his allies say is not tenable. do you see how jeff sessions is responding to that now? we'll show you. >> after the people of carolina are fighting to get back on their feet after a monster storm, so are the people of puerto rico one year later. father of hamilton creator and star lin manuel miranda. both have been helping in that effort. we'll start with our panel with their latest reporting. i want to start where we are right now in this supreme stalemate. tomorrow at this time is the deadline that senator chuck grassley set for christine blasey-ford as to whether she'll testify. her attorneys fighting back, saying that multiple witnesses should be at the hearing. rushing is contrary to the truth, they argue. the unredacted letter she received from dr. ford and all of this is going down as we are watching protests on capitol hill. you can see this live. demonstrators sharing their stories of sexual assault, demanding that senator chuck grassley take notice. lots of developments on the hill. let's start with nbc's kasie hunt, who is there. we are now, what, 23 hours, 58 minutes until the deadline set by chuck grassley. what are you hearing? >> hallie, as you point off -- point out, a simple question of what is dr. ford going to do? will she or won't she appear here on capitol hill? now i think it's important to underscore for people that dr. ford has not, in either her letters from her lawyers or statements that they've made -- >> right. >> ruled out testifying on monday. instead what you're seeing is them pointing out things that would make this a more favorable situation for her and arguing in favor of them. this idea that there should be more witnesses is what we're talking about today. yesterday, we were focused on the investigative piece, whether the fbi should be reopening that background check investigation. so, again, i think there is still a sense that this is a real possibility, that she will show up on monday. now, for republicans, this deadline of monday is basically artificial. they picked it originally because of some procedural rules. it's become a political line in the sand. and you are starting to hear republicans essentially say, hey, we reached out to you, dr. ford, in good faith. if we don't hear from you on monday, then we're simply going to have to proceed. here is senator david purdue a little bit earlier today. >> chairman grassley has done a great job in this process. we've allowed, provided over 500,000 pages of discovery. there have been six fbi investigations of this man and it's time. if this information is there, we want that information before the committee and before the senate. if the information is not provided after the time we've spent on this, it's time to move forward and get the votes in next week. >> but i will say, hallie, there is trepidation among republicans. while the fbi might not be investigating, there are certainly others who are looking into these allegations, looking into judge kavanaugh's past. if republicans were to push forward with this and new information were to come to light, that would be a pretty difficult situation for them. hallie? >> kasie hunt, i know yew stale on t -- you'll stay on top of it. kelly o'donnell is at white house. we know judge kavanaugh just came back, right? what do we know? >> reporter: back at the white house complex today, hallie. behind the scenes work includes preparation for a potential hearing and also, as you point out, trying to calm the waters. this is a highly volatile situation politically. after judge kavanaugh thought the worst was behind him in terms of the high-stakes hot seat that is a washington confirmation hearing. unclear what the path will be, so preparation is part of what's happening now. i'm also told that just as we have seen that this political climate we're in has sort of rained down on dr. ford, i'm also told that there have been harassing calls and e-mails directed at kavanaugh and his family. so, that is just a picture of the tribal, hostile politics of the moment that surround something that includes a permanent appointment, a lifetime appointment to the supreme court. behind the scenes the work continues to try to ease the concerns of republicans when the vote count is so narrow and, for the white house, we've seen the president saying he can't imagine this happening but also if the woman presented a credible story then he would have to, quote, make a decision. that opened the crack of a door to an alternative to kavanaugh if things really tumbled out of control, away from the way the white house wants to see this play out. hallie? >> nbc' kelly o'donnell. we'll see you at the white house in a minute. let me bring in msnbc political analyst, moderator of washington week on pbs and alumni of bucks county high school in pennsylvania. senior political reporter from the washington post. bob, you've been reporting on what's going down on republican circles at the white house. what is your reporting telling you of what could happen next? >> full steam ahead for republicans in the white house and on capitol hill, hallie. the senators hold firm that dr. ford should appear on monday. there's still a lot of time politically between now and monday. republicans are uneasy about how that hearing could go and what could happen in that period. >> let me play a little bit. one of the questions, bob, and shawna and aarerin, the questios will other people be testifying on monday? right now the answer is no but that's what dr. ford wants to see. in preparation for the potential for this hearing. it makes us think -- here is what senator kennedy said to him as kafb gnaw was asked about his younger days, something that will certainly come up if there is, in fact, something that comes down monday. watch? >> what was it like for you? what were you like? did you ever get in trouble? were you more of a john boy walton type or a ferris buelle type? these ladies old enough to understand. >> and referring to his daughters there. high school days will be less friendly than what you saw from kennedy. kavanaugh, by the way, laughed off that question. >> that's true. you have people under scrutiny. of course, judge kv gnaw and his conduct during his high school days will be asked about. who is also under scrutiny? republican senators, facing a midterm election in a few wees.s senator jeff flake told me yesterday, hallie, republicans are worried about a repeat of what happened in 1991 with anita hill during clarence thomas' confirmation hearings, a heated moment that led to the 1992 year of the woman. >> we are, one year, as "time" magazine points out after those me too stories started to break. that is the moment in time in which this hearing may or may not happen. >> that's right. and the republicans appear to have the votes to move forward with this. jeff flake and bob corker are the first to say let's wait and let's this woman be heard, withholding their votes, now say they would vote to move forward if she didn't testify on friday and susan collins really talking like the rest of her republican colleagues did about this whole process, suggesting she's also ready to move forward. but this does not end on monday. this does not end when kavanaugh is confirmed. republican senators are dealing with the prospect that they could be voting for somebody who more information could come out eventually, like clarence thomas, that could cast this vote in a bad light in the future. i theveng there is a real desire to rush this because of politics and upcoming midterm election. >> and, by the way, the upcoming court term. supreme court term starts in october. there's a cultural piece to this, shawna. >> exactly and one thing in comparing this situation to anita hill and clarence thomas, because of the me too movement, we talk about '92 being the year of the woman, there are so many more women running for office, there will be so many more women in the house and senate after this next midterm election that it is hard to believe that without the me too movement they would even be taking this seriously, to a certain extent. that is part of the reason you do see republicans and democrats, to a certain extent, walking this line. not to insult dr. ford, not to try to cast her in a bad light but really focusing in on the process. and i think that says something about how far we've actually come. >> there's a question of tone from some of these republicans, lindsey graham saying let's hear from this lady or move on and then dean heller saying we've got a little hiccup here with the kavanaugh confirmation? so we've got a little further to go apparently in terms of how we deal with this. i do think especially when you talk about the susan collins and the murko witwskis of the world that women really understand when something like that happens to you -- i'm not saying it did happen to dr. ford. it is an alleged thing. but it is hard to tubing tauk about and come forward. >> a friend of dr. ford's was on this network overnight. watch. >> to suggest that someone who has been sexually assaulted isn't remembering this correctly is -- just makes my head explode. i think it makes a lot of women feel that way. sexual trauma is real and deep and lifelong. it's something that chris, chrissy has spent her life trying to forget. this isn't a mistake of identity or experience. >> and, bob, that speaks to what i think would be the tone and tenor in the room on monday. two people, one who is accused of sexually assaulting this young woman when they were teenagers. the other, who as samantha guerry points out, spent her life literally trying to forget something that she now says she wants to share more about. there is somebody else who was allegedly in the room who might be able to talk about it and that was mark judge. you want dr. ford's lawyers to have more people testify on monday. what are the chances mark judge will come forward? we're showing his book he wrote called "wasted," about his life of a teenage alcohol, he shares stories of being drunk in this d.c. prep school society that is it's own kind of culture here. judge references in the book a guy named bart o'kavanaugh in one incident. we don't know if he's talking about brett kavanaugh but does reference kids in high school behaving badly, bob. is he going to show monday? he already says he doesn't want to. >> he says he doesn't want to but senate republicans have subpoena power and could compel him to testify. chairman grassley of the judicial committee says he will not call anyone except dr. ford and judge kavanaugh. just two witnesses. until republicans change their tune on the witness point, on the fbi investigation point, it looks like this nomination continues to inch forward, probably toward a vote next week. >> bob, we'll see you tomorrow night on washington week. thank you. i'll ask shawna and aaron to stay where you are. it's a game of is your viefbl, how one official is characterizing the white house, as the president ramps up his attacks on the attorney general. it seems to have reached a fever pitch and what sessions is now saying about morale that may surprise you. about morale thaty surprise you we have breaking news out of aberdeen, maryland. pete williams, what do you know? >> not much. reports of a workplace shooting in aberdeen. we know that the county sheriff is on the scene. we know that atf and fbi are both responding and we heard that there have been a number of victims, but we don't know the number. and we don't know the extent of the injuries. we don't know whether these are shooting victims, whether anyone has died as a result of this. we also don't know whether the person who is apparently responsible for this shooting is now in custody or is still at large. it's very early on. the police and the county sheriff and the feds are just now getting there. very sketchy information at this point but sadly it does appear another workplace shooting in ameri america. this one in maryland, hallie. >> pete, i know you'll stay on top of it and bring us any updates. thank you. one-sided barrage aimed at the department of justice. washington post are reporting these new attacks are as a result of a president feeling angry and unprotected as multiple crises swirl around the west wing. one white house official on the post, it is a complete disgrace the way trump is acting like a schoolyard bully against sessions. let's do it by the numbers. by our count at msnbc, the president has attacked sessions on twitter 27 times. sessions, for his part, hasn't said too, too much in response. only last month did he fire back after the president attacked sessions' manhood in august. the last 24 hours, kind of a different story. lots of praise for the commander in chief. watch. >> under his strong leadership, we are respecting police again and we are enforcing our laws. >> he then goes on to say morale has never been better. joining me now, joyce vance, former u.s. attorney and professor at the school of law. who would take this attorney general job if it probably opened up, at the snap of a finger. >> isn't the situation getting untenable? >> if he did, it would create a political and legal firestorm that he wouldn't be able to endure. i think he's stuck until bob mueller is done, i think the president is stuck with jeff sessions and jeff sessions obviously wants to continue to be attorney general. when you have those two things going on, this is what you see. >> is that you make of the owner general's reaction of the president's continual attacks to go and praise the president? is this just jeff sessions trying to hold on to his job? >> it looks that way. it's hard to see how the president could get someone new confirmed. even after the election, because sessions still has friends up on capitol hill. sessions, by the same token, seems very happy as attorney general. he is implementing his agenda, which he refers to as the president's agenda, at breakneck speed, changing charging practices and sentencing practices in the department, obviously having a major impact on immigration policy. so, what so many doj watchers have noticed is sessions' failure to stand up strongly to the president when he denegrat es the justice department. >> on one hand you write it is a pitiful thing to watch but on the other it is deadly serious because the attorney general does not protect the president. can you explain what you mean by that? >> sure. the attorney general is not the president's personal lawyer. the attorney general does not sit in place to keep the president, for instance, out of criminal trouble. the attorney general's job is to represent the american people, to represent them in civil courts when the united states gets sued, to represent them in criminal courts by prosecuting cases. the attorney general has to maintain a strong measure of independence to ensure the integrity of the criminal justice system. that's the role that the attorney general plays. >> to joyce's point here, shawna, more than perhaps any agency, the department of justice has implemented the president's agenda, zero tolerance immigration policy, sanctuary city policyies, revere obama-era mandatory minimum sentences, roll that back along with enforcement guidance on marijuana laws, ended investigations of local police department and on opioids, target foreign traffickers. and he's doing the job and the president says i don't like a lot of it. i don't like any of it. why not? >> jeff sessions is probably the most successful cabinet member for this republican administration. and on top of the fact that he's doing things that the president has wanted him to do, talked about in the campaign, he's doing things that republicans in congress want him to do and he's friends with all those people. joyce made this point as well and everyone is making this point, that he is carrying out his job as any republican would in an administration. and he likes that power. that's number one. number two, how do you get someone else confirmed? how do you get someone else confirmed? do you have this country just not have an attorney general for multiple years? i just don't see how it would be possible right now. i think the senators on the hill have told president trump that. >> sometimes it does feel -- i'm being really honest with you guys -- a little deja vue'y. >> but he didn't fire him. >> he didn't fire him and still hasn't fired him. and went after policy. >> he ratchets it up every time a little bit almost to say to jeff sessions, do you want to keep putting up with this? by the way if i were jeff sessions, i would do exactly what he did there, keep my head down, say i'm on the same page as the president. that makes it much more difficult for these republican senators to say we'll confirm a new ag as long as he does a good job, according to them, and sounds like he's on the same kind of page as him. and that makes the president firing him that much more difficult. >> here is an example of the ratcheting up. watch. >> i'm disappointed in the attorney general for many reasons and you understand that. >> are you going to fire him? are you going to fire jeff sessions? >> we are looking at lots of different things. >> i put in an attorney general that never took control of the justice department, jeff sessions. never took control of the justice department. >> i am disappointed in the attorney general. he should not have recused himself, almost immediately after he took office. and if he was going to recuse himself, he should have told me prior to taking office. >> okay. so, joyce, can i ask you -- i know you're not a politico but can you take off your lawyer hat? politico has this reporting, both sides of alabama's politica spectrum predict that sessions will weather this storm and is considered a shoo-in if he runs when his old senate seat is on the ballot in 2020. put your finger on the pulse of the people. what do you think? >> absolutely. he will be in his home state monday, addressing a law enforcement gathering. whether that indicates his eyes are turning back toward home or not, we don't really know. but one thing that's certain is alabama voter also not turn their backs on jeff sessions. he is incredibly popular. >> joyce vance, love having you on. thank you. an 11th hour move aimed at swaying the midterms maybe. why the fbi may be eyeing a document dump that could change the playing field ahead of november. john brennan is here next. er john brennan is here next. begins to change which may cause trouble with recall. - learning from him is great... when i can keep up! - anncr: thankfully, prevagen helps your brain and improves memory. - dad's got all the answers. - anncr: prevagen is now the number-one-selling brain health supplement in drug stores nationwide. - she outsmarts me every single time. - checkmate! you wanna play again? 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ask your doctor if myrbetriq is right for you, and visit myrbetriq.com to learn more. i am a veteran. >> i am a veteran. >> and my me too moment was when i was serving the united states navy. >> my me too moment was when i was serving the united states navy. >> initially i was angry that it happened. >> initially i was angry that it happened. >> and i told a bunch of people who didn't care. >> and i told a bunch of people who didn't care. >> most of them were men. >> most of them were men. >> that is a look just in outside senator chuck grassley's office, just within the last couple of minutes on capitol hill, dozens of protesters gathering to share their me too stories. chuck grassley has given the woman accusing brett kavanaugh of sexual misconduct until tomorrow to say if she will testify on monday. we were told the protests would pick up, given this allegation against brett kavanaugh. it seems that's what we're seeing on the hill. >> reporter: we've seen a lot of protests on a lot of issues, people yelling and chanting. this one feels different. i think as you saw, the sound bite that you just played of these women who have come from all across the country, who are not simply, you know, chanting or saying that they are opposed to kavanaugh, but rather they have come to actually publicly -- several of them said it's for the first time -- stories that they've had that seem similar to what dr. christine blasey-ford has said that she has been through. and this sort of groundswell show of support, i think, is the kind of emotional moment that does potentially contribute to how this plays out overall. because as we talked about a little earlier in your show, we still don't know if dr. ford is going to testify. she hasn't ruled it out. and in this kind of back and forth where essentially it's turning into a battle of credibility, a question of who do you believe and why, this kind of moment can actually play a pretty significant role in that. so these protesters have a vigil planned for 1:00, press conference planned for 4:30 and we'll keep you posted on their movements throughout the day. >> kasie hunt on the hill, thank you. new reaction from former fbi director jim comey on the president's order to decass ila documents. part of the doc dump? all of comey's texts. >> i'm not a big texter. as far as e-mail i'm not worried about anything i said on e-mail. i have a separate issue, which is institutional. i hope that the justice department and fbi look at this closely. you don't want to do anything in disclosing information that would screw up pending investigations or send a message to future sources that we can't be trusted to protect you. >> okay. so there's that. but democrats don't seem to be as chill about the whole thing. some strategists on the left now worry that the president is teeing up an october surprise just weeks before election day. joining me now is nbc news and intelligence analyst and former director of the cia, john brennan. director brennan, thanks for being on. >> good morning. >> plenty to talk about as usual. what do you think about this october surprise doc dump? >> i have no idea if something like that will be planned or anticipated but i wouldn't be surprised if there are other efforts to undermine the mueller investigation as we've seen mr. trump and others try to do that repeatedly over the last year or so. do they have something planned? he might. i don't know. >> the president seems to think it will be exactly that. he says these documents will expose, quote, really bad things at the fbi. devin nunes said to politico you'll be frightened by what you see. what could they be talking about, really? >> i don't know. i'm all for transparency, as far as making sure we have good government and good government officials who are carrying out their responsibilities. but i'm also very concerned, like jim comey is, about exposing intelligence sources and methods and doing anything that might compromise an ongoing criminal investigation. it seems as though the white house and the republicans are being very selective in terms of what it is that they put out. >> explain that. there is a push/pull here, right? you have said that the fbi and other officials have an obligation to push back on this. but the president is allowed to declassify materials. he does have that authority. how do you square that? >> the president has the authority to do a lot of things. if he does it, it doesn't mean it's the right thing to do. such as going to war. pushing a button that is going to launch missiles. so, i really hope that the officials in positions of authority and with access to mr. trump are going to explain to him in a very calm and rational manner what the real adverse impact would be on intelligence capabilities or criminal investigations or whatever. whether or not mr. trump chooses to accept their counsel is something else. it is the responsibilities of those officials who understand just how delicate and sensitive these capabilities are. >> so there are two questions on that. you understand this process of declassification, how that works and what is important and what is not when it comes to reactions, for example. when there is this review process in place right now, fbi, doj looking at what to declassify in these documents, is that legitimate? is that a stalling tactic? could it be both? >> any time there will be a directive or interest in trying to release something, the relevant agencies will go through a process of reviewing information and looking at what the negative impact would be, either on law enforcement or national security or intelligence, of releasing some information. they should, in fact, try to push out as much information as possible. >> in the interest of transparency. >> right. they shouldn't hold anything back because it might be embarrassing or it's something that they just don't want to share publicly. there needs to be a basis to redact information and keep it from the public. particularly if a president of the united states directs them to do it. they have the responsibility to meet that directive. if that directive does not take into account the very serious and grave impact on national security, i do think these officials have the obligation to push back against it. >> they have already done this review process and released some of this, based on this foya that was filed. the documents are out without redax. they've done this review. there is a possibility now that when the president says review this information, some of it could still be redacted, right, and the president could release all of it. what is the danger or concern if that ends up happening? >> i don't know what all is still covered up in terms of the information that is being protected and i don't know -- >> meaning is that names, is it anecdotes? >> but as jim comey says, is this going to be something that will inhibit individuals from cooperating with law enforcement or intelligence in the future out of fear that their identity, their name, the information they share in a very confidential way -- sometimes it could be with adverse impact if they are serving overseas or they are foreign citizens. if this is going to be exposed i think a lot of individuals who might want to work with the u.s. government are going to think twice and three times about it if a president of the united states can just capreciously, arbitrarily, unilaterally and recklessly release that information. >> you said you haven't heard anything from the administration abo about. >> what the actual status of it is, i'm not sure. >> white house has said you don't need to be notified. they're just doing it. >> there are certain steps that would need to be taken, databases and whatever. >> okay. director john brennan, thank you for coming on. >> thanks, hallie. >> appreciate it. today marks one year, one year since hurricane maria devastated puerto rico. the deadliest american natural disaster in 100 years. where are we? some of the lights are still off. thousands have left for good. we're taking a look at what went wrong who is still trying to help and what's ahead for the island. the hispanic federation's luis miranda, helping with the recovery, and also happens to be the father of lin manuel miranda, joins me next. miranda, joins me next to most, he's phil mickelson, pro golfer. to me, he's, well, dad. so when his joint pain from psoriatic arthritis got really bad, it scared me. and what could that pain mean? joint pain could mean joint damage. enbrel helps relieve joint pain, helps stop irreversible joint damage, and helps skin get clearer. enbrel may lower your ability to fight infections. serious, sometimes fatal events including infections, tuberculosis, lymphoma, other cancers, nervous system and blood disorders, and allergic reactions have occurred. tell your doctor if you've been someplace where fungal infections are common, or if you're prone to infections, have cuts or sores, have had hepatitis b, have been treated for heart failure, or if you have persistent fever, bruising, bleeding, or paleness. don't start enbrel if you have an infection like the flu. since enbrel, dad's back to being dad. visit enbrel.com and use the joint damage simulator to see how your joint damage could be progressing. ask about enbrel. enbrel. fda approved for over 15 years. named 'park' in the u.s. ninety-six hundred roads it's america's most popular street name. but no matter what park you live on, one of 10,000 local allstate agents knows yours. now that you know the truth, are you in good hands? people in the carolinas are bracing for even more flooding in the aftermath of florence. big rivers will swell throughout this weekend, a major threat to those who live nearby. and in north carolina, new major environmental health concerns. according to the "new york times," more than 100 hog farms that have flooded are releasing pig waste back into the environment. so people there are still dealing with hurricane florence we also mark what happened one year ago today. hurricane maria making landfall in puerto rico, devastating that island. an estimated 3,000 people were killed. the storm wiped out power for months. food, water, medical supplies. you have tourism picking back up. stores have reopened. outside the cities, the recovery is still a slow, slow process. 12 months after maria, puerto rico remains a shadow of its former self. nbc's gabe gutierrez was on the ground for this story when it happened and has been covering it the last year. >> we've been on this island reporting the past year and i can say life is starting to return back to normal. in those bigger cities and puerto rico has come such a long way. power is back to the entire island. we found one man who is still not on the electrical grid, was only able to have power to his restaurant because of a recently installed fema generator. he says he feels abandoned. a year after the storm and you're still without power? he has run this restaurant in the yucca national forest for almost 40 years. i didn't think the hurricane would be this bad, he says. he was trapped in his restaurant for five days after the storm. his business and home are powered by a generator that fema only recently installed. and something we have to notice and have to underscore, a year after the storm, everyone that we spoke to all say puerto rico is not ready for another major category 4 or 5 storm. this is something that could be devastating for years to come. there's no real answer here. no one has been able to provide answers. what happens if they get another strong hurricane? no one really knows. >> that's a terrifying thought as we head into hurricane season. catch gabe's digital documentary "powerless: puerto rico's struggle after hurricane maria." i urge you to watch this. n lots of ways to watch it. father of hamilton's creator and star, lin manuel miranda, luis miranda, you were there this summer to announce a multimillion dollar fund to boost the arts. you just heard in that story a man still doesn't have his power back. who or what is to blame? >> it's an island with a $72 billion debt before maria hit puerto rico. it's no response from fema and the government. fighting with nfl football players over kneeling. it's many, many, many are responsible. what we also need to add is that there may be people who have no power, but the power, even though it has been restored, the fact is that many times during the week, power fails. so families cannot go to the supermarket and buy an entire week worth of groceries because they never know -- for 24 hours they're not going to have power. >> how long before you think puerto rico gets back to normal? >> it's going to be years. we've been there with the hispanic federation and so many others that have been working in puerto rico. we're taking hamilton now in january. >> yeah. >> my son just dropped another song today with artists from puerto rico and we're going to protest on saturday, we're going to be in mar-a-lago, reminding the president that the job is still not done. everything in his head, he think of something. >> there is also a political component, not just recovery on the ground but sort of the political pieces at play to help puerto rico. you have the governor, richard ruseo to ask president trump to now consider statehood. he made the case on network. i want to play it for you. >> the truth of the matter is that we've been treated as second-class citizens. the only reason why the recovery was different in texas, florida and in puerto rico is because puerto rico is a colonial territory of the united states. the people of puerto rico have chosen statehood twice in the past six years. so it's also a matter of democracy and of human rights and democratic rights. >> do you believe that people in puerto rico want statehood? do you see that happening some time in the near future here from the political perspective, what governor riccardo was saying? >> i believe the governor wants statehood. the people of puerto rico want a normal life again and want the federal government and everyone who can help to help, so that puerto rico can be a normal place again. statehood, commonwealth, independence, all of that has been debated since i can remember. since 1898. at this point it's not the time to talk about the status of puerto rico, but about the fact that we ought to be treated as regular american citizens, regardless of what the status is. >> yeah. some people who live in puerto ri rico, 200,000 of them, have left the island and gone back to the main land here. do you see that affecting politics here on the mainland? do you see them registering to vote, actually making their voices heard? >> we do, and we hope that the new puerto rican families who have joined hundreds of thousands of puerto ricans who have been in florida, moving for the last decade remember who helped puerto rico and who didn't help puerto rico. and use their political power in november of this year to decide who represents us in congress? >> luis miranda, it's a pleasure to have you on. >> thank you. >> the extraordinary season unfolding right now on capitol hill. victims of sexual assault going office to office, confronting lawmakers as brett kavanaugh's supreme court confirmation hangs in the balance. some of them going public with their emotional stories for the first time. some of those protesters being arrested. we'll bring you more of that when we get back. l bring you mot when we get back don't forget that the past can speak to the future. ♪ ♪ i'm going to be your substitute teacher. don't assume the substitute teacher has nothing to offer... same goes for a neighborhood. don't forget that friendships last longer than any broadway run. mr. president. (laughing) don't settle for your first draft. or your 10th draft. ♪ ♪ you get to create the room where it happens. ♪ ♪ just don't think you have to do it alone. ♪ ♪ the powerful backing of american express. don't live life without it. but one blows them all out of the water. hydro boost from neutrogena®. with hyaluronic acid to plump skin cells so it bounces back. neutrogena® so it bounces back. leave the structure, call 911, keep people away, and call pg&e right after so we can both respond out and keep the public safe. pg&e wants you to plan ahead by mapping out escape routes and preparing a go kit, in case you need to get out quickly. for more information on how to be prepared and keep your family safe, visit pge.com/safety. i went to college at middle state tennessee university. >> i went to college at middle tennessee state university. >> in 1999 i was a junior and i was on the debate team. >> in 1999 i was a junior, and i was on the debate team. >> i was working in the debate office one day, and i asked the coach to come over and look at something i had written. >> i was working in the office one day, and i asked the coach to come over and look at something i had written. >> i should shorten that, shouldn't i? >> he came over. >> and leaned up behind me. >> and leaned up behind me. >> and stuck his hand down the back of my shirt. >> and stuck his hand down the back of my shirt. >> i jerked away, he pulled his hand out. >> i jerked away, and he pulled his hand out. >> and i never told anybody about it. >> and i never told anybody about it. >> sometimes it takes a woman a long time to be able to talk about something like that. >> sometimes it takes a woman a long time to be able to talk about something like that. >> it doesn't mean she's lying when she does. >> it doesn't mean she's lying when she does. >> and i think senator corker should listen for real. >> and i think senator corker should listen for real. >> so we have been watching emotional protests like the one you just saw happening right now on capitol hill. men and women, as you can see here, lining the halls of the capitol packing into the offices of senators, donnelly recow skee, corker and grassley. you can hear them chanting we believe dr. blasey ford. some are saying we still believe anita hill. getting arrested as you can see on the right there while doing it. it is all happening as there is real uncertainty about whether monday's planned hearing will go forward as you look at capital police officers in the hallway there. shanna thomas and eric blake are here. as we started showing you these images, we see protests a lot on the hill. it's the people, right, they can go in. this is happening at a critical time not just for brett kavanaugh and his confirmation process but for president trump and some of these senators who are going to be having to make some key decisions here. >> it seems kind of callous to say this, and i understand that, but this now has brought the idea of sexual assault and sexual harassment even more to the forefront of the midterm elections. that is why they are standing in front of those offices to a certain extent. that is why we are probably going to see even more protesters, and i'm curious to see how monday looks if this hearing goes forward, but i've seen the e-mails from planned parenthood such as them talking about okay, they wanted to talk about abortion and kavanaugh, but they are focusing in on me, too. they are focusing in on sexual harassment. this is not going to stop. >> and we saw this cropping up much before this, too. democrats are currently running women in more than 40% of house districts this year. that's including incumbents and challengers. that's more than 50% more than have ever been running before. in a the lot of these districts we're seeing these women lean into gender issues. we're seeing diverse candidates leaning into the their opponents and ads against them. this is only adding to that. >> you talked about the potential impacts on the midterms. we learn overnight that senator mccaskill is a no vote. notable timing for her to come out during this and say that. >> yeah, it's not totally surprising, but also i think what we all expected from those red state dems, especially before dr. ford told the story that she has been telling is that they would sort of hold back on the vote and see how the republicans did, see if the republicans got the nomination over the 51 threshold, and then maybe system of those red state dems would be let out of the box to vote for it to try to impress the people in their state who like president trump and like the things and the people that he's been putting forward. now they have a very different calculation, and i think that's why we saw claire mccaskill be like, okay, i'm a no. >> and to come out at this moment for that piece. >> exactly. i want to roll this conference into our sources say segment. aaron, i know yours relate to exactly the conversation we're having. what happens next with brett kavanaugh. >> i mentioned before that republicans want to get this done before the midterm elections for obvious reasons. they want to make sure democrats don't retake the senate and can't control this process going forward. another reason they want to get this done on monday is because they are worried that the president's rhetoric is ramping up. he moved from we need to let this the process playing out. the timing is kind of suspicious. then he talks about how he thinks brett kavanaugh is a good guy. i can't imagine he would do this. now he's talking about i feel really bad for brett kavanaugh as if he's the victim in this. they know the longer this drags out, the further the president is going to go towards his old rhetoric, which is to constantly doubt the accusers and sympathize with the people who have been accused. >> it's interesting. what i wonder is just how far the president is willing to go to go to bat for brett kavanaugh. he said something really interesting when he was out on the south lawn yesterday. he said if she makes a credible showing it will be interesting to see what happens. which to me and our team read like he's leaving the door open, cracking it a bit to back off from kavanaugh if need be. >> i think that's his fig leaf to the people in his office who are telling him you need to allow for the possibility. if you look at the rest of his rhetor rhetoric, it is very similar in creeping towards what he has said before about rob porter, about himself in the 2016 campaign. this is trending in a very clear direction at this point. >> switching gears here, what are your sources telling you on what you've been reporting on today? >> going back to the fema story and the hurricane, basically we were talking to the national flood insurance program yesterday, and we asked them are the insurance adjusters out yet? are people out there trying to assess the damage for people, and the answer we got was no, not yet. not for another couple of days. that's because fema doesn't send people out until they think it's safe. until they think the event is over. >> the danger piece is over. >> that really points to the fact that we are still really, really, really in phase one of what is happening in north carolina. >> important to keep an eye on there. shanna, aaron, love having you on. we end the show with today's big picture. it comes to us from chicagome. you're looking at a mcdonald's worker with blue duct tape. mcdonne mcdonald's workers walked off the job yesterday. some of the them had duct tape over their mouths like this woman. others held up banners. really important to talk about. it's a sign the me, too, movement is not just making waves in boardrooms ask federal courthouses and on capitol hill, but in restaurants and stores and assembly lines across the country. the photographer here, scott olson for getty images. would love to hear your thoughts on facebook, twitter, snapchat and instagram. i will see you over at the white house in just a little bit where i will be talking to ali velshi and stephanie ruhle. >> let us know if you run into judge kavanaugh, who we believe is there right now. i'm ali velshi. >> and i am stephanie ruhle. it is thursday, september 20th. let's get smarter. you're watching protests happening right now on capitol hill. >> the senate judiciary chairman is now giving christine blasey ford a friday deadline to say whether she will appear at monday's hearing, but ford isn't backing down. her attorneys say there should be an fbi investigation and ultimately a hearing that includes multiple witnesses. >> my belief is that without an investigation there cannot be an effective hearing. >> it's been 36 years, and we're talking about a much different situation. that was a much more recent event and much easier to investigate. >> i don't think she can reject having made all these serious allegations. >>

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