but that's not jeff flake. and so jeff flake decided to do this his way. >> i have been speaking with a number of people on the other side, had conversations ongoing for a while with regard to making sure that we do do diligence here, and 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 continue to do an investigation, limited in time and scope to the current allegations that are there. and limit in time to no more than one week. and i will vote to advance the bill to the floor with that understanding. >> and so tonight the train has stopped and the fbi is investigating brett kavanaugh again. after jeff flake and the rest of the republicans on the committee voted to send brett kavanaugh's nomination to the senate floor, jeff flake created a mini republican stampede for an fbi investigation. senator susan collins and lisa murkowski quickly tweeted they too wanted an fbi investigation. and then mitch mcconnell knew the deal was completely undone. and

jeff flake does not. flake and graham are close. what i'm saying is we don't know where this will go but it's powerful. it's influential and the calculus changes. everything that happened before, put that in context. what happens now means flake has power of when the timing of the vote is. he can persuade other colleagues and the decision maker is mitch mcconnell. what does he want? he wabnts brett kavanaugh to be confirmed. likely it will take jeff flake's vote. >> many people have been asking th themselves what would john mccain do. both very close to senator mccain. john, meachum what is your take here? just 20 minutes ago we were saying this is about metoo. t t tribali tribalism. what about now? >> this is a triumph of common sense. we were talking about if we were united states senator, we would want these questions answered that's what's happening. i think senator flake had an enormous amount of credit. this is a sensible outcome here. if you watched yesterday, if you were compelled by the testimony in the morning, if you were

>> i mean listen, this is jeff flake. this is what i like about the guy. susan and others take it really seriously. jeff is not a lawyer. this is really hard. i've been in the legal system, you have a lot of emotional decisions to make but the fact pattern leads itself to there's just not enough, we got to move on. but having said that, this is jeff flake being very sincere. and what he's trying to do, and i respect the hell out of this, trying to get some democrats on -- if you say a week longer will make it a better process -- >> do you think the republican leadership have agreed to a one-week delay? >> if i quit talking to y'all, i can go find out. >> manu, go ahead. good try. but go ahead. he's making it clear, he's very sympathetic to jeff flake, he's ready to see what happens. but it all boils down now to mitch mcconnell and the president of the united states if they're willing to give it a week, let the fbi go ahead and do this limited investigation. and the only reason i suspect they would agree to a week extension before there's a final floor vote

jeff flake was expected to speak as well. nevertheless, this panel is bitterly, bitterly divided over this nomination. it has been hugely contentious and the key question, where do the moderate senators come down and does jeff flake have a change of heard. we don't have any indication that's the case yet, but curious him not delivering remarks announcing support after he put out a paper statement earlier today. >> after he voted to confirm judge kavanaugh, he was going towards an elevator. let me play the clip of what happened then. >> what you are doing is allowing someone who actually supreme court.an to sit on the - this is not tolerable. you have children in your family. think about them. i have two children. i cannot imagine that for the next 50 years, they will have to have someone in the supreme court who has been accused of violating a young girl. what are you doing, sir? >> noble believes me. i didn't tell anyone and you are telling all women they don't matter and they should stay quiet because if they tell you what

he sees if he can get to 50 without jeff flake. if he can get to 50 without flake, is going to proceed. he will bring this through this weekend. the final confirmation vote on tuesday. and brett kavanaugh will go to the supreme court. if, on the other hand, he doesn't have the votes and there was at least the suggestion from democratic senator chris coons that other senators and one would suspect perhaps his is murkowski and susan collins have been party to this conversation, if he doesn't have the votes, if he is stuck at 48, then they have to bend and they will have to agree to this fbi, at most, one week investigation. and, you know, there was something very interesting in chris coonsment statement when he said, look, you know, if there are other allegations, you know, i would hope they would look at them. i have agreed to one week. can i promise you if there are other allegations, there are other democrats in the senate who are going to say well now we have this allegation. we have to have an fbi investigation of this which is w

you can see it on jeff flake's face. jeff coons that he's concerned that they are tearing the country apart, this whole thing, i think. do you think he's right? do you think this episode is doing that? >> yeah. well, i think our politics is more emotional and vitriolic than ever and you see more of these personal confrontations. these women, obviously, they weren't threatening but you see things like ted cruz in a restaurant where you have goonz confronting him and you're a couple inches away from some sort of physical confrontation so i think we're going down a road where public officials will probably need almost constant security and it's a very bad thing for this country and a sign of how the political debate is going off the rails. >> do you think it's a bad thing for the country? yesterday you were arrested protesting outside the capitol in between the supreme court and the capitol. do you think it's a bad thing where this is headed? >> i think there are a lot of things headed a bad direction. i don't think the amer

jeff flake is.urkowski has said that she supports jeff flake's request for an fbi investigation and a one-week delay. >> reporter: correct. you've got it all right. but let me bring you breaking news from my colleagues inside the capitol seeking out that meeting with mitch mcconnell and senators murkowski and flake. senator cornyn telling us that there will be an fbi background check investigation lasting no more than one week so we're not sure what they know that we don't, if they have been in communication with the president who would have to authorize that, but that is a marked difference from leadership who had previously until this time been saying there was no need to do that, that they were going to push full steam ahead no matter what. this is the result of what we have seen unfold over the course of the past few -- i was going to say past few days. it's actually been hours maybe but over this afternoon as jeff flake seemed to suddenly change his mind. he went into this judiciary committee m

what is important is what senator jeff flake has way. f flake has asked for, thejudiciary senatorjeff flake has asked for, the judiciary committee senatorjeff flake has asked for, thejudiciary committee has no ability to tell the majority leader how to run the floor saw in some ways whatjeff how to run the floor saw in some ways what jeff flake how to run the floor saw in some ways whatjeff flake is asking for is irrelevant but what is clear is he will saying i will not vote for your nominee or i will have concerns about voting for the non—amiga and i should go through the process and thatis should go through the process and that is the power of what he has asked. they are talking about a delay of no more than a week for the fbi to investigate, who will decide whether that investigation goes ahead? that decision has to come to the executive branch but it's not the executive branch but it's not the president's decision, it's made by the attorney generaljeff sessions pour through the fbi itself, it would be inappropriate for it to be done t

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

how unexpected was jeff flake's moment? does this all stem from the elevator moment or had this been sort of percolateling before then? >> keep in mind there were four republicans on the fence essentially until yesterday after the hearing. jeff flake, bob corker, lisa more cow skirks and susan collins. i haven't seen them being so vocal until this issue. even with the daca debate, there were a lot of protesters but not quite in your face as the anti-kavanaugh folks. number two, jeff flake is ons he way out. he's retiring and not seeking re-election. he did have concerns about this nomination moving forward, and after thursday's hearing he was one of the first to call -- to hear from dr. ford when the allegations came public. after that hearing listening to both dr. ford and to brett kavanaugh, he said, i came away with as many questions as not. so what was more surprising was hearing friday morning when it was announced he was going to vote for the confirmation. in fact, e was listening to some folks. i overheard anti-kavan

jeff flake, senator coons and rod rosenstein. that conversation was had before the big announcement. rosenstein said they could do the investigation in a week but they would not learn more than we know. shannon bream and the fox news might team up next. shannon: brett kavanaugh makes it out of the senate judiciary committee as donald trump calls for an fbi investigation and latebreaking news, maybe holding back. delay for the weekend, brett kavanaugh's nomination to the supreme court takes a big step forward but also facing a delay as donald trump orders the fbi to conduct an investigation because of a last-minute condition set by republican jeff flake. we talk to a former doj prosecutor worked closely with the fbi who knows about the background check process and tells a what the fbi will or won't be doing next, mitch mcconnell vowing brett kavanaugh's nomination will soon go to a senate vote. and henry with what happens next and but breaking news. >> the times of northwest indiana just posted a story on its website saying joe do

if it is jeff flake, then this whole thing stops because jeff flake is on the judiciary committee. they need every republican vote on that committee in order to move that confirmation out of the committee. so if they don't have jeff flake on the committee, jeff flake is empowered now to stop the whole thing. >> and, you know, it's interesting. i should tell you that chris coons was just on my show this past hour live. and it was interesting. i asked him if there were not sort of off camera discussions happening among senators and if it's just among democrats or republicans happening, too. and he said i've had conversations with democrats and republicans who are deeply uncomfortable and unhappy with this process on the committee and are trying to find a way to get a brief but appropriate process in place. you've been saying this for a long time, if any 1 one of these senators particularly jeff flake on committee say, listen, i'm just telling you i'm not going to vote until there's an fbi investigation, that is sort of a third way out here. that is sort of a way to get through this p

listen, this is jeff flake. i mean, this is why i actually like about the guy, susan, all these people take it really seriously. jeff is not a lawyer. this is hard. again i've been in the legal system. you have a lot of emotional decisions to make but the fact pattern here leads itself, i'm sorry there is not enough we've got to move on, having said that, this is jeff flake, very sincere in what he is trying to do, i respect the hell out of this, democrats a week matter. some of them would. some would go own and on. a few say week longer would make it a better process he probably done -- >> republicans agreed to one-week delay. >> if i could quit talking to y'all come out. >> please do. come on back, senator. trish: all right, senator graham, talking rather optimistically about a one week delay. the hope maybe you get some democrats to reconsider and maybe they would actually vote to confirm judge kavanaugh if they had the peace of mind would come from an investigation for one week by the fbi. i'm joined again b

jeff flake was the outlier. remember, he was in a meeting late last night with susan collins, lisa murkowski and joe manchin talking about this hearing, talking about a path forward. he came out with a statement this morning after much consideration he decided that he did not hear enough to make him feel as though he could not vote for judge kavanaugh. he felt that it was time to make a decision to vote yes and that vote could come in the next 30 minutes. as for the floor vote, you laid out those four senators. of the four remaining, undecided senators, for judge kavanaugh not to be justice kavanaugh, all four have to vote no. any other combination allows him to be passed on a party line vote or a 50/50 tie with mike pence breaking the tie. those remaining senators are all holding their cards very close to the vest. susan collins not spoken publicly today. lisa murkowski, not sure if she came to the office on capitol hill today. we have not heard a word from joe manchin and heitkamp not required to say anything

and jeff flake of arizona is a key swing vote in this nomination process.

who wrote i won't celebrate jeff flake for acting to delay the floor vote i'll celebrate the bravery maria gallagher and anna maria killer for confronting senator flake with their own stories of assault and demond ing. and of course there were some people who impressed by what they did. there was a twenty one year old american man who saw it very differently he wrote jeff flake he got her wrist today and manipulated by a protester in the elevator this was no random protest this was a young lady who's at the top of an organization that george soros heavily funds you can't make this up. and with that he was alleging that the center for popular democracy which anna-maria kilo one of the women is the co executive director of and the man who tweeted that is suggesting that that's funded by the billion billionaire philanthropist george soros who is of course well known for his anti trump views but i think what has really caught people's attention here is you know what these women have gone through the sexual abuse that they've talked about how that reflects what so many people fellow survi

reporter: the white house was blindsided by this from senator jeff flake. the senator coming out saying he wants what is best for the country. the judiciary committee itself would like the administration to request reopening that fbi background investigation for a limited credible allegations. david? david: i can't tell you how many emails i received in the past couple hours, we thought it was finally going to be over and now another week. edward, thank you very much. melissa. melissa: here is greg nunziata, former chief nominations counsel to the senate judiciary committee. thanks so much for joining us. greg, the problem all these politicians on both sides, everyone out there have zero credibility i think with regular people at this point. if it was really about what he just said, a limited scope in time, limited scope in time to the current allegations, that would be one thing but it is hard to actually believe that when everybody keeps changing what they're saying from jeff flake, who said yes, then later no to what ebb else is asked for. what is your t

jeff flake had an agreement with the democrats in the background. and then came out and the democrats could have held a quorum. they could have done a number of things but they thought they had an agreement. turns out there is no agreement unless the majority really goes along with it. this is the kind of things where the democrats get rolled time after time by the republicans who continue to out with them in these political games and it's a shame. personally, i'm embarrassed to be a man in this country. men watching this hearing purporting to lie afterwards about what was said, making stuff up. not taking responsibility for how they act. keeping the boys will be boys attitude going, when this is the most important body that makes decisions and our daughters and sons will have to and they lie -- you had a caller just a second ago said the woman lied because she said she had a fear of fearing. she said she wouldn't fly. she had a fear of flying. they make this stuff up. it's an embarrass to live in a country -- it's an embarrassment to live in a coun

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 senior republicans scratching their heads. >> all i can say is right now what jeff is saying is makes sense to me. i'm not speaking for mitch. i'm going to talk with jeff. somebody has got to explain this to trump. i guess that will be my job. >> some sources close to this confirmation process that i have spoken with in the last few minutes say this could be a blessing in disguise if it gives some of

jeff flake voted for that.ow mitch mcconnell has brought the nomination to the floor and they have approved the entire senate technically because they did it by voice vote a procedural motion to get on to the amendment. but details here are what matters. the key vote where senators will come to the floor, casting vote, and that will decide whether or not brett kavanaugh is the next supreme court justice for the united states, those won't come until later next week. a final vote, mcconnell told senators today behind closed doors, won't happen until they get the fbi supplemental background investigation. the reason why is this, wolf. we talked about this a little earlier, i think it is an important point. senate majority leader mitch mcconnell does not want the expanded fbi background investigation. he wants to move forward now. he had fully planned to have a final vote as soon as tuesday. he does not have the votes, and so a simple mathematical reality comes into play right now. until his senators are comfortabl

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, tearfully. and i don't know jeff

voicing disapproval of jeff flake as one longtime republican political analyst put it, jeff flake'sot going to gain anymore supporters as result of what's happened. take a look. >> jeff flake's move, calling for this delay, how is that sitting with constituents in arizona? >> i think jeff's having a bad day back home. i don't think he can show his face in the local grocery store right now. i think it's -- it's a fresh wound. i think he's out of step with his own hometown constituency that think rightly or wrongly that kavanaugh's being smeared by the democrats unfairly, and jeff, senator flake, is enabling this smear by going with the one-week delay. so back home i think he's out of step with his constituency. >> reporter: we don't know how jeff flake is spending the weekend. if he's returned here to his home state of arizona. i can tell you he's been a polarizing figure in the state largely because of the criticism he directed towards president trump. it's against that backdrop, fred, that jeff flake decided no the to run for re-election fearing that he would lose a primary, but as

he said to jeff flake, you have the leverage. and he's right. because the other key thing that senator flake said right there was that he has spoken to other members of his conference about whether they would support a move like this. and so what we here on the hill are going to be looking for now is, are senators susan collins and lisa murkowski also going to draw this same line in the sand? because if they do, mitch mcconnell will not have the votes to take kavanaugh to the floor for a final vote. he will essentially have to acquiesce to their demands. now, obviously, a lot can happen behind closed doors. there will be a lot of arm-twisting and trying to convince them to move forward, because the reality is, there is a sense among some republican leaders that a delay of kavanaugh's vote is essentially a death sentence. that either the allegations might come forward, or that the nominee himself and especially his family, might simply lose their taste for the process. and that ultimately, it could all fall apart. so just to take everybody back th

but, jeff flake asked for more time.r john cornyn a member of the republican leadership team praised jeff flake for voting to advance the nomination while asking for more time. >> there is some difference of opinion among us as to what exactly the fbi investigation would consist of. some of us think the -- it has been concluded and supplemented by this committee's investigation. others disagree with that but, i respect the fact that not only senator flake advocated to give dr. ford a chance to appear in front of the committee, which was the right thing to do, but also that he has allowed this process to move forward. >> the kavanaugh nomination was passed by the committee 11 to 10 along party lines. it comes a day after a very emotional hearing when members of the judiciary committee heard from his accuser christine blasey ford and kavanaugh. there are also many mostly cloudmentionsof kavanaugh's cloh school friend mark judge, he sent a letter to the committee under oath denying allegations against him and kavanaugh but

>> yeah, a little surprised, even though it was kind of classic jeff flake for the past couple years. i started covering flake when he first joined congress in 2001. i watched his career kind of grow and watched his political profile get bigger and bigger. he joined the senate in 2012, and he's had kind of a frustrating first term. going to turn out to be his only term, especially the past two years where he has kind of been a senator without a party. he has crossed ways with president trump, so the trump republicans don't trust him or like him, see him as an annoyance, and he is not tough enough for the democrats on the liberal side to appreciate him as a maverick. he certainly stands up to trump from time to time. he has given several floor speeches denouncing trump for one thing or another. lots of tweets. from the left, they view him as all talk and no action whereas the republicans see him as kind of a rino undercutting trump. he found himself in the middle again, sort of went along with the democrats to ensure a week-long delay, but he is also signaling that he is possibly in th

that didn't move jeff flake, but his boy did.ook, what we saw over the course of the week was the unvarnished contempt -- and i will put this on republicans -- that the republican party has for women in this country. what we saw this week was lindsey graham and chuck grassley and orrin hatch trying to the build the "me too" fire wall as if to say to all women this far and no further, right? you got harvey weinstein, you got les moonbeam, but gosh darn it, you're not taking our nominee away. there are judges waiting for kavanaugh's job. they could pick another guy but they don't want another guy and that's because the sexual assault allegations against brett kavanaugh are a feature for them, not a bug. they want to prove that they can shove this guy through and tell women to shut up and that's what we saw today. and i hope that's what murkowski and collins saw. >> and add on to that that if you continue to have this conversation as though it is purely about politics, that it makes it very easy. as you you shape this as a culture o

jeff flake is basically a mercenary, that's what's wrong with jeff flake. jeff flake has no spine. is going to back them up on the floor when there is a floor vote. here is what jeff flake in fact did. the democrats needed a moment of clarity to get past lindsey graham's explosive volcanic floor statement that provided everybody with a real account for once of what is actually going on. the democrats had to desperately get past that they needed a delay. they know damn well this fbi investigation is going to do nothing to provide any clarity in this situation at all. and jeff flake gave it to him. he sold out the g.o.p. everybody is afraid to say it on some desperate hope that this man is going to grow a spine over the next few days on the floor vote. is he finished. it's time to move on. you have to convince murkowski, collins and manchin. flake is over. it's done. that's exactly what happened yesterday. that's the truth however painful it is to hear. rachel: dan, i was going to say our viewers love you because they think you are a fighter that you are tirelessly fighting for what

and one of them, jeff flake making this move. libby casey, listen to senator koons detailing someone he calls a friend across-party lines today. >> let simply say this. senator flake is a genuine conservative. he has written a book about the conscience of a conservative. he and i do not share a lot of political views. 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. >> libby, i want to ask you a hard question as a narrater, but that's your job at "the washington post." what did today mean as a kind of an unexpected shift from what we saw that i think was painful for so many americans yesterday? >> yesterday was all about partnership, and it certainly took the tone as the hearing went on, especially when we saw lindsey graham deviate from having the woman prosecutor represent questions for the republicans when he jumped in, and he was so outraged, and he real

coons and jeff flake, the two senators, one a democrat, one a republican, who were at the center of thema on friday. senator flake said his vote was contingent on the fbi investigation. a lot of people are wondering what led senator flake to do that and what he thinks about the nominee after thursday's hearing. we have a keen insight into the senator's thinking. he sat down for an extended interview right after that important vote. it's good to have you with me. let's start with what motivated him to do this. you describe him as being tired, not sleeping a lot before that vote. he was just unsettled. what does that mean? walk us through his thinking. >> what he told me is that on thursday night, the night before all of this went down, he barely slept. he was really torn on what to do. as of that next morning, friday morning, he had decided he was going to vote for kavanaugh. vote to confirm because he felt like there wasn't enough corroborating allegations against him. he said he was still unsettled and unsure of that decision. when he arrived at the committee hearing and he saw what he

dave bossy, jeff flake, we are going to get into the meat of this part of it later on, but jeff flake wasaccosted in a liberal smear storm. they wanted to surround him in the senate. somehow security s doesn't exist anymore. and stopped him in an elevator and the man looked like, you know, he couldn't stand the heat. after that, he walks back into the senate after just having written a letter saying he supported the judge's nomination, and he comes up with a new thing, a new little idea. a week delay. >> it looks and feels like he got bullied by some of these protesters, but the senate democrats bullied him. you can see those behind the scenes pictures of him being accosted by those senate democrats. what his decision has allowed brett kavanaugh and his family to be terrorized for the next week. it's counter productive to our country, to, to the supreme cout and to the process. they have thrown the rule book out the window, the democrats. i think they are going to pay dearly for that in the long run. >> laura: joe, this is what flake said today as he was making his historic pronounce

if there is a weaker, more pathetic political figure in the united states than jeff flake, i am not aware of who it is. i thought yesterday was a classic demonstration of his inability to stand for anything. >> you are off the flake family christmas list once and for all. >> by the way, let's not forget about the delay business, can you delay it for a week or two days? merrick garland. they delayed filling a seat for a year. the idea that they can't delay this hearing or this vote for a week is preposterous. >> the timeline is artificial, right? there was ten months where the supreme court had eight members, and if you have george w. bush moving for kavanaugh, and i think they likely have the votes. we will have to see what happens. >> all right, thank you all very much. >>> the next two hours are going to be fascinating. >> they are. they really are. sooner or later jeff flake will have to tell us how he feels about this. >> sooner than later he will let us know. >> 9:30 a.m. >>> brett kavanaugh insists he never committed sexual assault, saying, quote, that's not who i am. we will talk w

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 not say. she said we'll just deal with it at that point. and as for judge kavanaugh, he issued a statement just moments ago, wolf, saying he will, in fact, cooperate with the fbi investigation. wolf? >> all right. dramatic developments indeed. manu raju on capitol hill, thank you. president trump has now ordered an fbi probe into the kavanaugh allegations. let's go to our chief white house correspondent, jim acosta. so jim, what's the latest over there? >> reporter: that's right, wolf. a statement just came in a few moments ago from the president, ordering this supplemental investigation into judge brett kavanaugh's background. we can put up this statement from the president on screen. it says, i've ordered the fbi to conduct a supplemental investigation to update judge kavanaugh's file as the senate has requested. this update must be limited in scope, and completed in less than one w

take a look. >> jeff flake's move calling for this delay, how is this sitting with constituents in arizonahink jeff's having a bad day back home. i don't think he can show his face in the local grocery store right now. i think it's a fresh wound. i think he's out of step with his own hometown constituency that think rightly or wrongly that kavanaugh's being smeared by the democrats unfairly. and jeff, senator flake, is enabling this smear by going with the one week delay. so back home i think he's out of step with his constituenconstit. >> reporter: well, as we know, jeff flake has been a polarizing figure here in arizona with republicans, largely because of his criticism toward donald trump. it is against that backdrop that he decided not to run for re-election. meantime, as this kavanaugh process rolls on, some have noted flake is acting like his former colleague, the late senator john mccain, act like a maverick. fred. >> all right, dan simon, thank you. >>> still ahead, after all the turbulence over brett kavanaugh's nomination to the supreme court, what does success look like for repu

>> yes, i asked jeff flake these exact questions once he left the committee room. he said the women who were confronting him in the elevator didn't play a role in his decision, but what he did say is that he -- when he put out that statement this morning saying that he was going to vote yes for kavanaugh, he thought that that would be enough for republicans, but then he felt that the process was completely broken. and so he reached out to senator chris coons and said, look, the american people do not have a good feeling about this. they do not like where the senate. they don't like how this is unfolding. so even if we have a partisan vote, he told chris coons, he said let's try to get a bipartisan process. and he realized that so far the process has been completely broken. no one had trust in it. and so that was really his motivation. he has been talking for months ever since he announced his retirement about the degradation of the senate. and so this has been a mission of his. and so trying to bring some comity to the process, collegiality. so he started huddling

jeff flake who had been the deciding vote. the 11th republican to give the senate republicans a majority for judge kavanaugh came out this morning and said he was voting yes, but after a series of negotiations through the morning appears to have said now and he tried to explain it there that he'll agree to send the bill to the floor. we'll keep our ears on senator feinstein, grassley and leahy as well. but he appears -- flake appears to be saying that he will not vote to let this bill be passed on the floor. unless he can get some agreement for a one-week investigation. fbi investigation with the firm deadline. so they can examine the allegations already on the table. unclear, if this has been >>> are there enough that agree to not go forward? >> i don't know any other senator's position on the republican side. >> mystery deepens. the number two democrat jeff flake is speaking for himself. we have not heard from senator susan jeff flake had been listening intently all through the testimony yesterday. the day before the testimo

that is arizona retiring republican senator jeff flake. the judiciary committee has 11 republicans, 10 democrats, and so tonight the committee vote on brett kavanaugh is all up to jeff flake. if jeff flake votes no along with all of the democrats, then the kavanaugh nomination will be defeated in the judiciary committee. but that does not mean the end of the road for brett kavanaugh. majority leader mitch mcconnell could still bring the nomination to the senate floor for a full vote even if the judiciary committee has voted against recommending that confirmation. we will be reviewing the testimony of dr. ford and judge kavanaugh throughout this hour. here is some of what they had to say. >> brett and mark came into the bedroom and locked the door behind them. there was music playing in the bedroom, it was turned up louder by either brett or mark once we were in the room. i was pushed onto the bed and brett got on top of me. he began running his hands over my body and grinding into me. i yelled hoping that someone downstairs might hear me,

path to 50 could look like without senator jeff flake. possible but really, really difficult. thank you. stay with us and stay close because this is all going down in just minutes. >>> so the white house was pleased with brett kavanaugh's performance yesterday. we heard that from the president. he took to twitter and called his testimony powerful, honest and riveting. abbie phillip joins us this morning. the white house standing by brett kavanaugh, really happy with that aggressive, defiant performance last night. what more are you hearing this morning about how confident the white house feels that they have the votes here? >> reporter: that's exactly right, poppy. we saw this morning white house officials fanning out to defend brett kavanaugh, to reinforce that the president saw him as giving a strong performance, a strong defense of himself yesterday in that testimony and they're saying they feel optimistic about where we're headed in terms of the final vote in the senate. but they were asked this morning if they have the votes of some

>> i just had a chance to ask senator about that and he said there's no ill will towards jeff flake. he said that he likes the attribute that flake has and that senator susan collins has, that they take things so seriously. and so i asked if any republican senators after they got out of that meeting were seen at the senator from arizona who is retiring, who is actually holding up the nomination right now. as far as we can tell, no one is willing to air out the dirty laundry from the conference room in public. not yet. >> we'll see. they have a way of trickling out. thanks. great to see you. >> thanks, shannon. >> you've got the latest details and now the calendar for moving forward, but what about the politics of all this? the stakes are huge. tonight's power panel is here to dig in live after the break. - i think the best companies succeed as a team, and our shirts from custom ink help bring us together. we just upload our logo, and if we have any questions, customer service is there to help. - [male] custom ink has hundreds of products to help you look and feel like a team. get star

that from senator jeff flake. and in a cnn exclusive interview, i spoke with the d co-founder of the women's maran talked about the debate around nominee brett kavanaugh, that it is galvanizing women and survivors of sexual assault. here's part of the conversation. >> we're coming back out and announcing today to the american people to join us around the country and in washington, d.c. on january 19, 2019. we are outraged that we are talking about and putting victims on trial and talking about dr. ford in the way in which she was treated at that hearing. brett kavanaugh was disqualified before christine ford came out with her allegations and we still think he is disqualified, and we're going to do everything we can to keep him off the supreme court chlts. >> january 19, 2019. women across the globe will march again. >>> rescues are happening now in indonesia after a powerful earthquake triggered a tsunami. massive destruction there. nearly 400 dead, hundreds injured, even more still missing. >>> and dozens of airl

and that voice changed jeff flake's mind. it's going to have an enormous impact in the days ahead. >> but what if they vote to confirm him, and all these women said, oh, the hell with you. >> it may well happen that way. but, listen, it was incredibly important not to totally ram this thing through. the republicans were about to do one of the worst things you can do in american politics, and that is be completely dismissive of millions and millions of voters and have -- and at least opening the door, and i think flake deserves a lot of credit for that. but had it not been for those women in that elevator today, would we be here tonight? i don't think so. >> and as you said, professor ford certainly. david gergen, dana bash, jeff toobin, thank you. >>> coming up, new york senator kirsten gillibrand's take on the hearings and today's stunning developments. hi, kids! i'm carl and i'm a broker. do you offer $4.95 online equity trades? great question. see, for a full service brokerage like ours, that's tough to do. schwab does it.

now orders the fbi to conduct an investigation after a last-minute request by republican senator jeff flake to delay judge brett kavanaugh's supreme court nomination, so the fbi can investigate. dr. christine blasey ford's sexual assault claim that she levied against kavanaugh during a lengthy and highly emotional hearing on thursday. it's the late nest a back and forth that's continued for several weeks. chief congressional correspondent mike emanuel following the latest developments from capitol hill tonight. good evening, mike. >> bret, good evening, it was massive political drama with the nation watching expecting to see judge brett kavanaugh's nomination advance in the judiciary committee. but there's a twist. moderate republican senator jeff flake met with democrats for hours and it worked. >> i think it would be proper to delay the floor

so that footage of republican senator jeff flake being cornered by two women in a lift is really resonatingith women and men across social media hours of tape happened as we've reported said it's a flake insisted on an f.b.i. investigation into the allegations against governor and my colleague you know now joins me for more on that story so i knew what is it about what these women did that has caught people's imagination and attention it's it's the is the guts it's the courage to stop a u.s. senator in his tracks they stopped him for about five minutes and they made him listen to them these two women ana maria maria gallagher they were tearful they very and they pleaded with him they pleaded for a flight to reconsider his decision to vote for cavanagh really hit home with people was how rule of their emotions were afterwards anna-maria killer said i wanted him to feel my rage and maria gallagher demanded when she was talking to him that he looked her in the arm and she was talking to him so literally demanding this u.s. senator to look at me and to listen to me and this is of course not eas

did jeff flake save the republicans in a sense?ctically in that they need 50 votes, and vice president mike pence would break a tie, to get kavanaugh confirmed -- >> did he save them from a public standpoint from not having this vote when they wanted to have it? >> look, i think the only thing that matters is whether they get to 51 votes. they weren't going to get there without this. flake put them in a position to have an investigation for a week to put them to where they get 50 or 51 votes a week from yesterday. that's all that matters to the white house and the senate leadership is tactically speaking, we have to have enough votes to clear the guy. and we don't have them. what do we do to get there? >> maria, if the fbi investigation produces nothing definitive, will democrats accept it? >> i mean, if what you mean is will democrats vote yes on kavanaugh? i think that majority of them will still vote no. you might have a couple of red-state democrats vote yes given what the fbi investigation shows. we don't know what the fbi inv

and jeff flake of arizona is a key swing vote in this nomination process. he is seen a a republican who might vote yes, and he might vote no. and with the republicans holding on a 51-49 advantage in the

we're looking at jeff flake as the swing vote on that committee. for a while it appeared yesterday, just sitting in the room watching the senator's reactions to what we are seeing, that maybe ben sasse, who's also on that committee, could be swayed. he was aghast watching dr. ford testi testify. now it seems flake is the only persuadable republican left on that committee. after committee votes, almost regardless of how they do this, they could report kavanaugh out favorably. they could report him out unfavorably. or they could report him out without a recommendation. mcconnell says he intends to start the process of moving towards a floor vote. basically you'd be looking at some procedural votes over the weekend and then a final decision vote on monday or tuesday. we know there's a lot of internal lobbying going on. a lot of discussions amongst senators about how this goes. the universe of undecides voters among senators has shrunk considerably. we believe now at this point it's really just susan collins, murkowski, flick and possibly some red stat

one of those republicans is jeff flake. and jeff flake says, and i quote: we need to hear from her and i don't think i'm alone on this. before he is willing to vote yes on this. that would mean the democrats would win in the vote. normally you don't have a vote if you are the leadership and the party in power and you are going to get a down vote. there is a lot in the works right now. quick break before the president speaks about his supreme court pick on these allegations. we have that in a moment. our next guest says the pressure is on republicans to investigate these claims and that the pressure is enormous. that's coming up from the fox news deck on this monday afternoon. ♪ ♪ the dell vostro 14 laptop. get up to 40% off on select pcs. call 877-buy-dell today. ( ♪ ) you know i miss playing catch with the... grandkids and teaching them how to give a good handshake. now look at me... i'm all bent out of shape. (vo tv) if you have bent fingers and can't put your hand flat, talk to your doctor. it may be dupuytren's contract