i think we will see president trump very quickly turn on republican lawmakers on this including don mcgahn and leonard leo and the senators and distance himself. and i think the way that he ll do that is by calling out that kavanaugh used to work in the bush administration and using that as a bit of a diss or distancing mechanism. well, that s interesting and on that front, kind of, eli, when we hear ben sasse say it shouldn t surprise us that trump attacked dr. ford, is that a senator wanting to have it both ways, wanting us to react with surprise that he s so up front in his criticism of the president, even though he s a consistent and anticipatable yes? yes, it is. ben sasse is sort of the poster child for that behavior. but he s certainly not alone. i think the interesting thing about trump s behavior and mocking dr. ford on stage at a rally earlier this week, you know, if the goal is to rile up the base, then it s a smart strategy. if the goal is to get kavanaugh through the s
is starting to back fire at a level that nobody has ever seen before. the people of america are going to reject the democrat politics of anger and destruction. republican leaders for brett kavanaugh s confirmation now shaved from five to four. heidi heitkamp coming out against. in an interview, she said this. if this were a political decision for me, i certainly would be deciding this the other way. you know, there is an old saying. history will judge you. i can t get up in the morning and look at the life experience that i ve had and say yes to judge kavanaugh. that decision met with this response by protesters in front
the democrats also continue to point to what a very angry judge kavanaugh had to say during last week s hearing. this whole two-week effort has been a calculated and orchestrated political hit fuelled with apparent pent up anger about president trump and the 2016 election, fear that has been unfairly stoked about my judicial record, revenge on behalf of the clintons, and millions of dollars and money from outside left wing opposition groups. and as we all know, in the united states political system of the early 2000s, what goes around comes around. tonight in an unusual move, judge kavanaugh has written an op-ed for the wall street journal. says, i am an impartial independent judge. he writes, i was very emotional last thursday, more so than i have ever been. i might have been too emotional
yes. and it s my understanding that senator steve danes is potentially going to get on a flight immediately after his daughter s wedding and perhaps arrive in washington first thing sunday morning. and in that scenario, they would leave the vote open because every vote counts. it truly is coming down to the wire. ultimately what this will boil down to is whether some of those moderate republican senators believe that the fbi was able to conduct a fair and comprehensive investigation. i think there will be also an open-ended question as to whether the senators as well as the american public will learn more about the process, and more specifically what were the parameters for this investigation and what, if any, constraints were placed on the bureau by the white house as they carried out this investigation into judge kavanaugh and allegations
at times. i know that my tone was sharp, and i said a few things i should not have said. he goes on to write, going forward, you can count on me to be the same kind of judge and person i have been for my entire 28-year legal career, hard working, even-keeled, open minded, dedicated to the constitution and the public good. the washington post opinion page has its own assessment of that same man tonight, advising senators to vote no on this confirmation. the post says it s the first time it, as an organization, has made this type of recommendation since robert bork s failed nomination back in 1987. with all of that established, let s bring in our lead-off panel on a thursday night. starting with our correspondent on the hill, garrett haake, robert costa, national political reporter for the washington post, moderator of washington