Transcripts For MSNBCW Andrea Mitchell Reports 20180921

Come forward in the bright lights and relive something that happened to her. That is craig melvins exclusive with a lot more coming up. And President Trump is preparing for the critical u. N. Meetings next week. I ask the secretary of state whether kim jongun should be rewarded with another meeting despite not making good on the promises after the first summit. Ultimately, that going to be a decision for the president. I am hopeful that i will get a chance to travel again to pyongyang to continue the negotiations before too long, and before too long, and then, in relatively short order, i hope that the two the leaders get together again. And 2020 vision, and more from joe bidens exclusive today show interview with craig melvin. It is not a no. You sound like a man who wants to the run. You sound like a guy who really wants to do it, and do you want . I want to desperately change the landscape. And good day, everyone. A busy day in washington. President trump after avoiding direct criticism of Brett Kavanaughs accuser all week, today, he crossed the line, and writing to the the 50 million twitter followers. I have no doubt that if the attack on dr. Ford was as bad as she says, charges would have been immediately filed with the local Law Enforcement by either her or the her parent, and i ask that she bring them present for the date, time and place. And tweeting again, why didnt someone call the fbi 26 years ago. And joining me is Kristen Welker and mimi. And kristen, it is clear that he was subdued own the south lawn, and then he went there. We spent so much time this week talking about the president s tone, and the fact that he was not engage ing ing types of attacks and then today it changed. We sort of saw him getting closer and closer to the line overnight when he said why wasnt this reported to the fbi 36 years ago . Well, of course, a teenager is not going to report Something Like this to the fbi, but andrea, the bottom line, he is taking her on directly, but the messaging still runs counter of that of many of the top officials including Kelley Anne Conway said there is no reason to attack her. She needs to be heard. And so, you been watching this closely, and you and the Washington Post team did the first reporting on this of Christine Blasey ford, and how do you see this evolving with her attorney debra katz on the phone last night into the evening with the democrats and the republicans in a Conference Call saying that i will come on thursday and not monday, and she is going to be coming on thursday, but not any sooner, and she wont come monday. She wants to come first, and she wants him not to be in the room, and she wants mark judge the third person in the room when this alleged incident that took place, and the eyewitness to be subpoenaed. Do you see it now coming together or Standing Firm if she is not there monday, it is all over. That is the major can question that we are trying to report out today and i talked to senator Chuck Grassley the chairman of the judicial Comm Committee, and they aid is a that we will give you the update when we have one and so they are clearly working on it. And does this hearing go forward at all, and all week, grassley and mcconnell and others say, that monday hearing is the way to go and we know now that of the litany of the concerns, and requests that debra katz, the lawyer for dr. Ford made with Committee Staffers last night. One of the demands that they say is nonnegotiable is the date. They will not come on monday and it has to be thursday to give them enough time for her the do a security preparations to prepare her testimony, and for the republicans a lot of the requests are nonnegotiable at all, and they say that the judge kavanaugh the testifying first, but leaving that aside, there is a way to get to the middle of the request, but again, we have not had the official word from what senator grassley and the rest of the Senate Republicans are thinking. And here, mimi rocha, we have a fair hearing and yet mike davis who is the head investigator of the committee and the head of the republican side of the committee had these tweets which have now been taken down, but incredibly, but he is saying that he is unfazed and determined. We will confirm judge kav nay and confirm kavanaugh and then i personally questioned him under the penalty of penalty and five years of imprisonment if he lice and i want to hear back from the accusers attorneys who cant find time between tv appearance appearances to get back to me. And there was a jewish holy day which is the 24hour period and a medical procedure, but there was a long Conference Call yesterday. But what does this project if he is the guy who should be leading the Senate Investigators and they dont want the fbi to do it with a neutral or experienced oorganization, and why should she have confidence in being questioned by this man . Well, that is exactly right, andrea. And she shouldnt, frankly, and he is not the only one saying it. And hatch has said that he does not believe her, and the president , he is not going to be sitting in the senate, but he is knottinot standing alone saying she did not report it and do not believe her, and that is what the tweet says. She should not have any confidence and she should not be given confidence that she is giving a fair shot, and this is a sham. American people can see it and people looking at it subjectively, that this is not a search for the truth. That said, she has bravely an reasonably said that, okay, i will come anyway, because, you know, i think that she is of the mind that she has come this far, and her name has gotten out, and not by her doing, and her story is out there and now she is willing to go under oath and testify, and they have set some very reasonable parameters for that. What is shocking, and i mean, many thing thes that are shocking to me about this, but the most recent shocking thing is that people are saying, well, we wont subpoena mark judge, because we wont let dr. Ford be the one to dictate who we will subpoena. Well, fine, dont let her. If you, the republicans want to clear his name, and clear kavanaughs name, and if this is all a big lie, then his name should be cleared, and then there is a witness out there that we know of o, and possibly a coconspirator, and depending what turns out to be the truth here, and but, you know, he is a friend of judge kavanaughs, and the idea that he would not be called to testify, and i just dont understand it. There is a really no excuse for it. It is really going to put the lie to the idea that this is any kind of osearch for truth. And joe biden has of course been part of the conversation, because he chaired the judiciary Comm Committee and he did call for the fbi investigation into the anita hill when she had confidentially shared her experience and it was followed up immediately by the white house counsel, and then boyden gray to George Herbert walker bush, and immediately the fbi did it and did it in a couple of days. Joe biden was speaking exclusively as we have been saying with craig melvin earlier on today. Anita hill was vilified when she came forward by a lot of my colleagues and characters a s assassination, and i wish i could have done more to prevent those questions in the way they asked them. I hope my colleagues learned from that and how would you advice the senators to proceed next week and how do you balance the rights of a woman who is maching accusations like this versus the presumption that a person is innocent until Proven Guilty . Well, the presumption should exist, but what should happen is that the woman should be given n the benefit of the doubt and not be, you know, abused again, by the system. My biggest regret was that i didnt know how to shut you off if you were a senator and attacking anita hills character. Under the senate rules i cant gavel you down and say, that you cant ask that question, although i tried and so what happened is that she was victim i victimized again in the process. Ask tough questions and substantive questions and who said what, et cetera, but dont go after the character, and not the kascharacter assassination. And it seems that you get it now versus back in 1991. I think that i got it in 1991 well, people have their own opinion. So, he is apologizing, but he is not acknowledging that he was at fault other than not reign re rein iing in some of the colleagues. And so, kristen, she has said that she would come, and the republicans can they say, no, if you are not here monday at 10 00 a. M. , that is not politically sustainable. It would be difficult for them to say, that and that is why you have a phone call last night that lasted so long between the two sides trying to drill down on some of the specific specifics of what a hearing would look like, and i think that they are concerned about the optics, and not just of when will this hearing take place, and what are the terms going to be, but you heard the former Vice President talk about how odamaging it was back in 1991, and thehere are a lot of potentl pitfalls and what is the tone of the questioning, and will they give her the benefit of the doubt, and will the questions convey that . They are heading into the midterms where they are concerned about potentially losing the house, and holding onto the seats in the senate. So they are very aware of the optics of this and that is why broadley, you have the republicans saying that we need to hear from her and save the recent tweets from the president. And we know that the republicans were wanting to hire a woman attorney as counsel to the committee to do the questioning, because they dont have any male republicans asking question, and we have seen already from some of the sten senators, including some who have have been on the anita hill panel and they have nott gotten the sensitive ti training. That is one of the options that is being discussed. And she said yes, and debra a cats told t debra katz said that she did not like the counsel idea, because the woman does not want to feel like she is on trial. But you are right, the republicans have put on a confident face throughout the week and the turmoil that judge kavanaugh has faced and i found Senate Majority leader mcconnells remarks are remarkable, and he is speaking at the value voters summit and one tof the core bases and the party and give them the faith and kavanaugh will be kconfirme and at least Mitch Mcconnell is supremely pardon the pun that judge kavanaugh going to be through it, and again, he is controlling only 51 vote, and some of the senators such as jeff flake and Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski have been known to show their stubborn neness f time to time. And there is concern that President Trump wont get his ability to nominate someone during this term. And we just want to add to a all of this, the atmosphere from both of the sides has gotten toxic with the social media and the threats between both sides and the New York Times is reporting that blasey ford is going to be speaking to the fbi in San Francisco near her home about the online threats, because that is something that the fbi can investigate without being asked by the president or the white house. That is a criminal investigation, and not a civil investigation. So, it is not part of the background check, and more to come on that. Mi mimi, what with insights do you have as a former prosecutor about the fbis role here, and we know that we have confirmed that it is only the president , and the white house who can ask them to get back into the c confirmation process, but this is a different matter. Yes, this is entirely separate. And it is absolutely should be investigated. We had, i have overseen and done many cases of the threats like this where you have both in terms of the witness tampering, and obviously, she is a potential witness in a federal proceeding which a congressional can confirmation hearing would be, and clearly at least some of the threats are, i would think that, you have to look at the substance, but attempts to dissuade her from testifying and those are the category of witness tampering, but other federal statutes that apply whether or not someone is trying to influence her testimony, Online Harassment or threat, and those are federal crimes prosecuted a all over to the country, and the fbi is very well equipped and they do a forensic analysis if they are email s emails or Text Messages or phone calls and even social media, and i have seen the prosecutions just based on the social media postings. So this is something that the fbi is very good at and they should take very seriously here. And join g ing us now by pho is the reporter who broke that story, cheryl, and what can you add to that . Not much, but dr. Blasey, as she are prefers to be known, is getting help from the fbi to talk about the online and the telephone threats against her which have rattled her understandably according to her lawyers. She has had to move out of her home. She has moved out of her home, and worried for her safety and for that of her children, and frankly, i think that is one reason that they are wanting a delay so this hearing next week. It has been a lot on her since she has been public. We will be watching your posts on the New York Times and all of the followup information and thank you for jumping into that, and thanks to both of you, and of course, kristen well can k kristen we anchoring the 1 00 next to me today. And it has been a busy day and so much that i was at the white house interviewing mike pompeo earlier today. Stay with us for Andrea Mitchell reports. Pick up large particles with ease, make quick work of stuckon dust, giving hard floors a polished look, and fearlessly devour piles. Shark duoclean technology, designed to do more on carpets and floors, available in corded and cordfree vacuums, and only available from shark. South koreas president wants the u. S. To declare a end to the korean war as an ins incentive to get north korea to denuclearize, even though kim jongun has not met a single deadline for destroying the nukes. And we have learned that they are continuing to build more nuclear weapon, and so i have asked secretary of state mike pompeo why he should be given another summit when he has not met any of the demands. We have to enter when we entered this, as we were watching the Nuclear Tests and the missile tests and that is the point, he has fooled three american president s and how do we know that he is not playing us. The approach is fundamentally different than in each of the three previous negotiations of the both democratic and republican negotiations. The sanctions are remain in place. And they started the global sanctions that are put in place by the entire world and the u. N. Security council resolution, and so we have known that it will take time, and we knew that it would not happen instantaneously, but each step, including the visit from president moon where they made an i incremental progress talking about the materiel in a material way, and there is much more work to be done and we have the patience and the determination and we believe that world does, too to accomplish this goal. But china and russia is taking are from the president s declaration that the smuggling is spiking, the oil smuggling, and the message to the rest of the world is to ease off of the sanctions. And that not the signal. The countries from the middle east, and indeed china and russia both have stated their continued commitment to enforce the Security Council resolutions. And there is gap, and we are working to enforce the Security Council resolution, and those sanctions will remain in place until we get to the end, the final denuclearization which chairman kim promised President Trump that he would undertake. And some reports and as well as others nott only of the increased smuggling, but that he is expand iing the arsenal and t limiting it. He is making a loft promises now, and are they h enough to justify another summit a second summit with the president . Ultimately that is a decision for the president. I am hopeful that i will have a chance to travel again to pyongyang to continue the negotiations before too long, and that before too long, and then in relatively short order, i hope that the two leaders get together again to continue to make progress on this the incredibly important issue for the entire world. The president is going to be hosting a Security Council meeting on nonproliferation, and as he is tweeting to today, it is really about iran. Are you signal ing ling in the policies that you want a soft regime change or real regime change, and do you see rouhani from iran, and president Rouhani Meeting with the president of the United States . Well, we have made it clear that regime change is not President Trumps policy and we have laid it out what we want from the Islamic Republic from iran. And it is straight forward and here is the starters, stop launching missiles into riyadh, and threatening hezbollah, and ceasing to be the worlds state sponsor of terror. Those are the demands and that is what we are looking for from iran as well. When the islamic are regime makes that change, we will be happy to have a conversation with them, and President Trump has made it clear, but there are no signs that they are backing off and continuing the terror threats around the world. On yemen, you have indicated continued backing of the war in yemen and even after the killing of 40 schoolchildren by a saudi air strike, a school bus, and lot of people in this state department believe that we should not be continuing this support, and the argument is that, you and the administration are doing it because of the 2 billion in arm sales to the avoid jeopardizing the arms sales to the saudis and the others in the region. Yeah, i find that suggestion offensive. The reason that we are continuing to work in yemen is to support the peace resolution, and we support that effort. The killing of the children is tragic, and the saudis have taken responsibility for that and the secretary and myself have worked closely with the Saudiled Coalition to reduce the risk of casualties and civilian collateral damage. They are imperfect, but we are working towards that end. Peace in yemen is important, and if iran would ceaseties and fir peace could be short. And the president today, he has tweeted today that if the attack against the accuser of judge kavanaugh were as serious as she says it is, then she should have reported it back 36 years ago when she was 15 years old, and is that the American Value that we should be teaching our women . We will be talking today about the religious freedom and the fundamental values enshrined for the constitution with respect to the confirmation process for judge kavanaugh. I regret that this rose at the end. This was unfortunately sat on by a United States senator for weeks as best i understand that. There were confirmation hearings and chances for him to explain in private and public settings and instead a United States s senator chose not that and i think it is unfortunate and the president has said clearly, we hope that the oprocess is the going to move forward fairly and efficiently and im pretty focused on making sure that americas Foreign Policy is executed in a way to keep americans safe. Thank you, and we look forward to seeing you next week at the u. N. Thank you, andrea. And joining us is dick byrnes from the george h. W. Bush administration and former undersecretary of foreign affairs. And Martin Fletcher, the Tel Aviv Bureau chief, and his latest book Promised Land, the land of israel and if there is anything better than a Martin Fletcher book, it is a novel. And nick m the time limit that we had, i was not able to ask him about the middle east, and we are are a awaiting a middle east peace plan from the soninlaw Jared Kushner, but at the same time, this administration has cut off refugee assistance and aid through lutheran hospitals in east jerusalem, and the state Department Says they should not be spending their money on the terrorism, but spending their own money on hospitals, and the palestinians have been completely shutout. So as we are going into the u. N. Meetings, what is the status of the United States of america on the world stage . Well, andrea, i think that the moves against the palestinians are deeply unwise, the theory of the case from the Trump Administration is to cut off all economic aid and humanitarian aid and send the embassy to jerusalem, and that is going to make the pal st palestinians negotiate with us, and that is going to be the opposite to happen. They have completely mishandled this account. I wish that secretary pompeo, and if Jared Kushner has done anything wit, and he has mar h it, and he has marched us backward which has are refuted president obama, president george w. Bush and president clinton, and to make everything an interlock ter between the palestinians and the israelis, and i am sorry about it, but as they go into the important meetings on the back foot, because of what is happening in the middle east, and the preside president s transden shall at attacks on our ally, and it is not a time of american strength. And Martin Fletcher, you have covered not only that region, but the world for us, and europe as well, and certainly iran. And the transatlantic relationship is fragile, and the criticisms of some of the closest allies getting out of the paris accords, and now, of course, getting out of the iran deal. Well, if i could just add to something that what nick burns has just said and i agree with everything that he said and to add to it, the pressure on the palestinians has a goal. It may not be a good one, but it has the goal to increase talks, and everything that america is doing at the moment is of course music to the ears of israel, and what i want to si is that it is not good. The american actions are a mean mos the end to get them to the table, and for israel when they are looking at these thing, and the american iz lay government is so happy, because it is an end, and they have achieved the goal the move the embassy to jerusalem and put the pressure on the palestinians and removing the money from underneath the refugee organization, and because the american actions are a mean nos tend, and if it does not achieve the goal, then the means may change and they may start to put pressure on israel, and the israelis gleeful reaction no the americans actions may be proving to to be misplaced. As far as the other aspects, iran, for instance, israel is a k country that is most directly confronting iran right now militarily in syria, and the israelis are calling it the war between the wars and they have had 200 attacks in the last couple of years, and on iranian targets inside of syria. This is an extraordinary war within the war as they are calling it. And american has enabled israel to feel that they have the support of President Trump. Again, i emphasize that it is a dangerous program for israel. To keep that in mind as we have seen in many cases. And as well, we expect that the president in his speech, gentlemen, he is going to be doing a victory lap on north korea, because a year ago he was calling him rocketman and people were worried about war, and now a year later, there has been a summit, and there are negotiations going on, and the south koreans are heavily invested in that and actually a peace treaty. And so do they have the argument that things are better, and of course, the counter argument is that he created the are rhetorical crisis and now he is resolving it . Well, andrea, i would say that President Trump has a right to say as secretary pompeo did to you today they have the right to say that they have improved the situation. The crisis was started by north korea with the illegitimate Nuclear Program, and really a aggressive behavior in 2016 and 2017, and think they president tr i think that President Trump made the right decision for diplomacy, and to meet him in singapore, and secretary pompeo has a difficult brief but he has managed it effective ly. I would say this, that our president needs to be very deliberate and hardnosed here. He gave the North Koreans a break when he returned from singapore and said that the north korean problem has been resolved, but it is not. And secretary pompeo who is a skilled negotiator i believe has to be the hardnosed negotiator here to make the North Koreans admit to what the extent of the Nuclear Program is and ingagree time line to dismantle it. It is good to see the summit of the two koreas of president moon and kim jongun, but the suds the key to, this and i hope that secretary pompeo can drive it forward, because President Trump has not been as disciplined as he should be. Well, on that note, we will leave it there, but martin, i hope that you rare in new york next week and i am heading your way and we will talk more about the Promised Land and a book that tom brokaw praised highly and said it picks up where exodus left off. And now, from today show, joe and jill biden speaking to craig melvin ahead of the cancer summit dedicated to save cancer around the country, and a cause that is close to them especially since the death of their son beau from brain cancer. And we know what is it like to get that diagnosis and you know, craig, with your brother getting that diagnosis and so we are trying to krcreate the urgey of now with the summit, and to bring people together and break down barriers and give them information and so when your brother got that diagnosis and just like our son did, and after you feel the pun mch the stomach and in your gut, then you say, what now . Where do i go . What do i do . What is this going to be like and what does it mean . We need information and can we get into the trials . That is what we are trying to provide with the cancer summit. It is intensely personal. Intensely. And it is, and beau has left a gigantic hole in our hearts for the whole family, and, you know, it is but there is so much opportunity. If we didnt find one more cure and if docs started to share data and not hoard it, and make it available to everybody for res research, we would extend lives beyond what anything that we are doing right now. 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Now i have less diabetic nerve pain. If youre eligble, you could pay as little as 25 a month. Visit lyrica. Com. That Brett Kavanaugh is one of the finest human beings you will ever have the privilege of know org meeting. So we have to let it play out, but i want to tell you that he is a fine, fine person. President trump is selling his Supreme Court nominee at a Campaign Rally in las vegas last night. As the new nbc news wall street journal poll shows that more americans oppose the Supreme Court nomination than support it. That opposition is up nine points and highlighting the impact of the new controversy surrounding the nominee, and cnn analyst mike murphy is a fomer strategist for mitt romney and george bush and john mccain. And good to see you, and first of all, it has to be bad for everybody involved, but particularly bad for the republicans, facing women voters where they already have a gender gap and now in a debate over, you know, when to interview her and the president has now crossed a line today and directly on twitter challenged her for not reporting it when she was 15 years old. Yeah, it is its a complicated one. These are always hard. I miss the filibuster rule that harry reid got rid of, and you used to have 60 votes to pass somebody through the senate which made the process tamer, but we are where we are, and one of the problems is President Trumps history of bad behavior r rubs off on everything that he touch, and judge kavanaugh has that problem, and frankly, the media is sympathetic to the accusers a sond he is being squee squeezed by both sides here, and nobody knows what the real truth is, and we are in a highly politicized environment with the midterms, and the next thing is the hearings which is a televised moment if dr. Ford participates, and then people will make a decision. Well, it seems as though they are moving towards that and there are reports that she said that she would come on thursday and now there are some reports that we have not confirmed that it might be wednesday and then they will argue over the shape of the table who interviews her, and judge kavanaugh as well. But the accuser is really in the past, they have been put op on trial here, and certainly anita hill was, and then for instance this congress mman in south carolina, and what he said going into debate for his own reelection. I thought that i was going to be late, and did yall hear the latest latebreaking news from the kavanaugh hearings, Ruth Ginsberg said she was groped by abraham lincoln. I thought that i was going to have to be back there. And tip the server, because he is here all week. And you were advising the congressman or any male member of Congress House or senate for those kinds of jokes, and i dont know what you think. Look, i think that the politics the of it are that if they stumble, and the congress m congressman and less is more, and the dna of stumbling into this and the dna of the democrats and overemphasizing judge kavanaugh held a lot higher in the accusations is of bill clinton and plenty of stumbling of hypocrisy, and there was a great article on the Weekly Standard by jonathan less where you have the game theory and take the motions out and mathematically put up what is on top, and so get a new conservative nominee and confirm them, because the conservatives get the ideological victory and get out of the tainting which is important in some respect and of the institution which is really at stake here. I thought that it was interesting and people should look at it. And interesting recommendation. Thank you. We shall. And coming up, will he or wont he . What joe biden told nbcs craig melvin about 2020. More of that interview coming up. Coming up. 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And these are the only plans of their kind endorsed by aarp. Whew call unitedhealthcare today and ask for this free decision guide. You sound like a man who wants to run. You sound like a guy who really wants to do do you want i desperately want to change the landscape. Im looking for someone and there is a lot of talented people that we have out there, but we have to stop this degradation of the system that going on and that is why i am campaigning all over the coun y country. We will win back the United States house of representatives i promise you and i predict that we will be winning back the senate, too. Really . And joe biden is not ruling out a 2020 run for president. And the inside scoop from the correspondent of the pbs newshour and jonathan capehart, opinion writer for the Washington Post, and both of you thankfully msnbc political analysts. And now, to you, misch, joe biden has the hope and the prayer if the timing were right that he is not ruling it out for 2020, and a younger candidates who believe it is their turn. I think that joe biden is looking at the landscape looking at President Trump and all that he brings with which is really just a personal t ty that defie policy and somebody who was hard charging and won because he connected with at a least part of the country that joe biden could also connect with. And so there is joe biden being nostalgic, and saying that i could take the head of my party, but the issue of course is that joe biden not only the age factor and people say that the democr democrats should use the younger politicians they are building up, and the anita hill hearing and the fact that he did not call other women ready to testify to support anita hill may come back to bite him in the metoo movement. And he was a keynote speaker right here in d. C. And the human rights campaign. Yes, we did a little opportunity to do the photo line with him and one of the first words out of his mouth is what he told craig melvin saying that i think that the democrats are going to take the senate in november, and that is a bold prediction, but i have been saying on your show and other shows for a while now that 2018 midterms reminds me very much of the 2006 midterms where everyone was talking about the possibility of the democrats taking back the house and not the senate, but they did both in 2006 and who knows, maybe uncle joe right. But the calendar is so much worse, and it is historically bad and defending 23 seats, and the fact is that one of the races is are right where you are, yamisce and rick scott is really pulling ahead in some polls in florida, and over the incumbent and they have to pick up seats and save all of the incumben incumbents, and that is one where rick scott is well known and as you know, he has a ton of money to pour into the race. Well, in the case of rick sco scott, and him being governor of florida and him being familiar with the people, and him taking steps after the parkland shooting to try to curtail some of the gun laws in florida really, i think that helped him to gain the support of people who were a little skeptical frankly of vote og for a republican. The issue is now of course is that trump is on the ballot in every single state, and there are people if you are like rick scott who have enough personal resume that people in your state will take you and say, okay, i can vote for this person, and there are a lot of senators who are hoping to have President Trump to come can out to their state and namely ted cruz and convince people that they are going to be able to support President Trump, and the problem is that the democrats are very, very motivated by the idea of President Trump, and they want to put a check on the presidency. So if you are a republican who is not well known and up against someone who is well known, but also someone who is saying that i will fight back against trump, you might be in a real problem. So just to take another step backward, to what we were talking about earlier, there is of course, the women who vote, and who are potentially going to be, you know, zeroing in on the hearings if the hearings are the next week, wednesday or whatever day they are, and a lot of people are going to be watching the hear inings if she does sho up, and it is moving in that direction and only four women on the committee and they all demo. One of them is the hawaii senator whos really been outspoken here and ap is reporting that Holding Men Accountable goes back deeply into her history that when she was a child her mother fled an abasive marriage in japan and took them to hawaii crossing the pacific in an American Ship and said theres an environment where people see nothing, hear nothing and say nothing about the me too movement and this was a part of her speaking out last week. Guess whos perpetuating the actions. It is the men in this country and i just want to say to the men in the country, shut up and step up. Do the right thing for a change. I mean, jonathan, she is becoming a singular figure in the in this debate. Yes. Because she people are seeing her for the first time, a lot of people seeing her for the first time last few weeks, one. Highly respected on the committee and she in the hearings asked judge kavanaugh if he had ever as an adult and not doesnt cover this allegation, if he had ever as an adult mistreated women. So shes been asking these questions for a long time. Not just of kavanaugh but of other nominees. In the clip you showed, theres a passion and a credibility to what shes saying and also the third thing is theres in that clip you just showed theres fight in what she in how she said what she said and take conviction plus fight and why i think democrats are particularly responding very well to her because she is expressing in tone and in words what democrats want their elected officials, whether theyre running to be an elected official or already an elected official, what they want them to do. Jonathan, michelle, thank you both. Change of heart, an important change. President trump with a big reversal of declassifying files tied to the russia probe. Stay with us. Fact is, every Insurance Company hopes you drive safely. But allstate actually helps you drive safely. With drivewise. It lets you know when you go too fast. And brake too hard. With feedback to help you drive safer. Giving you the power to actually lower your cost. Unfortunately, it cant do anything about that. Now that you know the truth. Are you in good hands . Monitor their blood glucose every day. Which means they have to stop. And stick their fingers. Repeatedly. Today, lifechanging technology from abbott makes it possible to track glucose levels. Without drawing a drop of blood, again and again. The most personal technology, is technology with the power to change your life. Life. To the fullest. And we have breaking news from garrett headache on capitol hill confirming theres a republican counter offer to dr. Fords lawyers and this is for a hearing on wednesday, not thursday as she had requested, wednesday she would go first. He would go second. Mark judge and the other witnesses would not be called and they would have her being questioned by a committee hired lawyer, not by the senators. So it doesnt meet all the demands. Stay tuned. Theres obviously a lot more conversation back and forth. Meanwhile, President Trump today appears to be walking back a major decision, a controversial one, to declassify highly Sensitive Files in the russia probe. Joining me now, sam lowell and it sounds as though he stepped back from the order in the face of very strong Justice Department objections as well as objections from our closest allies about how this would affect sharing intelligence and this was to be the declassification of the fisa warrants and other warrants and other information and emails, very sensitive emails including those of an ongoing justice official bruce ohr. Sam . Well, i think it is for the moment, andrea. Its very clear that the message got to the president from the allies, intelligence community, justice people this is a red line and had never happened before, a president , you know, releasing classified material he was told by the intelligence people not to release solely for the purpose of making a political point in an election season. This was kind of since world war ii never happened type stuff and i think that message got through to him at some level but tweeting this morning he said this better happen fast or ill consider declassifying it. It fits into this is just a public version of things we have been hearing that are happening behind the scenes from the anonymous oped, from the woodward book, constantly testing the lines and seeing what he can get away with, how far his staff and advisers will let him go. Sometimes they can control him and he backs off. And that happened here. But it doesnt give me a lot of comfort, andrea. We are getting an awful lot of sort signals and senses that after the midterm elections whether the democrats take summer of congress or dont, theyre considering a house clean in the area of doj and intelligence and National Defense and thats very scary. If he decides he just wants to clear away these people who are pushing back and telling him not to do things like this, then were really we shouldnt take a lot of comfort from this. And adam schiff, the top democrat on house intelligence pushing back on devin nunes, the others on the house side really lobbying so hard for this, he issued a statement saying there were strenuous objections by the department of justice and the u. S. Allies to releasing this sensitive material which is related to an ongoing Law Enforcement investigation examining the president s own conduct a conduct and that of his campaign and organization. That is the issue. Now the Inspector General will look at it and the president saying as you say that if its not done quickly enough hell proceed. Sam . Lets remember it goes back to a kind of a nonsense thing. The idea that there was some sort of impropriety in the fisa warrant and looking at an original sin in the russ investigation to taint the entire thing and then Everybody Needs never should have been started in the first place is ridiculous. Its debunked. It is a pipe dream that the president has somehow to pull on this little thread and its going to unravel everything. Sam b uehll, always great to have a law professor wrap up our show and this week. Thank you. Thank you. Follow the show on facebook and online. Ill be at the u. N. Next week. Kristen welker is here for the next hour. Thank you. So many fast moving developments with the kavanaugh negotiations. Take it away. Appreciate it. Good afternoon to you. Im Kristen Welker in washington, d. C. Balance of power. Breaking news of capitol hill. We have new reporting on the negotiations between the Senate Judiciary commit tee and the woman accusing Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault. The very latest on whether she will testify. Trump unleashed. After a week of an unusually restrained President Trump has taken off the gloves and gone after the Supreme Court nominees accuser. What was the Tipping Point . And lessons learned. Vice President Joe Biden on the senates handling of kavanaughs accuser. Craig melvin has the exclusive. Craig . Reporter kristen, coming up, well run that conversation with the former Vice President and his wife dr. Joe biden in its