Closer to having this issue be resolved, and judiciary chairman Chuck Grassley had hoped to hold a Confirmation Vote at one point as soon as monday. But sources telling manu raju and Ariane De Vogue that they did reach a tentative agreement to do a hearing on thursday, that news emerging minutes after the white house releasing the statement saying the Judiciary Committee appeared no closer to a hearing. It is dragging it out, from the white houses perspective, but its granting fords request for more time to prepare before she appears before the Judiciary Committee. Again, a tentative date set for thursday, knowing theres more details to be hammered out, which is expected to happen tomorrow. Ariane and sarah, thank you both. Joining us now, former democratic senator barbara boxer, host of the podcast fight back, and back in 1991, she was part of a group of female lawmakers who marched
thursday. So the date is set. But were not sure yet or for sure if it will be public. Would you encourage her to speak publicly . I just feel she should do what makes her comfortable. But i think at some point its important that the public see her. It doesnt have to necessarily be there. But it ought to be in a place where she feels comfortable to tell her story, because this wasnt her point. She came forward out of civic responsibility, because someone who she said attempted to rape her is poised to go to the highest court in the land, where he is going to rule on womens rights. And what we know, if you just read judge kavanaughs dissent in the case of an immigrant who was 17 years old and went through all the hoops in texas and he tried to stop her from exercising her right to choose, the way he talks about her is chilling. And so its really theres so
many dimensions to this. But ana, i wanted to say, after so many years in the United States senate where i was chairman or Ranking Member on subcommittees and full committees, i want to say, ive never seen a process like this. I have never seen a situation where the republicans or the democrats were not reaching out to the other party to work with the witnesses together, to accommodate the witnesses. And its really rather stunning. And i would say if my colleagues on the republican side are too afraid to show their face and question this individual who deserves their attention and respect, it shows that they really dont know how to do their job. And we shouldnt be paying them to do their job if they cant be there. There has never been a situation where there was outside counsel or other people questioning someone related to a supreme
court hearing. When you look back at the Clarence Thomas hearings, republicans were slammed for how they crossexamined hill, while democrats like joe biden were also blamed for not taking her seriously enough. Biden talked about that recently. My biggest regret was, i didnt know how i could shut you off if you were a senator and you were attacking anita hills character. So what happened was, she got victimized again during the process. How would you advise democrats to handle the ford hearing if she does testify publicly . Well, i would say to all of my colleagues, number one, have the courage and the guts to do your own questioning and treat this person with total respect. Dont harangue her, dont harass her, give her the time she needs to express herself. This is a situation where
someone has kept inside their heart, inside their mind, a moment in time where they thought, she thought she might even die, when he put his hand over her mouth, didnt allow her to scream for help. And it was a miracle that she got away. And let me just say this. Ive Read Everything about this account. Ive talked to ana eshoo, her congresswoman, who sat with the doctor for an hour and a half. She is very believable. So when youre facing someone like that who has finally had the courage, and she did tell a Marriage Counselor and her husband about it several years ago, but shes come forward. Treat her with dignity, treat her with respect. Treat her the way you would want to be treated or you want want your daughter to be treated. You talked about how this process and the way senators had handled it is unlike anything
you have experienced before. Yes. What do you make of how democrats have handled it so far, the fact that feinstein, your senator there in california, did not alert her colleagues on the committee to the allegations when she learned about them . I know youre close to her. Could she have handled this better . Let me just tell you something. When you are a United States senator or a congressperson, and a constituent comes to you and shares something theyve never shared, and says to you on the phone or in a letter, i please need you to respect my privacy, im afraid, thats your job. Thats what dianne did. When it was leaked out, she immediately sent it to the fbi, she immediately showed it to her colleagues. So no, that was the paramount thing. You dont run off and use your constituents to make political points. You dont do that. Counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway says ford deserves to be heard but she also implied in her more recent statements that because no other women have come forward with accusations against kavanaugh, fords allegations may be suspect. Listen. You see a pattern and a practice. Which is what . Well, that there are many there are many women who say theyve been wronged by the same man. Harvey weinstein, les moonves, others. I dont need to name names. Im just saying that when one woman comes forward, others come forward. Thats whats happened in most of these cases. And i know its not for lack of trying that people are trying to prove the same here and have not. Senator boxer, how do you respond to that . Heres how we respond to it. A, we dont know if there are other people out there who might be afraid to come forward. We dont know this. We may find out there are. We may never find out. But guess what . If you try to rape somebody, only one person in your life, you are called a rapist or an attempted rapist. This is a person who is up for the highest court in the land. If in fact he did this once, he should not be on the court. And if theres doubt about it, there are so many fine men and women out there who would love to be on the court. I just feel everything is upside down and inside out. We dont want a Supreme Court justice with a cloud over his head. We dont want to worry when theres a case about equal rights, that we have someone sitting there who has shown anger toward women. By the way, there are a lot of threads out there about him, when he was at yale. I dont even want to repeat some of the things ive read, because thats why we needed an
independent look by the fbi. Thats also unprecedented. They certainly did that when anita hill came out with her comments. And thats what you do. I put up so many judges and recommended them to both republican and democratic president s, okay . I served with both. The fbi went back and investigated. If something popped up in the course of their investigation, they would go all the way back to childhood. So im telling you, there are threads out there about secret societies he belonged to, what these societies were called. There are lots of other things. His friend who was supposedly in the room, mr. Judge i believe, mark judge, wrote about someone named okavanaugh who was drunk and throwing up and the kind of parties going on. Presumably these are all things that could be asked of
kavanaugh, could be asked of professor ford about the time and what was going on at the time and about more of their personal lives. Yes. During this hearing that we expect now to happen on thursday. Again, coming back to where we started in this segment and that 1991 hearing that you were part of that time with anita hill and Clarence Thomas, we know how that ended after the hearings and after the investigation played out in that case. Fast forward to today, the me too movement, this era of women coming forward and being believed. Will this end differently . Well, look. We dont know how its going to go. We dont know how its going to end. But i would say this. When you look at the republican side of that committee, and theyve had 27 years to add one woman to their side, they have not done so. On the democratic side, there are four women out of ten. On the republican side, no women out of 11. And you already had hatch saying some terrible things, that shes mixed up, that he doesnt believe her. You already had grassley making some comments. Its not good. And i think what the public is going to see, i really believe this, is a very big difference on where the parties have gone. When i started out in politics, both parties supported womens rights, and the right to choose, and equal pay. Even the e. R. A. And over the years, weve seen these parties go in opposite directions, and weve seen more women go to the house and senate, who are democrats. Let me just say this. I think were going to see a huge wave of women in november, regardless of all of this. If you put together the me too movement, this whole situation, the largest womens march in
history. Somethings in the air. And i dont think its partisan. I think its this. I think women are going to vote for people who want true equality and respect and dignity shown toward women. I really do. Senator barbara boxer, thank you very much. We really appreciate your perspective. Thanks, ana. What are the possible outcomes for kavanaugh at this point . Is there a scenario where the white house needs to make a backup plan . A president ial historian joins us live. Also this guy is an altar boy, a scout. Because one woman made an allegation, sorry, i dont buy it. But in The Grand Scheme of things, my goodness, there was no intercourse. There was maybe a touch. Can we really . 36 years later shes still stuck on that . Why a group of republican women cnn talked to are standing by brett kavanaugh. Youre live in the cnn newsroom. At t provides edgetoedge intelligence, covering virtually every part of your healthcare business. So that if she has a Heart Problem the staff needs to know, they will theyll drop everything can you take a look at her vitals . Share the data with other specialists yeah, im looking at them now. Theyll drop everything hey. Take care of this baby yeah, that procedure seems right. That one too. At t provides edge to edge intelligence. It can do so much for your business, the list goes on and on. Thats the power of. When your patients tests come back. You wouldnt accept from any one else. Why accept it from your Allergy Pills . Flonase relieves your worst symptoms including nasal congestion, which most pills dont. Flonase helps block 6 key inflammatory substances. Most pills only block one. Flonase. Ok here we go guys, you ready . Hi cinturones por favor. Gracias. Opportunity is everywhere. Its gonna be fine. Its a door. Its doing a lot of kicking down there. Waiting to be opened. Whatever your ambition. Whatever your drive. Whatever youre chasing. Driver, are we almost there . Were gonna have a baby daddy daddy opportunity is everywhere. All you have to do to find it is get out. Here. They work togetherf doing important stuff. The hitch . Like you, your cells get hungry. Feed them. With centrum micronutrients. Restoring your awesome, daily. Centrum. Feed your cells. With tripadvisor, finding your Perfect Hotel at the lowest price. Is as easy as dates, deals, done simply enter your destination and dates. And see all the hotels for your stay tripadvisor searches over 200 booking sites. To show you the lowest prices. So you can get the best deal on the right hotel for you. Dates, deals, done tripadvisor. Visit tripadvisor. Com
cnn now confirms lawyers for judge brett kavanaugh, Christine Ford, and staffers from the Judiciary Committee have worked out a tentative agreement for ford to testify on thursday at kavanaughs newly reopened confirmation hearing. As we now wait for more details, we want to take a step back and look at the bigger picture. With us to do just that, cnn president ial historian tim naftali, and david kaplan who interviewed justice and their law clerks for his book, the most dangerous branch. Tim, if Christine Ford testifies on thursday and perhaps damages kavanaughs credibility or at the very least just appears credible herself, is there a backup plan behind the scenes, is the white house calling other potential nominees, should they be . Ana, thats a very important question. On thursday, as it appears likely now it will be thursday, there wont be a trial. It wont be a trial. Theres not going to be somebody found guilty or innocent, unless the judge, judge kavanaugh, should declare himself guilty. So since there wont be a verdict, its going to be up to the American People. And the court of Public Opinion is the most important court. And the American People and their representatives are going to decide whether professor Christine Blasey ford is credible. If shes credible in the minds of most americans and most importantly, in the minds of the people, many people in nebraska and in arizona, then that puts enormous pressure on two members of the republican majority, ben sasse and jeff flake. They are not fans of donald
trumps. They are solid, true blue republican conservatives. And they will have to ask themselves whether they in good conscience can vote for someone against whom there is a credible allegation of Sexual Assault. It may come down to the decisions of only a handful of people. Mmhmm. If they should decide that they cannot endorse judge kavanaugh, then well have the situation we had in 1991, when Clarence Thomas nomination was passed to the full Senate Without a recommendation from the Judiciary Committee. Then it will be the question of whether senator collins and senator murkowski will join Senators Flake and sasse. If they do, then kavanaugh will not be confirmed. That is a possible outcome. David, let me ask you, because i know you have had conversations at length with the current Supreme Court justices. Do you have any insight into how theyre viewing all this right now . Well, they hate seeing the court put in the political maelstrom. They cant stand this. Its inconsistent with what they think is the role of the court. They dont like Confirmation Hearings, the circus that Confirmation Hearings have become to begin with. They certainly cant stand this. And surely for Clarence Thomas, who hasnt gotten over his hearings almost 30 years ago, this has to reopen old wounds. Now, you asked before, are they looking at other candidates. If you were Ray Kethledge and amy coney barrett, you wouldnt be making vacation plans, you have to know the white house is actively thinking about them. Of course they wont put in any calls until kavanaughs nomination is dead, but they have to keep that in mind
because of course nobody knows what Public Opinion is going to look like. Nobody is going to know what key senators look like. It all comes down to her credibility and to a lesser extent, what he says. But he doesnt have much to say up there because so far his narrative has been, i barely know who this person was, i wasnt there, and i didnt do it. Theres not a whole lot else to ask him. Do you think the me too movement has influenced what the Supreme Court justices themselves think . What do you think they would feel about having two members serves on the court who have been accused of Sexual Assault or Sexual Harassment . They live in a marble temple, of course, but theyre not gods. They understand what goes on in society. When alex kozinksi, a federal judge in California Last Year was accused of Sexual Harassment and was ultimately forced to resign, the chief justice john
roberts appointed a committee to look into how federal judges ought better deal with Sexual Harassment claims from their law clerks. So theyre aware of what goes on. And surely they recognize that times have changed in 30 years. But they wont say anything publicly. Once kavanaugh or someone else is seated, they move on. They live up there at the court for decades at a time, and they have to get along. So even Clarence Thomas who had those rough hearings 30 years ago, once he was on the court, people got along. Tim, i want to look at a couple of worst Case Scenarios for republicans if kavanaugh isnt confirmed. One, kavanaugh fails, republicans scramble to find a backup before the midterms, history is not on their side necessarily getting a confirmation in time. And two, kavanaugh, his nomination fails or maybe he chooses to withdraw, and democrats win the senate. Theyre mindful of how merrick
garlands nomination was blocked in the obama era. Could we actually see this seat stay vacant until 2020 . Well, that question is the reason why Mitch Mcconnell committed a grave error, not only was it a constitutional assault, because he deprived the president of the United States of his constitutional right to have an appointment to the Supreme Court heard and judged. But he also laid down a marker. He basically said to democrats, do this to me, do it to the republicans, please, because thats and then what i fear is a cycle of revenge. Yes, of course the democrat