she is the republican choice. >> she represents maricopa county and the maricopa county attorneys officeou report, she has been the sex crimes bureau chief there and has worked there for 26 years. i am learning this story as you are reporting it. so i hope you will forgive me if i am fuzzy on this. but i have a dim recollection in the back of my mind that part of the local controversy about long-time maricopa county sheriff joe arpaio was his handling of sex crimes as a sheriff and sort of large backlog of sex crimes cases in maricopa county. rachel mitchell is the sex crimes bureau chief there for the county. that a recent promotion for her or was she in charge of that bureau throughout that longer ra of controversy with sheriff arpaio at the helm? >> so this is very new to us as well, and we are doing reporting around that very issue. we have spoken with another in that area, another prosecutor in that area who had indicated to us that the issue at the sheriff's office was an internal issue, that they were failing to investigate crimes properly to give cases to the prosecutor's office

sheriff joe arpaio was his handling of sex crimes as a sheriff in maricopa county.if rachel mitchell is the sex crime bureau chief, is that a recent promotion for her or she was in that with sheriff arpaio. >> this is new to us as well. we are doing reporting around that issue. we have spoken with another prosecutor in the area that indicated to us that the issue at the sheriff's office was an internal issue that they were failing to investigate crimes properly to give cases to the prosecu prosecutor's office to take into court and discover of an internal audit and mitchell may have been involved with cleaning up that mess. i say that as our reporting just beginning so there is a lot more to learn about that situation. last question for you on this, rosalind, the choice they'll effectively pick a pinch hitter here and they'll out source questioning that senator themselves do not question either witness or dr. ford instead of bringing in the outside counsel to do it. it is an unusual thing: can you tell us anything further just from your reporting about how the repub

she is the chief the special victims division of maricopa maricopa county and has extensive experience dealing with the sexual assault cases. earlier president trump praised their handling of the cases. >> the republicans could not be nicer than the way they are handling this. they could have pushed it through two and a half weeks ago and we wouldn't be talking about it right now which is frankly what i would have preferred. he's been treated very unfairly, and then they laugh at what they are getting away with. >> democrats pulling no punches and going after republicans on their decision to have a prosecutor spearhead tomorrow's hearing and set a vote for friday. here senate minority leader chuck schumer. >> they proposed a vote before the hearing occurs. isn't that prejudgment? and they are acting when they proposed a vote before the hearing as if the conclusion was preordained and the hearing is just a nuisance. this isn't a democratic smear job as the leader so callously and disrespectfully suggested. this is a republican rush job, and i might add, a rush job to avoid getting to th

senator harris just questioned you from the maricopa county protocol on sexual assault. that's the paper she was holding up. are you aware that -- and, you know, i've been really impressed today because you've talked about norepenephrine and what we call in the profession the neurological effects of trauma. have you also educated yourself on the best way to get to memory and truth in terms of interviewing victims of trauma? >> for me interviewing victims of trauma? >> no. the best way to do it, the best practices for interviewing victims of trauma. >> no. >> okay. would you believe me if i told you there's no study that says this setting in five-minute increments is the best way to do that? >> we'll stipulate to that. >> thank you, counsel. >> agreed. >> did you know that the best way to do it is to have a trained interviewer talk to you one on one in a private setting and to let you do the talking, just let you do a narrative? did you know that? >> that makes a lot of sense. >> it does make a lot of sense, doesn't it? and to follow up, obviously, to fill in the details

mitchell, the manual that is posted on the maricopa county attorney's website as a guiding principle in best practices for which it happened was sexual assault cases highlights the details of what should happen in terms of the need for an object is to any special assault case. he said effective investigation requires cooperation with a multidisciplinary team that includes medical professionals, victim advocates, forensic interviewers, and criminalists another line for numbers. the manual also expresses the importance of obtaining outside witness information. you have bravely come forward. you have bravely come forward and i want to thank you because you clearly have nothing to gain for what you have done. you have been a true picture. i believe you are doing that because you love this country and i believe his drivel shoved that you are a true profile encouraged at this moment in time in the history of our country and i thank you. >> senator kennedy now proceed ms. mitchell. >> dr. ford, were almost done. just a couple cleanup questions first of all. which of your two lawyers to sena

committee republicans brought in maricopa county arizona prosecutor rachel mitchell to question in the hearing. join the hearing out in its

she's regarded in maricopa county, arizona, to be relatively fair and direct in her questioning. and clearly has experience in these issues. >> carol lee, we should be clear, this is all fraught. i've heard cable news types say that kavanaugh better have a better game than he rolled out during the interview because he's going to have to roll with questions. can't always land back on his talking points. and this attorney is going to, we can guess, be very aggressive with dr. ford in her questioning. so it's all a fraught atmosphere. >> it is, and it's going it be much a bigger -- a bigger spectacle than we've seen in quite some time. in any sort of hearing like this. you know, what she does that the republicans really want her to do is change the dynamics so that they -- they don't have 11 men questioning a woman who's accusing somebody that they have already mostly, the majority of them, said that they would support and have cast as sort of a done deal. they didn't want that spectacle and so now they'll have this woman, new woman, questioning her, but she is, you know, it will be

senator harris just questioned you from the maricopa county protocol on sexual assault. that's the paper she was holding up. are you aware that -- and, you know, i've been really impressed today because you've talked about norepenephrine and what we call in the profession the neurological effects of trauma. have you also educated yourself on the best way to get to memory and truth in terms of interviewing victims of trauma? >> for me interviewing victims of trauma? >> no. the best way to do it, the best practices for interviewing victims of trauma. >> no. >> okay. would you believe me if i told you there's no study that says this setting in five-minute increments is the best way to do that? >> we'll stipulate to that. >> thank you, counsel. >> agreed. >> did you know that the best way to do it is to have a trained interviewer talk to you one on one in a private setting and to let you do the talking, just let you do a narrative? did you know that? >> that makes a lot of sense. >> it does make a lot of sense, doesn't it? and to follow up, obviously, to fill in the details

they spend time in maricopa county.he key here is to keep arizona safe, we need to them to do their part. front of them to patrol our highways 20 for seven. it will be my priority because it is what our border county sheriffs are asking the state to accomplish. as governor, it will be my priority. now that the end of the term with the broken promise but at the beginning. >> we've been talking about the border sheriffs a little bit now. both vocalized concerns about the raw strike force. >> i was just in human county spending time with the sheriff, we had a month wonderful morning together. they found a tunnel that had been dug under the border where they were delivering drugs in the state of arizona. they expressed expatriation for partnership at the state level. i understand our border sheriffs are independent, elective leaders in our state. it's taken a while for everyone to accept what we are doing but we have, a state, a partnership. we'll have the worst like it has happened many other states. working with law enfor

rachel mitchell isan a vet sex crimes prosecutor out of phoenix area, maricopa county.'s been doing this for decades. republicans have hired her to ask the questions on their anhalf. judge kavanaugh to tell his story, clear his name and get this nomination moving. what we now know the two other women, oneme un the other debra ramirez said through her attorney that they have similar they're not set to testify. there's no indication they will be testifying. the senate has scheduled a wemmittee vote for friday morning. don't know when the final vote will happen. >> trae potts on the hill for us this morning. thank you. >>> new details this morning about the bicyclist killed in a hit-and-run outside the natural history museum. tom hallowell was a museum employee who biked to work every day. he was hit along constitution avenue monday on the way to hrk. the driver who h ran a red light and left the scene. his wife has a message for the driver who still hasn't been found. >> i hope and pray that there was a rl significant reason andwhy he had to go so fast he had to disregard

she works for maricopa county,a ona. she is the chief of the special victims division of the county's district attorney's office. theto washipost reports that judiciary staff contacted her boss over the weekend to ask about her. e has workedn the office for 26 years. >>> four minutes after 6:00 this morning. the man known as america's dad will wake up in a maximum security prison 30 miles north of philadelphia. yesterday bill cosby was sentenced to 3 to 10 years in prison for sexual assault of a woman in 2004. a judge calls cosby a sexually violent offender. the defense team says it will appeal. >>> the recent spiken gun violence continued last night. two men were shot on benning ad innortheast. both were sitting inside a car outside of a carry outhe restaurant a man walked up and shot them. both survived. extra patrols have been in the area since last friday when four people were shot. as o this morning there have been at least 119 homicides in dc. that number has already surpa surpassed all the killings in 2017 when th

while talk to someone who worked with her for years back in maricopa county, arizona. take something for your heart... or joints. but do you take something for your brain. with an ingredient originally discovered in jellyfish, prevagen has been shown in clinical trials to improve short-term memory. prevagen. healthier brain. better life. even when nothing else is. gopi's found a way to keep her receipts tidy, (brand vo) snap and sort your expenses with quickbooks and find, on average, $4,628 in tax savings. quickbooks. backing you. four zero expense ratio index funds directly to investors. and now we have zero account fees for brokerage accounts. at fidelity, those zeros really add up. ♪ so maybe i'll win, saved by zero ♪ >>> more on our breaking news. a third woman now making these explosive allegations against supreme court nominee brett kavanaugh that includes abusive behavior towards women in high school. the allegations are incredibly graphic and extraordinarily serious. they are allegations that brett kavanaugh is denying. but tomorrow's hearing involving the fir

mitchell is the deputy county attorney for maricopa county attorney's office in phoenix and has earned national recognition for her work. right now she's on a leave from that position. before taking leave, though, mitchell played a key role in helping clear up a massive backlog of sex crime investigations at the maricopa county sheriff's department. for decades she's been considered among the best sex crimes prosecutors in america. now, for many students across the bay area, today's hearing was both a hot topic and a teachable moment. nbc bay area's damian trujillo is live at the all-girls high school in san jose where students were following along on their cell phones all day long, damian. really watching as this unfolded. >> reporter: they were. they were clearly having an opinion about who may have been telling the truth here. they'll be talking about this for quite some time. these students couldn't wait for lunchtime, not because they wanted a snack or time with friends, but so they could check on what was happening in washington, d.c. >> i went on my phone instantly and i was che

claudia: michel se especializÓ en casos de abuso sexual, en el condado de maricopa, donde joe arpaiolas preguntas. claudia: la pregunta ahora es cÓmo actuarÁ rachel mitchell. por ahora el rol del fiscal es acusar. >> si su actitud es de entrevistar al juez como si fueron defensor y tratar de mostrar el trabajo el caso, va a ser mÁs balanceado, que se llega como una designada polÍtica que solamente quiere encontrar errores. claudia: con la apariciÓn de una tercera acusadora, los demÓcratas han pedido que se cancele la audiencia de maÑana. hasta el momento, todo indica que sigue en pie. el presidente reiterÓ que kavanaugh es una joya. jorge: el presidente donald trump ofreciÓ hoy una extensa conferencia de prensa new york, donde hablÓ de asuntos nacionales internacionales. dijo por primera vez que estarÍa dispuesto a cambiar la opiniÓn sobre la nominación de greg kavanaugh para la corte suprema, si resultan convincentes la hace evidencia de conducta sexual impropia contra el juez. una mujer acusa a kavanaugh de agredirla sexualmente cuando estaban en la secundaria. es uno de los muchos

she's the special victims division chief in maricopa county, arizona, trying sex crimes and family violence cases. >> we have hired a femaln staff ask these questions in a >> reporter: it's uncsional way. today republicans announce they've scheduled a conformation vote for friday. many ground breaking information their minds are made up. >> i will respectfully listen but if there's nothing new i won't deny him a promotion based on a 35-year-old accusation. >> i think if he does get on the court, he will there under a cloud. >> reporter: the hearing set for 7:00 a.m. pacific time thursday. >> and you can watch that hearing live right here on nbc bay area. we'll also be streaming it on nbcbayarea.com. >>> three to ten years in state prison. the mug shot of the legendary entertainer was released late today. you can see him with his suspenders on. it star of "the cosby show" was convicted of drugging and sexually assaulting andrea constan. she was one of dozens of women who said cosby sexually assaulted them. they said this trial unmasked the real bill cosby most people never knew. >>> new athe

in fact, the manual that was signed off by miss mitchell, the manual that is posted on the maricopa county attorney's web site as a guiding principle and best practices for what should happen for sexual assault cases highlights the details of what should happen in terms of the need for an objective investigation into any sexual assault case. it says, quote, effective investigation requires cooperation with a multi-disciplinary team that includes medical professionals, victim advocates, dedicated forensic interviewers, criminalists and other law enforcement members. it stresses the importance of obtaining outside witness information. you have bravely come forward. you have brave live come forward. and i want to thank you because you clearly have nothing to gain for what you have done. you have been a true patriot in fighting for the best of who we are as a country. i believe you are doing that because you love this country and i believe history will show that you are a true profile in courage at this moment in time in the history of our country and i thank you. >> senator kennedy now, so pr

democratic senators have many veteran prosecutors among their ranks and, of course, the woman from maricopa county, ms. mitchell, has been doing this for years and years. so, that will be interesting. they'll kind of have to ride the emotion of the moment as they encounter it. chairman grassley has found his seat. you saw senator cruz right behind him. cynthia, in the closing seconds before we hear the gavel, tone is going to be important today. >> tone is important. do you know what else i'm looking for? the little facts. the little things people can remember can really weigh in on credibility. we read her earlier statement. she does have interesting, little facts about remembering the music was turned up and the way they walked away after the assault happened. i'm looking for more of that to come out. >> this will be interesting. five-minute rounds among the senators. and we believe the following to be the case. we believe republicans are all going to, in effect, donate, yield their time to the overall effort of the questioning of this witness. let's open the microphones in the room and t

five minutes allotted for each senator to rachel mitchell, who is the deputy county inorney for maricopa county arizona. we should note, one of the retiring senators on the senate judiciary committee is retiring senator jeff flake, who is largely seen as a tossup in terms of whether or not he will first and foremost vote to move this confirmation, a vote of which is scheduled tomorrow morning at 9:30, to the senate floor. the thinking is the senate majority leader mitch mcconnell is going to place an enormous amount of pressure on senator flake in particular to move this process along out of committee and bring it to a vote by early next week. by multiple republican sources, both were connected to the white house as well as here on capitol hill, that there is deep skepticism, particularly following the president's remarks yesterday in new york when he said that he would be open to withdrawing judge kavanaugh's nomination based upon what we here at this upcoming hearing, which is scheduled to begin just minutes from now. we should note a bit about rachel mitchell's background because she

she runs the s victims division in maricopa county, arizona. three other women have accused kavanaugh of sexual misconduct. although, none of them will testify today. deborah ramirez claims kavanaugh exposed himself to her during party in college. a third accuser, julie swetnickk says bn the early '80s, she observed kavanaugh and others at house pares where tunch was spiked in order to take advantage of the girls. last nigh an unidentified woman also came forward saying 20 years ago she witnessed kavanaugh assault a woman. along with the t rest country, president trump will be paying close attention to today's hearing. in a newser conference yey, he admitted that christine blasey ford's testimony could change his md about kavanaugh's nomination. coming up, news 4's tracie potts will have more on today's hearing. >>> this ing, the bethesda school brett kavanaugh att tded time of dr. ford's allege assault is defending its reputation. georgetown prep released a statement saying in part, the image that has been presented ol soedia and in various ne

if fact the manuel that was signed off by miss mitchell, the manuel that is posted on the maricopa county attorney's website as a guiding principle and best practice what is should happen with sexual assault cases highlights the details what should happen in terms of the need for an objective investigation into any sexual assault case. it says, quote, effective investigation requires cooperation with a multidisciplinary team that includes medical promotionals, victim advocates, dedicated forensic interviews, criminalists and other law enforcement members. the manuel stresses the importance of obtaining outside witness information. you have bravely come forward. you have bravely come forward. and i want to thank you because you clearly have nothing to gain for what you have done. you have been a true patriot in fighting for the best of who we are as a country. i believe you do that because you love this country. i believe history will show you are a true profile in courage at this moment in time and in the history of our country and i thank you. >> senator kennedy now, will proceed, miss m

she runs the special v division in maricopa county. there are three other women who have accused kavanaugh of sexual misconduct. deborah ramirez claims kavanaugt exposed himse her during a party in college. julie swetnick says back in the early 0s, she observed kavanaugh and others at house parties where the punch was t spiked in orde take advantage of girls. last night, an unidentified woman also came forward saying 20 years ago she witnessed kavanaugh assault a woman. along with the rest of the p countrsident trump will be paying close attention to today's hearing. at a news conference yesterday, hedmted christine blasey ford's testimony could change his mind about kavanaugh' nomination. coming up, kristen welker will have more on today's t hearing. >> man believed to be responsible for a stabbing l logan circle is already well-known to metro police. anthony crawford is accused of killing wendyarnez at random earlier this month while she was out jogging. ne 4 has learned crawford had been cited six times in the last two years for far

she is a woman who heads the special victims unit in maricopa county out in phoenix. she is a veteran sex crimes prosecutor and shs going to be working on behalf of republicans here tomorrow asking those questions to both dr. christine blasey ford and judge kavanaugh. they want her in place to preserve the pcess so it's not like a political atmosphere. democrats say that they're trying to distance themselves, these 11 men, from appearing to grill the woman who is coming to accusekavanaugh. that's who we will hear from. we will not hear from the other two women, one of whom is yet b unname may go public today. both of whom have said through theiorneys that they, too, experienced sexual misconduct that kavanaugh denies. >> tracie potts on the hill this morning. tracie, thank you. >>> new details this morning about the bicyclist killed a hit-and-run outside of the natural historyto museum. hollow well was a museum employee who biked to work every day from virginia. he was sit along constitution avenue on his way to work. the driver who hit him ran the red light and fled

the prosecutor for maricopa county is intermediary for republicans have learned this. the objects are really bad for them. they could go awry very quickly. >> when she was talking since the washington post story was published she received a ton of support from friends as well as strangers in the community. >> as well as death threats. >> at the same time my family has been targeted with harassment and death threats. my work email has been hacked i've seen my life to depart on social media as well is indymedia. saying all of that, stood out toathe said, i thought it was my civic duty to be here today. >> she did not know where to go or what to do. she did not know what to do at 15 or were to go as a professional affiliated with stanford university. a well-regarded professor. she did not know where to go or what to do to handle this and i think the poignant moment is also important for women and where they find themselves whether they are girls with an alleged attack or women and how they deal with is moving forward. at the workplace or at home. that is a very important

the strikeforce actually spends a lot of time in maricopa county as well.he key here is to keep arizona safe. the department of public safety needs to do their part and that means we find them to patrol our highways 24/7. it would be my priority because it is what our border county sheriff are asking the state to accomplish. as governor, he would be my priority. not at the end of the term but in the beginning. you 45 seconds for a response. >> we been talking about the border for a little bit. concernssome vocalize about the role of strikeforce is. this try kforce wasting funds in the state needs to help? i was just in human county. we had a wonderful morning together. we went to a place where the border strikeforce had found a tunnel that had been drug underneath the border. expressed appreciation for the partnership he has at the state level and i understand our border sheriffs are independently elected leaders insider state. it's taken a little while to except what we are doing but we have a state that say for now and we have a partnership. we don't have

. >> senator harris just questioned you from the maricopa protocol on sexual assault. that is the paper she was holding up. are you aware that -- you know, i have been really impressed because you talked about what we call in the profession basically the neurobio logical effects of trauma. have you also educated yourself on the best way to get to memory and truth in terms of interviewing victims of trauma? >> for me? >> the best practices for interviewing victims of trauma? >> no. >> would you believe me if i told you that there is no study that says this setting in five minute increments is the best way to do that? >> did you know that the best way to do it is to have a trained interviewer talk to you one-on-one in a private setting and to let you do the talking? just let you do a narrative. did you know that? >> that makes a lot of sense. >> it does make a lot of sense. and then to follow up and to fill in the details, does that make sense, as well? research is done by a lot of people in the child abuse field, two of the more prominent ones in the sexual assault fiel

scrying related felonies most recently rachel was a division chief of the spatial victims division maricopa county attorney's office felonies most recently rachel was a division chief of the spatial victims division maricopa county attorney's office which prosecutes sex crimes and fine family violence then democratic senator governor janet napolitano previously recognize her as the outstanding arizona the sexual assault prosecutor of the year and she has spent years instructing prosecutors detectives and child protection workers on how to properly interview victims of sexual assault abuse with her eight i look forward to a fair and productive hearing i understand that there are two other public allegations today's hearing was scheduled to. in close consultation with dr ford's attorneys and her testimony will be the subject of this hearing we have been trying to investigate other allegations at this time we have not had cooperation from attorneys representing other clients and they have made no attempt to substantiate their claims my staff is try to secure testimony and evidence from attorne

she works for maricopa county, arizona. she is chooeief of thepecial victims division. the judiciary committee staff contacted her this week jeend this morning known as america's dad will wake up in a maximum security prison 30 miles north of philadelphia. yesterday bill cosby wasse enced to three to ten years for sexual assault on a woman i0 . the judge called cosby a sexually violent prator. so after that he was booked into jail, his mug shot was taken and he was moved to prison. the defense team says it will appeal the case. >>> now to a fiery rescue in prince william county. a man braved fire, smoke, possible exp tsions help save wur strangers. >> the peopleere trapped after a head-on crash on ridgefield city. you can see the flames shooting out of the cars yesterday.tn ses say a silver chrysler jumped the median, slammed head on into that jeep. david ayala was behind the jeep. he iediately ran ove to help. he and another man went through the sun roof to pull the driver from the burning jeep. >> we tore down the jeep sun roof to get him out and he was just completel

most recently rachel was a division chief of the special victims division maricopa county attorneysth office which prosece sex crimes and family violence. then democratic senator, governor janet napolitano previously recognized her as the outstanding arizona sexual assault prosecutor of the year, and she is spent years instructing prosecutors, detectives and child protection workers on how to properly interview victims of sexual assault and abuse. with her aid i look forward to a fair and productive hearing. i understand that there are two of the public allegations. today's hearing was scheduled to, in close consultation with dr. ford's attorneys, and her testimony will be the subject of this hearing. we've been trying to investigate other allegations. at this time we have not had cooperation from attorneys representing other clients. and they have made no attempt to substantiate their claims. my staff has try to secure testimony and evidence from attorneys for both deborah ramirez and julie swetnick. my staff made eight request. yes, eight requests for evidence from attorneys for ms.

i would expect he would remember this happened. >> senator harris just questioned you from the maricopa protocol on sexual assault. that's the paper she was holding up. are you aware that -- you know i've been really impressed today because you've talked about cortisol, what we call in the profession, the neurobiological effects of trauma. have you educated yourself on the best way to get to memory and truth in terms of interviewing victims of trauma? >> for me interviewing victims of trauma? >> no. the best practices for interviewing victims of trauma. >> no. >> would you believe me if i told you there's no study that says this setting in five minute i krem increments to do that? >> we'll stipulate to that. >> agreed. >> did you know that the best way to do it is to have a trained interviewer talk to you one-on-one in a private setting and to let you do the talking. just let you do a narrative. did you know that in. >> thit does make a lot of sens. >> it does. to follow up, to fill in the details and ask for clarification. does that make sense as well ? >> yes. >> the research is done

and her boss, her current boss maricopa county attorney bill montgomery says the american people canident that rachel mitchell's experience as a conscientious prosecutor, trained to seek justice, protect victims and seek truth will assist the senate judiciary committee in performing its tasks. christine blasey ford's legal team and senate democrats have opposed the hiring of outside counsel from the very beginning. they want the committee's republicans to have to question kavanaugh and ford and they also don't like the fact that mitchell is a registered republican. but, martha, mitchell's colleagues they describe her as a career prosecutor, one that's bound to the issues and not politics. martha? >> martha: kristin, thank you very much. so coming up next, melissa hennessey was also at those parties back in 1982 in that summer with her friend brett kavanaugh. and she is here to answer some of the big questions about what she witnessed. i get it all the time. "have you lost weight?" of course i have- ever since i started renting from national. because national lets me lose the wait at

rachel mitchell, an arizona prosecutor who runs a maricopa county special victims division, llcross-examine both kavanaugh and ford. you can watch this morning's hearing on nbc and on the app. we'll have a special nbc news report. ecthe hearing is ed to begin at 9:30. >>> along with the rest of the president trump will also be paying close attention to today's hearing. despite all thellegations so far, he's standing by his supreme court pick. he admitted at a news conferenca yesterday christine blasey ford's testimony could change his mind. >> people want fame, they want money, they want whatever. so when iee it, i view it differently than somebody sitting home watching television where they y, oh, judge kavanaugh this or that. it's happened to me many times. i've had many false charges. i'm going to be watching. believe it or not, i'm going to see what's said. it's possible that they will be convincing. >> now, since the president plans to watch today's hearing, he is expecd to push back his meeting with deputy attorney general rodst rosn. that meeting is to discuss a "new york times" repo

she's chief of the special victims division in maricopa county, arizona.er three oomen have also accused kavanaugh of sexual misconduct, although none of them will testify today. deborah ramirez claims kavanaugh exposed himself to her during a party in college. the third accer, julie swetnick, says back in the early '80s, she observed kavanaugh and others at house parties where the punch was spiked in order to take advantage of the girls. last night, an unidentified woman alsame forward saying 20 years ago she witnessed kavanaugh assault a woman. along with the rest of the country, psident trump will be paying close attention to today's hearing. a a news conference yesterday, heitted that christine blasey ford's testimony could change his mind about kavanaugh's n ination. comiup, news 4's tracie potts will have a lot more on today's hearing. >>> this morning, thea bethe school that brett kavanaugh attended at the time of dr. ford's alleged assault is defending its reputation. georgetown prep released a s statemening in part, the image that has been presented on social media andus in vare

in fact, the manual that was signed off by miss mitchell, the manual that is posted on the maricopa county attorney's website as a guiding principle and best practices for what should happen with sexual assault cases highlights the details of what should happen in terms of the need for an objective investigation into any sexual assault case. it says, quote, effective investigation requires cooperation with a multi-disciplinary team that includes medical professionals, victim advocates, dedicated forensic interviewers, criminalists and other law enforcement members. the manual also stresses the importance of obtaining outside witness information. you have bravely come forward. you have bravely come forward, and i want to thank you because you clearly have nothing to gain for what you have done. you have been a true patriot in fighting for the best of who we are as a country. i believe you are doing that because you love this country, and i believe history will show that you are a true profile in courage at this moment in time in the history of our country, and i thank you. >> senator kenned

committee republicans brought in maricopa county arizona prosecutor rachel mitchell to question in the hearing. join the hearing out in its entirety. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> this morning we continue our hearing are hearing on the nomination of brett kavanaugh to serve as justice on our supreme court appeared we will hear from two witnesses, and dr. christine blasey ford and judge kavanaugh. thanks of course to dr. forward and judge kavanaugh for his testifying and thankful for volunteering to testify before we even invited. all dr. ford and judge kavanaugh has been three terrible couple weeks. they and their families have received vital threats. what they have endured out to be considered by all of us as unacceptable in a poor reflection on the state of stability in our democracy. so i want to apologize to you both for the way you've been treated and i intend hopefully for today's hearing to be saved, comfortable and dignified for both of our witnesses. i hope my colleagues will join me in this effort of

mitch cell the chief of the special victims division of the maricopa county. a registered republican, mitchell has worked for and in the county attorney's office for 26 years. enlisting mitchell to join their staff, republican senators are taking an unusual step. they are turning to her to ask what are expected to be personal and potentially painful questions about the woman's youth on live television sparing the all-male panel of 11 republican senators some uncomfortable exchanges that could sway the public's opinion about this session. >> she's by all reports highly qualified. will certainly handle the testimony with a lot of sensitivity. when there were concerns in maricopa county that a number of sexual assault cases had been sidelined, she engaged in the review of those older cases. so she looks to have all the qualifications here. i can't help but wonder, though, as a prosecutor, you're used to moving forward after investigators have completed their work. this isn't a trial. it's more like a job interview. her job isn't to put anyone in jail, but it stil

she is right now a deputy attorney in the maricopa county, arizona attorney's office. that is in the phoenix area. she has spent 25 years as the division chief for sex crimes. 12 years t working int area before that. she has a lot of experience here. and she's been hired by republicans in part to avoid this all-male panel of republicans questioning dr. ford when she comes before them tomorrow. so here's theformat. they will open up with statements from b the top republican and democrat on that committee. ford will then give an owning statement, the committee chair saying that they are trying to depoliticize this process. there will be a round of questions from senators, then a short break. then we'll hear from judge kavanaugh with a round of questions. again, with the republican questionsoming from rachel mitchell. now, deborah ramirez, the other woman who was has accused kavanaugh of sexual misconduct, is not expected to testify. her attorney says they can'the even get republicans in charge of that cmittee to schedule a phone call. phillip? >> tracie potts live for us

senator harris just questioned you from the maricopa county protocol on sexual assault. that's the paper she was holding up. are you aware that -- and, you know, i've been really impressed today because you've talked about norepenephrine and what we call in the profession the neurological effects of trauma. have you also educated yourself on the best way to get to memory and truth in terms of interviewing victims of trauma? >> for me interviewing victims of trauma? >> no. the best way to do it, the best practices for interviewing victims of trauma. >> no. >> okay. would you believe me if i told you there's no study that says this setting in five-minute increments is the best way to do that? >> we'll stipulate to that. >> thank you, counsel. >> agreed. >> did you know that the best way to do it is to have a trained interviewer talk to you one on one in a private setting and to let you do the talking, just let you do a narrative? did you know that? >> that makes a lot of sense. >> it does make a lot of sense, doesn't it? and to follow up, obviously, to fill in the details

we've been reporting on the consistent problems we just had again in maricopa county with electronic voting machines. there are very concerning and i was on a conference call with the bipartisan policy council, i believe yesterday. their findings were, seemed to be that things were a little overwrought. the discussion was a little overhyped about election security and there was a final question from bloomberg news at the end that just said flat out, are we ready for the fall elections and theanswer was a flat yes . can you talk about this narrative that seems to be overwhelming, the concerns we are bringing up in the report? >> one of the points we make in the report and it comes out in various ways is that there's a need to continually evolve our election system. that you can't buy a bunch of new machines in 2002 and then wait 15 years for the next round. so election officials are aware of that and they are aware of the need to continue to monitor the security of their systems and using all the tools they have available to them and as far as we can tell from the people that met with

profiling rachel mitchell will be doing questioning for the republicans, saying she is a maricopa --he women accusing him of sexually assaulting her decades ago. maricopa county attorney bill montgomery says -- praised mitchell's experience, calling her a fair, objective prosecutor. he was conducted -- contacted by staffers about her availability and qualifications. chairman, judiciary chuck grassley, confirming late tuesday mitchell would question the witness scheduled to testify as republican nominee's investigative counsel. it goes on from there, a profile of her in the arizona republic. bob, dallas, texas, the president's speech at the u.n. caller: before i address the address theme caller who said separating kavanaugh and the abortion issue. we cannot really because brett kavanaugh is accused of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl. had he, at the time, impregnated is trying kavanaugh to take away the reproductive rights of a girl who may -- host: trump at the u.n.. caller: trump at the u.n., i found it a poor and -- abho rrent. it is a representative body of the nation's of t

five hours in maricopa county. it is designed to demoralize. >> let's go back to alabama and i don't want you to leave people with a demoralizing message. and the courts are obviously not the best friend and voting rights anymore, that's more in the roberts lineage of upholding restrictions on voting rights. so what you're people do? >> one of the things i love about that alabama story, they have applied every method of voters suppression, civil society like with moral purpose to, instead of doing the heavy lifting of democracy, so they started with the moral fortitude, they started sending out doing a massive publicity campaign. both on radio and social media. then they set up restorations clinics where people can come in and have their records looked at to determine whether they had been convicted of a crime and then of moral to pursued and then they had people there who could get them registered. you've got to mobilize -- >> you can't rely on the government. in some places you can't rely on them at all. >> they

she is a veteran sex crimes prosecutor out of maricopa county, arizona, the phoenix area. she spent decades doing this type of work. republicans are bringing her in to question dr. ford. remember, there are 11 men on the republican side of this panel. no women. and so optics. they did want to avoid the image of all men questioning a woman about her sexual assault, alleged sexual assault, bringing up images of what happened years ago in the anita hill hearing. so they are bringing in this prosecutor to do the job. democrats criticizing that as a lack of an investigation here. judge kavanaugh will also testify. he is said to be eager to tell his story. it will be interesting to see how this plays out. we don't normally see a prosecutor, someone who is trained to ask questions and elicit information in court, in a congressional hearing. democrats by the way plan to do their own questioning of the witness tomorrow. marcus, laura. >> tracie potts reporting for us from washington. >> a programming note for you. you can watch it right here on nbc bay area. our coverage of the hea

>> no she's not, she's a deputy county attorney which means she works for the mek maricopa county attorney's >> tucker: what will she be doing tomorrow if christine ford attends a hearing? >> if the hearing does go forward, my understanding that she will assist the judiciary committee and trying to obtain information and trying to get to the ground truth of whatever allegations have been made and to cover the scope of those during the hearing. exactly how she's going to do that, i'd left her alone as i do with my prosecutors when they are about ready to go into trial and she will be developing that line of questioning based upon her training, background and experience. that will cover any areas of inquiry she will have to cover. >> tucker: when she speaks to someone who has alleged a crime, a felony against somebody else who says she's a victim, is the assumption from the prosecutor that she is telling the truth, that she's not or is it neutral? >> it's neutral. what rachel will do is go in and start by listening, and it listen to what the allegations are, listen to what people are saying. s

the senate judiciary majority, as you have seen, hired maricopa county special divisions chief rachel mitchell to hire pretty much the majority of the questioning for the republican senators. a vote by the judiciary committee is scheduled for tomorrow with the full senate vote next week. ed lawrence for fox business is standing right there on capitol hill, outside the senate hearing room. i'm wondering depending on what happens in just the next minute that we will see a vote. reporter: yeah, liz, as of right now that hearing is still scheduled for tomorrow. this is a very emotional testimony today but republicans through their lawyer, the woman who is making the questions for those republicans, they are trying to sort of discount her memories, trying to poke holes in her story, so to speak, going forward. it was an emotional day for dr. christine blasey ford. in fact, as you said, she described under oath now the accusation that she has now made against judge brett kavanaugh. democrats on the committee are supporting her. >> let me tell you why i believe you. not only because of the p

>> you have a lot of hispanic growth a lot of growth in the maricopa county, suburban phoenix. democrats are gaining in terms of voters. but you have a lot of seniors from the midwest that are more conservative. so arizona is a huge political battleground and may determine which party ends up with the senate majority in november. >> dana: two minutes with you. tell me what else you're looking at across the country. i know you write every week on this. >> you came out with some great senate polls in some of the biggest battle grounds. they contain good news for the senate republicans. red state races that senators are defending. in every one of the races you polled, the democratic senators are polling 45% or lower. that's not a good place to be if you're a democrat and a lot of undecided republican voters that may put republicans over the top in states like indiana, north dakota and missouri. >> dana: steve stivers from ohio, he had words of returning for the house republican candidates. don't let your image get below 45. make sure you're out there spending money. what else did

when we spoke yesterday, you said that you were concerned about the choice of rachel mitchell from maricopasex crimes investigation office inel arizona to speak on behalf of republican senators if they question chrstine ford. your point -- well, we have a clip.. i'll show you your point. >> sure. >> i see the greatest engine of truth ever invented used effectively, cross examination. i worry we don't have the right people. the woman hired to conduct theef cross examination probably rarely ever cross examined anybody. she is a prosecutor. i don't think she is the right person to question dr. ford. >> tucker: you know, you were right. >> i was criticized for making that point and i turned out to be 100% right. she was totally and completelyy incompetent in terms of asking cross examination questions. she has little experience. for example, the main issue now is whether or not she recognized kavanaugh correctly. she was never asked whether how well she knew him, how many times she encountered him before this.ma how close was their relationship? there was nothing that could raise questions abou