senator coons walked into the hearing. coons said, oh, f, then choked up. we each make choices for our own reason, i'm struggling, sorry. he was choked up. so delaware senator chris coons entered the hearing room choked up and struggling and sorry that his friends decision made the confirmation decision a done deal. but chris coons did not know and the reporters in the hearing room did not know that five minutes after jeff flake announced his decision, he left his office and he got onto a senator's-only elevator, headed to the hearing room and after a cnn reporter squeezed in a question about this vote on the elevator, two women who had just learned of jeff flake's decision to vote for brett kavanaugh kept that elevator open and they made sure that their voices were heard. >> on monday i stood in front of your office and i told the story of my sexual assault. i told it because i recognized -- >> need to go to the hearing. >> -- she's telling the truth. what you're doing is allowing someone who actually violated a woman to

>> senator coons: not that i'm aware of.nk you asked the vice president exactly the right question. what's the basis in law for investigating who wrote this editorial? the real issue here across all of these concerns is that we have a president who, in his tweets, and in his statements and speeches suggests that he thinks the department of justice should act more like the in-house lawyer department or legal department to the trump organization rather than what they are, the independent agency charged with defending our constitution. the independent independence oe department of justice and its prosecutorial decisions from presidential or political interference is one of the bedrock of our democracy and the ways in which president trump continues to harass and to tweet against attorney general sessions, as you just cited, this last week criticizing him for the investigation and the indictment of two close allies of the president should be very troubling to all of us in the comments from both the republican and democrat that t

>> and it bha chris coons. they first put this on the table yesterday when he was questioning judge kavanaugh. we just heard him saying that coons insisted that flake only moved after having conversations and reassurances from others that could mean senator susan collins. >> exactly. those are the two other republican votes we are watching so carefully here. essentially the only way is if he does have the support of those republican votes and chris coons was fascinating to watch the body language playing out in this meeting this morning. we saw him decline to take the opportunity to speak in this meeting and go over and motion and the two of them speaking for quite some time. it is where no one was able to see him. chris coons is the one that first floated this idea. i was speaking with him as he was walking in right when the news broke about the decision to support kavanaugh and coons aid he couldn't even comment. he is not someone who is known for playing a lot of politics. he is known for reaching across the

and now christopher coons. bret, i will come back. >> the democratic calculation hacaucus hadbeen cai investigation. i will say this i think yesterday's very long hearing was a difficult day for dr. ford, a difficult day for judge kavanaugh. i think it was difficult for the american people to see our judiciary committee in the senate so divided. and the tone generally so partisan. what i am encouraged by is that in a ante room back hall conversation first with senator flake and then with senator feinstein and then with many other senators of both parties, there was a broad agreement that this committee has been too divided and too partisan in this process and a hope that by having the fbi luke into these allegations for just a few more days limited in scope and time, that we can both show respect for victims who have come forward with allegations and give judge kavanaugh some prospect of his name being cleared in some ways before a final vote and give the members of the committee and of the senate some reason t

there seems to be some influence from senator coons, chris coons, jeff flake and chris coons -- >> ben sass seems to be. >> involved this. grassley sitting down and think it's about to happen. so we're going to interrupt the minute we hear from grassley. we'll listen into that. i wonder for guys like john meacham is book is being written and let's listen to chuck grassley. >> i recess the meeting until the fall of the gavel. we're going to take action. with a motion that's before us. we got to make sure that we are a quorum. >>> as a point of privilege i'm going to call on senator flake. normally we would start right now but i'm going to call on senator flake. >> i've been speaking with a number of people on the other side. we've had conversations with regard to making sure that we do due diligence here. i think it would be proper to delay the floor vote for up to but not more than one week in order to let the fbi to do an investigation, limited in time and scope to the current allegations that are there. limit in time to no more than one week. i will vote to advance the bill to the fl

i suggested it today as did senator coons. did we actually think this was going to happen today, no. we're in a better place than we were at 8:00 a.m. this morning. >> why do you think he switched? >> i think you should talk to him. >> we're probably going to see this happen a lot. jeff flake is still inside. they are moving to a room. here comes lindsey graham. >> i think i know what happened. i hope some democrats will say if we do what jeff said, that would end the process dispute, at least a few of them. i don't expect them to vote for the guy but if we ask the fbi to look at what's in front of us, no later than a week, no longer than a week and they would say that would be a better process. that would be progress and jeff's trying his best to bring the country together and vote the best way he knows how. i don't know if that's the agreement. i'll get back with you. >> do you expect him to honor it? >> i don't know. that's why i'll talk to him. >> do you think it would be a good idea if he honored this? >> last time i look

coons came back. he has more discussions on the democratic side of the aisle with senator dianne feinstein. they were treated as well. it's unclear what any of this means. we expected flake to deliver remarks before this 1:30 vote announcing his support for brett kavanaugh, but we have known he has been under enormous pressure. protesters confronting him earlier today. he said himself he was deeply torn about whether or not to support kavanaugh. so whether there is a change of heart, we don't know, but it caught a lot of people by surprise in that hearing room. it has been an unpredictable confirmation process so far. we will see if there is another twist, but the moment they still feel they have the votes. at least to get a majority vote on the committee right now. the ultimate question on whether the two key republican swing votes come down, lisa murkowski and susan collins. drama and surrounding jeff flake after he made the announcement to support, but disappeared before delivering remarks before t

reporters told chris coons that the statement had been put out, and coons became visibly emotional. he's not a guy who typicalip sw. he used swear words in a tone that was more sad than angry. that was what proceeded what then played out in the hearing room. they were in there for hours. it started at 9:30. we didn't have an outcome until after 1:30, this was about a personal relationship between two people who have served together in the senate. it was with the cameras off, and it was because they trusted each other that jeff flake could trust what senator coons was saying, and that kind of an interaction, that kind of trust, that has been missing from the senate, and from the congress more broadly, and that is what is breaking it. if you think about the outside political forces, and we've seen a lot of this this week, the political tribalism, the way the bases in each party enforce the koerds that they have, and i have interested to see what kind of reception coons and flake receive from people on their respective sides over the course of the next week. that is forcing people to n

the thing that pushed him over the edge was chris coons.s democratic senator with whom he has a friendship, a good faith relationship, a sense of trust who he felt like he could deal with. flake said, you know, i felt like we had to do something to restore some semblance of credibility to the process so some people on the other side of the aisle say i don't like kavanaugh but i felt like the process was fair. >> we were riveted watching the footage of him being proemp eap by two women in the elevator, how much that affected him or if this was just pure jeff flake an institutionalist. >> i'd say two things. he did say the confrontation with those women struck a chord for him. he described hearing from women in his life in the days leading up to this telling them their own stories about sexual assault and that meant a lot to him. i will say if we're trying to take any kind of lesson from this. i've seen some commentators on the left say this is evidence we need to berate these public officials more, get in their face. this is what changed his

that was my conversation earlier with chris coons of delaware.very interesting there, from the outside the way the senate functions in the rise of partisan maximumism means that the sort of senator-to-senator relationships are much more frayed, but these two had a relationship specifically because of this stuff. specifically for africa and aid in africa and that's given them a shared relationship that was the origin of what happened yesterday. >> and you and i talk about the incentives in politics. what incentivizes behaviors. for jeff flake they have shifted a little bit because he's on his way out. he doesn't have the incentive of re-election but she still has t maintain the relationships. but that personal relationship did allow him to make this deal. just looking at my twitter feed as i'm listening to your interview with senator coons, there's a lot of concern that the deal that these two men brought together may not be as good as it seems because the scope is being more and more limited. >> that's right. seven days. you have seven days to do

. >> laura: joe, already within moments, coons, after pushing him into doing this, coons comes out of the senate room and saysi no, no, no, there are going to be on the accusations. essentially i'm paraphrasing. we can't just limit this. so this is a big rouse. this is not about dr. ford. it's about digging up new dirt to get people to come forward 36 years later. >> ile have confidence in the fv clearly the votes weren't there at this time for the judge. so there needs to be an investigation into the charges from dr. ford. she was a credible witness. chairman grassley said so. and with credibility comes responsibility. let's see what the fbi comes up with. there are senators who will have different views of what they need to be looking at. at the end ofth the day, this could be good for the republicans. >> laura: is that the goal, for the democrats to help the republicans? is that really where we are? they are trying to help the republicans. i thought jeff flake sounded like an out of touch nare assistist today. i'm mr. smith goes to washington. the process was polluted by an uncorro

. >> senator coons and senator flake have been working together on this. this was kind of a surprise to all of us. senator flake has expressed, including in his speech yesterday, his concern about the divide in this country that is being exacerbated by what's happening here. and, of course, we have been asking over and over again for follow-up the judge brett kavanaugh nomination was reported out of the committee 11 to 10 along party lines. jeff flake wants more time. a number of his colleagues here on capitol hill think that would be a very good idea. trace? >> yeah. all the attention right now is focused on young senator flake, mike. but there are other key senators to watch. >> absolutely correct. assuming senator flake stays a yes on judge kavanaugh, there are really four key senators to watch very closely. republican susan collins of maine and lisa murkowski of alaska and democrats from conservative states heidi heitkamp of north dakota and joe manchin of west virginia. manchin said moments ago he supports a delay. this call for delay has left some se

he later abruptly left his seat and asked to speak privately to his close friend, democrat chris coons. he later told cnn flake was concerned the nomination battle was tearing the country apart. >> senator flake and i share a deep concern for the health of this institution. and what it means to the rest of the world, and to our country. >> reporter: it was a rare moment of bipartisanship turning one of the most divisive confirmation battles in history. >> we did have a motion. this was all a gentleman's and woman's agreement. >> gentleman and woman's agreement. >> reporter: now, jeff flake did not say those protesters ultimately changed his decision today. but he said he had sleepless night last night and couldn't pinpoint one reason why he ultimately had this change of heart late. a big question going forward, how will key senators respond if the fbi does not complete its investigation within a week. jeff flake said all i can tell you is we're prepared to move forward within a week. they should get it done by that time. lisa murkowski, i asked her that same question, wolf. she would n

senator flake tapping his colleague, chris coons, on the shoulder, and senator coons, the democrat fromdelaware, is with us now. senator, good morning to you. >> good morning, dan. great to be on with you. >> thank you for joining us. we appreciate it. so, take us inside that conversation inside that room with senator flake. do you think he would have agreed to negotiate with you had he not been confronted in the elevator by those sexual assault survivors? >> well, i think there's several heroes in the story, ana and maria are among many, but they are important in principle among those many survivors who have come forward and shared their stories with us, the senators who serve on the judiciary committee, and my friend, jeff flake, listened to his heart and listened to their concerns and to his doubts and came to an agreement for a one-week limited in time and scope investigation of the credible allegations against judge kavanaugh. i think that was significant. >> so if the fbi comes back and says, okay, we found no evidence of any sexual misconduct, would that satisfy you, and would yo

he was behind closed doors huddle with his longtime friend senator chris coons.e and more lawmakers joined them in an answer room before the arizona republican joined democrats' calls for an fbi investigation before a full senate vote. i caught up with senator coons right after all this unfolded. >> can you take us behind the scenes in your conversations with senator flake? >> senator flake and i respect each other. we've traveled the world together and legislated together and we're concerned that what we saw in yesterday's confirmation hearing and in today's speeches on the committee is tearing the country apart. he felt very strongly that he wanted to send a signal to the american people that we can work together, that we can pause on the final vote on judge kavanaugh to ask the fbi for a brief focused in scope and time investigation. and i said i would come forward and say that was an important and significant thing for him to do. >> and i want to welcome in my panel. with me on set, capitol hill reporter leigh ann caldwell, jeremy peters who has been here. th

is good friends with senator coons. there may be a change here. since that time they've had a discussion on the side, you can kind of see people gathered in the corner of the room. senator coons has come back into the committee room and has been whispering to senator feinstein, senator durbin. about what, we don't know. one of the assumptions was that democrats are really pushing for this delay for at least a week to let the fbi back into the investigation. are they talking about that? we don't know. senator flake is now back in the room and now this vote is seven, 8 minutes till eight and senator grassley is pretty time oriented when he said 1:30. >> harris: let me ask you about senator amy klobuchar from minnesota, because she laid it out like the former prosecutor we know her to be in terms of why you would want that fbi investigation to even happen now. and speaking to a delay. if democrats haven't been able to get a delay, we saw yesterday, what about yesterday would aid them in getting a delay? >> bret: of the emo

and i think one other senator, maybe coons, about what they like to drink.se are clear signs he's evading answers. and lying. his pushing back and interrupting and being rude to senators. his questioning klobuchar. and i think one other senator, maybe coons, about what they like to drink. those are clear signs he's evading answers. and lying. >> all right. jill wine-banks and kristine -- thank you both for being with us. >>> how is dr. ford doing one day after her testimony on capitol hill. two of her family members join me next. y members join me next. sooner or later, we all sign up for medicare. and like my dad, you might want medicare supplement insurance, too. uh oh, more research. no big thing. not with this website. unitedhealthcare insurance company created aarpmedicaresupplement.com to give you answers about aarp medicare supplement insurance plans insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. like how this type of plan, also called a medigap plan, helps pay for some of what medicare doesn't. and how these plans are the only ones endorsed by aarp.

i want you to take a listen to senator chris coons, a democrat, on the judiciary committee. he's friends with jeff flake. and he's talking about how flake in his view is trying to serve as a role model. >> someone who is willing to take a real political risk and upset many in his party by asking for a pause so that the american people can hear that we are able to work together on some things. that even though he and i are from different parties with different values and different backgrounds, we respect each other and we can work together. >> what do you think? >> i think this is exactly what the senate needs, frankly. i think the damage to that institution was terrific. and the damage to the court will be lasting, should judge kavanaugh go through and become justice kavanaugh. i think what senator coons and now senator flake are trying to do is find some way to put this back together. we also have the footage this morning, after senator flake said i'm going to vote to confirm kavanaugh. women confronting him. women who had been victims of sexual violence, confronting him, t

senator coons: on the nominee, no. senator booker: no. senator grassley: aye. the nominee will be reported to the floor. >> mr. chairman, may i be recognized? senator grassley: yes. >> i want to thank my friend and colleague, senator flake, and thank you for giving us the time today to have a conversation. a number of my colleagues have asked for a one-week delay in order there might be an f.b.i. investigation of what allegations are currently before this committee. i respect senator flake's views that in his opinion it was best to respect your having giving dr. ford the time to be heard yesterday and advance the nominee to the floor. senator coons: but it's my hope we can work together on a bipartisan basis to diligently pursue an f.b.i. investigation within the next week, not for the purpose of delay, but for the purpose of investigating further either allegations made by dr. ford or others with a goal towards demonstrating a bipartisan commitment to diligently investigating those allegations. thank you, mr. chairman. thank, senator flake. senator grassley: s

. >> senator coons. >> thank you. >> senator coons is finishing his questions about something about the girl's basketball team. judge kavanaugh, a coach, a father and surviving this marathon just in the middle of it. probably going to go until 9:00 p.m. if you thought there were fireworks, the only fireworks we've seen is to judge how fast the police in the back of the room are getting the protesters out who have been popping up throughout the confirmation hearing. not a lot of fireworks. >> well-timed pop-ups every 17 minutes or so. we watch judge kavanaugh. he's tireless and holding up very well. chris wallace, your thoughts where we are and where water going. >> well, in terms of numbers, we've heard from 11 senators, 5 1/2 hours. half an hour each. that means we've heard from five democrats. some have been a little more to the point. some have gone down trails that i couldn't follow them. but i don't think any of us feel, i don't, that they have really roughed up brett kavanaugh much. i'm a little surprised. we began with the report in politco that some of the liberal groups, libera

. >> that was senator chris coons as you saw in a "60 minutes" interview. that was a preview of what will be airing tonight. they are reflecting on supreme court nominee brett kavanaugh's partisan tone in thursday's judiciary hearing. kavanaugh is facing intense criticism for the anger he displayed towards democrats in had politically charged opening statement which some describe as political theater. >> -- has been a calculated and orchestrated political hit fueled with apparent pent up anger about president trump and the 2016 election, fear that has been unfairly stoked about my judicial record, revenge on behalf of the clintons and millions of dollars in money from outside left wing opposition groups. this is a circus. >> all right. let's bring in kurt bridell a "usa today" contributor. we will have also gloria brown marshall and melissa murray nyu professor of law. she testified at judge kavanaugh's confirmation hearing in this very process. melissa, let's start with you. you can see the accusations there of the senate judiciary committee of the sorts o

and today coons, who is a very good friend of jeff flake's, coons got together with flake and flake could it this way. and flake was very agreeable to that and then things proceeded. >>> thank you so much for the state of play as of this very second. let's go and find out how senator jeff flake's actions today are playing out in his home state of arizona. dan simon is in phoenix. dan, who are you talking to, what are you hearing? >> reporter: well, hey, brooke. as you can imagine, the reaction has been decidedly mixed. the most visible reaction has actually been outside of jeff flake's office in phoenix, where we saw a number of protesters outside of that office. they have been there for the past 24 hours, a lot of women dressed as hand maids, wearing the red dresses and white bonnets. when the word came out this morning that jeff flake was actually going to support judge kavanaugh, we saw their moods totally deflate. and then when we saw this one-week delay, the mood changed a bit. here's what some of those protesters had to say. take a look. >> i saw him being confronted by the women wh

let me play for you what senator chris coons told my colleagues yesterday. let's lis in. >> jeff flake is the real hero of what happened. he needed reassurance to listen to his own conscience and recognize that the very real doubts he had atth the end of d ford's testimony and which a number of other colleagues had were worth taking a pause and investigating. jeff's first comments in the ante room said this is tearing americas apart. a number of people e-mailed us and o talked to us during the hearing. >> you wonder how senator flake got to this point. >> we're learning a lot more details after friday when this big turn in events occurred. we know that senator flake actually spoke with rod rosenstein when he was trying to make the decision. he wanted a process he could be proud of and he thought the hearing was tearing the country apart and he wanted something to make people comfortable in terms of realizing how the process ended before making this vote. as you saw senator coops and senator flake have this great bipartisan relationship that they've shared. h

and i think one other senator, maybe coons, about what they like to drink.hose are clear signs he's evading answers. and lying. >> all right. jill wine-banks and kristine -- thank you both for being with us. >>> how is dr. ford doing one day after her testimony on capitol hill. two of her family members join me next. if your moderate to severe ulcerative colitis or crohn's symptoms are holding you back, and your current treatment hasn't worked well enough it may be time for a change. ask your doctor about entyvio®, the only biologic developed and approved just for uc and crohn's. entyvio® works at the site of inflammation in the gi tract, and is clinically proven to help many patients achieve both symptom relief and remission. infusion and serious allergic reactions can happen during or after treatment. entyvio® may increase risk of infection, which can be serious. pml, a rare, serious, potentially fatal brain infection caused by a virus may be possible. tell your doctor if you have an infection experience frequent infections or have flu-like symptoms, or so

democrat from delaware, senator chris coons. and if the fbi looks into the allegations with any depth kavanaugh's truth about his partying may become relevant. did he lie under oath? we have someone who can help answer that question from firsthand experience. friday night. let's get after it. one week. that's what the fbi is being told they have to conduct a supplemental investigation into the shocking allegations against judge kavanaugh. big turn of events that unfolded in the final minutes before a critical vote this afternoon that could have set the stage for kavanaugh's swift confirmation. not now. so it seems it was all set in motion after republican senator jeff flake, who was seen as a swing vote, announced he was a yes on kavanaugh, delighting republicans, crushing the hopes of democrats. but then this twist, senator flake stepped into an elevator at the u.s. capitol, was suddenly confronted by two women who identified themselves as victims of sexual assault. take a look. >> look at me when i'm talking to you. you're tel

. >> senator chris coons was a central player in this drama. >> even though he and i are from different parties, we respect each other and we can work together. >> combine that with flake getting accosted from a couple of women in the hallways. >> you're telling all women that they don't matter! >> somebody's got to explain this to trump, so, i guess that will be my job. >> breaking news-- the president has ordered the f.b.i. investigation into judge brett kavanaugh. >> they have to do what they think is right. >> hackers exploited a security weakness on facebook, compromising 50 million accounts. >> we don't know if they were able to exploit personal data. >> you're home, maddox. we love you. >> last night in north carolina, the body of a six-year-old with autism. two weeks after hurricane florence made landfall, still a lot of cleanup on the coast. >> a man died yesterday after getting an infection while cleaning storm debris. >> terrifying moments in a plane over the south pacific. it crashed into the ocean. >> everybody on board survived. >> i looked over and saw a hole in the side

so he started huddling with chris coons. other democrats got involved and started talking to him, and he said he wanted the democrats to agree publicly that one week was going to be enough and that they would accept an fbi investigation, because part of the fear among republicans was that they would say okay, look, let's open an fbi investigation and then what next would democrats say? they thought that it was going to keep on going and that the politics would never end. and so what jeff flake feels like he accomplished today was bringing everyone back together, calming tempers a little bit, and getting a more transparent process that will give people the information on how they need to vote if it comes up to a vote next week. >> leigh ann caldwell, nbc news political reporter who has been covering this story. thank you very much for being with us tonight. >> thanks, joy. >> thank you. >>> there are a lot of open questions tonight about that fbi background check and what it will mean for judge kavanaugh. we will try to answe

coons and mr. flake squeezed into an oversized phone booth, mr.stein told them the fbi could complete a background check in a week although it was unlikely to unearth much more than was already known. talk about this forest gump moment for rosenstein that happened on capitol hill this week. >> he was saying something that is commonsensical. when he told those senators, one republican, one democrat that an investigation and background check over the next couple or few days into judge brett kavanaugh is unlikely to turn up anything they don't already know, he is correct. fortunately for people who want to stop brett kavanaugh from getting on the supreme court democrats who put all of their eggs into the fbi investigation basket may not be getting something they want. they will be getting something that gives uneasy senators more cover to vote to confirm him. so rod rosenstein is actually kind of weirdly "on the money" on this one. >> and that investigation, that basket is still being woven it seems. asawin, thank you, natasha thanks for joining me i

we have coons to talk about this.on the show, anderson, and was in such a bad place. he was so resigned to, this can't get any better. it's not like there were rainbows and sunshine today but them coming together seemed impossible when the hearing started. what does it mean? what does it not? what's likely? what's unlikely? we'll take you through all of it. and i believe the fbi will wind up taking a deeper look than people think whether or not the judge was telling the truth about himself and his past. and we have a witness on tonight who may be called by the fbi. she's willing to talk. she knew kavanaugh in college and she knew one of his accusers. we have her on as well. >> i look forward to that. that's coming up in eight minutes from now. up next a look at what some voters thought about the hearings. a group of women who identify as independents share their thoughts. ♪ you shouldn't be rushed into booking a hotel. with expedia's add-on advantage, booking a flight unlocks discounts on select hotels until the day y

chris coons who flake consulted before announcing his decision, had an emotional reaction. >> let me simply say this. senator flake is a genuine conservative. he's written a book about the conscience of the conservative. he and i do not share a lot of political views, but we share a deep concern. sorry. senator flake and i share a deep concern for the health of this institution. and what it means to the rest of the world and to our country if we are unable to conduct ourselves respectfully and in a way that hears each other. >> of course, it's the white house not senator flake or any of his allies who will have to ultimately request that investigation. we've just heard more about what an investigation would entail. breaking in the last hour, mark judge, kavanaugh's longtime friend who dr. blasey ford says was in the room during kavanaugh's alleged attack says he'll cooperate with any law enforcement agency that investigates confidentially. that's according to reporting from the ap. here to help us track the latest breaking developments, capitol hill correspondent kasie hunt. matt mil

after his statement has broken, reporters told chris coons, a friend of flake's said a statement was put out. and he became emotional. he's not a guy that typically swears. it was a tone more sad than angry and that was what proceeded what played out in the hearing roommate. remember, they were in there for hours. i started at 9:30 and we didn't have an outcome until 1:30. this was about a personal relationship between two people who have served together in the senate. it was with the cameras off and it was because they trusted each other that jeff flake could trust what senator coons was saying. and that kind of an interaction, that kind of trust, that has been missing from the senate and from the congress more broadly, and that is what is breaking it. if you think about the outside political forces, the political triablism, the way the bases enforce the codes that they have, i'm interested to see what kind of reception coons and flake receive over the course of the next week. that is forcing people to never do things like this. instead, susan collins had to get driven out of the ca

chris coons, for example, delaware, kavanaugh said he should expect a lot of questions at the hearing on that very question. has been dealing with executive nominations, judicial nominations, a lot nominees to the circuit court, district court. really beensenate able to rapidly go through all of these nominations of the president? just i think, again, because they filibuster is no longer with us, the democrats are not as empowered as they happen in the past. the decisions were made back when he reread -- when harry reid was the majority leader. the republicans will stay united, and there are a few cases of nominees that were blocked, but for the most part, they are run by scott, his potentially racist views. democrats have not done all they can to gum up the system. major judicial confirmations will probably be 68 by the first week of september in the senate. a lot of otherso expiring deadlines in september. you have the farm bill, which is a big issue in rural america that will expire at the month. we have the federal aviation administration authority, and also a real desire to get s

i was impressed with chris coons in this.thought of all the democrats, he was the most thoughtful. so it's not surprising that they got together. and ultimately, we know that senators murkowski and collins wanted this, implied it publicly, at least murkowski did. it's not surprising that we ended up here. and ultimately, as we talked about earlier, it could be a good thing for judge kavanaugh and it does provide opportunity for more people to come forward whether they have a real allegation or not. >> obama care was hanging by a thread there were a lot of disabled people that came to the capitol. you wonder if you're traveling across the country to petition the government for redress of greievances, does it work? and today was an example of how it can work. it can have some effect. even if it doesn't directly cause this deal to be cut, it clearly you could tell from jeff flake's face that it was landing. these women's stories were having an effect on him. the other thing that struck me is that if this nomination goes down, do

joining us now is senator chris coons, a member of the judiciary committee. for being here. i know this is an incredibly busy and intense time. >> thank you, rachel. good to be on with you again. i'm struck as we are preparing for tomorrow's hearing, that there are even more accusations against judge kavanaugh that have come out today. so we've got dr. ford, who will be testifying tomorrow. but we've got deborah ramirez and julie swetnick who have also offered to be interviewed by the committee or the fbi, or both. and i think it's more urgent than ever, given this latest accusation that there be a full fbi investigation before we come to any sort of a final vote on judge kavanaugh. >> as new allegations have come forward, and, again, nbc news tonight is reporting on a letter that was received through senator corey gardner's office, which makes another anonymous l allegation against judge kavanaugh that dates to 1998. as these allegations f s come forward, they all have different levels of corroboration, if any, any sign that the white house or the republican

senator coons, say that he is very pleased with this process of course. that he and jeff flake worked together on this showing that you can get opposite sides to come together to reach some kind of an agreement, the agreement being here that they want to delay the vote on judge kavanaugh to the supreme court by one week. one week in order to conduct an fbi investigation. a lot of concerns though from some conservatives who fear that one week, hey, why wouldn't it turn into four? is it really going to be one week or is this some kind of a stall delay tactic, suddenly we to into midterms and it is roe v. wade kind of midterm vote? so that is one concern. but i go back to my concern which all along has been, why did it take so long to get this all out in the open? why did dr. ford's concerns about judge kavanaugh, not actually reach the white house? why didn't it reach the president of the united states? she did give tips to "the washington post." she did call her congresswoman's office. she did talk to the reception it in the congresswoman's office. then wr

senator flake was seen huddling with democratic committee member chris coons of delaware. then the committee vote was delayed. senator flake and other lawmakers were then seen walking in and out of the hearing room talking, negotiating, and then everything changed. >> i can only say that i would be only comfortable moving forward on the floor -- i'll move it out of committee, but i will only be comfortable moving on the floor until the fbi has done more investigation than they have already. it may not take them a week. i understand that some of these witnesses may not want to discuss anything further. but i think we owe them due diligence. >> and so there it was. republican senator jeff flake suddenly calling for the fbi to investigate more. his call followed then by alaska republican lisa murkowski and red-state democrat joe manchin of west virginia, then republican susan collins of maine. all suddenly calling for an fbi probe. by day's end, it was a done deal. a weeklong background check on judge kavanaugh, limited in scope, and starting today. and our breaking news, a s

. >> joel, already within moments, after pushing him into doing this, coons comes out of the senate room and says, no, there are going to be other accusations. essentially, i'm paraphrasing. we can't just limit this. this is a big ruse. it's not about dr. ford. it's about digging up dirt or whatever it is they do to get people to come forward 36 years later. >> i have confidence in the fbi and their ability to do background investigations. and the clearly the votes were there at this time for the judge. there needs to be an investigation into is judge from dr. ford. she was a credible witness. senator grassley said so. let's see what the fbi comes up with this. at the end of the day, this could be good for the republicans if they -- >> is that the goal for democrats, to help the republicans here? >> is that really where we are? they're trying to help the republicans. i'm sorry but i thought jeff flake sounded like an out-of-touch narcissist today. i'm mr. smith goes to washington. i'm going to save the whole process. the process was polluted by an uncorroborated allegation being used to

but let's go back to senator coons' point about personnel. i sit on the armed services committee as well and one of the things that we do there, i don't know, every second week maybe, is that we have confirmation votes of dozens, scores, sometimes hundreds of promotions and flag officers, and why do we do is that? it's because there are all sorts of constraints on executive power at the level of personnel and when somebody is getting promoted in the navy or at the air force, the congress actually has oversight of that and because that process works so well, because there is so much collegiality between the legislature and the executive branch, it tends to not turn up on tv, often a pro forma moment at the start of our hearings even though any senator republican or democrat that wants to delay the promotion of those officers we can do that, because almost all that stuff is moving by consent. so there are things where there's unity in hiring or in promotion. it's just a lot of that is non-controversial so it doesn't end up salacious on tv. jump

chris coons has been speaking, the senator from delaware. i want to listen in briefly. >> any questions? >> reporter: what happens if the fbi investigation is not -- [ inaudible ]. what will happen, based on your conversation with senator flake, what will happen at that point? >> here's what i can commit to. i don't control the fbi or whether or not other allegations i will say and am saying now i am deeply grateful to senator flake and others who i believe will join him in saying they are not comfortable in proceeding to a final vote on judge kavanaugh's nomination without a short additional period of investigation. there is understandable concern on the part of many senators in the other caucus that they expressed in or judiciary committee meeting that there will simply be addition an al allegations coming forward. if they are, i think they should be investigated. but what i support is the idea that it should be no more than a one-week delay before a final vote and that, frankly, the current allegations should be sufficient for the fbi to

. >> reporter: jeff flake and chris coons up ended the confirmaon process friday when they negotiated a last minute demand to investigate sexual misconduct claims against kavanaugh. the senate judiciary committee urged the president to authorize a one week fbi investigation of currt credible allegations. the bureau is limited by the white house to pursue claims made by christine blasey ford and debra ramirez.t allegations from julie sweatnick, who is represented by michael avenatti. the fbi can follow its own >> they have free reign, they're going to do whatever they have to do. >> a klobuchar expressed concern. >> the white house is going to have to give some guidance >> reporter: the new f kanavaugh is criminal investigation, and that limits agents' authority. >> i could imagine they were in a box, and remember, those interviews a voluntary. >> judge kavanaugh has denied a wrongdoing, and says he will continue to cooperate. >> the president i bringing the fight over the supreme court and all the controversy around brett kavanaugh right here tli wh, west virginia making the supreme c

and when the democrat finished speaking, flake stood up, motioning for coons to follow him out of the room. for an hour and a half, a flurry of activity behind the scenes, while inside the committee room, republicans looking puzzled. senator amy klubuchar whispering to her democratic colleagues, a big smile on her face. finally flake walked back in. >> normally, we would start the vote right now, but as a point of personal privilege i would call on senator flake. >> reporter: flake, with a dramatic move, telling colleagues they have to delay a vote on kavanaugh until the fbi can do an investigation, suggesting he wouldn't support kavanaugh until they do. >> this country is being ripped apart here. we've got to make sure that we do due diligence. i think this committee has done a good job but i do think that we can have a short pause and make sure that the fbi can stunned. but also boxed in. they likely need flake's vote to confirm kavanaugh to the court. just 24 hours ago, republican lindsey graham railed against the democrats. >> this is the most unethical sham since i've been in pol

coons will be on 60 minutes to tomorrow talk about how it went down.all of the reasons you laid out why jeff make did it also with the others in mind do you think was a factor to give him an opportunity to get to yes? >> absolutely he's a conservative. he wants to vote for kavanaugh. he did vote for him in committee. and he wants to bring republican women and democrats. he agrees with kavanaugh. he wouldn't have done anything without getting their approval so there were a lot of phone calls back an forth and they had dinner last night, it was reported, so i think they're all in this together. >> you know all of the players what do you think chuck schumacher and mitch mcconnell are thinking right now. >> well, mitch mcconnell is not happy as you might think. he wanted to get this through. he had a procedural vote on friday night on this that once the report is done bingo they can just approve it on the senate floor. all goes well with kavanaugh. he just wants to get this done. so he wasn't happy but he understood, he counts votes better than anybody. he

when we come back, we will hear from democratic senator chris coons. what about administration officials working to undercut their own president? will barack obama help or hurt democrats in november? and do democrats do anything to and do democrats do anything to slow down brett kavanaugh's wit, the products i've tried just didn't fit right. they were very saggy. it's getting in the way of our camping trips. but with new sizes, depend fit-flex is made for me. introducing more sizes for better comfort. new depend fit-flex underwear is guaranteed to be your best fit. >> this week, president trump's nominee to the supreme court, judge brett kavanaugh faced two days of grilling on the senate judiciary committee. but the democrats do anything to slow down his confirmation before it starts its new session in october? joining us now, senator chris coons. senator, i will get to that in a moment. but you just heard my interview with vice president pence, your reaction to his defense of president trump against some of those critics inside his own administration.

[inaudible] >> the comments of senator chris coons, member of the senate judiciary committee and just outside 226 of the senate office building. again, just tuning in to hearing has concluded for theju day. the senate judiciary committee back tomorrow morning. senate republicans meeting in about 25 minutes on capitol hill. t.j. is joining us dover, delaware. your thoughts on today's hearing. >> hi, thank you for taking my, call. i want to telephone watching this as a watershed moment for all of america for what it represents and i'm calling on two connected but distinct issues. one is thek allegations resultg and resulting hearing. it's not an investigation that and the second one is the increasing by financing of our courts through partisan appointments. the supreme court is the purpose of providing the nation with another approachable check on the interaction of the state and our rates as citizens like that of privacy, the outburst by graham and other republicans who might i add were too scared to talk themselves in spite of providing nothing but support, int the hypocrisy in the fi

chris coons, (d) judiciary committee: "it is my hope that we could work together on a bipartisan basiso diligently pursue an fbi investigation within the next week - not for the purpose of delay, but for the purpose of investigating further either allegations made by dr. ford or others, with the goal towards demonstrating a bipartisan commitment to diligently investigating these allegations. thank you mr. chairman. thank you senator flake."moments later, committee chairman chuck grassley called for a vote.nats kavanaugh's nomination moving to the floor of the senate along party lines. the whole affair a stunning turn - given flake just a few hours prior, announced he would vote to confirm kavanaugh, and the first floor votes scheduled to take place saturday. but in between that statement ... those secret conversations and the committee vote - this: nats: "look at me when i'm talking to you. you're telling me that my assault doesn't matter. that what happened to me doesn't matter and that you're going to let people who do these things into power - that's what you're telling me, when you