skirting around the things that really mattered and she was focused on her fear of flying, her, you know, credibility things. who paid for the polygraph, you know, how did she find her lawyer. because i think the defense there, essentially, was that this is a big conspiracy by the democrats. and so -- >> yeah. she didn't get to finish her job, and that's what so many people are wondering what the heck were going on when we were all sitting there watching that hearing. ladies, thank you so much. i appreciate that analysis. let's roll on to the top of the show. here we go. moments from now, president trump is set to hold a medal of honor spokceremony at the white house. so we'll take that live as soon as we see him, momentarily. but first, to the breaking news. president trump lashing out on the heated supreme court confirmation battle and the fbi's latest background investigation of his nominee, brett kavanaugh. he says he's fine, the president says he's fine if the fbi interviews all three accusers and kavanaugh himself. and that the fbi should do what it needs to do. one white house official just telling cnn the white house has made it clear to the fbi that agents are not limited in their expanded background search. that pushes back a bit on reports that the white house was working to narrow the scope of the probe. president trump also earlier today weighed in on judge kavanaugh's drinking habits. >> i was surprised at how vocal he was about the fact that he likes beer and he's had a little bit of difficulty. i mean, he talked about things that happened when he drank. i mean, this is not a man that said that alcohol was -- that he was perfect with respect to alcohol. >> so if he did lie about his drinking, does that mean that you'll pull his nomination? >> i don't think he did! look, here's what -- i'm just saying, i'm not a drinker. i can honestly say i've never had a beer in my life, okay? >> right. >> it's one of my only good traits. i don't drink. wherever they're looking for something good, i say, i've never had a class of alcohol. i've never had alcohol. you know, i've just, for whatever reason. can you imagine if i had, what a mess i'd be? i'd be the world's worst. but i never drank. i never drank, okay? but i can tell you, i watched that hearing and i watched a man saying that he did have difficulty as a young man with drink. the one question i didn't ask is, how about the last 20 years, have you had difficulty in the last 20 years? because nobody said anything bad about him in many, many years. they go back to high school. >> let's go straight to our white house reporter there, kaitlan collins. and kaitlan, let's start on this fbi investigation, what we heard from the president then. we just got a scoop a moment ago. where are they on this fbi investigation? >> well, essentially, you heard it best from president trump there, saying that they should interview anyone they deem that is within reason to be interviewed. and that comes after days of complaints over the weekend, mostly from democratic senators, saying that the white house is trying to limit the scope of this investigation, because the white house and the senate republicans only gave the fbi four or so names to interview about these sexual assault allegations against brett kavanaugh, but president trump saying they can interview anyone they want, including brett kavanaugh, while casting some doubt on the third accuser, julie swetnick, and the allegations she has made about there being excessive drinking, gang rapes at parties, and anything of that nature. but president trump making clear he thinks they should interview whoever. but, of course, brooke, they're about the drinking. that is also another thing that has been -- there's been a lot of criticism and a lot of concern about whether or not brett kavanaugh told the truth under oath when he was testifying in front of congress about his drinking habits. president trump said he was impressed by his candor during that testimony, saying essentially that he was very honest about that and that he said that he had difficulty with drinking, but that's not what we heard from brett kavanaugh when he was testifying last thursdays. instead, he sought to downplay his drinking, characterizing it as normal, saying he's never blacked out from drinking. and when he was repeatedly pressed on that by senator klobuchar, he turned the question around on her, asking if she had ever drank too much. that is of concern today in conjunction with these allegations, because a former classmate of brett kavanaugh's from yale has come forward and said that he wasn't truthful whenever he was testifying about how much he drank, that in fact he actually drank much more than he alluded to during that testimony. and senator jeff flake, of course, going to be a swing vote -- a key vote here, who is one that pushed for this fbi investigation, said that if it is come to find out that brett kavanaugh was not truthful about his drinking habits while he was under oath, the that that would be grounds for pulling his nomination, brooke. >> kaitlan, there's something else i wanted to ask you about, which i really noticed, which is the way the president talked to you and talked to another reporter, a female. forgive me, we can't go there. let's go to the white house, to this medal of honor ceremony. >> -- united states accompanied by medal of honor recipient, staff sergeant ronald j. schir ii, united states army. ♪ let us pray. god of all mercy, we ask for both your presence and your peace, for all those gathered here this day. we give you thanks for this celebration, for this redemption, for this day to reflect on what you provide and what we need. for our -- for reminding us of the dignity of life, of service, of sacrifice, and of true heroism. inspire us, lord, to hold fiercely to your gifts of hope and grace and passion. may the acts, the heroic acts of staff sergeant ronald shurer move us all to greater acts of goodness, of love, to serve our soldiers, our families, our nation, and our world. for it is before you that we humbly ask these things and gratefully say "amen." >> amen. >> thank you very much. please. i thank you, chaplain hurley. thank you to vice president mike pence for joining us for today's ceremony. today it's my plinlg to award the congressional medal of honor to an army special forces medic who now serves in the united states secret service. please join me in welcoming staff sergeant ronald shurer. [ applause ] ronald, thank you. [ applause ] [ applause ] thank you, i wish i was that popular, i'll tell you. today is a truly proud and special day for those of us here in the white house, because ron works right here alongside of us on the secret service counterassault team. these are incredible people. several weeks ago, my staff asked ron and his wife miranda -- thank you, miranda -- to a meeting in the west wing. they didn't know what it was about. they walked into the oval office and i told ron that he was going to receive our nation's highest military honor. it was a moment i will never forget. ron and miranda joined today by their two beautiful sons, cameron, who is 10, and tyler, who is 7. stand up. look at these guys. [ applause ] cameron, tyler, we stand in awe of your father's courage. we really do. today he joins the world's most elite gathering of heros. also with us are his parents, ronald senior and his mom, fabiola. both air force veterans. america is grateful for your service. thank you very much. please, stand. thank you. i want to thank, also, secretary nielsen for joining us. secretary, thank you very much. along with secretary of the army, mark esper. mark, thank you very much. vice chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, general paul selva. thank you, paul. army chief of staff, general mark milly. mark, thank you. commander of special operations, command general, raymond thomas. thank you, raymond. and sergeant major of the army, daniel daly. thank you very much. thank you very much. i also want to recognize representative gerald connelly and representative dan newhouse. thank you very much for being here. appreciate it. we are privileged to have among us five former recipients of the congressional medal of honor, benny atkins, harvey barnum, gary bikirk, and brian thacker. and thank you all for being here. thank you. please, stand up. [ applause ] thank you very much for being with us. these are very brave, great people. staff sergeant ron shurer was born in fairbanks, alaska. he grew up in a military family, moving to four states before middle school. he graduated from washington state university and applied to join the military, but was rejected due to a medical condition. i can't believe they rejected him. boy, that was a bad mistake. but they made up for it, right? they made up for it. soon after, america was attacked on september 11th, 2001. determined to serve, ron replied to the military and was accepted into the united states army. he became a medic and then he completed the grueling training to join the legendary ranks of the green berets. that's a long way from not getting accepted the first time, right? that's fantastic. that's a great story. it was during his special forces training that ron met miranda. just before ron's first deployment, they were married. miranda was six months pregnant with their first son, cameron, when ron deployed to afghanistan for the second time. just amond before -- a month be returned home, ron was called on a special operations mission. the aim was to hunt down a deadly terrorist, a leader in that world. he was in a remote mountain village, very dangerous territory. on april 6th, 2008, ron was among the few dozen special forces soldiers and 100 afghan commandos who dropped off, by helicopter, into shock valley a rocky barren valley far away from reinforcements. there's nobody close. ron was the only medic for the team. while he was still near the base of the mountain, the first team began to scale the cliff toward the village. as they approached the top, roughly 200 well-trained and well-armed terrorists ambushed the american and afghan forces. soon, ron heard his comrade call his name brian wellen had been struck by shrapnel at the base of the mountain. he was very, very seriously hurt. but ron braved enemy fire to rush to his friend and to treat his wounds. then he heard over the radio that american fighters near the top of the cliff were pinned down and some were critically injured. there was blood all over the place. it was a tough, tough situation to be in. immediately, ron climbed the rocky mountain, all the while fighting back against the enemy and dodging gunfire left and right. rockets were shot at him, everything was shot at him. when he reached the top, one of his close friends, an afghan interpreter, was already dead. two americans had been shot. dylan bear and louise morales. he treated them both to stabilize them and their condition. ron threw his body on top of dylan to protect him from shrapnel. it was there on that cliff that ron realized, and i guess he felt pretty much like that was it, right, ron? but ron realized that this was probably the end. it might be all over. and as he recounts, i just said a prayer and asked that my wife and son would be okay with what was going to happen. then i just went back to work. one of his teammates, john walding, was trying to protect the injured when he was shot, almost severing his leg entirely. as ron was still rendering life-saving aid to dylan, he directed another soldier to help stem the bleeding. then a bullet cut through master sergeant scott ford's arm and struck ron's helmet. ron said it felt like he had been hit on the head with a baseball bat. but he got up and in pretty bad shape, bandaged scott's arm. soon, ron and his comrades used nylon webbing to lower the most critically injured down the sides of this really dangerous and very steep cliff. when he reached the base of the mountain, ron raced to each patient, giving them life-saving care. they were bleeding profusely. and preparing them to be evacuated by helicopter. but ron was not done yet. he charged back to the mountain, all the way up, and then rejoined the fight. for more than six hours, ron bravely faced down the enemy. not a single american died in that brutal battle, thanks in great measure to ron's heroic actions. many of the warriors who fought in shock valley are here today. when i read your name, will you please stand? staff sergeant dylan bear. [ applause ] stay up. stand uh, please. specialist mike carter. [ applause ] master sergeant scott ford. [ applause ] sergeant first class, seth howard. staff sergeant, louise morales. [ applause ] sergeant major, dan plants. [ applause ] lieutenant colonel kyle walton. [ applause ] sergeant first class, matt williams. [ applause ] sergeant first class, carl wurzbach. [ applause ] and two wonderful afghan translators, baruz mohamand and garuz gafori. [ applause ] thank you very much. we really appreciate it. he did a good job. did he do a good job? better say yes now or otherwise it's too late. we can always change our mind. he did a good job. thank you all for your noble service and for being here to celebrate ron's historic achievement. it truly is that. as many of you know, a year and a half ago, ron was diagnosed with cancer. tough cancer. rough cancer. but he's braved, battled, worked, he's done everything he can, that cancer. he's been fighting it every single day with courage and with strength and he's a wroarrior. he's a warrior. and just like he faced every single battle of his entire life, he's facing a very tough battle right now with cancer. but i will tell you, he's the best dad and role model two boys could ever ask for, right? do you agree with that? you better say yes. i already asked them that question. they needed no prodding. i said, is he a good father or a great father? they said, great father, right? that's good. the best father ever, wow. that's great. beautiful. beautiful boys. and ron, i just want to say, as an inspiration to everyone in this room and to every citizen all across our great land, ron, our hearts are filled with gratitude and joy as we prepare to engrave your name alongside of america's greatest heros. it is my honor and privilege, along with mike and all of these incredible warriors in front of me, to present you with the congressional medal of honor. i would like to ask the military aid to come forward and read the citation, please. thank you. >> the president of the united states of america authorized by act of congress, march 3rd, 1863, has awarded in the name of congress the medal of honor to staff sergeant ronald j. shurer, ii, united states army, for c conspicuous gallantry at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. staff sergeant ronald j. shurer distinguished himself by gallantry above and beyond the call of duty on april 6th, 2008, while serving as a senior medical sergeant, special forces operational detachment alpha 3336, special operations task force, 33, in support of operation enduring freedom. staff sergeant shurer was part of an assault element inserted by helicopter into a location in afghanistan. as the assault element moved up a near-vertical mountain towards its objective, it was engaged by fierce enemy machine gun, sniper, and rocket-propelled grenade fire. the lead portion of the assault element, which included the ground commander, sustained several casualties and became pinned down on the mountainside. staff sergeant shurer and the rest of the trailing portion of the assault element were like wooi likewise engaged by enemy machine gun, sniper, and rocket-propelled grenade fire. as the attack intensified, he braved enemy fire to move to an enemy soldier and treat his wounds. having stabilized the soldier, he then learned of the casual 'tis among the lead element. staff sergeant shurer fought his way up the mountainside to the lead element's location. upon reaching the lead element, he treated and stabilized two more soldiers, finishing those life-saving evee ing efforts wi noticed two additional severely wounded soldiers under intense enemy fire. the bullet that impacted one of these soldiers also impacted staff sergeant's shurer. he again moved through enemy fire to treat and stabilize one soldier's severely wounded arm. shortly thereafter, the continud to brave withering enemy fire to get to the other soldier's location in order to treat his lower leg, which had been almost completely severed by a high-caliber sniper round. after treating the soldier, staff sergeant shurer began to evacuate the wounded, carrying and lowering them down the sheer mountainside. while moving down the mountain, he used his own body to shield the wounded from enemy fire and debris caused by danger close air strikes. reaching the base of the mountain, staff sergeant shurer set up a casualty collection point and continued to treat the wounded, with the arrival of the evacuation medical helicopter, staff sergeant shurer again under enemy fire helped load the wounded into the helicopter. having ensured the safety of the wound, he then regained control of his commando squad and rejoined the fight. he continued to lead his troops and in place security elements until it was time to remove the evacuation landing zone for the helicopter. staff sergeant shurer's actions are in keeping with the finest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, combined joint special operations task force afghanistan, special operations command central, and the united states army. [ applause ] [ applause ] [ applause ] >> ladies and gentlemen, please remain in your seats until the president has departed the east room. >> lord, god, we're encouraged by this -- by the selfless acts of staff sergeant ronald shurer. send us out to work -- to the work at hand for each of us, with your grace, for the leadership, character, and sacrifice that will honor you and honor the needs of all of those before us. bless us, keep us, make your face shine on us and be gracious to us. may we all find both peace and contentment in the knowledge of your love and in the promise of your presence. in your most holy name, we pray. amen. >> so as we stay on these pictures, i want to bring in barbara starr, our pentagon correspondent. and barbara, we have watched so many of these ceremonies. and i never stop short of being so in awe and humbled by the stories and the service of these recipients. >> well, that's exactly right, brooke. but just think of what this staff sergeant now serving with the secret service is also going through. the president revealing that ronald shurer is battling cancer, married with two young children, having survived this five and a half-hour firefight in afghanistan, as a green beret, coming home, joining the secret service, and now battling cancer. what we heard about his service in afghanistan, just simply takes your breath away, because, of course, for so many troops who served over the years, so many doing similar things, but this one truly extraordinary. a 5 1/2-hour firefight across sheer mountain cliffs in afghanistan, running into the battle, firing back and forth, running back and forth, killing insurgents, trying to save his buddies. lowering the most severely wounded by nylon ropes, webbing, down a sheer cliff in afghanistan, even as he, himself, is wounded. an extraordinary moment here. and perhaps more than worth remembering, as so many are focused on partisan politics, the real battles, the troops out on the front lines, battling to stay alive and bring their buddies home. brooke? >> yes. thank you for that perspective. barbara starr, appreciate it. more now on our breaking news. after concerns the white house was interfering in the fbi's investigation into judge brett kavanaugh, we're now being told the fbi has gotten permission to speak with as many witnesses as they need in this investigation. also, some critics saying judge kavanaugh committed perjury when he testified on thursday, talking about his drinking habits, his recollection, his yearbook references. hear what his former classmates are saying about that. and the republican senator who sparked all of this, getting candid about what he was thinking and why he never warmed to president trump. hi i'm joan lunden. today's senior living communities have never been better, with amazing amenities like movie theaters, exercise rooms and swimming pools, public cafes, bars and bistros even pet care services. and there's never been an easier way to get great advice. a place for mom is a free service that pairs you with a local advisor to help you sort through your options and find a perfect place. a place for mom. you know your family we know senior living. together we'll make the right choice. there is a chance that's the last time. 300 miles per hour, that's where i feel normal. i might be crazy but i'm not stupid. having an annuity tells me retirement is protected. annuities can provide protected income for life. learn more at retireyourrisk.org annuities can provide protected income for life. should happen everydred five hundred years, right? fact is, there have been twenty-six in the last decade. allstate is adapting. with drones to assess home damage sooner. and if a flying object damages your car, you can snap a photo and get your claim processed in hours, not days. plus, allstate can pay your claim in minutes. now that you know the truth... are you in good hands? a number of former yale classmates of judge brett kavanaugh's are speaking out, disputing his testimony that he never drank excessively. judge kavanaugh testified last week that he's never blacked out, never passed out from drinking, and now those former classmates are saying he's not telling the truth. let's go to lauren fox, our cnn politics reporter. and tell me exactly what these classmates, former classmates are saying. >> well, that's right, brooke. we heard last night from chad luddington, who was a former classmate, a basketball player, someone who says he frequently socialized with brett kavanaugh. he says in a statement that he believes that judge kavanaugh was dishonest before the senate judiciary committee last week when he testified. he said that he believes that judge kavanaugh was not being honest about how much he drank in college and here's exactly what he said. he said, quote, when i watched brett deliver his testimony under oath to the senate judiciary committee on thursday, i cringed. for the fact is, at yale, and i can speak to no other times, brett was a frequent drinker and a heavy drinker. i know, becaus especially in our first two years of college, i often drank with him. now, brooke, his statement goes on to say that he was deeply troubled by kavanaugh's comments to the judiciary committee, that it was a gross mischaracterization of what he remembers about brett kavanaugh from that time. and he's not the only classmate that has had concerns. we've also heard from liz swisher and lynn brooks who say they remember kavanaugh being a heavy drinker. of course, we've also talked to other classmates who refute that, who say they knew kavanaugh well, they socialized him and knew him to be a good friend. i spoke to chris dudley last week, a good friend of kavanaugh who stayed in touch with him and he tells me he doesn't remember kavanaugh ever losing control or drinking excessively to the point where he wouldn't be able to remember something. he says he was just not that kind of guy. so a lot of mixed messages that we've heard here today, brooke. >> mm-hmm. lauren fox, thank you for that. meantime, more on this surreal presidential news conference from earlier today, where president trump raremarke on -- he even went there. he talked about judge cal kavanaugh's drinking habit. let's listen to the senate majority leader speaking now up on capitol hill, mitch mcconnell. >> on friday, the judiciary committee reported this nomination favorably, then here on the floor, we officially moved to take up the nomination. every republican member of the committee agreed that judge kavanaugh should be reported out with a favorable recommendation and every democrat voted in opposition. and in some cases, before he or anyone had even been nominated. and they didn't mince any words, mr. president. the way one democratic member of the judiciary committee put it, supporters of judge kavanaugh are, quote -- listen to this -- complicit in the evil. that's a democratic member of the judiciary committee. another democrat on the committee, before judge kavanaugh was even named, described in almost apocalyptic terms the consequences of whomever the president might nominat nominate. here was the quote. we're looking at the destruction of the constitution of the united states, as far as i can tell. and here was the democratic leader, just hours after judge kavanaugh was nominated, i will oppose him with everything i've got. well, they've certainly done just that. they've done just that. the ranking democrat on the committee first heard from dr. ford on july the 30th. did our colleague alert the chairman so the committee could do due diligence in a confidential way? consistent with dr. ford's wishes? no, she did not. did she discreetly raise the issue with judge kavanaugh during her private meeting with him on august the 20th? she didn't do that either. as best we can tell, the democrats chose to keep this allegation secret, rather than investigating in a bipartisan and timely way. in fact, mr. president, they held it in reserve. but meanwhile, the senior senator from california or her office were already in communication with dr. ford. in fact, her office had already recommended, recommended dr. ford retain a particular washington, d.c. law firm. now, mr. president, the firm in question is not exactly foreign to democratic politics. two, two of its founding partners, including one of the attorneys who personally appeared at the hearing to represent dr. ford, had until recently been scheduled to hold a fund-raiser for one of our senate democratic colleagues tonight! tonight. oh, and by the way, the firm had also represented in another matter the person who has made the most salacious and disgusting accusations against judge kavanaugh as a high school student. this is the firm the judiciary committee democrats recommended to dr. ford. not long thereafter, dr. ford's letter to the senior democratic senator from california wound up in the hands of the press. the same letter in which she asked for confidentiality was leaked. by whom? as best i can tell, no one had possession of this letter except for dr. ford's democratic congresswoman, the democratic side of the judiciary committee, and presumably the politically connected lawyers they recommended to dr. ford. and somehow, somehow it ended up in the press? dr. ford's plea for privacy was brushed aside, a predictable media circus was launched. of course, the questionable and concerning handling of this matter didn't stop there. in her testimony, dr. ford seemed surprised that chairman grassley had offered her legal team a number of more secrete and less burdensome ways to share her story if she preferred. the chairman had offered to fly investigators out to florida, to california, or anywhere else for a private interview at a time and a place of dr. ford's choosing. apparently, mr. president, neither of our democratic colleagues nor the lawyers they recommended felt it was necessary to make these options clear to dr. ford. she told the committee, quote, i wasn't clear on what the offer was. i would have been happy to speak with you out there, referring to california. it wasn't clear to me that was the case. so, mr. president, let's take stock of all of this. the ranking member withheld serious allegations from committee colleagues, precluding any chance that they would be handled with sensitivity and discretion. meanwhile, her staff made recommendations that the accuser retain specific politically connected counsel. then, her confidential account reached the media faster than it reached either the chairman of the committee or the fbi, which our colleagues have been insisting must now look into it. and finally, we have reason to believe that dr. ford was not even apprised of the chairman's offers to collect her testimony in ways that might have been less likely to create a media circus and less burdensome on her. it's almost as if dr. ford didn't want a washington, d.c.-based media circus, but others with whom she was in contact, on whom she was relying want exactly that. so we've learned that if you confide in senate democrats on highly sensitive personal matters, no requests for confidentiality will keep you from becoming a household name. and if you're a nominee whose judicial philosophy senate democrats deem to be objectionable, no centuries-old standard of presumed innocent will protect your name, your family, or your reputation from irreparable damage. now, fortunately, chairman grassley has taken action to clean up this mess. last thursday, he supervised a professional and respectful hearing. he retained an experienced sex crimes prosecutor to methodically collect the detail s of dr. ford's recollections. this is a professional who was recognized as outstanding arizona sexual assault prosecutor of the year by former democratic governor, janet napolitano, a former cabinet secretary of president obama, and herself a member of the anita hill legal team back in 1991. here's what she wrote in her memo to members following the hearing. a he said/she said case is incredibly difficult to prove. but this case is even weaker than that. dr. ford identified other witnesses to the event and those witnesses either refuted her allegation or fail to corroborate them. i do not think that a reasonable prosecutor would bring this case based on the evidence before the committee, nor do i think this evidence is sufficient to satisfy the preponderance of evidence standard that is a lower standard. so will our democratic colleagues listen to this expert opinion, although it conflicts with their political mission? don't hold your breath. nor am i optimistic they will stay consistent and accept the conclusions of the supplemental background investigation the fbi is now conducting on top of its six prior investigations of judge kavanaugh. democrats demanded a supplemental investigation. they proclaimed it would be a game changer. the democratic leadership and the ranking democrat on the committee both said recently that an fbi investigation can be completed in less than a week. but mr. president, i bet almost anything that after it runs its course in the next few days, we will then be treated to a lecture, a lecture. that anything short of a totally unbounded fishing expedition of indefinite duration is too limited or too arbitrary or somehow insufficient. we all know that's coming. if you listen carefully, mr. president, you can practically hear the sounds of the democrats moving the goal posts. remember, back in the summer, democrats said there weren't enough documents to get a impede sense of judge calve nakavanaug career. then we heard there were too many documents. then once dr. ford's private allegation was mysteriously made public, we couldn't possibly move forward until we heard from them both. then after neither the hearing nor the statements of supposed witnesses yielded any corroborating evidence, and in fact, produced evidence that supported judge kavanaugh, we were told only an fbi investigation would resolve this and that it could be done promptly. so let me go out on a limb, mr. president. let me make a small prediction. soon enough, the goal posts will be on the move once again. and i would respectfully say to my colleagues, do these actions suggest this has ever been about finding the truth? anybody believe that? do these actions suggest that this has ever been about giving judge kavanaugh a fair hearing? this institution has seen before episodes somewhat like what we're now seeing from some of our colleagues across the aisle. factor in the mccarthy era. back in 1950, character assassination and uncorroborated allegations were being utilized in a very different debate in that era. that's when margaret chase sm h smith, an icon, went to the senate floor to say enough was enough. she gave a speech that guaranteed she would be in the history of the senate. she titled it "declaration of conscience." she said, i do not like the way the senate has been made to rendezvous for selfish political gain at the sacrifice of individual reputations. and national unity. margaret chase smith went on. whether it be a criminal prosecution in court or a character prosecution in the senate, there is little practical distinction when the life of a person has been ruined. we should listen to these words. they speak as loudly today as they did 68 years ago. in my judgment, the pattern of behavior we have seen confirms what democrats' own public statements have told us. they are committed to delaying, obstructing and resisting this nomination with everything they've got. they just want to delay this matter past the election. that's not my supposition, mr. president. that's their plan. according to another democratic member of the judiciary committee, the junior senator from hawaii, that's their plan. >> all right. senate majority leader, mitch mcconnell here, surprise, surprise, an incredibly serious matter taking a turn to politics. let's go to our senior congressional correspondent, manu raju. manu, what do you think? >> yeah, this is senator mcconnell making it very clear that he plans to push forward on a vote on brett kavanaugh this week, criticizing democratic tactics, criticizing going after christine blasey ford's attorneys, calling them politically connected attorneys and trying to make the case all democratic tactics to delay this nomination vote. now, one thing that's clear, though, there are at least three members of his republican conference who are pushing for an investigation, which is why they moved forward with that investigation last week. mcconnell himself in a private meeting was not happy with that. he told his republican senators he did not know which way this would go. but ultimately, he had to agree to it. now, this comes, brooke, at the same time as those same three republican senators are calling for this investigation, including jeff flake, the arizona republican who really prompted this, and made very clear earlier today that he did not want an investigation that would essentially be a cover. he wanted a real investigation. >> yeah, we certainly want the fbi to do a real investigation, and we are working to make sure that that happens. i've had discussions, many yesterday, with my colleagues, with the white house counsel's office, my staff is following up, as well. i had one of those conversations just five minutes ago to make sure that the -- that any current credible allegation that has been made is fully investigated. >> of course, what exactly is a real investigation? that is the ultimate question here. democrats are calling for at least two dozen or so witnesses to be interviewed. we don't have a sense of how many interviews the fbi will ultimately conduct, and can they get that done before this friday deadline, which mcconnell is demanding. all huge questions looming as the senate gets back this week, brooke. >> manu, thank you very much, on capitol hill. coming up, did president trump help or hurt his supreme court nominee, speaking about how much judge brett kavanaugh did drink in his youth. trump saying kavanaugh has, quote, had a little bit of difficulty. back in a moment. if you were to ask a lot of people two weeks ago, judge brett kavanaugh's nomination to pecunia become the next justice seemed a sure thing, but allegations of sexual misconduct over 30 years ago. last week we saw dramatic testimony from one of his accusers, christine blasey ford and we listened to judge kavanaugh himself. and as we have seen so much in the past year, the me too movement powered by the personal stories of abuse survivors is impacting women at the highest levels, and i explored that with me too founder, tarana burke. here's our conversation. joining me now is the founder of the me too movement, tarana burke, who sat behind christine blasey ford during her testimony on thursday. nice to have you on. an honor. >> thank you for having me. >> so as you've been sitting and thinking from thursday to today, tarana, what was your biggest take-away? your one biggest take-away from sitting in that hearing room? >> we still have a long way to go. i left there feeling like we still have a long way to go before this country, particularly our leadership, understands the life cycle of -- a survivor of sexual violence. and before we take this issue seriously and give it the proper attention that it deserves. >> i want to come back to you on that point in just a second. but just to refresh everyone, let me go back to a couple of moments from the testimony, from the hearing, homing in on judge kavanaugh in particular. roll it. >> you're saying there's never been a case where you drank so much that you didn't remember what happened the night before or part of what happened? >> that's -- you're asking about, yeah, blackout. i don't know. have you? >> could you answer the question, judge? i just -- so you -- that's not happened. is that your answer? >> yeah, and i'm curious if you have. >> i have no drinking problem, judge. >> nor do i. >> you know, tarana, i keep thinking, had that been a woman, with will it was dr. ford or some other female sitting in the hot seat, the way he spoke to senator kavanaugh and others, how do you think she -- how do you think she would have been labeled instead? >> oh, my god. if a woman had behaved the way that judge kavanaugh basehaved that room, we would have been excoriated. she would have been called hysterical, overly emotional, unfit to serve on the bench. i can't imagine judge kavanaugh allowing anybody to act in his own courtroom the way he acted in that senate hearing room. it was ridiculous. that moment that you just played was so deeply disrespectful, it -- in particular because the senator had just talked about her father being an alcoholic, still at 90 years old, going to aa. and then he turns around and asks, have you ever been blackout drunk? i mean, it was just really deeply disrespectful. >> cue your point about we have a long way to go, right? so as a result of professor ford's testimony, specifically, we learned that calls into the national sexual assault hotline, they were up more than 200%. you've seen all those calls that went in to c-span, as well. i know that her testimony and talking to so many women, her testimony opened deep, painful wounds for women and men. i'm wondering if there is a silver lining, and that is the fact we are talking about it out loud. what do you think is the next step in moving this conversation about sexual assault forward? >> i do think -- so we've been talking about it out loud for over a year. but i do think that the silver lining, if you will, is that we are now more focused on survivors. and what i call sort of the life cycle of a survivor. all the questions about how long it takes for people to come forward and why people wait, and, you know, the way your body or your mind responds to sexual violence and trauma, those are really important conversations that we should have been having all year. but i'm glad we're having now. because i think it helps people to understand. but it's also still deeply gendered, right? you don't see all of the accusations that we have seen over the years about men who have come forward after being sexually assaulted by priests. there's very little pushback to them saying, well, are they lying, and why did they wait so long? maybe they're mistaken. nobody says that to men. we get that very -- very little do we hear that said to men. but we hear it all of the time when women come forward. so still a very gendered conversation about how we treat and think about how we see women, how we believe women, how we hear women when they come forward. their stories of our pain. >> on the news at hand, on the supreme court here, right, despite such a public outcry from half the country, right, the other half would be thrilled to have judge kavanaugh seated. there is a real chance that he becomes the next justice of the u.s. supreme court. what do you say to that? >> i say that, you know, we've been talking about this, obviously, for weeks. the possibility of losing. the possibility that kavanaugh will be confirmed and we'll have him as a supreme court justice, who was already problematic before dr. blasey ford. >> tarana burke, thank you. "the lead" starts now. president trump says judge kavanaugh is the one who has been through trauma. "the lead" starts right now. president trump today defending his supreme court pick by saying that what kavanaugh has never said, that he did have difficulty as a young man when it came to drinking. as the republican-hired prosecutor says professor blasey ford's case is weak. the investigation is not limited. that's the message from the white house to the fbi following phone calls from some republican senators. so who might they talk to? plus, new today. democrats have a list of everyone they want to hear fro

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