Night. Well, good evening once again from our nbc news headquarters here in new york. Day 615 of the Trump Administration. And tonight there are two new allegations of Sexual Misconduct against this Supreme Court nominee, federal judge Brett Kavanaugh. That would bring the total number of allegations to five. We are now less than 12 hours away from a potentially gamechanging hae, judge kavanaugh and dr. Chris about ian ford who accused him of Sexual Assault, will appear separately before the senate squ ruche and the ace. Cav taug has denied that allegation as well as one from deborah ramirez. Today nbc news is reporting that the Judiciary Committee is investigating a previously unreported allegation of misconduct against kavanaugh. According to an anonymous complaint sent to republican Senator Cory Gardner of colorado kavanaugh if is a socialized with in the washington, d. C. Area in 1998 when was inebriated. The committee has released the anonymous letter in which the author writes there were at least four one including daughter. Tonight the Committee Also released the transcript of a phone call yesterday with investigators and kavanaugh. When he was asked if the events alleged occurred allegedly occurr occurred, kavanaugh responded no and were dealing with an anonymous had reletter noms person. No, ive never done anything like that. The same Senate Transcript also indicates they asked kavanaugh about an anonymous allegation of a Sexual Assault on a boat in newport, rhode island in 1985. Kavanaugh told the committee staff, i was not in newport. I havent been on a boat in newport. This is just completely made up or at least not me. Our colleague kasie hunt on capitol hill has been looking into this and writes there was broad agreement from those in both parties that this accusation was close to impossible to pursue because there were so many questions about its origins. Well, this morning we learned about another allegation. A different allegation from another woman named julie swetnick, who claims to have attended several parties with the future federal judge back in the 80s. Her attorney, Michael Avenatti, hinted at her story over the past several days. He has now released a sworn declaration from swetnick in which she says, i observed Brett Kavanaugh drink excessively and many of these parties and engage in abusive and physically aggressive behavior toward girls, including pressing girls against him without their consent, grinding against girls, and attempting to remove or shift girls clothing. Southwestn n swetnick also alleges she witnessed kavanaugh and his friend mark judge cause girls to be inebriated or disoriented so they could be gang raped. Today kavanaugh responded to swetnicks accusations through the white house calling them ridiculous and from the twilight zone. His attorney Beth Wilkinson added this. He doesnt know her. He doesnt hes never met her. And weve had people already calling our office and emailing us saying they dont know her, theyve never seen her at the parties they attended with him. But when you think of the allegations, they are alleging that for years there were gang rapes going on with multiple menw multiple women being victims. That is such a frightening allegation. No one ever went to the police . No ones gone to the police to this day to report those allegations . Its truly outrageous. Tonight Michael Avenatti says the fbi should begin looking into his clients allegations. Were demanding an fbi investigation proceed forthwith. My client is prepared to meet with the fbi. Shes willing to sit down with fbi agents, answer any questions they have about all of these allegations. This afternoon in his longest solo News Conference to date, only the fourth of his presidency, donald trump spoke at length about the allegations facing his nominee. It is. Its a con job. You know, confidence. Its a confidence job but they its a con job by the democrats. They know it. Ive had a lot of false charges against me. Really false charges. I know friends that have had false charges. People want fame. They want money. They want whatever. So when i see it, i view it differently than somebody sitting home watching television where they say oh, judge kavanaugh this or that. Its happened to me many times. Ive had many false charges. I had a woman sitting in an airplane and i attacked her while people were coming onto the plane and i have a number one bestseller out. I mean, it was a total phony story. There are many of them. So when you say does it affect me in terms of my thinking with respect to judge kavanaugh, absolutely. Im going to see what happens tomorrow. Im going to be watching. You know, believe it or not. Im going to see whats said. Its possible that they will be convincing. The president says they, though just one accuser is testifying tomorrow. Both dr. Ford and Brett Kavanaugh have released the advance text of their opening remarks for tomorrows hearing. Dr. Fords Statement Reads in part, i am here today not because i want to be. I am terrified. I am here because i believe it is my civic duty to tell you what happened to me while Brett Kavanaugh and i were in high school. My motivation in coming forward was to provide the facts about how mr. Kavanaughs actions have damaged my life, so that you can take that into serious consideration as you make your decision about how to proceed. And this is what kavanaugh will say in part, and we quote, dr. Fords allegation dates back more than 36 years, to a party that she says occurred during our time in high school. I was not perfect in those days, just as i am not perfect today. I drank beer with my friends, usually on weekends. Sometimes i had too many. I am not questioning that dr. Ford may have been sexually assaulted by some person in some place at some time. But i have never done that to her or to anyone. The president also added this assessment of whats at stake in tomorrows hearing. This is beyond Supreme Court. This is everything to do with our country. Always i heard youre innocent until proven guilty. Ive heard this for so long. And its just a beautiful phrase. In this case youre guilty until proven innocent. With that lets bring in our leadoff panel for a wednesday night. Robert costa, National Political reporter for the Washington Post, moderator of Washington Week on pbs. Lisa lehrer, National Political reporter with the New York Times. And barrett berger. Shes a former assistant u. S. Attorney with both the Eastern District of new york and for good measure the Southern District of new york. We welcome all of them back to the broadcast. Robert, were anxious to get to you. There were serious people tonight in just the past few hours wondering, as you know, whether this nomination would survive the night, whether there would be a hearing tomorrow. Whats the latest on your reporting . . Brian, calling around the highest ranks of the senate gop, its clear tonight that the support for judge kavanaugh is soft. Talking to top senators, they say upwards of two dozen republicans are going to be closely watching the hearing tomorrow to see his responses, to see if dr. Ford comes across as credible. And their votes could be up for grabs, brian. And i asked bob corker, the senator from tennessee, retiring on the record, where does this stand, and he said thats true. Hes hearing that about half the caucus in the senate gop is going to watch the hearing closely tomorrow and then decide. And what did you discern, robert, from the president s wording, this man who says nothing accidentally . To most people listening, especially watchers of politics, left the door wide open today. Talking to Top White House officials in the last hour, they say the president showcased his defiance, hes standing by judge kavanaugh with this nomination, but he also knows that in this charged moment culturally, politically that judge kavanaugh is going to have to defend himself tomorrow. Hes going to have to come across strong. The president was disappointed, sources tell me, with the judges interview on fox news. He wants to see the judge really make his own case. It cant just be President Trump at a News Conference. So lisa, lay out the stakes for us. The stakes for dr. Ford for kavanaugh. This being a visual medium. For the assistant counsel that mcconnell famously called a female assistant being brought in to lead the questioning. And for the democrats, who can misplay and overplay the soap box of this. Right. Thats exactly right. I can tell you i was on capitol hill today and you could get a palpable sense that tensions were extremely high. Senator orrin hatch, whos generally known as someone fairly polite, soft spoken, shouted shut up at reporters and said he was in an extremely bad mood. There was a real sense among republicans in the senate that they were extremely worried about this nomination. I mean, dont forget that just a week and a half ago this seemed like a sure bet for them and now every day there seems to be another bad report. So what happens in this hearing will be pivotal. Republicans of course have outsourced a lot of the questioning to this prosecutor, a woman from arizona. So it will be interesting to see what they do. Do they ask any questions at all . What do they do when shes asking the questions . Its rare you that see senators opting out of talking. Generally, what they do is talk. Im curious about how thats going to look. Democrats, the shadow of anita hill has hung extremely large over this hearing. And democrats are really conscious of not being in a position where theyre seeming dismissive of any of either kavanaugh or dr. Ford. But i think theres some risk for them too. We saw from some of the questioning from the testimony that was released, the questioning that was released by the senate Judiciary Committee that this hearing feels like its sort of on the knifes edge between it could easily dip into the ridiculous. You know, theyre asking a lot of questions potentially about the judges sex life, about his drinking. So i think democrats have to be really conscious about being fair and tough but also having . Sense of decorum, which i think people want to see. And they also have to be tough with dr. Ford and seem like while being empathetic. They are trying to get to the bottom of what actually happened on that night if its possible to even do that. And barrett, im sure well say this many times during the coverage tomorrow, this is not a courtroom and the rules really discourage being on a roll in terms of questioning. Fiveminute limits for each senator. If you were appointed special counsel by the dems, what kinds of questions would you want to come at judge kavanaugh with to find what you wanted to find . So i think that look, we have a general sense of what both judge kavanaugh and what dr. Ford are going to say based on the written statements that theyve given. I think the goal for this you know, for this hearing is to actually see what they say when theyre under pressure. Right . What is their tone . How are they you know, are they striking an indignant tone, are they striking an apologetic tone . You glean a lot about a witness and a victim based not just on what they say but how they say it. I think if i was a special counsel i would obviously want to ask questions about his drinking, about the people he was associating with. But i think what really distinguishes this from a court of law is the fact that we are only hearing from two people. In any court of law you would never have, you know, a case like this going with just the victim and the alleged accuser. You especially when there are named people out there that could theoretically corroborate these stories or add more facts to the narrative. Thats the biggest difference between a court of law and whats going to be happening tomorrow is just the sheer absence of really critical witnesses. Robert costa, to continue the thread we started, what happens . Worst Case Scenario this guy doesnt make it and this nomination has to get pulled. Weve been waiting for that kind of moment all day. I continue to check my phone until a minute ago. Is this nomination really on the edge . Because what i have Top Republican senators telling me they have to watch the hearing tomorrow, they have to see the performance, with the president at his News Conference saying he has to watch how it all unfolds tomorrow. You have a nomination that is in a totally fragile state. But so far, brian, the Top Republicans in the country are telling the post, look, we know we had a short list before judge kavanaugh, judge park in kentucky a mcconnell favorite, judge Amy Coney Barrett in indiana but theyre not ready to start considering a plan b. They have to see in this crucible tomorrow how do people perform, can the parties somehow make it to a vote . Lisa, having read your news qulert for the times, if someone was on a plane during the president s News Conference today and you had the task of in 60 seconds updating them on his appearance, the demeanor, the content of his comments, how would you sum it all up . It was a gargantuan 81minute event. It was sort of the kind of News Conferences he gave frequently during that campaign, or more frequently. It was rambling. It was wideranging. It felt very free flowing. He i think in terms of the hearing the most salient point to me was that he said that his thoughts on this were influenced by his personal experience. He feels that he was falsely accused several times of sexual harassment, of Sexual Misconduct. And so when he looks at whats happening to judge kavanaugh hes thinking about what happened to him. But as bob pointed out, he also really left open the door to putting somebody else in if hes not happy with what he sees tomorrow night, which is not what republicans on the hill really wanted to hear. And there is a real question of timing. The reason republicans, part of the reason theyve wanted to really push this nomination through is because theres a real question of whether they could get someone else through the entire process before a new congress could come in. And the concern there of course is that republicans will lose control of the senate, which seems like more of a possibility than it did a few months ago. So they dont want to give up this dream theyve been working for for really decades of getting a conservative Supreme Court. So thats a major reason why you see them sticking with judge kavanaugh for as long as they have through this entire turbulent week and a half period that weve just been witnessing. Berit, you prosecuted sex crimes for a time. Beyond the obvious, how is it a different conversation . How did the rules change surrounding it . Look, i think one thing that distinguishes any kind of crime involving Sexual Assault or rape is that these are just messy cases. Youre not dealing with perfect victims. Oftentimes, it is just two people in a room. So you may only have two witnesses. Oftentimes, those witnesses will be inebriated. They may have imperfect memories. You also have situations where theyll have a relationship with each other. So i think they dont necessarily fit neatly into the box that people may want crimes to fit into. You have cases where the victims are going out on dates with their alleged attackers afterwards or in contact with them afterwards. So they dont necessarily these victims dont necessarily fit into a picture of what you would want an ideal crime victim to fit into. It doesnt mean these arent important cases. It doesnt mean theyre not difficult cases. But they are different than sort of a robbery or a drug case. And it makes it a challenge to get the tone right for anyone doing the questioning tomorrow. Robert costa, lisa lerer, berit berger, cant thank you enough for starting off our broadcast this wednesday night. Coming up, well be joined by a former white House Counsel who says it may have indeed been a fateful mistake by this committee not to have the fbi investigate. Later, at the u. N. Today trump accuses a foreign power of election meddling but probably not the foreign power youd expect. We are just Getting Started on a busy wednesday night. Lets be honest you need insurance. But its not really something you want to buy. Its not sexy. Or delicious. Or fun. But since you need both car and home insurance, why not bundle them with esurance and save up to 10 . Which you can spend on things you really want to buy, like. Well, i dont know what youd wanna buy because im just a guy on your tv. Esurance. Its surprisingly painless. The fbi told us theyve investigated judge kavanaugh six times, five times, many times over the years. They know him very well. But here there was nothing to investigate from at least one standpoint. They didnt know the location. They didnt know the time. They didnt know the year. They didnt know anything. President trump by way of defending his decision not to ask the fbi to reopen the investigation into kavanaugh. As this headline from the atlantic observes, the decision not to call in the fbi is looking worse and worse. In it bob bauer, the former white House Counsel to president obama, warns even if kavanaugh is confirmed, others will pursue what the fbi has not. Theres already been some discussion among democrats of an impeachment proceeding if they regain control of the house. Others have suggested a referral in the ford matter to maryland criminal enforcement authorities. The cost to the Supreme Court in either case is incalculable. With us to talk about all of this tonight, the aforementioned bob bauer and a. B. Stoddard, veteran washington journalist, a columnist and associate editor at real clear politics. Counselor, id like to begin with you. Make your case that this was he indeed perhaps more of a fateful decision than we realized in realtime. It would have been standard procedure if an allegation like that surfaced for the white house to have asked the fbi to supplement the background investigative record. It wouldnt have been a criminal investigation. It would have been an extension of the vet to deal with a serious allegation. The white house has systematically refused to do that and as a result of it we dont have a fixed point of credibility that the senators can refer to or the public can refer to. And more joer, while all of this quarreling has taken place, all of this squabbling on capitol hill, the interviews that were required for example in dr. Fords case could have been completed. An interview of dr. Ford and of the these identified including judge dmaufg aooh o. Kv nug. It generally tru for the frnt the fbi is your friend. This is really the problem. Im a layperson. Bob knows more about this than i do. Maybe the Senate Republicans have decided this is not how its done. But just in aaaaraw political context the idea you would force lisa murk kousky or Susan Collins or the other ones who have been spooked by these allegations and have questions about why not a subpoena for mark judge, why not an fbi investigation, senator corker indicated that day beyond the four who are always mentioned and they dont want packs of reporters following them all day asking them about every new allegation but theyre concerned and theyre not making up their mind until they watch tomorrow. I think for pure political reasons the idea you wont want to protect this vote and this process with some further investigation, you could have this vote by the midterms. It doesnt have to be on monday. October 1 at the start of the session. This could happen in two weeks and bob is right. These kind of probes can be conducted in ten days or less. Its reallyhard for the members on the fence to be able to defend this vote without it. Theres still a finite fraternity of those of you who have had the job you held in the white house. The current occupant, don mcgahn, is just in a heck of a fix right now. Do you think for them the best route is damage control and pull this nomination or considering this is his last act in that job is it better to go to the ramparts and try to get this through . Hes certainly not the one whos going to be making that decision. Hes going to be providing information to others, in particular to mr. Trump, to make that decision. His job essentially as long as the president and the republican majority want to stand with this nominee is to enhance judge kavanaughs ability to make it through this hearing successfully, to prepare him for it and to essentially do what is needed to enable the president to have the nominee that he wants. Thats his job. I dont know beyond that that hes going to have a further say on the moment of truth if you will whether judge kavanaugh withdraws or when the hearing is over whether hes deemed to have performed successfully. That judgment will lie with others. A. B. , your recent headline really caught my eye. How many women does the gop want to lose . On this specifically, do you think theres a political calculation that this seat on the court, which lets face it can change american jurisprudence for the next 40 or more years is worth a bloodbath in the midterms . Theyve made that calculation. Theres two things going on here. One, people who know Brett Kavanaugh, hes the most beloved nominee ive ever seen up for anything in the entire time ive covered washington, and im telling you his friends and his allies are heartbroken because they believe he is the best person and such an earnest man of deep integrity. So theyre very upset, and they believe that this is a smear campaign. The other raw political calculation is, as i said, as i mentioned in the piece, i have been told by republicans in the last week is absolutely worth losing the house and even potentially the senate, to be able to seat him on the court. This is the last seat they concede they might have the opportunity to fill before they lose power and the Collateral Damage would be worth it for the longterm gain of putting him on the seat. The go for broke strategy is absolutely theyve made very clear thats what theyre doing. Like i said, its the other people who are on the fence, they have to convince to come over with them in the break glass strategy and those people are very concerned. And as i said, i think it could be five, six, seven people by the end of this week. Bob, a quick prediction. I know you hate predictions. Does this nominee make it . I heard your reporter in the earlier segment say their support was soft. I think at this point i understand it. The majority is up against a deadline for doing what i think a. B. Has successfully said they feel they absolutely have to do, which is to fill that seat. But i also think that those final judgments are not going to be made until after tomorrow, and whats going to happen tomorrow is far beyond my ability to guess. Understood, counselor, and thank you for taking the question. Two people who really know this game from the inside. Thanks so much to bob bauer and to a. B. Stoddard for joining our broadcast yet again tonight. Coming up for us, tomorrows other big news story. What happens to Rod Rosenstein and how the president s unique tv sensibility, lets call it, may factor into this. What the president had to say about it all today, when we come back. And the wolf huffed and puffed. Like you do sometimes, grandpa . Well, when you have copd, it can be hard to breathe. So my doctor said. Symbicort can help you breathe better. Starting within 5 minutes. 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And was proven in adults with mixed episodes who have both mania and depression. Vraylar should not be used in elderly patients with dementia, due to increased risk of death or stroke. Call your doctor about fever, stiff muscles, or confusion, which may mean a lifethreatening reaction or uncontrollable muscle movements, which may be permanent. Side effects may not appear for several weeks. High cholesterol and weight gain; high blood sugar, which can lead to coma or death decreased white blood cells, which can be fatal; dizziness upon standing; falls; seizures; impaired judgement; heat sensitivity; and trouble swallowing may occur. Youre more than just your bipolar i. Ask about vraylar. Mr. President. Yes. You have another meeting tomorrow with Rod Rosenstein. Yes. Are you plan og to fire Rod Rosenstein . Im talking to him. Weve had a good talk. He said he never said it. He said he doesnt believe it. He said he has a lot of respect for me. And he was very nice. And well see. And hes a member of the Trump Administration in that sense. Its the justice department. I would certainly prefer not doing that. President trump told reporters today he prefers, as you heard, not to fire Deputy Attorney general Rod Rosenstein. Its been an open question because of and since the New York Times report from friday that said rosenstein had suggested perhaps secretly recording trump, discussed the 25th amendment, which concerns removing a president from office. The president , who after all as Ashley Parker pointed out tonight came to office from a background in reality television, also suggested today he may delay his planned meeting tomorrow with rosenstein because it could compete with the kavanaugh hearing. I may call rod tonight or tomorrow and ask for a little bit of a delay to the meeting because i dont want to do anything that gets in the way of this very important Supreme Court pick. So i dont want it competing and hurting the decision one way or the other decision. Again, i want to hear what she has to say. But i dont want to so i may delay that. Im going to see. I dont want to do anything thats going to conflict with that. But my preference would be to keep him and to let him finish up. So whenever this meeting takes place, Ashley Parker and phil rucker of the Washington Post report that at the very least itll be awkward. People close to the president predict that the meeting could be deeply uncomfortable for rosenstein, especially if Trump Presses him on the veracity of the reporting about his alleged disloyalty. As one outside trump adviser quipped, rosenstein would be wise to arrive wearing some depends. But for now, rosenstein simply awaits his fate. With us to talk about it tonight, chuck rosenberg, a former u. S. Attorney and a former senior fbi official. Okay, chuck, granted we are those of us who are not principals are in the cheap seats by definition. And its easier for those of us in the cheap seats to dispense advice. Having said that, what would your advice be to Rod Rosenstein . How should he walk in there . What should he be prepared to say or not say to the president . Brian, always easier from the cheap seats. But i actually think that mr. Rosensteins task is relatively simple. Hes going to tell the truth. Thats what we do at the department of justice. We tell the truth. And so if he said it, he tells the president he said it. If he said it sarcastically, he tells the president he said it sarcastically. If he didnt say it at all, well, then theres your answer. I think this is somewhat overwrought and perhaps overstated, and i think Rod Rosenstein actually has a reasonably easy task. I suspect you may be right. If it goes the other way and there is no Rod Rosenstein after the meeting, what will your level of concern be about the mueller effort writ large . Moderate level of concern, brian. Let me explain that. I think we focus too much on the individual. I dont mean you and i. I just mean generally. And not enough on the institution. There were 100 attorneys general after rode rosenstein. There will be 1,000 after. The yankees kept playing after dimaggio retired. The red sox kept playing after williams retired. Ted, not brian. Thank you. In case anyone was confused. The halls of the department of justice we always say are filled with irreplaceable people all of whom are eventually replaced. Theres also an incredibly strong gravitational pull by the department on those who work for it. By that i mean people who work there fervently believe in the rule of law. Theyre tethered to the constitution. And facts and law matter a lot. And so i suppose that whoever comes next is going to be of that ilk. I suppose whoever comes next will shepherd the mueller investigation. If im wrong, then im desperately wrong. But i actually tend to believe thats right. What is your 30second version when you look at the kavanaugh hearings . You come from a law and order and investigative background. Is this a perversion of all that, to not have to not hear from investigators tomorrow . It strikes me as crazy. It would have been so, so easy, brian, to ask the fbi to reopen their background investigation. And of course they would have done it. And so we would have had at least other witnesses, other victims, other friends, family, classmates, ways to corroborate, or to refute the allegations. Sadly, what we have now is a situation that puts dr. Ford in an almost untenable position because people can just pick sides. The more evidence you have the more the evidence drives the outcome of the case. And so maybe ive already gone over 30 seconds. But i think its a deeply flawed process not to try and adduce as many and as much facts as you can. Chuck rosenberg, thank you for always telling it straight when you come on with us. We appreciate it. And coming up for us, the president today accused a foreign power of meddling in our elections. The only problem is its just not the country thats been found to be doing it. And then, more jobs began to appear. These techs in a lab. This builder in a hardhat. The welders and electricians who do all of that. The diner staffed up cause they all needed lunch. Teachers. Doctors. Jobs grew a bunch. What started with one job spread all around. Because each job in energy creates many more in this town. Energy lives here. So lets promote our falle a homecomingtravel dealame, on choicehotels. Com like this. Touchdown. Earn a free night when you stay just twice this fall. Or, badda book. Badda boom. Book now at choicehotels. Com regrettably, we found that china has been attempting to interfere in our upcoming 2018 election. Coming up in november. Against my administration. They do not want me or us to win because i have the first president ever to challenge china on trade. And we are winning on trade. We are winning at every level. The president presiding at the u. N. This morning by accusing another Security Council member of trying to undermine the u. S. Electoral process. Not russia, mind you, but china. Hours later during todays 81minute president ial News Conference eamon javers of cnbc tried to get out a few more specifics. Earlier today and just now you made a significant allegation against the chinese government. I did. You suggested that the chinese had meddled in or thats right. Thats what i hear. Thats what i hear. What evidence do you have of that, sir . Do you have we have evidence. We have evidence. It will come out. I cant tell you now but it didnt come out of nowhere. That i can tell you. Zplt president went on to say that despite his tough stance on trade china has total respect for him and his, quote, very, very large brain. Later mark landler of the New York Times again brought up chinas alleged election interference. How would you compare the level of interference you see today from the chinese to what russia did in 2016 . Well, i think its different. If you look at the des moines register, they have ads that are made to look like editorials saying about oh, youve got to stop trump, youve got to stop him, youve got to vote against him. President trumps answer eventually went on for a total, you get the picture, of two minutes 39 seconds with hand gestures. At no point in the reply did the president mention the words russia or putin. Which brings us to our next guest. Clint watts is back with us, a veteran of the fbi who is currently a senior fellow with the Foreign PolicyResearch Institute and conveniently author of messing with the enemy surviving in a social media world of hackers, terrorists, russians and fake news. Clint, this took a lot of us by surprise. Does china represent a more clear and present danger to our election process than russia . I think it took the chinese by surprise too, based on their faces. It was clear they were getting the translation. Just some interesting frid i frayeding from the president. China does take ads out in newspapers. Routinely. Many countries do this in the United States. Trying to push whatever their policy position would be. And there are actually many countries that fund think tanks or donate to think tanks in the United States to try and, you know, actually push their agenda. But its overt and they claim that they do this. Its not a hidden thing. This is wildly different. The other thing the president said is against him in 2018. He made it sound as if china is running against his Electoral Campaign in 2018 as if hes confused that hes not actually running for election, that there are congressmen running for election. And what this really comes down to is theyve always tried to push this, that it could be someone else or everybody is doing it. This is the rationalizing of what we heard in the election. So its very consistent. Whenever the president was challenged about the russian interference in the election in 2016 very early on he would throw in well, it could be china, it could be someone else. What i imagine is going on is were building what i fear to be alternative intelligence trying to say well, maybe theres . Sort of other interference that is out there. But this looks remarkably different. We dont see hacking. We dont see infiltration of audiences. We dont see social immediate y. We dont see statesponsored news. China doesnt have statesponsored news outlets in iowa that are actually broadcasting information. This is wholly different. And it really just looks like a deflection. At the same point the president has not addressed what we do know about 2018. There have been two senators that have been hacked, shaheen and mccaskill. That we know of. That we know of. There have been challengers to congressman rohrabacher in california that have been hacked that we know of. Weve seen some infiltration of the space but nothing as aggressive as 2016 but the president hasnt really brought up that. So its curious that if he is worried about this election interference while he could be pushing congress to pass the honest ads act, which is Everybody Needs to overtly declare on their advertisements kind of like china just did in this newspaper here, and he could be pushing for election infrastructure security. The lankford Kamala Harris bill is another one that has essentially stalled in congress. Still not passed. 45 seconds im told. Tough question to answer quickly. Were going to be anchoring Midterm Election coverage in less than six weeks from this very studio. How worried are you about the integrity of the raw vote that we will be broadcasting that night . Im not overly concerned. Im only worried about a few states that dont have the paper ballot backups, dont have a verifiable audit trail. Thats what im most concerned about because i dont think theyll actually be hacked. I dont think any votes will be changed. But it provides an opening for someone to change the narrative that maybe you cant trust your vote. All right. Very important answer. Thank you. Well stay in touch as they say. Clint watts returning to our broadcast tonight. And coming up, the way President Trump heard it, world diplomats werent laughing at him yesterday at the u. N. , they were laughing with him, as we will hear him explain after this. In less than two years my administration has accomplished more than almost any administration in the history of our country. Americas so true. Didnt expect that reaction but thats okay. Thats the moment that got a whole lot of attention around the world when laughter broke out during the president s speech to the general assembly. He bragged about his achievements, something he does unsxha unchallenged and constantly at lailz. B the laughter built as the u. N. Heard his words in translation. He was asked about the laughter again today. This time he went after the media and insisted the u. N. Audience was laughing with him. And i heard a little russell and i said its true. And i heard smiles. They werent laughing at me. Me. We had fun. That was not laughing at me. So the fake news said people laughed at President Trump. They didnt laugh at me. People had a good time with me. We were doing it together. We had a good time. They respect what ive done. The United States is respected again. This morning on fox news, u. N. Ambassador nikki haley said the World Leaders laughed because they respect trump and, quote, love how honest he is. That does go counter to what many witnessed inside the u. N. Chamber yesterday in the opening minutes of the president s speech. Another and final break for us tonight. Coming up, the president s obsession on display today for all the world to see and hear. Withwhat sore back . Sk. What bum knee . Advil is relief thats fast strength that lasts youll ask. What pain . With advil introducing fidelity stock and bond index funds with lower Expense Ratios than comparable vanguard funds. And we now offer the industrys first true zero Expense Ratio index funds directly to investors. Plus, we have Fidelity Mutual funds with zero minimum investment. How many other firms give you this much value . Absolutely zero. Why dont they do what they say say what they mean baby, one thing leads to another copd makes it hard to breathe. So to breathe better, i go with anoro. Go your own way copd tries to say, go this way. I say, ill go my own way, with anoro. Go your own way oncedaily anoro contains two medicines called bronchodilators that Work Together to significantly improve lung function all day and all night. Anoro is not for asthma. 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People know that a lot of the news is fake and a lot of the people sitting here are fake. But 20 of them are wonderful, okay . Last thing before we go here tonight, donald trump on the news media. As we said, it is difficult still to sum up todays 81minute press conference, still hard to get our arms around exactly what transpired in the word flurry and claims all over the map. Among the few reoccurring themes, the president s relationship with the media. As critic and consumer, his lifelong addiction to the New York Times, which he loves to hate but finds himself needing just the same, and his unfetterred love for one particular cable news network. You can check with sean hannity, you can check with fox, because they covered it very strongly. I was accused by four or five women who got paid a lot of money to make up stories about me. We caught them and the Mainstream Media refused to put it on television. They refused to even write about it. The whole top Center Front Page of the New York Times, the New York Times did false reporting. Theyre fake news. And you know what . The New York Times would not report that their story was fake. Front page. When i heard that they caught these four people, i said, wow, thats a big story. And it was for fox. We know much more than the media for a change. Much more. Mr. President , susan lee from fox business. Did you reject a oneonone meeting with the canadian Prime Minister justin trudeau. Yeah, i did. Good job, too. You do a very good job. Really. Yes, please. I came back to new york and i picked up the failing New York TimesNew York Times, come on. New york times. The failing New York Times, stand up, go ahead. I think theyre going to endorse me. Abc, fox. I like fox, i really do. Abc, cbs, nbc, the times, theyre all going to endorse me because if they dont, theyre going out of business. Could you imagine if you didnt have me . I know you were pointing to me but i work for pbs news outlet. No, i know that. They werent laughing at me. They were laughing with me. We had fun. The fake news said people laughed. They didnt laugh at me. Ive had many false statements against me. Sean hannity covered it. Is it okay if i give it to the New York Times, mr. President . Can i ask a question since i am from the New York Times before this gentleman. Where . Im actually from the New York Times. Ill let you do it after he does it. In honor of a paper i once loved. The New York Times. Oh, okay. Thank you, sir. I would have gotten a bad story in the New York Times, but i will anyway, so i guess it doesnt matter. Okay, well do you after and then call it quits. Were kind of thriving not failing these days. Youre doing very well. Say thank you, mr. Trump. I still love the paper. Go ahead. The president on the media. That will bring this hour of media to a close on a wednesday night. A reminder, were back on the air tomorrow morning for live coverage of the hearing as its gavelled to order 10 00 a. M. Eastern time. No now, from all of us here, thank you so much for being with us tonight. Good night from nbc news headquarters in new york. Thanks to you at home for joining us this hour. So the first one was reported out by the Washington Post. Dr. Christine blasey ford contacted her member of congress in california, and then ultimately her senator, a Senior Member on the Judiciary Committee, which is considering the Supreme Court nomination of judge Brett Kavanaugh. At the same time she reached out to those members of congress, she contacted the Washington Posts anonymous tip line. The first time that we, the public, learned of her name is after the Washington Post got in touch with her thanks to that call to the tip line. The post vetted her story, they spoke to corroborating witnesses and they published an