Currents. The midterms. Youve got the midterms. Im not so sure this is all breaking in the direction that democrats and democratic active theists. Also, rodney good job. Good tease. You kept it short. Hes going to the make a speech. Oh, no. Were you in congress . It was the spring of 199 7. No, but that was good. It was good. Stop and then you move on. Bbcs caddy kay. This is international know your value day. Your book is being released. It is. This morning in australia already they have thank you, willie. They have gone in sydney to the opera house and stacked a pile up and started burning them. What . I mean burning torches and cheering for you. Can i take over and read the news. . But thank you, it is you have your outfit. Ive got my uniform. Im steve jobs. Im going to wear this every day on my book tour. Looks great. And his bank account. Do you remember when i wore my same sweater for three years . Even in the summer. Yeah, the first fthe food fr thanksgivings ago. Oh, thank you. Rod rosenstein was carrying that over in his arms at the white house the other day. I actually could use it right now because yeah. Im not resigning. Thank you. Byebye. Lets get to the Supreme Court nomination battle. But first, i will tease rosenstein because alex just told me to. Is it resignation or firing of the plan overseeing tman overse probe . As noah rothman says, this has been a test of the constitutional crisis system. Rod rosenstein going to see the president is it tomorrow . Thursday. How about the timing. The world possibly falls apart on thursday had or it doesnt. So far, its going Rod Rosenstein could get his job, Brett Kavanaugh could get his job, all on thursday. Brett kavanaugh is defending himself from Sexual Misconduct from when he was in high school or clemg. In a letter, kavanaugh writes, quote, there is now a frenzy to come up with something, anything, that will block this process and a vote on my confirmation from occurring. Adding, i will not be intimidated into withdrawing from this process. The coordinated effort to demy good name will not drive me out. The vial threats of violence against my family will not drive me out. And kavanaugh spoke for the first time publicly about the allegations, denying he ever engaged in any misconduct. I was never at any such party. The other people who are alleged to be present have said they do not remember any such party. A woman who was present, another woman who was present who is dr. Fords lifelong friend has said she doesnt know me and never remembers being at a party with me at any time in her life. I did not have sexual intercourse or anything close to sexual intercourse in high school or for many years thereafter and the girls from the schools i went to and i were friends. So youre saying through all these years that are in question, you were a virgin . Thats correct. Never had sexual intercourse with anyone in high school . Correct. And through what years in College Since were probing into many years after, ill leave it at that. Many years after. Do you believe there should be an fbi investigation into these allegations and that a pause should happen and sort it all out. If theres anything to worry about. Ill said all along and ashley, too, i want to be heard. I was first interviewed last monday, the day after the alleged appeared by the Committee Staff under penalty of felony and i denied this categorically and unequivocally. I said twice on that, i said i want a hearing tomorrow, last tuesday, a week ago. First of all, that last scene which a lot of people have described as her being custody off and them. She clearly was uncomfortable answering that question. Its something that we do for each other in different settings. There are sometimes that if i dont want to answer something, youll jump in. So she gave that look. That certainly seemed to be inbounds. Also, very interesting. A lot of people last night on twitter and some on television were knocking the fact that he remained a version until he was married. Obviously, central tenant of conservative catholicism, sort of the conservative evangelical world and of other religions. I think it was a fascinating interview. And i think the only thing that we can do at this point, the if were really doing our jobs, is say this is what he said. And it needs to be considered and these two woman who have come out with their stories and everything they have said needs to be considered xshl given how difficult it would be for any woman to do that. And i think everybody should want the best possible truth put out. That means we also have to let when it matters, when it counts, men speak, as well. I do agree. And i think its unfortunate Brett Kavanaugh has called this part of a Smear Campaign because that by default is passing judgment on what these women are saying. But i think that is why we have to have some kind of an investigation that probably is not what were going to get on thursday, which is the Senate Hearing. And every fbi official that i have spokenen to has said to me, look, we do do this. There are things we could do. We know this drill. Even if it dates back 30 years, we may want come to something dispositive. But people do Say Something different to journalists than they do to an fbi investigation. There are ways the fbi can ask questions and dig into information that journalists dont necessarily have. Something that could be taken you out of this hido moment and made neutral is not like speaking to fbi. And what did you think, willie . Well, i think it was extraordinary on many fronts, number one, that he did the Supreme Court interview. Number two, we have a Supreme Court justice discussing when he lost his virginity on national tv. But i think there are so many people behaving so badly right now, theres so much willful dishonesty, there are so many people that made up their minds and there are people on the right who are saying shes a liar, shes making this up. You have no idea. We dont know the facts. There are people on the other side saying hes a liar, hes making up his side of the story, you have no idea, you dont have all the facts. And thats why ive said what martha asked to judge kavanaugh there is a central question. If youre judge kavanaugh, wouldnt you want an independent body in the fbi to take a look at this, to clear this. Because if they go through a Senate Hearing and it becomes a circus, they push it through, he passes, hes seated on the Supreme Court, there will be an asterisk next to his name as long as hes there. And why wouldnt they want an fbi investigation . Especially after this second story came out yesterday. Alex, do we have those clips, those quotes from the New York Times and yeah, prep the new yorker one here. So this was in the new yorker. Republicans seized on this language. In our initial conversations with the new yorker, she was reluctant to characterize kavanaughs role in the alleged incident with certainty. Do you have the rest of it . The New York Times now is coming. Here. And then in the New York Times, the times interviewed several dozen people over the past week in an attempt to corroborate ramirezs story, could find no one with firsthand knowledge and they said she called people around trying to get a corroborating witness and while speaking with them said that she wasnt even sure if it was kavanaugh who had committed this deeply offensive act upon her. So republicans are saying, wait a second, nobody is a corroborating witness at either of these had events. There are many saying yesterday that actually the second story ended up, in a way, undermining the first story. And i heard that not only from republicans. I heard that from journalists and i heard that from a lot of people who were former republicans who dont want kavanaugh to pass who just think that too many questions the more questions that are out there, the more inconsistencies that the are out there, the more ambiguities out there, the more it helps the republican cause. Here is charlie last night on hardball. I do think that this second allegation has undermined the first one. This is the moment where you want solid, credible information that lines up. Thats why it is a huge mistake for republicans not to open the fbi investigation. If they are concerned about these false allegations, make people tell them to the fbi. And, charlie makes the point there. The second allegations did, and certainly on capitol hill, a lot of democrats and republicans undermine the first story. Not that people are questioning the legitimate of her story. But number two, if youre a republican and if youre Brett Kavanaugh, why wouldnt you want the fbi investigating these two stories that you say are the work of a fabulous . Correct. And its all part of this huge story that i sent is rumbling through the country with people feeling awkward, watching the confirmation process of a potential Supreme Court justice, being asked if he had sex in high school. Is the country exhausted by this . Because it goes on and on and on. Its part of the trump presidency. Donald trump has achieved his wildest dreams. He is literally the star of a daily global show. He is the most talked about figure in the world. And this costar, Brett Kavanaugh, comes to us, comes to the country. He seems like a decent man. He is accused of what he is accused of. The allegations have been level. Now we spiral into a second debate. Do you believe the woman . Do you didsbelieve the woman . What has happened here is proof why women do not come forward. And nobodys. Hands are clean. The democrats hands are not clean. If youre talking about why women dont come forward, well, this is the second time in a quarter century that a woman has gone to the Senate Judiciary committee and spoken with democrats and say i have information about the nominee. Please dont reveal my name. And they leaked it when it became time for kavanaugh to cruise through the nomination. And there is one other aspect and it is common sense. No matter whether youre in the left or youre in the right or whether you live in the middle politically. Despite the damage thats been done by the fbi to trump, people have to wonder what would be wrong with taking an extra few days to have the fbi answer some of these questions that have been raised. Taking it seriously involves looking into it. Chuck grassley and others will be viewed as partisans on this. Someone else has to look at this. So whatever the fbi finds out, that outcome can be respected. Because right now, all we have are accusations. We have people who are alleged to have been in the room or at that party back 36 years ago who have come forward and said they dont recall that. So its dr. Ford standing on her own. Let someone else look into it so we can move one way or the other. If you read the story, there were no corroborating witnesses. While there were questions about her memory and whether it was a faulty memory, whether she could identify kavanaugh. At the end of the day, she did. She should be heard, as well. Thats what Susan Collins thinks. While we want and we fight every day for women to have their is voices and to understand that our experiences and stories will be not only understood, believed, valued, but also in a case like this, isnt it important that a woman has her voice but also has to have her questions. If she wants things to bearing out in the law or for Something Like a Supreme Court nomination to be considered, if you feel its your moral duty to understand your story and the process, isnt it important to expect questions, not to be smeared, isnt it important to understand the process theyre stepping into . And it might be slightly tough. Youre telling a difficult story about what happened to you and people are going to question the validity of that story. Is that to be expected or are we to be believed whole hog . No. We shouldnt be believed. And i think women are tougher than that. I do think we can take questioning and we should be able to take questioning. Its not our fault if something happened to us. No. These are serious action ecusat for somebody going for an incredibly important job in the country and it is porchbt that they should be able to with stand questioning. I think its important that the questions be asking by something prepared for the process. But ford doesnt want that. But ford has said that she doesnt she would like the senate okay. She has evolved a little bit and she has got into the midst of the politics for this. But i also think for the longterm if women are going to be believed, weve got from 91 where we werent believed to now we are believed, but we need to get away from this narrative that women come up with stories that are rape. Something like 2 to 10 of rape claims are false. But if we can get away from the narrative, that story line, oh, well, they make it up, will start to recede. So we need to be able to take those questions. And republicans cant only be for due whose when its politically expedient for republicans. And democrats cant cry about Donald Trumps breach of constitutional norms and cant cry about the lack of due process and then, when its politically expedient for them, suddenly throw due process out the window. Its so amazing that republicans and democrats in these political events, they only believe in due process, it seems, when it fits them. United states senators, democrats saying yesterday flat out there is no due process in this. Hes guilty. I am shocked by some of the things i heard from United States senators yesterday on both sides. And Lindsey Graham saying there is nothing she could say that would change my mind. Well, Lindsey Graham saying theres nothing she could say to change my mind. Mitch mcconnell saying were going to steamroll over there no matter what and kiers tin Kiersten Gillibrand saying hes guilty. Theres no poirnt in due proces. Why are they even going to vote . Put your vote in now. If youve predetermined how this is going to turn out, maybe you were the ones in the dorm room. Maybe the new yorker should have called you he three because you were there. Oh, wait, no, you werent. Due process. Listen to dr. Ford and perhaps ms. Ramirez and Brett Kavanaugh. And i just want to say that same message applies to the media. Right here, this threehour block of time is a smear free zone. There will be no convicting of either person on either side on this show. And honestly, if theres smearing of dr. Ford or miss ramirez or Brett Kavanaugh on this show, you will be kicked off this set because were not doing that. Its just facts. And ive done it before. Weve been harshly critical of fox news for being its both sides. Its everywhere. Its mainstream. What weve seen the last week has made me want to Call Networks and put a d in front of the name of the socalled journalists that have decided that Brett Kavanaugh is a rapist. Or what was the serial sexual abuser. Oh, really . Do you know that . Really . Its frustrating. John mccain would be ashamed. John mccain is barely cold in the ground and Lindsey Graham is saying, you know, if he could have only gotten to know donald trump better, he would have liked him. No, yhe knew donald trump and h hated him for good reason. This has not been the medias finest hour in terms of the coverage of this. But United States senators, if this were a jury and in a sense it is a jury because at least half the senate would be recused from jury duty. I mean, the prosecution would say, no, Lindsey Graham, he cant be on this jury. He cant vote up or down because hes already hes already indicated, you know kirsten gillibrand, the same. Coming up, the only thing we can do is be fair. That other huge story by the way, can i just say for the record, john mccain hated me, too. But no, sort of in a nice way like my dad did. All right. Coming up, the other huge story enveloping the national conversation, the fate of Rod Rosenstein and the russia probe. As dan balls describes it in the washington post, the circuits of politics is overloaded. We have it all straight ahead. But first, bill karins with a check on the forecast. Deluge is a good word for new york city this morning. So this little storm off the coast, this is still were in the peak season of hurricanes. And now this area could clip the outer banks here, but were not worried about it hitting the same areas that florence did. So this area off the coast, were giving it a 50 chance of become a becoming a tropical depression. But its going to head to the north and out to sea. Chicago, the ohio valley, 43 Million People at risk for Severe Weather. This will be mostly a wind damage threat, isolated tornados. Tomorrow, that Severe Weather threat goes to the northeast. We have airport problems today because of the rain in the northeast. Then we get a break this afternoon. Tomorrow morning is fine, but if you have airport plans, d. C. , philly, new york or boston, tomorrow, thats when were going to have some issues with the strong thunderstorms moving through. Just fine for texas. All of our friends in the Intermountain West are had looking just fine. In the northeast, its a rainy morning especially new york and northward. Youre watching morning joe. When you rent from national. Its kind of like playing your own version of best ball. Because here, you can choose any car in the aisle, even if its a better car class than the one you reserved. So no matter what, youre guaranteed to have a perfect drive. [laughter] vo go national. Go like a pro. See what i did th