To be just hours away from a seat on the Supreme Court, but americans and the senate are bitterly divided. Republican senator Susan Collins, after days of silence, laid her cards on the table with a 45minute speech defending her decision to support kavanaugh. Republican senator Lisa Murkowski, the lone dissenting republican explained her opposition on the senate floor tonight. Even in these situations, the standard is that a judge must act at all times in a manner that promotes Public Confidence in the independence, integrity impartiality of the judiciary and shall avoid impropriety and the appearance of impropriety. And after after the hearing that we all watched last week, last thursday, it became clear to me or was becoming clearer that that appearance of impropriety has become unavoidable. So there you have it. Judge kavanaughs heated testimony last week impressed President Trump are, but it hurt him with others like senator murkowski. And now with his confirmation all but certain, the question is will the Supreme Court become just another partisan institution . And what will that do to this country . What will that do to america . Lets discuss now. Douglas brinkley is here, Susan Hennessey and harry litman. Good evening to all of you. Its good to have you on. Douglas, people are increasingly asking me how do we put things back together again after the last few years. What are your thoughts . Were not going to be able to do anything, don, with the midterm elections looming. I mean, if you were opposed to judge kavanaugh and youre angry tonight, youre going to have to do what barack obama always says and get out there and vote. Youve got to look for Democratic Candidates you like. If you didnt like seeing all you know white men on the judicial committee, youve got to vote for Claire Mccaskill for senator in missouri or jackie rosen in nevada. Meaning this is just one battle in a larger fight over where the countrys headed in the future. Its a big loss for the democrats, but its not a time to throw in the towel. On a larger point, after the election, there may be a time to rethink how we dont have to have this debris strewn, ugly fight thats so brutal for our Supreme Court nominees. But kavanaughs going to be on the court, and today was the best day of trumps presidency by getting him his second justice through. Susan, we heard republican Lisa Murkowski a moment ago saying that the judges behavior was one of the reasons that she could not vote for him. Why was she why do you think she was the only one on the republican side that that mattered to in the end . I dont know that she was the only one that that mattered to, but i do think that this was this is the thing that pushed partisanship is that we saw from Brett Kavanaugh in that thursday testimony. I think what she was speaking to is this notion that, yes, the Supreme Court has always been a somewhat political body and we shouldnt pretend otherwise. The basic legitimacy of the court depends on viewing judges making rules basesed on the law and not on their political preferences. She was speaking to the idea that will Brett Kavanaugh cant unring in bell. The oped seemed to make things worse. Now that he has been openly partisan in front of the American People, every single decision he makes i think theres going to be an asterisk and a question mark about whether or not they should be viewing this as legitimate. You know, harry, what kind of rulings do you think well see coming out of this court . How will this change america . Well, i this i we can expect in fact the consolidation of a conservative majority for upwards of 20 years. But senator murkowski is dead on. There will be some 54 decisions that will come out and they will all of them have this sort of double asterisk on them. And the court now, all it really has is its public credibility, which has been historically high, but there have been several junctures where it took a real hit, but they were all based on decisions from the court. Here you essentially have from the outside this problem visited on the court, a perception of partisanship that will be renewed with every new 54 decision, which you just have to imagine will happen. I dont think that youll see, say, roe v. Wade overturned, but there are many areas in executive power, federalism, church and state et cetera that the fiveperson majority will flex its muscles. And with each time, the scab will kind of be torn off again and the feeling of unfairness of the process will be renewed. You know, douglas, this is i guess the question is, does the process matter once hes on the Supreme Court . Because when kavanaugh joins the Supreme Court, hes going to be a majority minority justice. In other words, hell be in the majority on the Supreme Court but was nominate bade president that lost the popular vote and was confirmed by senators based on state population and a minority of the american population. Is that a problem . It is a problem but it reminds me back when fdr didnt like the Supreme Courts decisions being made so he tried to pack the Supreme Court from 9 to 15 and he created a huge brouhaha but he did get in william o. Douglas, the longest serving Supreme Court justice in u. S. History. The republicans never liked douglas. They thought he was too liberal. They tried to impeach him in the 1960s and 70s for some of his behavior, articles he wrote in magazines and the like. I think the democrats have to be careful to not start the impeach kavanaugh movement. Right now youre getting the Democratic Party being antitrump antikavanaugh party. They need to tell the American People when theyre for. And worry about some of the issues when they flare up. Roberts may end up being the centrist vote here. Im optimistic. I think hes partisan at heart. During the Affordable Care act decision, he showed a kind of reasonable balance. You have to keep fighting. There will be another Supreme Court slot opening in a few years. The question is also donald trump be president or somebody like Amy Klobuchar of minnesota who i thought emerged as the great star of the Democratic Party from these televised hearings. She went to yale also, university of chicago. She runs in iowa, she may be the person to take on trump. Theres Silver Linings out there for the antikavanaugh americans. Interesting. Susan, the Supreme Court is now in a position, what does this mean, the court is in a position where its significantly more conservative than the rest of the country. Yeah, so i think there are two ways in which were seeing the court really hurtling towards a crisis of legitimacy. One is sort of the partisanship and the manner which kavanaugh was appointed to the court. Two, it was the issue of the president having lost the popular vote. But its also this notion that we now have five justices that are substantially to the right of the majority of the country on really, really important issues. Now, that can occur sort of at the margins. The Supreme Court sometimes does things theyre not responsive to political polling. Whenever that happens too often, and it begins to feel fundamentally undemocratic so i do think that either were going to see Something Like chief Justice Roberts moving to the middle, moving to avoid those 54 splits, or more and more were going to be hearing about large scale reform for the Supreme Court, not just reinstating that 60vote limit but also potentially considering things like 18year terms. I got to play there, harry. I want to get your response to it. This is Justice Elena kagan on the makeup of the court. In the last really 30 years starting with Justice Oconnor and continuing with justice kennedy, there has been a person who people who found the center or people couldnt predict in that sort of way. Thats enabled the court to look as though it was not owned by one side or another, going forward, that sort of middle position, you know, he its not so clear whether well have it. So whatever the disagreements harry, among the justices, how important is it that the court, that the Supreme Court be perceived as not owned by one side or the other. I mean, its everything. Going back to what doug said about the fdr effort, the reason that came about, i mean it was considered ill advised. The reason it came about, that was the last time we had the same kind of fiveperson hegemony. What happened is you ceases to listen to the other side. Youre going to be wasting the talents and thoughts of kagan and sotomayor and breyer and ginsburg. That court was the one that became greatly discredited, the socalled lochner court. After douglas was appointed, it came into a different era, but every time, and theres only been a few youve had that kind of rock solid fiveperson majority, its been bad for the court. You dont want that kind of hegemony. You want them to talk to each other, bargain, reason and come to some kind of results that reflect something of the spirit of the country. Theres a real risk when it gets out of step. All right. Thank you all. I appreciate your time. Judge Brett Kavanaugh all but certain to be confirmed. One of his yale classmates is speaking out tonight, saying he shouldnt get the a seat on the Supreme Court. Charmin ultra soft its softer than ever. Charmin ultra soft is softer than ever so its harder to resist. Okay, this is getting a little weird enjoy the go with charmin the stage is set, the senate is voting in a matter of hours. All but certain to elevate judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. The country is still bitterly divided tonight. Joining me on the phone is liz swisher, she and kavanaugh were friends at yale. Liz, hello to you. You wrote an oped in the Washington Post along with your classmates Charles Ludington and lynn brooks. And its titled we were Brett Kavanaughs drinking buddies, and we dont think he should be confirmed. You said we each asserted that brett lied to the senate by stating under oath that he never drank to the point of forgetting what he was doing. We said unequivocally that each of us on numerous occasions had seen brett stumbling drunk to the point that it would be impossible for him to state with any degree of certainty that he remembered everything that he did when drunk. So his confirmation looks likely. Lou are you feeling about todays developments . Well, frankly, im grieving. Im grieving on many counts. Im grieving for the loss of truth and justice in our system. For the undermining of the Supreme Court process. And also for the women who bravely came forward and you know had their stories basically thrown away. Do you feel like people listened to you and your former classmates . I think i think people did listen to me, but i guess dont think it was enough because i think politics trumped truth and justice. So thats what i find so depressing because if we can surprise the Supreme Court just to the political beliefs and not believe that we need somebody in the court who is honorable, tells the truth, and is nonpartisan, then we have no check and balance in our system of government. Did you watch Susan Collins . I did not. I was at work but i read her statement. What did you think . Well, i obviously dont agree with it. So its not clear to me that she was really on the fence. It seems like that was a very well prepared long statement that would have required quite a bit of work ahead of time. You know, i question did she really have an open mind in the last couple days. Yeah, if she was actually undecideded. You mentioned the reasons why you dont think that Brett Kavanaugh should be on the Supreme Court. You talked about his temperament. He wrote an oped explaining why explaining why he was emotional, why he shouted about the nomination being a political hit job, that he was speaking as a son, husband and dad. What did you think of his testimony . I didnt like it. He came out with a prepared statement. So he just wasnt being pushed by the senators and then he snapped or broke. He came out with a prepared statement that was obviously auditioning straight to President Trump. With partisan rancor, claiming that these brave women who came forward were part of a clinton conspiracy, that really undermines their stories. You know, these women had nothing to gain. They were not paid. They were not they had no political gain from there. And so to sort of create that circus around it is demeaning to the women that he really should be apologizing to. Both Christine Blasey ford and Deborah Ramirez have several witnesses who they say have relate vent information, but the fbi didnt interview them, didnt contact them. Do you believe there was a thorough investigation done . No, it was not a thorough investigation. I dont think anybody believes that was a thorough investigation. Since you and your former classmates came forward, youve gotten hate mail, threats of violence. Youve lost friendships. Your entire lives have been turned upside down as i remember reading. One of you even had the server hacked at your place of employment. Do you regret going public now . No, i dont because i think if, when push came to shove, even though it maybe didnt make a difference with the confirmation, if i had sat on the sidelines i would have always regretted that. I would would have always regretted not speaking my mind. I believe it was my duty, my daughters are proud of me. You know, i think its the example that i want to set for my own daughters and you know, how i want to live my life going forward. I want to speak truth. So i would do it again. Lis swisher, thank you so much. Thank you, don. To a lot of the women, judge kavanaughs confirmation is about much more than the court. But will this ultimately be a watershed moment for the women of the United States . What do harvard graduates know about cognitive performance . As youd probably guess, a lot. Thats why a new brain Health Supplement called forebrain from the harvardeducated experts at force factor is flying off the shelves at gnc. Forebrains key ingredients have been clinically shown to help enhance sharpness and clarity, improve memory, and promote learning ability. And now every man and woman in america can claim a complimentary bottle. Just use your smartphone to text the keyword on the screen to 202020. Scientific research on cognigrape, a sicilian red wine extract in forebrains memorysafe blend, suggests not only sharper recall, but also improved executive function and faster information processing. Your opportunity to get into harvard may be gone, but its not too late to experience a brain boost formulated by some of their brightest minds. Just text the keyword on the screen to 202020 with your smartphone to claim your complimentary bottle of forebrain. Do it now before you forget. Thats the keyword on the screen to 202020. Anger over Brett Kavanaughs nomination spreading across the country. Protesters even drowning out senator joe manchin today as he tried to explain his yes vote on judge kavanaugh. I made my decision and i gave my reasons for our decision. I wanted to make sure. Shame, shame, shame you can listen to the people here. Are you concerned . Im very much concerned with the sexual abuse that people had to endure and very much concerned that we have to do something as a country. I had to deal with the facts i had in front of me. Here to discuss, hillary rosen, tara setmayer, Alice Stewart and the atlantics lena plott. Thank you all for joining this evening. Im so happy to have you on and to get your perspective. Because this is an important story for the country but especially for women. Tara, take a listen to what is Christine Blasey ford said in her testimony about coming forward. Once he was selected and it seemed like he was popular and it was a sure vote, i was calculating daily the risk benefit for me of coming forward and wondering whether i would just be jumping in front of a train that was headed to where it was headed anyway. And that i would just be personally annihilated. Tara, is that exactly what happened here. Exactly what happened. And if anyone wonders why survivors or victims of Sexual Assault or abuse do not come forward, this is exhibit a. I wrote about this at cnn. Com. This woman was ridiculed. She was mocked by the president of the United States with a bunch of people clapping behind him, laughing along at this. And that was a microcosm of what many women in this country felt like as survivors. And when those women approached jeff flake in that elevator and said look at me, senator, tell me that my assault didnt matter, that, at least he had some conscience to try to do something. But you know what . The way the republicans handled