i think you have to ask yourself: would lisa murkowski of alaska, susan collins of maine, would some of those republicans who are on the edge vote for anyone that the president nominates at this point given that we're, you know, the president's first term has almost come to an end and we don't know what the outcome of the election would be. so i think that's a fair question that we have to ask the other thing is is this a practical matter the supreme court's new term will start in just a matter of two weeks. the first monday in october is the traditional time so what it means is we are going to have a supreme court that will have an even number of justices and the last time that happened, when justice scalia died, you know, the court kind of scales itself back. when you face the possibility of these tie votes, you know, it's harder to trance act a lot of business on the other hand, it leaves the conservatives now with a determined majority on the court. even though it's just eight

she was an aggressive questioner of brett kavanaugh. would be in that role presumably for democrats on the committee if we get a process going with the trump pick as soon as saturday. so think about that and how it changes her plans and the democratic ticket's plans campaign-wise. she can do a lot less of this and a lot more sitting around at a committee hearing in washington after this. attention veteran homeowners: record low mortgage rates have dropped even lower. at newday, veterans can shortcut the refinance process and save $250 a month. $3000 dollars a year. with the va streamline refi at newday, there's no appraisal, no income verification, and no out of pocket costs. one call can save you $3000 a year. my wife and daughter had been killed in an automobile crash, and lying in the bed were my two little boys. i couldn't have imagined what it would've been like if i didn't have insurance to cover them immediately and fully. forty years later, one of those little boys, my son beau, was diagnosed with terminal cancer, given months t

supreme court nominee brett kavanaugh assaulted her an additional anonymous allegation of physical assault against brett kavanaugh on new sexual misconduct allegations president trump coming to his defense they're going to be dealing with credibility issues around judge cavanagh this was a candidate that was a bad choice even before the allegations came out and really over the brett kavanaugh nomination. i didn't trump has appointed more federal judges supreme court judges then anyone almost in history but this is going to be the most rancorous the most i mean you are going to see her and anger president said he wants to appoint a woman good luck for her good good luck for her her family what they're going to put her through i can only imagine. but with ginsburg seat open we're seeing the exact same situation as when antonin scalia died back in 2016 but the sides are reversed eventually trump was able to appoint a conservative to fill scalia's position but that was only after a long struggle between former president barack obama and the republican dominated senate now the democrats are pre

she's getting pushback in maine for the brett kavanaugh decision and voting for brett kavanaugh. some of these can go either way and not only that but it fires up both bases. let's make sure not only on the right side of the left will be immensely fired up to make sure they get control of the senate. ideally in their view, they have this chance to block or possibly move forward with this justice. >> tucker: a dramatic season just got so much more so. thanks so much, i hope we see you next week. an opinion host with the hill newspaper, we were happy to have him on tonight. what do you think republicans should do after they pause and acknowledge that a human being has passed, someone who served in the court for 27 years but as a political matter, what are they go now? >> like you said, that is the question being asked in washington right now. he made a key point, this puts the issue of the court front and center in every single election, that could be great for some republicans which are on the cusp in certain races, it could be terrible for somebody like susan collins. already whi

the most recent metric we have is brett kavanaugh in the fall of 2018, 57 days before he got a confirmation hearing at 89 days before he was confirmed on the senate floor. shannon: his confirmation battle is proof a lot of times not a smooth or speedy process, especially not the most recent in recent years and i feel like historically this what is going to be different than everything before it. >> reporter: that is right and sometimes these hearings are explosive because these are lifetime appointments, we saw a lot of protests on capitol hill with brett kavanaugh. that was a dramatic scene and we saw it with clarence thomas and anita hill. they reopened the clarence thomas hearings in the fall of 1991 after they heard -- same thing with brett cavanagh and christine ford it just because you submit someone to the judiciary committee does not necessarily mean this is move sailing. keep in mind what happened with harriet myers, former white house counsel george bush nominated, she had to withdraw, they defeated robert bork, president reagan's nominee on the senate floor in 1987 and douglas gi

ultimately filled by brett kavanaugh. as to who the president will pick this time around, we will know within days. president trump today acknowledged it might come after the election but that his preference would be to have a vote on his supreme court nominee by november 3rd. >> we have plenty of time to do it. i mean, there's really a lot of time. it sends a good signal. it's solidarity and lots of other things. i am just doing my constitutional obligation. i have an obligation to do this. so i would rather see it before the election. >> the front runners to succeed ruth bader ginsburg according to sources close to the white house are judge amy coney barrett of the seventh circuit court of appeals. george barbara lagoa of the 11th circuit, and judge allison rushing over the fourth circuit said to be a favorite among evangelicals. >> we are looking for someone who's brilliant, really understands the law and abides by the constitution. and a good person. we are looking for a good

if you remember, she voted against brett kavanaugh just a few years ago. so they're certainly lining up. but, remember, mcconnell needs to hold his conference together. but democrats need four republicans to cross the aisle and vote with them. right now they only have two. and these statements are really interesting because essentially what these two women are saying is they are not comfortable

the most recent metric we have for brett kavanaugh in the fall of 2018, 57 days before he got the confirmation hearing and 89 days before he was actually confirmed on the senate floor, shannon. >> shannon: his confirmation battle has proved that a lot of times this is not smooth or a speedy process and especially not the most recent in recent years. i have to feel like historically this will be different than everything before it. >> that's right, and the hearings are explosive because these are a lifetime appointment and we certainly saw a lot of protests here on capitol hill with brett kavanaugh. there was a very dramatic scene and we certainly sound with clearance thomas and anita hill and they reopened the clarence thomas hearings in the fall of 1991 after they heard about anita hill in the same thing happened with brett kavanaugh and just because you submit someone to the judiciary committee, that doesn't mean that this is smooth sailing. keep in mind of what happened with harriet miers, former white house counsel who president george w. bush nominated, she had to withdrawal and going bac

we saw it with brett kavanaugh. several senators then signalled that they would be voting against brett kavanaugh for the supreme court, but yet they changed their votes, you know, when the time actually came. so i don't think that democrats can depend upon the republicans doing the right thing. it's very clear that they're not gonna put the people over their own political agenda, and they pretty much made that very clear, given the statements that have been issued to date. >> so if they can't rely on the republicans, what are the options available to democrats going forward? >> well, i think chuck schumer put it best when he said all options are on the table. if the democrats are successful in winning back the senate come this november, i think you will see them considering packing the court. which is the equivalent of extending the number of justices on the court. there is no constitutional mandate that the supreme court only have nine justices. and we've started to hear many senators and many others in the democr

we saw it with brett kavanaugh. several senators said they would be voting against brett kavanaugh yet they changed their votes when the time actually came. i don't think democrats can depend upon the republicans doing the right thing. very clear they made that very clear given the statements that have been issued to date. >> if they can't rely on the republicans, what are the options available to democrats going forward? >> i think chuck schumer put it best when he said all options are on the table. if they're successful in winning back the senate come this november, i think you will see them considering packing the court which is the equivalent of extending the number of justices on the court. there's no supreme court mandate and we've heard many others talking about expanding the court, not only to 11 but maybe 15 jurors. we've also heard talk about eliminating the filibuster and even giving statehood to washington, d.c., and potentially puerto rico which will give democrats an opportunity to pick up some additio

he chose brett kavanaugh instead.ouisiana native and mother of seven, amy coney barrett and her family called south bend, indiana, her home. in 1998 she clerked for justice antonin scalia and shares much of his judicial philosophy. >> judge barrett is a well admired judge. she is the establishment choice of the federal society. she's considerably conservative. >> they are anxious to hear a potential nominee's stance on roe v. wade and other abortion related cases. >> i'm sure every nominee before you has belief about that precedent and many others. all nominees are united in their belief that what they think about a precedent should not bear on how they would decide cases. >> sources tell fox news federal appeals court judge barbara lagoa, q mood american in the 11th circuit court of appeals in atlanta is also on the president's short-list. today the president mentioned the 38-year-old judge referring to judge allison rushing who if nominated and confirmed could serve 40 or 50 years on the bench. outside the supreme c

and see their hiccups with harriet myers nominated 2005, they were delays in 1991 and also with brett kavanaugh. any sort of hiccup could delay voting the nominee out. brett: we have multiple sources confirming it is amy coney barrett but we heard earlier this week about barbara, why does dara barrett seem to be a better fit? >> it is counterintuitive, a paradox where they will try to do this nominee with the fewest number of votes. i'll break it down, look at the confirmation from both somebody's at the federal level, the senate confirmed amy coney barrett 55 -- 43. you may think it's a tougher confirmation battle but here's a paradox. last december, the senate confirmed barbara 80 to 15, that means she got a lot of democratic votes and in this, that bipartisan vote against her since replicants seem to have the votes. they would do this with the bare minimum. it's strange but it is 2020, after all. brett: when the hearing starts, there are different dynamics here, with this close to the election day, you got kamala harris, lindsey graham on the judiciary committee, tell us about that dynamic.

the swing vote is likely to be brett kavanaugh, if you can imagine that.to reckon with, because she changed the country that they will preside over. >> terry, dan, sarah, thank you all so much. we'll be right back with a final note. or test results to come back. that's why at cancer treatment centers of america, our world-class experts give you the care you need, when you need it. with appointments in as little as 24 hours and rapid test results to get you a personalized treatment plan. because cancer isn't just what we do, it's all we do. call today. appointments available now. struggling to clean toughm mr. clean. bathroom messes with sprays? then you gotta try mr. clean magic erasers. just wet.. squeeze.. and erase tough messes around your bathtub and shower. mr. clean magic erasers. there's no clean like mr. clean air wick scented oils arences infuseds in nature. with natural essential oils for fragrance day after day,up to 60 days air wick scented oils. connect to nature. knowinit's hard.re is hard. eliminate who you are not first, and you're going to

harris raise her profile questioning justice brett kavanaugh and barrett's hearings will mark the first time the vice presidential candidate is part of that committee. biden is heavy into debate prep, only pausing for a fundraiser tonight when he promised he will make the case against trump's reelection in tomorrow's debate. if there's one indication how fixated on this debate biden is he's issued no reaction to yesterday's new york times or put a legend donald trump avoided paying income taxes for years. the first reaction from the ticket came just one hour ago from kamala harris. >> first thing i said, did you say 750.00 i couldn't believe it. >> biden will likely make his first comments on that tomorrow. in cleveland. >> joe biden may be steering with addressees acting judge barrett but kamala harris who sits on the senate judiciary committee and is expected to bring plenty of heat for the nominee in next month's confirmation hearing is speaking out. >> i'm going to be looking at the issue of roe versus wade and whether there's going to be an adherence to precedent and an adherence t

do they go on a character assassination as they did with brett kavanaugh?nk it is risky especially with suburban women out there watching and a big voter group up for grabs but we are not going to know about the impact of this nomination and confirmation until the process is done. paul: my view would be, i don't know the impact on the election but it is too important constitutionally not to go ahead. so go ahead, confirm and see what happens. still ahead, presidential nominee set to square off first debate with joe biden, a tremendous advantage when they take the stage in cleveland. a panel on the expectations and what's at stake in tuesday night showdown. next. ♪ all eyes are on cleveland were president trump and democratic nominee joe biden was were off tuesday the first three presidential debates. the first one moderated by fox's own, chris, the two candidates on the supreme court, the coronavirus pandemic and the economy, recent violence in major cities among other topics. what should we expect as the president and former vice president take the debate

and polls suggest that is happening post brett kavanaugh, post this term. but we'll see. on the merits, rachel, it is terrifying to see what could happen if this seat goes to somebody who on the record wants to overturn roe, on the record people who are on this short list will not even say whether brown v board was correctly decided. with massive water shed, turning back the clock. we will turn back the clock on not just voting rights, civil rights, worker rights, environmental rights, women rights, you name it, we have seen the beginning of a juggernaut these past two terms and i think it will only continue. i think if democrats want any of the outcomes they say they want, the quickest door way to that is getting the supreme court. that means voting. it means voting even in covid, and it means taking back the senate. >> legal correspondent, senior editor at slate, somebody once described by justice ginsburg as, quote, spicy. it is great to have you here tonight. it is very sad circumstances. but thanks for making time to be with us. >> thank you, rachel. >>> i want to re

is the prospect that the republicans do find a way to fill this seat with another gorsuch or brett kavanaugh, somebody that president trump has put forward as recently as last week if the court does become a 6-3 sort of hard right solid majority, what do you think we should prepare ourselves for in terms of what we lose or what happens through the court that could significantly change american life? >> well, i'll do your first question quickly, which i think that, and i think nina made this point as well. i was astonished that there was almost no blowback to mitch mcconnell and republican senators taking the position they took. not only did they not give merrick garland a confirmation hearing, some of them didn't give him courtesy meetings they didn't say come into my office and we'll talk. i was really shocked you may remember, rachel, in the fall of 2016 ted cruz, john mccain, chuck grassley were all saying things like even if hillary clinton wins, we're going to hold that seat open for four years we'll hold it open for eight years. so they were unequivocal that this was about power and wh

the last supreme court justice to be nominated was brett kavanaugh, a very controversial pick.s accused of sexual assault. susan collins was the senator who at the 11th hour rose to his defense and clinched the nomination. he is now sitting on that bench. w, can she do that again? will she do that again? she has so far said that she does not think that the vote should take place until the people decide who should be the next president. but if a vote does come to the floor, she has not made it clear whether or not she willote, and if she does, what will she do? she is very much a wildcard in this. it has put extra pressure on her reelection campaign here, which is not going very well at all. >> historically, supreme court nomination processes are thought toave galvanized republican voters more than they galvanized democratic voters. is that the case in this election in 2020? >> again, very hard to say at the moment. here in maine for sure, susan collins is facing pressure on all sides. a lot of republicans do not trust her because she is a moderate. a lot of independents don't l

he chose brett kavanaugh inste instead. she and her family, seven children.was argued in front of the supreme court 21 times over the years. >> judge barrett is a well-admired judge. i think she is the establishment choice of the federalist society group and everything, and is really very capable. she's extremely conservative. >> extremely conservative and that's what many conservatives want to hear, if in fact it is amy coney barrett or another woman that the president may introduce this afternoon, that would be the fifth woman, if confirmed by the senate, to sit on the supreme court. molly. molly: all right. we're creeping close tower that 5:00 hour, david spunt. thank you so much. >> thank you. molly: leland. leland: supreme court will be one of many topics covered in tuesday's presidential debate. in ohio. joining us for what issues matter most to people in the buckeye state. mark glazier, on 610 on your dial. appreciate it. looking at this right now, catholics consist 20% of the american population, 18% of ohioans are catholic, that's wosu radio reportin

but he passed her over last time and went with brett kavanaugh.hat gave you pause then, and are you certain she will be confirmed this time? >> i think the president's made the announcement. [audio breaking up] >> she clerked for scalia, and i think she is a fantastic judge. there is no reason why the senate shouldn't confirm her. i think she will continue on to the supreme court. >> brennan: but what gave pause last time? sometimes it is hard to predict how judges are going to actually rule on individual cases. but is there something we should be scrutinizing here in terms of her stance? democrats are assuming she is against affordable care act and against roe vs. wade. are those fair as assumptions? >> i don't think those are fair at assumptions. i remember being a very young law student hearing this about robert gore and clarence thomas, and almost every justice nominated by a republican. what you can guarantee is they're going to approach the task of judging as a judgment they're not going to substitute their own policy views for the will of t

it could be potentially be in the hahnds of a brett kavanaugh depending on what happens. it is as much different court today than it has been at any other point. we since the '70s we talked about this conservative court, we are now tipped to a place f h the right wing control as it never has before. >> jeff toobin, i know you want to say something. >> that's certainly true. when you look at the list of potential nominees that president trump put forward, this would be a deeply right wing court. and john roberts would be irrelevant because you will have brett kavanaugh and gorsuch and the new nominee so roberts would be irrelevant. we'll talk politics here. the democrats can pretend they are powerless in this situation or they can pick a fight for once. the idea that mitch mcconnell could engage in the greatest act of hypocrisy in american history by stopping mayor garland when faced the vacancy in february of the election year and jamming someone through when there is a vacancy in september of election year, i don't think that's a fore gone conclusion. i recognize there a

what you did to brett kavanaugh, the fact that you can even bring yourself to vote for john roberts,very one of those names i mentioned, the last four democrat presidential nominees voted against the most moderate member of the so-called conservative lock. >> dana: not only that but if you go back to, when you are in congress and harry reid decided to use the filibuster for those three circuit nominees, that was really, if you will recall, mitch mcconnell at the time set i'm warning you, don't do it. they did it anyway another consequences for it. i will give you the last word. >> you are exactly right, there are consequences for the decisions we made in life. harry reid changed the rules, republicans went ahead and change them all the way. if you don't like with the senate does you can vote them out in november but right now they have the power, the president has the responsibility to fill the vacancy. >> dana: trey gowdy, always love having you. the media rushing to call at republicans over comments about the supreme court but they seem to forget what democrat said just a few years

brett kavanaugh in particular.he's giving herself liberal room here to decide that she's either going to vote for a trump nominee, even if there's a democratic senate or, in fact, i read that statement as not committing either way as to whether she would abstain from voting or vote against a trump pick if, in fact, he has one before the election or after the election in a lame duck and there is a biden win. so she doesn't officially commit herself to voting against the trump pick if mcconnell goes against her wishes, which i'm pretty sure he will. she just says i don't think it should happen. >> she's saying what she'd like to see happen. she doesn't say what she'd do dependent on what happens. there's an important discussion on the calendar for the supreme court. we all lived through this pandemic. a week after the election, there's taking up bam obamacare. how significant of a driver might that be when the president talks about trying to push this through before the sflex. >> -- election. this is incredibly signi

supreme court nominee brett kavanaugh assaulted her an additional anonymous allegation of physical assault against brad having a new sexual misconduct allegations president trump coming to his defense they're going to be dealing with credibility issues around judge cavanagh this was a candidate that was a bad choice even before the allegations came out. but with ginsburg seat open we're seeing the exact same situation as when antonin scalia died back in 2016 but the sides are reversed eventually trump was able to appoint a conservative to fill scalia's position but that was only after a long struggle between former president barack obama and the republican dominated senate now the democrats are preparing for payback 4 and a half years ago republicans invented the principle that the senate shouldn't feel an open seat on the supreme court before a new president was sworn in a basic principle of the law is that we apply rules with consistency and not be used and what's convenient or advantages and the moment boaters should pick the president the president should pick just who's for the senate

that's exactly what we saw with brett kavanaugh. the reality is the republicans will try to shorten the timeline as much as possible for that reason. if the president makes a pick on saturday, i could see it being maybe two weeks until they could schedule a hearing in the judiciary committee for members to get ready, vote on the committee and another couple weeks to the floor. part of the republicans' job will be to prevent opposition researchers from finding exactly that kind of information that could trip up a nominee. >> all right. garrett haake for us on the hill. garrett, thank you. shannon pettypiece, stay with me for just a moment. this hour senator kamala harris is campaigning in flint, michigan. the democratic vice presidential nominee just landed a few moments ago. she'll be making a swing through flint and detroit. nbc's valley vitali is covering the senator's visit. i want to bring in national political reporter sahil kapur. as harris lands there, how big of a role does this supreme court fight, this looming battle, how

issue or the brett kavanaugh vote, i felt like she's not listening to what the people of maine wantbut i've always voted for susan collins until this year. she has just -- she's just capitulated. >> susan collins has been a re-election juggernaut. she's won her three senate re-election bids handily, the last in 2018 by about 37 percentage points. this race against sarah gideon is a different ball game. the recent poll conducted just before ruth bader ginsburg died shows sara gideon with 49% and susan collins with 44%. the polls are within the margin of error. collins is polling better than president trump is in this state. for some voters the trump factor is too much. >> she's in trump's pocket. she's scared of him aso many are. >> we used to vote for collins, but i think she's too much of a trumpy at the moment. >> among voters enthusiastic to authority susan collins a concern they voice shows the political tightrope she has though walk. >> i think she ought to be more cooperative with president trump. >> take more of a conservative stance on issues and vote the conservative positi

. >> barrett cass in contention when president trump picked brett kavanaugh for the bench.dent reportedly told people he was saving barrett to possibly replace the late justice ginsburg. >> we had a process under brett kavanaugh that was an embarrassment. we had people pounding trying to tear down the doors of the united states supreme court. we had people who were calling and leaving some of the most vicious and vile comments that i have ever heard as a policymaker. seeing things being done that were shameful. and i expect the same thing. >> it appears the name of the nonominee is less important than there is a nominee. they are lining up to fight judge amy barrett on two lines of attack abortion, and healthcare. >> they want somebody in that seat on november 10 to take health insurance away from millions of people to deprive people of protection from pre-existing conditions. that's the big game here. that's what they're trying to do and i'm not going to let them break their promise, bum rush the nominee to take health insurance away from millions of people. >> the "washin

hill really since the last supreme court fight that ultimately ended with the confirmation of brett kavanaugh. coney barrett was confirmed to the federal courts back in 2017 she is considered to be popular with religious conservatives. she has a well-known anti-abortion rights stance, she is of course a woman which is something that the white house is apparently taking into significant consideration as they are trying come up with a replacement for justice ginsburg. again, i would emphasize that coney barrett is at this stage a front-runner, not the front-runner. we know the president released his list with a couple of dozen names on there. but the idea of picking a woman does seem to be something that the white house is considering closely. we are told, alex that that announcement should be something we expect sooner rather than later although the white house is being very non-specific as to exactly how quickly they will act on this. >> garrett, as i look at this, this is somebody who, because of your point of that made, that her name was bawantered about frequently, she did have an exchange

issue or the brett kavanaugh vote, i felt like she's not listening to what the people of maine want you feel when susan collins voted for kavanaugh to be on the supreme court? >> like she's not listening to what people want. >> i'm a democrat but i have always voted for susan collins until this year. she has just -- she's just capitulated. >> reporter: collins has been a re-election juggernaut. the last one she won by 37 percentage points. the most recent "new york times"/siena college poll shows gideon with 49% and collins with 44%. it's within the poll's margin of errors. collins is polling better than president trump is in the state. for some voters, the trump factor is too much. >> she's just in trump's pocket. she's scared of him as so many people are. >> we used to vote for collins, but i think she's too much of a trumpee at the moment. >> who are you voting for in the senate election? >> susan collins, definitely. >> reporter: among those who support her -- >> this man says senator collins -- >> should take more of a conservative stance on issues and vote the conservative pos

we certainly would not have a justice brett kavanaugh after christine blasey ford testified.ve seen this before. you know, the election that really shaped the court as it is now was in 2016. and the election that is going to shape in court in the future, that's really up to democrats at this point. there's no doubt in my mind that the republicans will come home. they were always going to, whether justice ginsburg passed away now or after the election. the real question is, how are democrats going to hold them accountable, whether that's democratic electeds or democratic voters. and will that change the very institution of t constitution of the supreme court moving forward. >> irin, to your point about lindsey graham's hypocrisy, half of his justification for his spine of steel breaking in half or splintering was because of a decision in 2013 by the democrats, before he made his two "you can write it down" statements saying he would let the voters decide. so lindsey graham is making up justifications at this point. and one other thing, david, to irin's point, it's not clear to

and former clerk to then judge brett kavanaugh. wow. sol? any of them would a strong candidate in my mind. is it a done deal, sol, that the replacement for this judicial i con would have to be a woman? >> i think it's highly likely. i don't have any inside information but i think for all practical purposes it would be a done deal, laura. >> amy was on the list early on. donald trump the candidate released that list. she's got a lot of decisions on her belt under the seventh circuit. that comes with pluses and minuses? >> yeah. the more of a record you have, the more of a target you are. that's why some people unfortunately play it safe, which is a mistake. there's no question that president trump is going to nominate someone that is highly qualified in the technical legal sense. the issue is of course, the idealogical battle. you know, anything can happen. assuming that the nomination is put forward after the election, you know, you not only -- you're talking about -- i'm hearing this from the liberal side tonight. you're talking about -- i

pointed out, let me ask you, what type of battle to you anticipate, given what we have seen with brett kavanaugh, it was unprecedented, what do you anticipate in a few weeks? sen. graham: we will hope for the best. this is the left of appointment. what happened with kav was this the kabul. we were arguing about a party is high school but nobody could remember what occurred. the people allegedly at the party don't recall anything bad happening. it turned the country upside down, they tried to ruin judge cavanaugh's life. since the passing of justice theburg, act blue, democratic fund-raising site has raised over $50 million. you want to help me and others in this fight, lindsaygraham.com, we are trying to out raise by about the same amount. i expect given the political donation that the democratic party is on fire, they are looking for a champion to come after this nominee, and if i on the democratic side, i would remember what happened in kavanaugh. religious differences abound in america, but i am very much aware of the fact that if it is somebody of faith and they attack the person for being f

brett kavanaugh took 88 days. neil gorsuch, and others longer. chief of staff mark meadows on mitch mcconnell's timeline. >> leader mcconnell is working very closely with senate republicans. we haven't made a decision on the timetable. the leader will ultimately make that after we have the hearings in lindsey graham's judiciary committee. they're all engaged and ready to get to work. >> trace: that's a operative phrase there, tom. this needs to get rolling. fair assessment? >> absolutely. the republicans have to act with a sense of urgency if they want to move this nomination forward. the constitution gives the senate the power to advise and consent. historically what it means is individual meetings between individual senators and the nominee. i think that can still be done. they will have to hurry it up. they may well do virtual meetings by zoom or other forms of internet communication. but at the end of the day the senators have to get comfortable with this nominee to be properly exercising their power to give advice and ultimately to consent.

terms say this was a conservative replacing a conservative when anthony kennedy was replaced by brett kavanaugh you could say we had a conservative leaning justice with a lot of libertarian instincts being replaced by conservatives here we are talking about a liberal icon who did lead a remarkable life and an incredible legacy being replaced by a conservative and we haven't seen that i don't think since thurgood marshall was replaced by clarence thomas and it will certainly be a very contentious confirmation process one of the words of course that keeps coming up when we're dealing with this subject is the balance the perceived balance of the supreme court doesn't republican nominee have an extra responsibility to show that he or she is acting independently and on a case by case basis rather than simply following an ideology or following politics . i don't know why a republican would have a need to do that any more than a democrat my feeling is that all people who are p. considered for a life tenure positions on the federal bench ought to make that promise in fact it's part of their judicial oa