four minutes past when chuck grassley wanted a vote and chuck grassley is no longer in his seat. he left the room. so this is to stephanie's point, this is the drama of one of the most historic moments to ever see. here's senator coons talking to senator whitehouse. and i don't know what he's saying. i'm sorry. talking to -- is that durbin or whitehouse. durbin. okay. whitehouse left his seat, it seems. coons reporting to others it seems what conversation he's had with jeff flake. >> we haven't seen jeff flake. >> we haven't. garrett, does anybody know where jeff flake is at the moment? garrett haake? all right. garrett may be getting information for us right now. so this is -- you're right, stephanie. five minutes beyond the vote and not having debates of senators of what's going on and there's leahy and graham and hatch and durbin who i see. >> remember, yesterday was extraordinarily emotionally charged and draining for everyone. you saw how upset graham was, flake was, dr. ford was. i mean, it was massive. and brett kavanaugh also performing for a party of one. lindsey graham

the staffers who are reporting to the chairman chuck grassley. we set up a time to have a call where we would discuss how my client is going to convey her information to the committee, under what circumstances, how this is going to happen. and then they call in at the appointed time and it's only democrats there. none of the republican senators, none of the republican staff. that's just -- i mean, it's just -- it may be unprofessional. i don't know how the professional standards work here. it's weird. >> it's way beyond unprofessional. when we get started here, we have lisa graves, former member of the judiciary staff on the democratic side who is going to dissect that one for us. >> all right. >> thank you, rachel. >> thanks, lawrence. >> we're going to go straight to the phones now washington post congressional reporter sean sullivan joining us by phone, part of the reporting team who is delivering the news tonight about this mystery lawyer whom the republicans on the senate judiciary committee are engaging kavanagh's accuser. and at this point

if chuck grassley knows that yet. >> and chuck grassley is on the record in writing over the last two days saying he wants to move forward on this. his word, in a precedented matter. there is one precedent, from when he was on the judiciary committee before in 1991, and, yes, people thought that the fbi investigation of anita hill's allegations was cursory. but the fbi investigated her allegations and did do witness interviews in that proceeded the hearing. all professor ford is asking for is for that precedent to be followed. and the idea that they will reject her on that and say, nope, we're going to go ahead without anybody looking into this. we're going to ram this through because we can, i mean, they can try, but it's belied by everything they've done before on issues like this. and i just -- i see him hurtling toward the sun. >> yeah, it's as if i'm hearing dr. ford and her brilliant lawyer say to the judiciary committee, republicans on the judiciary committee, you might have learned nothing in the last 26 years, but we have. >> yeah. >> and they are in control. thank you, rache

chuck grassley, his face is priceless because we are not sure. >> time has been of the essence for chairmanassley and the white house. they put this on a fast track at every moment and to delay now will represent a very serious set back. >> and there is senator coons, but you see leahy and whitehouse and ben sasse. >> he is reporting back to the ranking democrat. >> he is reporting to dianne feinstein, the tom democrat on the senate judiciary committee. after his conversation with senator flake in a separate room outside the committee. as far as i know, senator flake has not yet returned. i assume once he returns and briefs the chairman and lets him know where he stands, he announced he will vote in favor of the confirmation and gloria, let's be precise. there are 11 republicans on the committee and 10 democrats. if flake doesn't change his mind and i don't think he will, it would be 11 republicans in favor and 10 democrats oppose and it would go to the full senate for consideration and there presumably would be a procedural vote as early as tomorrow morning. >> for he voted no for the purp

chuck grassley wants one day of a hearing with, only two witnesses. judge kavanaugh and dr. ford. because chuck grassly's job is to do what you heard mitch mcconnell just promise, to plow right through it. the democrats want to hear from all the relevant witnesses and, quote, outside experts who can speak to these allegations. that's always a good idea. but now for fairness it is an absolutely mandatory idea. now that the president of the united states is publicly questioning why christine blasey ford did not report this assault when she was a teenager. the reasons that young girls and women don't report these assaults are well-known. they've been discussed many times on television. we know donald trump watches television. there's a vast body of scholarly literature about it. there's articles in the popular press about it. and there have been for decades. we all know the painful reasons that sometimes these cases are not reported. hundreds of thousands of women tweeted today under the #why i didn't report, and i urge you all to spend some time reading their reasons, their personal

he responded to that from chuck grassley. quote, really? when? who will locate and interview witnesses? has the judiciary hired independent investigators we don't know about? when will the witness statements be taken? when will they be shared? will the minority get to call witnesses or is that the republicans who get to call witnesses? senator grassley has also run into a problem in the form of his top staffer on the committee. his person he has apparently tasked with investigating this attempted rape allegation. the investigator is named mike davis. he says that he is the chaef counsel for nominations working for chairman chuck grassley on the judiciary committee. last night mr. davis decided for some reason to get on twitter and let it all hang out in terms of how the supposed investigation is going. he said online, quote, i personally question judge kavanagh under penalty and five years of imprisonment if he lies. i'm still waiting to hear back from the acuter's attorneys. he's the guy personally conducting the investigation of this matter whe

olay. >>> chuck grassley says christine blasey ford has until 10:00 a.m. tomorrow to let him know if she plans to testify before his committee on monday. blasey's legal team wants to know what is the rush? our next guest knows how grueling the hearings can be, ambassador wendy sherman helped anita hill with her testimony before the clarence thomas hearings and also the author of the new book "not for the faint of heart." thank you for being with us. you were with anita hill the weekend before preparing for the hearings. what was that like? >> i was not part of her legal team, but i was a democratic strategist helping her to navigate the u.s. congress since none of her team really knew what the congress was like, and i feel like we're living the same story all over again this time, indeed, professor hill at the time, very much wanted her corroborating witnesses able to testify and they were denied. she needed support from senators, she got very little of the democrats who were chairing at the time, and they thought it was a hearing and the republicans thoug

it comes just about an hour after republican senator chuck grassley, in a letter to democrats, shut down the idea of delaying the hearing, giving ford until friday, this friday, at 10:00 in the morning to decide whether she is going to testify on monday. even republican senator susan collins, who could be a key vote on kavanaugh, says that ford must testify. >> i think it's not fair to judge kavanaugh for her not to come forward and testify. >> now ford's lawyers have also called for an fbi investigation into the incident before any public hearing, an investigation that the president makes clear he does not support. >> well, it would seem that the fbi really doesn't do that. they've investigated -- they've investigated about six times before and it seems that they don't do that. >> really a stunning turn of events just in the last hour. >> reporter: that's right, jim. a lot of fast-moving developments really speaking to how fluid this situation is even at this late hour and i think it all boils down to the fact that both sides here are really digging in further. we heard from chairman of

we asked the committee today whether chuck grassley has barbara ledeen herself -- what did he say? quote, following up on the leads from dr. ford's allegations. the committee told us that, no, barbara ledeen is not personally assigned to be one of these investigators into kavanaugh's -- in to this allegation against kavanaugh but the committee would also not tell us who any of the investigators are. so, nobody knows why this is the ha hangup. the fbi looking into new, alleged derogatory information about a nominee, that's the bread and butter of what the fbi does with background checks on nominees. stopping the fbi from looking into this is a big break from precedent and nobody knows why the republicans are doing it. as of it tonight it remains unclear as to whether or not professor christine blasey-ford will testify in front of the judiciary committee monday or any other time since republicans seem to be digging in their heels and insisting there can be no fbi investigation of her claims despite the fact that that would be standard practice for an issue like this. when it comes to

we have a self-imposed deadline chuck grassley put in place for tomorrow.st stalled about not making a deal, he made a deal and is cooperating. his former campaign chairman is cooperating with bob mueller. whoever wrote the "new york times" op-ed who said there is a semi official coup around the president when it comes to decisions he is making on foreign policy and national security. bob woodward's book, fear, continues to royal the white house. most of the big details are out and it's a massive bestseller influencing the way in which the president is viewed. down here is jeff sessions. obviously the president earlier this week went off on sessions again saying i don't have an attorney general, saying that sessions is a very sad situation. honestly, we could probably fill out down here if we needed to with other issues including the mid-term elections that are plaguing donald trump, but this alone is a lot for any president to handle, much less that doesn't have a lot of close advisers around him. >> the president is railing on the attorney general for ove

lou: do you avoid the question like what you think of the job chuck grassley that? >> i would not have chosen that methodology that was chosen. in hindsight, that is not the best choice. there are many great lawyers among the public and senators on the committee and they were too quick to cave to the criticism that is a bunch of white men. so what? we should not be caving to that reasoning. lou: right now the republican party and this is breaking news is in the senate and meeting and conference. all the republicans are talking right now about what to do about the vote tomorrow. usually it's been mike's parents and i don't know about yours but when they go to conference to talk about a decision by the leadership that means it could change. i guess that's the subject of this. whether or not they will go ahead and vote. what is your insight and what is your judgment? >> it could change. we had reports that senators collins, murkowski, flake and mansion, the democrats were meeting in a room immediately after the hearing and before this republican meeting that you just m

chuck grassley's behavior in this is kind of remarkable. the rush with which flake hadn't finished speaking suggesting a one week delay so the fbi investigate. the minute he said i'll vote to advance this to report this to the senate which means his vote goes through. the second he said that, chuck grassley was call the role. the clerk had to call the role. >> senator dianne feinstein didn't know what they were voting on. she's going i'm sorry, what. let's bring in nbc kelly o'donnell and we still have presidential historian john me chum who anchors this today historic hour. kelly, to you first. what's going on here in. >> well part of what is so difficult is that as outside observers, some of the rules of the senate seem odd when you're not familiar with it. under the senate rules, a committee must adjourn at 2:00 p.m. if there hasn't been an extension granted on the floor. he was trying to get the vote in before the clock ran out. that's something that i think you have to just understand in the rules of the senate and for a chairman that

the "new york times" reports chairman chuck grassley has given dr. ford until 2:30 p.m.oday to make her decision. where things stand thou, the senate judiciary committee could very well end up moving forward with plans to vote with judge kavanaugh on monday. >> let me start with you and get some reaction here. some of the demands we've seen, requests that we've seen from kristin blaseyer ford, everything from going second, having judge cavanaugh to go first, to having one camera in the hearing. or that she faces there in the senate judiciary committee, your reaction to this? >> i guess i'm most struck by how some senators like chuck grassley seem to be living in 1950. i feel like i went to sleep in 2018, woke up in a separate world. you have a woman who has come forward bravely already to make an allegation of sexual assault and she should be given every opportunity to do so in the most respectful way imaginable. and then, you know, there's a separate process playing out so that is the human reality. the other reality is the political reality of you just have to wonder,

chuck grassley, his staff, they offered to have a closed hearing.offered to fly to california and interview her in private. whether this will happen in any format right now, neil, is a big question here on capitol hill. >> neil: you know, she's obviously been advised, recommend fbi investigation. then maybe you'll talk. fbi investigation could take two weeks. let's take that two-week extreme here and they agree or chairman grassly agrees to this. i know unlikely. how would that affect the time frame? we're looking at what would happen to happen? >> brett kavanaugh would not be on the supreme court by the first monday in october when they start. keep in mind, even if they were to say have a committee vote on monday, which is unclear, but hypothetically, when you go through the senate parliamentary hurdles, if you started on monday with a committee vote, it would take you until friday night, you have to have a procedural debate, the confirmation vote, which could happen 30 hours after that vote. that would take you to friday night if you ran all of th

we actually asked the committee today whether chuck grassley has barbara ledeen himself. what did he say? following up leads on dr. ford's allegations. barbara ledeen is not assigned to be one of these investigators into this allegation against kavanaugh. but, the committee also would not tell us who any of the investigators are. so, nobody knows why this is the hang up. again, the fbi looking into new alleged derogatory information about a nominee. that's the bread and butter of what the fbi does with background checks on nominees. stop ping the fbi from looking into this is a big break. it remains unclear as to whether or not professor christine blasey ford will be testifying and since republicans are digging into their hills that there could be no fbi investigation of their claims. when it comes to predicting what's going to happen here, we got these two very interesting things playing out side by side and neither who have what you would expect but both are happening. we are waiting for credible explanation from the republicans and the white house as to why this case s

maybe that is something she'll hand over to chuck grassley. at some point there has been very little cooperation between the democrats on that committee and the republicans on that committee. it is hard to see that changing going forward. but listen, you know, we started a different place on monday and here we are in a different place now. this has been a fast moving story. things are, you know, coming out and changing and going back and forth and the ball is in the republican's court. then it is in dr. ford's court at some time. we'll see what happens. if you are chuck grassley you very much want to give the appearance that you are being accommodating without being too accommodating. he talks about wanting to make dr. ford as comfortable as pillow as if she needs a pillow as she's talking to these folks. obviously, she's much more concerned with a thorough investigation. we'll know by 10:00 a.m. tomorrow whether or not this is something she is willing to do. >> there has been a lot said. but jeffrey tubin said if she doesn't testify, he gets

that committee is run by chuck grassley. he nearly ran the republican party in the ditch.hink? >> from the point of view of the prosecutor role it's unsatisfactory to be interrupted every five minutes by campaign speeches of the democrats. >> lou: interrupted every ten days for a hearing instead of having expeditious process. >> of course. and judge kavanaugh drove the point home he wanted a hearing right away and mitchell exposed that looking harsh the plane myth. she got out who paid for the polygraph issue and she scored points in a way without leaving marks on the witness. a lot of us lawyers are like that with was not a great followup. >> lou: what do you think of the job grassley did? >> i would haven't chosen the methodology that was chosen and that is not the best choice in hindsight. there are many great lawyers among republican senators on the committee and they were too quick to cave in to criticism it's a bunch of white men. so what? we shouldn't be caving into that reasoning. >> lou: up next, real election meddling. russia, communist china this time. trying to

deadline set by senator chuck grassley. that deadline is 10:00 p.m. determine whether she'll speak to lawmakers. if she doesn't respond by 10:00 p.m. eastern time, grassley says they will likely hold the vote monday for judge kavanaugh. joining us tonight, top strategist for great america pac fox news political analyst ed rollins. let's start with kavanaugh and the way he has been treated by the radical left in this country and the way in which the republicans have responded. it appears the chairman, chuck grassley means business if there is no deal by 10:00, the vote is monday. ed: the deal is suppose to be done by monday at 10:00. i heard a democrat on fox today, a former strategist of the clinton campaign saying kavanaugh has to prove his innocence, not she has to prove her case. but kavanaugh has to prove his innocence. how does he do that? this is a drill in ridiculous ridiculousness. lou: why are the republicans putting up with his nonsense. listening to someone saying he has to prove his innocence, listening to her attorney katz saying it's not

here's chuck grassley.e who had the hon november of introducing judge kavanaugh, senator rice and attorney lisa blatt. and we heard from judge kavanaugh. nbc news reported democratic members of the committee plotted with the minority leader to disrupt the hearing yesterday. democratic senators interrupted the hearing 63 times before lunch. in the audience, 70 people were arrested yesterday who were following their lead. all probably very constitutionally prepared to do that. doing what the constitution says the right of freedom of speech. but we're also able to conduct our hearing the way it should be conducted. [ yelling ] >> protects the rights of people with disabilities. of women! we need to protect people of color. >> it was only our time as committee members that we wasted on disruption and disorder over procedural matters. [ yelling ] >> sham president, sham justice! stop the slaughter of our children. sham president, sham justice. >> senator grassley, i take offense. i called out senator durbin. i d

what will chuck grassley decide to do? will there be a public hearing and when?uch more on this breaking story, when we come back. this is not a screensaver. this is the destruction of a cancer cell by the body's own immune system, thanks to medicine that didn't exist until now. and today can save your life. ♪ ♪ take us downtown, waze. waze integration- seamlessly connecting the world inside... with the world outside... making life a little... easier. introducing the well-connected lincoln mkc. >>> new attacks from president trump on the russia investigation and new cases of him just getting it wrong. john avalon has more. >> there was never collusion with russia except by the clinton campaign. 17 angry democrats are looking at anything they can find. there's a lot there. first, illegal witch hunt. mueller investigation is not, of course, illegal. it is the creation of the trump. and if that's not enough for you, three federal judges have now ruled the probe perfectly legal, two of them in the manafort cases. praising him for refusing to break. he has now joined

neil: it's not that chuck grassley can make that request.d have to come from the white house? >> i think this is going to have to come from the white house and that's probably why it hasn't been initiated at this particular point in time. neil: very, very interesting. thank you very, very much. as we told you earlier, president bush, former president bush, 43, was speaking on behalf of judge kavanaugh, recommending him strongly to gop senators, pretty much any and all he could get to on the phone. the former assistant secretary of state under bush 43, robert charles, with me now. what effect would that if, in your opinion, former president calls you up, you are a senator, you might be on the fence, i don't know how many are who he called, he's saying this guy is a good guy, he should get your vote? >> i think it reinforces the credibility of the nominee and i think that's a good thing. you know, i think the average american is sickened by this. i think it's sort of a national nightmare that they are living through and i will just point out t

in this portion, committee chair chuck grassley and making them or dianne feinstein made opening statements. ford's opening statement follows, and in some of the questioning. republicans hired rachel mitchell to ask questions for them. senate democrats asked their own questions. judge kavanaugh guesses or bottle in about an hour and a half. -- gives his rebuttal in about an hour and a half.

chuck grassley released a letter with 65 woman who knew cavanagh, came out supported him. many people are asking about the timing of this. why didn't feinstein question the hearing questioning the judge. brian: could have had all that time, i got a letter from a woman who accuses you of doing something in high school, what is your response to that. steve: at that point the woman didn't want her identity revealed. you couldn't tell the story. brian: i have to the a letter someone went to high school whose identity doesn't want to come forward. ainsley: he would say, who is the woman? i need to know more -- steve: have to have details.

that is exactly what chuck grassley to start to do it 2:30 pm eastern time today.ot heard back. for the next two hours, we thought that we would look forward with house judiciary chairman, on what the senate counterpart should do now. another democrat saying this is making a mockery of the process now. the former assistant fbi director on whether the fbi should get involved in this process now. and the peril of using women to score political points now. and some stock market was all my investors do not seem remotely concerned by all of this. but first to ellison barber in new jersey, making it not for from where the united states is right now. >> chairman grassley says that he is giving doctor ford more time to decide if she wants to testify before the senate judiciary committee. he says is the fifth time that they have given her an extension in order to decide if she does want to testify. as she has previously said she does. grassley treated in part quote - doctor ford, if you change your mind, say so. so we can move on. i want to hear testimony. come to us are we

>> committee chairman chairman chuck grassley conducted i -- committee chuck grassley have been tryingnformation on the account. >>> and president trump in new york ahead of the united nations general assembly. he had dinner with shinzo abe. he meets with korean president moon jae-in. he addresses the full u.n. tomorrow. he chairs the briefing with iran on wednesday. >> rudy giuliani said this could cause a successful revolution in iran. u.s. ambassador haley is suggesting otherwise. >> what we are looking to do is protect americans and protect allies. >> iran's rhetoric against the u.s. escalating ahead of the u.n. general assembly. u.n. blaming u.s. for the deadly attack in iran. cnn's sam kiley is reporting live for us from abu dhabi. >> reporter: christine, the funerals for the 29 people killed in the terrorist attack and injured 70. among the dead is a 4-year-old boy they are going on at the moment with a wide range of officials promising receipt ri bugs for the -- retribution for the attack. iran blames in part on the united states and saudi arabia and israel. they are offering n

again, chuck grassley tipped his hand in that letter to ford's attorney where he said, you know, why don't have to have an fbi investigation. the constitution is clear that it's up to the senate to provide advice an consent. it's a political question, neil, not a legal question in this instance. that said, republicans are

i just heard moments ago from senator chuck grassley, the majority committee staff that they are going to start with follow up calls first and see where that goes. we are set to hear from chuck sh schumer to see if he would like dr. ford to testify. you have murkowski and collins moderate republicans who have been quiet about where they stand on kavanaugh. since the allegations exploded, they have not said much at all. we are going to wait all day and stake them out to talk to them to see if it is influencing where they stand and where they are going to go. i will say, republicans, some republicans are saying that they are questioning the timing of all of this. you have democrats who are defending the process and defending senator dianne feinstein who sat on the letter saying this is the right way to do it. senator dick durbin was on "morning joe" this morning. >> i think senator finestein did what she could. dr. ford stepped up and said i want to come forward and explain what happened and defend myself against my critics. i don't think senator finestein is culpable, she did the right

we are now, what, 23 hours, 58 minutes until the deadline set by chuck grassley. what are you hearing? >> hallie, as you point off -- point out, a simple question of what is dr. ford going to do? will she or won't she appear here on capitol hill? now i think it's important to underscore for people that dr. ford has not, in either her letters from her lawyers or statements that they've made -- >> right. >> ruled out testifying on monday. instead what you're seeing is them pointing out things that would make this a more favorable situation for her and arguing in favor of them. this idea that there should be more witnesses is what we're talking about today. yesterday, we were focused on the investigative piece, whether the fbi should be reopening that background check investigation. so, again, i think there is still a sense that this is a real possibility, that she will show up on monday. now, for republicans, this deadline of monday is basically artificial. they picked it originally because of some procedural rules. it's become a political line in the sand. and you

the chairman of the judiciary committee, chuck grassley. as of ten minutes ago. this controversy over this kavanaugh nomination is not the only storm this administration is dealing with tonight. earlier you heard the president describing the lingering stench at the fbi. you don't hear that often from a president. he told his cheering crowd in springfield, missouri, tonight he would be getting rid of that stench. >> the drum beat grows against the assistant deputy attorney general, rod rosenstein. it's been getting louder even before the president spoke. so far republicans on the hill have remained curiously silent, a lot of them, but a lot of commentators from the president's network of choice have been making it clear where they stand. along with trump family members. as of this hour, rosenstein appears to still have his job. for more on the state of play tonight, we are joined by two returning veterans an, josh gerstein senior white house reporter for politico, and jonathan allen, journalist and author and nbc news national political repo

senator chuck grassley released a statement. kristen welker read part of it. it is disturbing that these allegations from more than 35 years ago during high school would surface on the eve of a committee vote after democrats sat on them since july. if ranking members took this claim seriously, they should have brought it to the full committee's attention much earlier. instead they said nothing during two joint phone calls with the nominee four days in august, four days of hearing, a closed session with committee members with the nominee where sensitive topics can be discussed and more than 1,300 written questions. 65 senators met individually can judge cavanaugh during a nearly two month period before the hearing began yet feinstein didn't share this with her colleagues ahead of many of those discussions. grassley is the same senator who originally released a letter with the signatures here of 65 women defending kavanaugh's care last week. josh, i want to hear your take on that response and does it point r poito that these suppor knew this was coming? >> certa

why has chuck grassley decided that it's just going to be he said-she said. if they are tasked with investigating all the information out there, you must call the other witnesses. >> especially because in this specific case there seems to be a third person in the room. >> and other people at the party, and she knows their names. >> that makes no sense. the republicans, as we said yesterday, are trying to get away with the minimum viable party. this was a drive-by shooting by judge kavanaugh, i am willing to listen to the lady but then let's get it done. >> let's listen to the lady is as offensive as the driver by shooting. they are sending a message that the world is aligning against you in this case, and abby, you have seen it at the white house. i think there's every reason in the world that kavanaugh is in the white house nine hours a day with the best lawyers in the world, and they are ready. the message to professor blasey is we are ready for whatever you will bring and you are only you on allowed to bring it under the only necessary circumstances. >> th

senate judiciary committee chair chuck grassley has announced the committee will hold another a hearing on supreme court nominee brett kavanaugh next monday following the accusatitions he attempted o rape a 15-year-old girl at a party while he was in high school. both kavanaugh and his accuser, professor christine blasey ford, will testify. ford told "the washington post" kavanaugh and his friend pushed her into a bedroom during a party and that kavanaugh then forcibly pinned her down on a bed and tried to pull off her clothes. she says she tried to scream, but that kavanaugh put his hand over her mouth to silence her. kavanaugh has denied the accusation. dr. blasey ford identified kavanaugh's friend as the conservative writer mark judge. judge once wrote a book about his high school days titled, "wasted: tales of a gen x drunk." the book describes being an alcoholic in high school and even features a cameo by someone he callsls "bart o'kavanaugh" wo puked in someone's car and passssed out on his way back frm a party. on monday, republican senator susan collins welcome the additional he

chuck grassley and dianne feinstein will each read opening statements.or ford will then be sworn in and she will read her opening statement. each senator will then be given five minutes to question her. at this point at least, republicans are expected to yield their time to the outside counsel if they would like. that's what they're expected to do. after questioning, professor ford will leave the hearing room and after a break, judge brett kavanaugh will be sworn in. he will read his opening statement and he will be questioned. let's discuss, jake, as we have been saying, the stakes are enormous for both individuals. but if he does not do well this morning and he loses two republican senators and no democrats support him, it's over. >> and that's it. that's why this is so nerve wracking and the stakes are so high, is because if she comes across credibly and he comes across not credibly or at least at the same level that he was in his fox news interview with president trump and others didn't think that was that strong, all you need is two senators, two re

senator chuck grassley saying it's disturbing these unkwauberated allegations from more than 35 years ago during high school would surface on the eve of a committee vote after democrats sat on them since july. kamala harris, a democrat, saying the senate has a constitutional responsibility to scrutinize scotus nominees. a vote on kavanaugh's nomination must be delayed until there's a thorough investigation. to that question about why now, why is this coming out now, well, we know that christine blasey ford saying initially she had no plans to share her story publicly. she did submit a letter to her local lawmaker. that letter then submitted, of course, to senator dianne feinstein, who's had that letter since july. why did this come out now? in part because reporters started asking questions about all of this. and blasey tells "the washington post" effectively as the story snowballed, she heard people repeating inaccuracies about her, and with visits for reporters felt her privacy being chipped away. very dramatic backdrop as we enter the coming week. >> especially the new reporting. t

>> a lot of frustration from judiciary chairman chuck grassley.e still wants to see professor ford's original letter. he still has not gotten it from ranking member dianne feinstein. other republicans say they hope she shows up to testify, but it if not, they have to go forward with information they have. >> i encourage, and i wanted the committee under senator grassley, to provide her an opportunity in a forum she was comfortable into sort of chauvinist information. she has been given that opportunity, is my understanding. either do it publicly, or privately. ultimately, if that doesn't happen, number one, she should be criticized for not doing it. >> the uncertainty is causing tension to build here on capitol hill, since professor ford's attorney has not officially said no. deanna? >> dana: mike, thank you. as the latest drama plays out in washington, the spokesman for the senate judiciary committee says that democrats are eccentrically bystanders in ine process. >> they have not participated in this. as i said, there's a lot of transparent proc

it would have taken about five minutes for chuck grassley or her colleagues to start calling around and find out about this woman. she's got a lot to lose. she's going to be an open book for them. she has a lot to lose if she's not telling the truth. >> here is how president trump described the allegations in the last hour. >> i think it's ridiculous. it's a con game they're playing. the democrats are playing this game that's a disgrace to the country and i think you're going to see it in the mid terms. it's just a con game. he's a high-quality person, they're bringing people out of the woods. they can do that to anybody, other than perhaps the prime minister because he's so pure, but they can do it to anybody what they are doing and it's really, really sad. >> gloria, is that helpful? >> well, i don't think it's helpful to the republicans at all because he doesn't mention what the accusations are, he doesn't mention -- he doesn't mention anything about -- >> even her, her name. >> or her or her name. obviously, look, he doesn't like michael avenatti, as we know, because avenatti of cou

chuck grassley is saying, i said wednesday. you said thursday. too bad. kavanaugh gets on the supreme court. i mean it's unbelievable. >> this is a calculus i don't get, jim. fold this to whatever you think in there. i get there's a lot of attention on ford and whether this is sensitive or not to where she's coming from, whether this is fair enough. and i give a lot of faith and credit to that perspective. however, if i'm judge kavanaugh, i do not like this. i did nothing wrong. i wasn't even there, and it feels like they're railroading her. they're kind of trying to slip me through. i don't want that perception. i say let them investigate. i say bring on witnesses. >> look, judge kavanaugh has said that he'd show up in an hour. >> right. >> judge kavanaugh said he'd show up in an hour and testify and be ready to testify. he is ready to defend himself. he is ready to clear his name. that is what he has said, and he's been unequivocal on that from day one. >> nonsense. >> so to that end -- >> jeffrey says nonsense. >> he's been unequivocal on that from --

lou: grassley's talking about trombones and being in chuck schumer's orchestra. mean, what kind of madness is that? >> republican madness. >> well, this is a man of impeccable credentials who should be on court and on this court quickly. lou: all right. ed rollins, michael goodwin, thank you -- >> happy birthday. lou: thank you very much. and thank you for letting me get a word in. >> first time ever. [laughter] lou: president trump previewing his plan to sit down with deputy attorney general rod rosenstein this week. >> we'll be meeting at the white house, and we'll be determining what's going on. we want to have transparency, we want to have openness, and i look forward to meeting with rod at that time. lou: we'll take it all up with congressman jim jordan. he joins us right after this very quick break. stay with us, we're coming right back. ♪ ♪ racing isn't the only thing on my mind. and with godaddy, i'm making my ideas real. when i created my business, i needed a way to showcase it. ( ♪ ) with godaddy, you can get a website to sell online. and it will look g

senate judiciary chairman chuck grassley refused to democrats demands to adjourn the hearing. democrats wanted more time to review documents concerning kavanaugh. the debate went on for more than an hour before grassley began his opening remarks. house republicans may drop plans for a second phase of the tax cuts. the idea was to force democrats into a difficult vote before midterm elections. republican leaders fear that could backfire. the new proposal would make limits on deducting state and local taxes permanent. that could hurt republican lawmakers in high tax states touches new york, new jersey and california. forecasters predict tropical storm gordon will make landfall tomorrow. the city of new orleans has a state of emergency and some oil companies have started evacuating crews from offshore rigs. bank of england governor mark to extendh is willing his tenure. he has discussed the matter with the chancellor -- an announcement will be made in due course. carney's term expires next june. global news 24 hours a day on air and at tictoc on twitter powered by more than 2700 j