Hey, good today i to all of you. Im here in new york. Its high noon in the ickes, and heres whats happening right now. We do have this breaking news. We are just hours away from likely confirmation of the next Supreme Court justice. Mr. President , i will vote to confirm judge kavanaugh. The final key votes swinging in favor of judge Brett Kavanaugh, sparking celebration and outrage. I have never been angrier or sadder as a member of the United States senate, because it is the result of a coverup. Plus the first lady breaks her silence on where she stands on kavanaugh. I have my own voice and my opinions, and its very important for me that i express what i feel. All eyes on capitol hill for what is shaping up to be a history day with a final vote ahead in these next few hours. We have some breakses news to report. Theres new reaction from democrats as republicans are hours away from clinching their second Supreme Court pick under president trump, and tipping the scales for decades to come. Take a listen. Today in just a few hours the United States senate is going to turn its back on righteousness. Its going to turn its back on fairness and reason. And make no his take, it is going to turn its back on women. Lindsey gravm among republican senators on whether this confirmation fight will have a Significant Impact on the mid terms. Theres two choices, the Susan Collins way or the protesters, conservatives align with senator collins trying to work toward empowering people, make us safe, more money in your possibility, or do you want to turn your government over to people who just yell and spit on you . Also first lady melania weighing in, as she wraps up her trip. Heres what she told reporters just a little while ago. Im glad that dr. Ford was heard. Im glad that judge kavanaugh was heard, and the fbi investigation was done, is completed and the senate voted. Did you believe Christine Ford . I will i think all victims, we need to have the victims, no matter what kind of abuse they have, but, um, i am against any kind of abuse or violence. Lets get to garrett haake. Theres been a lot going on today. What have you seen so far . Reporter good afternoon, alex. Mostly Democratic Senators taking to the floor thorpe to try to give one last rally, one last push, one last speech guess Brett Kavanaugh, though at this point his confirmation is essential confirmed. 59 senators in favor, though it only ended up with 50, with steve daines staying in montana for his daughters wedding. Weve seen protests, but not the same kind of things we have seen. The resistance effort if you will against Brett Kavanaugh, pushing back one last chance ko make their voices heard before this vote is cast, which we expect around 4 00, but the end of this, in terms of the actual political argument came yesterday at about the same time when senator Susan Collins took the floor and ended up being the close argument in favor of Brett Kavanaugh. She was one of those four senators who had been undecided down to the last minute. She did not end up coming out with a weak yes, but she gave somebody like a 45minute speech laying out her defense of calf flaw on his record, on the ford allegations which she isnt didnt have to meet a test, but failed to meet a test of more likely than not. It was the kind of moment that the white house and republican senators were very glad to see pushing kavanaugh over the finish line. As soon as she was done speaking, the lone democrat manchin came out, the lone democrat in support of. And Lisa Murkowski was the only rep to vote against Brett Kavanaugh. She tried late last night to explain that vote. Here is part of her speech. I am really worried that they becomes the new normal, where we find new and even more creative ways to tear one another down. Its got to end. This is not who we are. So, alex, thats Lisa Murkowski pushing back against a process that both senators have essential seen as a circus, now what we want confirmation politics to look like. Well see this come to a conclusion in about four hours. Can i ask you to clarify something . Its expected that Lisa Murkowski will use the word present not actually cast her vote. Is that to counter steve daines, because hes at his daughters wedding . This is an oldschool Senate Procedural move in which a pairing, where two senators make a deal. So steve daines will stay in montana, and murkowski who said she was a no on the procedure vote, would have been a no today, will instead record her vote as present. It doesnt change the ratio, though it does change of total. She said she is was doing this in part to show what she hopes could be the graciousness to return to this process someday. Its one thing to have the senate body mad at you, but an entire different thing to have your daughter mad at you. The Senate Remains very divided over the fbi allegations. Heres senator Susan Collins. The facts presented do not mean that the president that professor ford was not sexually assaulted that night or at some other time, but they do lead me to conclude that the allegations fail to meet the more likely than not standard. Therefore, i do not believe that these charges can fairly prevent judge kavanaugh from serving on the court. Lets begin republican senator ron johnson is joining us live from capitol hill. Senator, with a welcome to you, sir. Critics are saying you cant have it both ways. You cannot believe in dr. Ford on the one hand, especially the part where she was queried and said 100 i am certain it was Brett Kavanaugh, and then also believe it was not Brett Kavanaugh who attacked her. In other words, is she believable . Is she not . You do believe her or dot . How do you assess this . You can believe that she believes what she is saying, but you can also look at the evidence and rely on the bedrock principle of americas legal system, and thats the presumption of innocence. There was no corroborating evidence whatsoever. So in the end, you have to rely on that, you have to assume innocence, and also take a look at Brett Kavanaughs lifetime of public service, the fact that he was an excellent judge, well qualified according to the aba, and of course Susan Collins did an excellent job of laying out really his judicial middle of the roadness. Hes right there in the mainstream, and she lead it out beautifully yesterday. When youre talking about the testimony that was given by everybody, to the judiciary committee. In addition to the fbi report, lets listen to what both folks of the aisle have said about this report. Here it is, sir. What we know for sure is the fbi report did not corroboration any of the allegations against judge kavanaugh. It looks to be the product of an incomplete investigation that was limited, perhaps by the white house. I feel very good about where this nomination is right now. The whole thing is a sham. The senators who requested the supplemental fbi background check got what they requested, and i am ready to vote. Not surprisingly some different perspectives there. Dud read the fbi report . Did you have proper access to it . Long enough time to get through it . And was it sufficiently thorough . It was. I spent about five hours down the skiff. I real all the pages of the ten additional witnesses. There were second other background checks, in total about 150 different people have been interviewed in the seven fbi background checks, and quite honestly not much of a hint of any kind of problems in judge kavanaughs background whatsoever. I felt confidence a week ago, i didnt think the seventh would turn anything up new, and it didnt. Five hours is a long time. Im sure youve heard the complaints from senator chris murphy who said he was not given ample time to read think it. Why do you think he said that . I think we had the exact equal amount of time. I spend my five hours early in the day. By 6 00 that evening, i was completely satisfied, and by the way Susan Collins was in the room foe almost all of those five hours as well. Sir, what about judge kavanaughs temperament, that when we all saw a week ago on thursday. He wrote the oped in wall street journal, quite an extraordinary thing to have done. He admitted that he said some things he should not have said, but he has been exposed. Youve heard the phrase you cant put the toothpaste back in the tube. He says he can be impartial, but introducing and blaming the clintons for his plight, dont you so that big explicitly rather partisan . Can he carry himself to the Supreme Court without that taint . He has 12 years of experience on the d. C. Circuit court of appeals. Again the reviews of him being a judge and being impartial and the proper temperament on that court are overwhelming. Try to put yourself in that position, being accused of absolutely heinous act, i would show a little emotional well. I dont hold that against him. Obviously 51 senators dont hold that against him, either. I completely understand that. Ive been known to have a bit of a temper myself at times, but sometimes things can linger. This is you can say pretty accurately, this is a stain on Brett Kavanaugh. This will follow him his into irlife. You look at the extend which followed clarence thomas. Is it not unreasonable to expect that there is a taint here, its difficult for any individual human being to get out from under that feeling of anger, resendment. When you have an organized really what forwards forward is that when she said except for the incident itself, these have been the worst two weeks of her life. Those werent brought to her by the republicans. Those were the worst two weeks of life caused by democratic operatives, her attorneys who didnt tell her apparently that she could have done this privately in california somebody leakeded her name, did not honor that guarantee. We treated her with a great deal of respect. We are genuinely concerned about her and anybody who has been sexually assaulted. They wanted a spectacle, they wanted a show trial, her handlers, and they got it. Yeah, when somebody comes after you, that will probably linger a while, but its not fair to some have said theyre not that concern about that. What they are more concerned is the laws in republicanled states that essential do the same thing. I spoke the senator chris murphy. Lets listen to what he said on this. They come from stakes that have passed what we call trigger laws, laws that say the minute that roe versus wade is overturned by the Supreme Court, abortion is illegal in their state. So, you know, theyre walking the walk every single day to try to criminalize abortion. They knew what this vote was about. That was the senator speaking last night with chris matthews, sir. Do you understand week democrats might be concerned . I a guest what called the roe v. Wade a red herring. In my meeting with judge kavanaugh, what he expressed to Susan Collins as well, shes fairly confident the Supreme Court will not overturn roe v. Wade, but i think its entirely the exact way of doing this is going to the states. Some of those laws may come before the court, but thats really the way the entire abortion issue should have been handled with in the first place. It wouldnt be such a divisive issue 40, 50 years after the initial court judgment. Senator johnson, thank you very much for joining me. I look forward to seeing you again. Have a good day. In the meantime ill get reaction from adam schiff in california. You were sitting here the whole time. Well, my reaction is this, for senator johnson or any of the gop senators to say they treated dr. Ford with respect, thats not what i saw from the president mocking her at a political rally. Thats not what i saw with the republican senators, except for a small few, said nothing in the face of these attacks on a Sexual Assault victim. And most important, you dont show her respect merely by sitting silent and have someone else ask your questions, and then refuse to do a meaningful investigation. That is not respect. And as a former prosecutor, i can tell you that to investigate allegations that are decades old, first of all, you cannot do in a week, but second, the fact that the fbi didnt even take the full week, that people that had corroborating information were not even interviewed, because im sure the fbi was not allowed to interview them, thats not showing her respect. Thats not showing the country respect, but at the end of the day they werent interested in the truth, and hide as they might behind Susan Collins, all they cared about was putting another conservative on the court. Is Brett Kavanaugh really the best this country has to offer . I think youre absolutely right, alex, as long as hes on this court, there will be a cloud and taints over every opinion he issues. Lisa murkowski said she did not think he was the proper person to be placed on the court this time, despite a legacy of good jurisprudence and the like, in her esteem. When you heard that senator joe manchin was going to vote yes, what was your gut reaction . It wasnt surprising. I think that had all of the other of course lined up, i dont think he would have been the deciding vote to confirm him, but when it was essential a fait accompli, i think that pretty much was the final Decision Point for him, so not a big surprise, but, you know, i would like to say this. Because i have to think that dr. Ford, after going through this second trauma must be wondering, why did she do this . Why did she come forward . She already expected her testimony wouldnt make a difference, but i want her to know it did make a difference. It made a difference to millions of people. It meant a lot to certainly not just victims of Sexual Assault, but it meant a lot to millions of others to see the courage that she displayed. The other thing i will say to people who are very despondent at yet another tragic day in our history, we have the power to do something about it. We have the power to take the gavels away from these people, we have the power to take these jobs away from the people. We have that power in four weeks. Dont get mad. Get to the polls. We can do something about this. Do you at all worry about the enthusiasm for that . When beam get upset, they can feel despondent, i know many who have said since yesterday i feel weakened, im just kind every getting up, i cant believe this happened. Women have been of that tone. Do you worry about the enthusiasm sustaining democrats to do, as you say, to get to the polls a month from now . This was a punch in the gut. I think for many of us, second only to the punch in the gut we got when donald trump was elected, we saw that puny inauguration, that knocked the wind out of us, but what gave us the wind back was the day after the inauguration, these millions of people taking the streets for the womens march, that determination we were not going to accept this as the new direction of our country. And i think youre going to be the same effect here. It is only going to further galvanize democrats and progressives and women to go to the polls, to declare this is not the country we believe in. This is not reflective of our values. We dont want someone dishonest on the Supreme Court. We want someone of the highest integrity. This has to galvanize us. If you dont want someone of the highest integrity on this court, and you do not believe that fits the profile of brett kavanau kavanaugh, we not the midterm Elections Come up. Should the democrats get control back of the house, the word impeachment has been thrown around. Is that the wisest things for democrats to pursue . Or do you think its a losing battle . I think the most important thing for democrats is to be putting forward a positive agenda for the country, to show the country and particularly the half of the country that wakes up on any given day and its one unexpected car problem or Health Problem away from complete failure, that we have an agenda that will immediate their needs. But its also very important that congress once again becomes a coequal branch of government. Not the rubber stamp for this unethical president. That means doing our oversight, getting to the bottom of what constraints were put on the fbi . These folks that are claiming that the fbi did a thorough investigation . Thats nonsense, but we dont know exactly what the marching orders the fbi was given, but its pretty clear getting to the truth wasnt one of them. I think we need to expose on the administration to public scrutiny. I think thats important to the health of our democracy. Do you believe you will ever get access to the report . Is it something you its certainly somebody i would like to see, but of greater important, they should only allowed to talked to a number of limited witnesses, people who had incentive to be dishonest about it. What we really need to see is what were the limitations placed on them. Why didnt they bur view all these people who said i knew him in college, in high school, and his testimony was false. Why werent those people interviewed . Why werent the victims identified interviewed . That is absolutely not true. Any investigator worth their salt would want time dedicated to ask questions, just because a witness may say thats all i remember doesnt mean that when you probe them, when you ask the specific questions, you dont learn a great deal more. Why didnt we bring in records from safeway, employees to rob rate dr. Fords testimony about running into mark george at safeway. Why didnt we try to identify and corroborate what could be demonstrably proven. They werent interested in the truth. Representative adam schiff, always good to talk to you and get your insites. Thank you for joining me. Thank you. What the protesters hope to achieve as the kavanaugh vote nears. The kavanaugh vote nears. Im ken jacobus, im the owner of good start packaging. We distribute environmentallyfriendly packaging for restaurants. And weve grown substantially. So i switched to the spark cash card from capital one. I earn unlimited 2 cash back on everything i buy. And last year, i earned 36,000 in cash back. Thats right, 36,000. Which i used to offer Health Insurance to my employees. My unlimited 2 cash back is more than just a perk, its our healthcare. Can i say it . Whats in your wallet . With venus, youre in charge of how your skin feels. So, when the world expects you to follow the rules, write your own. Because no one gets an opinion on how you live your life, why you shave, or how you show your skin. My skin. My way. This is moving day with the best inhome wifi experience and millions of wifi hotspots to help you stay connected. And this is moving day with Reliable Service appointments in a twohour window so youre up and running in no time. Show me decorating shows. This is staying connected with xfinity to make moving. Simple. Easy. Awesome. Stay connected while you move with the best wifi experience and twohour appointment windows. Click, call or visit a store today. Hundreds are gathered around the capitol and the Supreme Court to protest his confirmation. Mike viqueira is on capitol hill for us. Youve been speaking to someone who has organized some of these contests. Reporter right, the Capitol Police did something unusual even though the senate is in session. They closed the russianle, the hart and dirksen buildings. You can see the capitol grounds, just across the street under this ginko street, theres a group from the womens march who is getting ready for civic action. I heard them doing a training session, where theyre preparing people to get arrested in the eventuality that they will get arrested. I am with me will issa burns from the online womens rights group ultraviolet. I have seen you literally positioning protesters. You are in charge of organizing this, but today youre out here. This vote is a forgone conclusion. Is this a waste of time . I mean, was it in august of last year when it was a forgone conclusion that aca would be repealed . And mccain had the heroic moment in the middle of the night, so its never over unless the votes of called. Senator collins and manchin still have time to listen instead of listening to the bigmoney interests and they could be a hero. Me portrays this as a choice, raw politics. Will you stand for Susan Collins where she gave her rationale, or hes putting you on the opposite side, youre the foil. Will you be with the protesterso spit on you as you walk through the has . Whats your reaction . One, there was no spitting. Reporter i didnt see any spitting. There was no spitting. If these senators like Lindsey Graham had town hall meetings, if they listened to their constituents and not just bigmoney donors, these conversations could have happened over the last week, but they dont do town hall meetings, dont have face time with their constituents, so the only way to meet them is in the tunnels, in the hallways, as they get into the tram. Its . Our constitution, the First Amendment, the right to address government. You can ask the hard questions. The First Amendment isnt you can write a polite prescreened question on an index card and hand it in. We have the right to do that. And people who are causen the problems who dont listen to the women of their state. Reporter melissa byrne, out here they are planning some civic actions, as we grow closer to that vote. Mike viqueira, thank you so much for bringing that story to us. Up next, everyone, a key potential clue that the russia probe may be winding down, about you what happens after that . Dot you what happens after that