College, not ever. This confirmation process has and offices, campuses and trains and planes, riveted by every momen boiling over. This is the most unethical sham since ive been in politics. Tonight we have reaction from the halls of congress, from the senators, with the Supreme Court nomination hanging in the balance, and from the white house where the president was watching after a day for the history books. Were any minds changed, and what happens now . This is nbc nightly news with lester holt. Good evening, a day that will go down in the history books, destined to becomen it happened moments. A marathon day of testimony as we heard for the first time publicly from dr. Christine blasey ford. The california professor whose allegation has thrown a Supreme Court nomination into turmoil. Dr. Ford unwavering in her certainty that Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her in the nba in the 1980s. And judge kavanaugh appearing shortly after at times angrily, even tearfully denying it happene
Conduct. I never heard that the white house under this president or other persistent is saying, well, you cant interview this person or look at this time period, you can only look at these people from one side of the street from when they were growing up. I mean, come on. We want to take a look at several part of this story, the fbis specific witness list does not include Julie Swetnick who has accused Brett Kavanaugh of Sexual Misconduct in high school. Former classmates who describe kavanaugh as a frequent, heavy drinker in college, they also are not on the list. And his behavior and lost his temper several times throughout that whole process. This is causing many to wonder if kavanaugh has the temperament and is fit for the Supreme Court regardless of the Sexual Misconduct allegations. Were also watching how kavanaughs nomination is impacting congress. Republican senator Lindsey Graham has already threatened to launch a probe into how ford fords allegations were first handled by his
Kavanaugh. But will it go far enough . And well hear from Attorney Michael Avenatti who wants his client, Julie Swetnick, to be included in the probe. Weeks ago, there was hope from republicans that Brett Kavanaugh would be sitting on the Supreme Court as its newest justice when the new term begins tomorrow. But today they face a very different reality as the fbi opens a Background Investigation amid multiple allegations of Sexual Misconduct against him. The fbi started right away on friday. But as of now, attorneys for dr. Christine blasey ford say they havent been contacted by investigators. Another accuser, deborah ramirez, has agreed to cooperate with the investigation. And nbc news reported the white house has limited the scope of that investigation, including a specific witness list that were told does not include Julie Swetnick who has alleged that kavanaugh was at a party where she was sexually assaulted in 1982. Or former classmates of kavanaughs who contradict some of his tes
Youre live in the cnn newsroom. Im anna cana can brera in new. Christine blasey ford was given a deadline of this afternoon to say once and for all whether she would go under oath before the committee and describe what she calls her attack by kavanaugh when they were teenagers. But the terms of the hearing are still up in the air. Christine blasey fords legal Team Released a statement when that deadline and this is it. Dr. Ford accepts the committees request to provide her firsthand knowledge of Brett Kavanaughs Sexual Misconduct next week. Although many aspects of the proposal you provided via email are fundamentally inconsistent with the committees promise of a fair, impartial investigation into her allegations, and we are disappointed with the leaks and bullying that have tainted the process, we are hopeful that we can Reach Agreement on details. Can we set up a time for later this afternoon to continue our negotiations . Republicans are expressing their frustration at that. Senator
Skirting around the things that really mattered and she was focused on her fear of flying, her, you know, credibility things. Who paid for the polygraph, you know, how did she find her lawyer. Because i think the defense there, essentially, was that this is a big conspiracy by the democrats. And so yeah. She didnt get to finish her job, and thats what so many people are wondering what the heck were going on when we were all sitting there watching that hearing. Ladies, thank you so much. I appreciate that analysis. Lets roll on to the top of the show. Here we go. Moments from now, President Trump is set to hold a medal of honor spokceremony at the white house. So well take that live as soon as we see him, momentarily. But first, to the breaking news. President trump lashing out on the Heated Supreme Court confirmation battle and the fbis latest Background Investigation of his nominee, Brett Kavanaugh. He says hes fine, the president says hes fine if the fbi interviews all three accusers