Now fords attorneys are making their own demands regarding her testimony. I have a great team to break all of it down. First, i want you to be caught up on everything thats happened in the last 24 hours. Its a lot. The main thing to know is the ball is back in republican senator Chuck Grassleys court. After the judiciary chairman set a 10 00 a. M. Deadline for Christine Ford to let him know her intentions, her attorneys responded. First, ford will not be showing up at the monday hearing. The earliest dr. Fords attorneys say she could show up would be thursday. That appears to be one piece of this that is not negotiable. But theres a whole lot more. In an hourlong conversation with the Judiciary Committee staff, fords attorneys ask that the Committee First work to ensure that dr. Fords safety will be guaranteed before she agrees to testify. They want judge kavanaugh to testify first and ford second. But they do not want the two of them to be in the same room at the same time. Her attorneys would prefer that senators do the questioning. They want her to have unlimited time for an Opening Statement and say that it can be a public hearing bug they only want a limited number of cameras. Finally, fords attorneys wants the committee to subpoena mark judge. You remember this guy. The other student ford alleges was in the room when she says kavanaugh sexually assaulted her back in the 80s. However, nbc reports that it is unlikely republicans would allow one witness to dictate the subpoena of another witness. Remember, mark judge told the committee that he has no memory of the incident, yet he says he doesnt want to testify. Interesting to note that fords attorneys did not mention an fbi investigation as one of their conditions. So now we wait for senator grassley to consult with his colleagues in the committee and let us know what happens next. For now, the monday hearing remains on the committees schedule and judge kavanaugh says he has every intention of showing up. In a letter to the chairman early thursday, he wrote, quote, thank you for the invitation to appear before the Senate Committee on the judiciary on monday, september 24th. I will be there. I look forward to the opportunity to testify before the committee. I want a hearing as soon as possible. So that i can clear my name. Since the moment i first heard this allegation, i have categorically and unequivocally denied it. I remain committed to defending my integrity. While kavanaugh has spent most of the week at the white house working on his testimony, politico reports that ford has not been actively preparing to testify herself. Her attorneys have indicated that she hasnt really had the time. I want to bring in msnbcs Garrett Haake on the hill. Do we have any sense at this point how republicans are going to respond to fords attorneys . I know they want to get this thing done asap. The stalemate has been broken here. Its clear were in a negotiation now. Remember, earlier in the week, we were saying this could not happen if there wasnt an fbi investigation. Then it was definitely going to happen monday or not at all. Now its very clear this is an ongoing negotiation between council for the Judiciary Committee and the senators and those attorneys for dr. Ford. It appears there are two nonstarters. The idea of subpoenaing mark judge, thats almost certainly not going to get off the ground. The Judiciary Committee would never want to set a precedent where one witness could dictate the subpoenaed testimony of another witness. I think the other thing that the committees unlikely to do is agree to let judge kavanaugh excuse me, judge kavanaugh go first, dr. Ford go second. I think theyll want to hear dr. Fords accusation and then allow judge kavanaugh to respond. But Everything Else on that list is open for discussion. Remember, the senates out this week. The members of that committee are scattered all across the country. But they are communication with each other and with the majority lead leader, trying to figure out what they can come to agreement on. They do still want to hear from dr. Ford and want to hear from her as soon as possible. I suspect we will continue to see this Letter Writing Campaign between senators and attorneys for all the involved parties. Trying to hammer down which of these other points they can agree to. There is one other moving piece, the advice thats coming out of a former judiciary chairman. We know him better as joe biden, talking to craig melvin this morning on today. Heres what he had to say about this. I hope that they understand what courage is takes for someone to come forward and relive what they allege, they believe happened to them and let them state it but treat her with respect. Ask tough questions. Ask the questions. Where were you . Who said what, et cetera. But dont go after the not the character assassination. Stephanie, thats just another spotlight on this entire story, this entire back and forth. And there is clearly desire here on both sides to make this happen. Its just a question of when and how at this point. When and how. Now weve got to go to the white house and nbcs Kristen Welker. All right, the president has said he wants to hear from dr. Ford. He said well give it a tremendous amount of time. It also sounds like hes running out of patience. I saw that rally last night. Sounds like hes running out of patience, stephanie. You and i have spent so much of this week talking about the president s tone. The fact that he has been fairly disciplined. Well, it seems like that is breaking to some extent. His tone toughening. Let me read you what the president is saying. He says judge kavanaugh is a fine man with an impeccable reputation who is under assault by radical left wing politicians who dont want to know the answers. They just want to destroy and delay. Facts dont matter. I go through this with them every single day in d. C. So increasingly casting this within the backdrop of politics as usual. And last night, as you said, while he was in that rally in las vegas, saying it is time for this to move forward, indicating hes running out of patience. Take a listen. To see whats going on is just very, very sad. You say why didnt somebody call the fbi 36 years ago. I mean, you could also say when did this all happen, whats going on. To take a man like this and besmir besmirch. With that being said, let her have her say and see how it works out, but i dont think you can delay it any longer. Theyve delayed it a week already. Notable, hes not directly criticize i criticizing blasey ford. You talk about the threats that kavanaugh has been undergoing. Hes been here at the white house for the better part of this week, vigorously preparing. Including a nearly twohour session on tuesday. When he was peppered with a number of questions by top officials. All about the alleged incident. A lot at stake is the rhetoric and the stakes continue to heat up, stef. Kristen, thank you. This is how perverse things have gotten. He didnt go over the edge but he got right up to the line. In 2018, when the president of the United States says why didnt a Sexual Assault victim make a call to the fbi 36 years ago. That is right up to the line. In 2018. Right up to the line was binders full of women a few years ago. Just get your head around that. I want to bring in my panel. I mean, blows my mind. I got to bring my panel in. Jess mcintosh, executive editor of progressive news website share bloom media. Ron insana, senior analyst. And basil smikle, former executive director of the new york state democratic party. Ron, to you first. If shes serious about saying she will testify, can republicans give her that time . Its odd to the extent all these demands are being put around her appearance. One would assume shes had some time to prepare for this. What the president said, as you pointed out, was unconscionable, that a 15yearold some 36 years ago would make a phone call to the fbi if she felt she had been sexually abused. That is beyond the pale. With respect to her appearing, it is curious about the way in which theyre negotiating this. One would hope she would just come forward, make her case and deliver it in as clear and con size a matter as possible and get these facts on the table sooner than later. She should be entitled to an investigation. What do you make of the conditions ford has put forth, especially around saying now shes saying we dont need an investigation. But she wants more time. She wants more voices. Earlier this morning, susan dell perce perso says she wants to ask judge kavanaugh a question. If he was a sitting judge and the case before him was simply a he said she said, wouldnt he want more . Right. Obviously its only a he said she said because the republicans are choosing to make it so. There is actually a witness to this alleged Sexual Assault, which honestly never happens in Sexual Assault cases. We used to have laws on the books in america that were designed to make it really difficult for women to credibly claim rape that required a third Party Witness in order to bring it forward. Thats how rare it is. This third Party Witness, mark judge, is on Brett Kavanaughs side. So what rationale would the Judiciary Committee have . Imagine being able to clear one of your best friends names because you were in the room when something terrible happened and saying, you know what, i dont feel like doing it. I choose not to. Which raises more questions and testify. Its a very curious move. The only logical explanation is you dont want to say it under oath because its a really big deal if you lie under oath. I realize how high the stakes are. We are in def con 5. Theres tons of people talking, i would say more off camera than on. Trying to get their head around, these were teenagers. What exactly happened. If we start to say this is the bar, are we going to get people to want to run for office going forward. But it is serious. And we do need to hear them out. What if Brett Kavanaugh, and now its too late, what if he had taken an approach where he said i absolutely have no recollection of this. I dont believe. Nothing. But it was high school. It was a long time ago. We drank so much. I dont deny this was this persons experience. But im so horribly sorry. And unlike a lot of me too accusers, he doesnt have a trail of she said, she said, she said. How would that have been received . It may have been received better. The problem is that you have even the president of the United States sort of coming to his defense in the way that he is which makes it substantially worse. You have the entire Republican Congress at a point where theyre trying to rush this through because they dont believe her. They dont want to hear her side. Theres a bullying aspect to this. Just think about what dr. Ford has done. The most basic of activities that a constituent can do. She went to her member of the senate to actually get help and support back in july back in july. Did not want her name to come forward. Now shes put in a position where her life will change forever. This is substantial. Its saddening that republicans dont take this seriously. Because after anita hill in 1991 and the year of the woman in 1992, since then, weve doubled the number of women in the house and in the senate. So its still not enough. Its not enough, but to their peril, the republicans are treating this like shes garbage. When im looking at video footage from anita hill and from this week, im not even sure. Im like, wait a minute, the same guys, the same speech. Its stunning. Its still all white men on the republican side. Theres no change between 1991 and to 2018. It was all white men then. It is all white men now. Some of them are exactly the same people. What do you make of this . Some republicans are saying lets have outside counsel ask the questions. Or earlier this week, i know hugh hewitt had this suggestion, maybe some staffers who are females should. For me, it is it is more insulting to say im sorry, a grown civil man cant possibly ask in a respectful way questions. I mean, are his knuckles dragging so loudly on the floor that he cant conduct himself . Thats insulting to him and to to them and to her. Theres probably some truth to it. Weve seen this in the past. The sum of the elder senators cannot relate to an environment which we find ourselves now and dont fess carely have any sympathy or empathy for this experience. But, ron, to that exact point, its not about the facts then. If they cant relate to the current environment, it begs the question, should these people be the elected leaders representing our nation. Well, no, absolutely. Theyve lost touch. Youve seen this in so many different hearings. That has nothing to do with age. No, it doesnt. Listen, when youve seen the technology hearings, facebook and these others in front of these individuals. Ill give you that. And theyre not up to speed. They dont know how technology works. Im pretty sure trump knows how twitter works. Charles grassley saying he doesnt remember anything from 35 years ago. He was 50. He was a senator. One would hope he would have some memory of that. Whats disturbing is they seem to be rallying around judge kavanaugh and saying, oh, he was young, he was a teenager, he was 17. It doesnt matter. Lets just forgive him because thats what boys do. Yet it was donald trump who called for the Death Penalty for teenagers hypocrisy is theres two different things. It doesnt have to be boys will be boys, they were 17. But he could say i made a really big mistake when i was 17. You dont hold your hand over a girls mouth if shes trying to normal boy behavior does not include turning the music up to drown out the screams of the woman youre trying to force yourself on. That is not normal 17yearold behavior. Absolutely. And the bar has to be so high. Were talking about Supreme Court justices. Those have to be the people of the highest integrity in the country. If you think about what the Supreme Court has been responsible for, school integration, marriage equality. The biggest and best of america goes through the Supreme Court. If you tried to rape somebody, even at 17 we dont know if he tried to rape anyone. Even at 17, that demonstrates a fundamental lack of integrity that is required to be on the Supreme Court. This isnt just any position. Right. Thats right. Only nine people sit on the Supreme Court for the rest of their lives. While you could debate, did he have his hand on her mouth, was she screaming. Is there not another judge who doesnt even have a debatable was it a scream, was it a shot, was it a squeak . Come on now. Absolutely. Again, this particular vote. Should particular justice. Will be deciding potentially the fate of womens reproductive rights its literally about his judgment. Weve got to bring Kristen Welker back in. We got some more news. We have a lot more news. In the past few minutes, President Trump tweeting yet again you guys probably havent had a chance to look at this because youve been engaged in that fascinating conversation. This is what President Trump is saying right now. Quote, i have no doubt that if the attack on dr. Ford was as bad as she says, charges would have been immediately filed with local Law Enforcement authorities by either her or her loving parents. I ask that she bring those filings forward so that we can learn date, time and place. So, again, not directly attacking dr. Ford. But certainly walking right up to the line of saying why has it taken her so long to speak out. Something that a number of women, particularly those who have survived attacks of Sexual Assault and sexual harassment, would say just doesnt make sense, given their experiences. Now, this comes can we just for one second go ahead. Again, i cannot believe that were categorizing that. As hes going up to the line. Have things become so perverse that that hasnt gone over the line. Remember the tan suit that got attacked . I think what is critical, were dealing in distinctions here. Youre absolutely right. Typically we see this president when he attacks someone go after them by name. I can tell you his top adviser kellyanne conway, one of the first people i spoke with about this entire issue, has been among the first at the white house to say dr. Ford deserves to be heard. She was asked why the president largely on the whole, frankly, up until last night and into today, has refrained from being combative when it comes to dr. Ford. Theres no reason to attack her. The president is deciding his nominee for the United StatesSupreme Court. As a man of judicial temperament as he knows him to be. By the way, this mans day job is he has served a dozen years on the Second Highest Court in the land. Were missing that in all of the coverage, respectfully. And the president is defending his nominee. But that nominee needs to defend himself against what he says are uncategorically and unequivocally false allegations. He says he was not at the party. Thats why we have testimony in our great democracy to avoid talking the president doesnt need anyone to tell him it seems he was following your lead. You said it first, she deserves to be heard. Setting a tone for her not to be. She should not be a tacked and she should be accommodated. I think these conditions i just heard a whole laundry list of them on cnn. Thanks for saying them. Theyre growing seems theyre growing by the minute. Im glad her attorneys decided to get off tv. Thats a good idea. And prepare her for that testimony. But the truth is the truth. So hes willing to say is yesterday, today, tomorrow, last weekend. Certainly monday next week. But any delay, by senators who already said they would vote against him. Its proba