Welcome to the lead, im jake tapper. We begin with president Trumps Supreme CourtBrett Kavanaugh whose confirmation was once seen as a sure bet, now its in question. All ten democratic members of the Senate Judiciary committee are pushing for a delay on the committee vote. But far more significantly, four republican senators including one on the committee agree, insisting that they need to hear directly from kavanaughs accuser, Christine Blasey ford, before proceeding. The president praised kavanaugh still and argued that the accusations should have been brought forward sooner by the democrats who have known about it since july. Judge kavanaugh is one of the finest people that ive ever known. Hes an outstanding intellect, outstanding judge respected by everybody. Never had even a little blemish on his record. At the same time, we want to go through a process, we want to make sure everything is perfect, everything is just right. I wish the democrats could have done this a lot sooner. Yesterday ford went public with accusations of attempted Sexual Assault against nkavanauh to the Washington Post. Until then she was anonymous, only sharing her identity with representatives in congress. Ford alleges that in the early 1980s as a teenager, a drunken kavanaugh held her down and tried to undress her at a party and that she feared for her life as he put his hand over her mouth. Fords lawyer today said she felt the act was an attempted rape at the time. Kavanaugh strongly denies the allegation, calling it, quote, completely false and saying, quote, i have never done anything like what the accuser describes to her or to anyone. This never happened, unquote. Both ford and kavanaugh say theyre willing to testify publicly. Lets get to cnns jeff zeleny at the white house. Considering how angry were told President Trump is behind the scenes, those were measured comments he just made. Reporter they were measured comments and disciplined, as well, almost more disciplined than anything i can recall him saying, reacting with on an issue with such consequences. That is why the president was doing that. He knows how serious this is. The white house has been in touch with Senate Republicans all day long. Judge kavanaugh, in fact, was here at the white house for several hours working behind the scenes with officials who now are preparing him for the possibility of another public hearing. The only time the president showed a bit of anger today, when he was asked if judge kavanaugh should withdraw. He said that is a ridiculous question. Judge kavanaugh is reporter President Trump standing firmly behind Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Hes an outstanding intellect, an outstanding judge, respected by everybody. Never had even a little blemish on his record. Reporter he said he would be open to delaying the confirmation vote. I want him to go in at the absolute highest level, and i think to do that, you have to go through this. If it takes a little delay, it will take a little delay. It shouldnt certainly be very much. Reporter behind the scenes, cnn has learned the president is furious and frustrated by what he suspects is an 11th hour attempt to smear his pick for the Supreme Court. A california professor, Christine Blasy ford, accusing kavanaugh of Sexual Assaulting her while they were teenagers in high school. Kavanaugh calling it a completely false allegation. Yet his confirmation now hangs in the balance. Kellyanne conway, one of the highest ranking women in the white house, trying to set a tone of civility. On behalf of the president with whom ive spoken at length about this. She should not be ignored or insulted. She should be heard. Reporter sending a message to others around the president this moment is a serious one. It came after the president s son, donald trump jr. , mocked want accuser in this Instagram Post citing judge kavanaughs sexuality letter found by dems, will you be my girlfriend . Yes, no, love brett. Last year Alabama Republican Senate candidate roy moore garnered these comments by the president la he said 40 years ago this did not happen. Reporter less than two months before the midterms when women voters and candidates are playing a critical conditi a white house is treading carefully saying kavanaugh and ford should be heard. Its an open question how long the president remains measured. With the midterms in the future some 50 days away, combined with this me too movement, the white house taking this very seriously and trying to send a message both sides should be heard. I think the question is will the president s allies, his own son included, keep on that same message, or are we about to see a new battle here in washington erupt . Jake . Im guessing the battles going to happen. Jeff zeleny, were not there yet. Lets talk about there with the experts. Simone, i want you to listen to our own manu raju. Just spoke to senator orrin hatch who had spoken on the phone with judge kavanaugh. Take a listen. What did he say to you . He didnt do that. He wasnt at the party. So you know, theres clearly somebodys mixed up. I think shes mistaken. He didnt do that. He wasnt at the party. Clearly somebodys mixed up, i think shes mistaken, whats your response . Im trying to figure out how judge kavanaugh knows he wasnt at a party that ford doesnt know come party he was at. He remembers he wasnt at a party where he didnt do what he was accused of this is why we need a hearing. I think judge kavanaugh has been credibly accused. And senator hatch included, anyone who partiasserts that sh mixed up, mistaken iss do a disservice to is doing a disservice to all women. Particularly making it hard to come forward with stories. Brett kavanaugh says hes willing to talk to the Senate Judiciary committee, quote, in any way the committee deems appropriate. Is there anything he could say that i know you oppose him on policy grounds. On judicial grounds. But on this issue, having to do with this accusation, is there anything he could say that would satisfy concerns you might have . I think that the challenge is hes already said something, right. He unequivocally denied the accusations and following up on simones point, i think its the strongest he could be on it. I think he has denied any wrongdoing in this way. Any behavior that looks like this. I think the real challenge, it sounds like he and his friends used to get really drunk in high school. From what i understand, you get really drunk in i was a good christian i did not have my first drink until i was 24. Thats about the only part of the good christian i was, though. But sorry, change the direction. I want to be honest. I believe in truth. Even when its damaging. We appreciate it. The reality here is, you know, he has some really big red flags to me. And this is just the latest one. This isnt the only one. And i look forward to his testimony. Its not in any form in which the Senate Judiciary committee deems necessary. It should be public just like anita hills was public 27 years ago. Listen to Kellyanne Conway this morning trying to send a signal to everybody in the white house, maybe even her boss, about what she thinks the tenor and tone should be about this accusation and the accuser. She should not be insulted. She should not be ignored. Sheep should testify under oath and do it on capitol hill. Thats up the Senate Judiciary committee, they need to decide. She should not be insulted. She should not be ignored. If she wants to testify, she should. Is that the right tone . That is the right tone. That is right messaging, but it is not going to help judge kavanaugh. Why . Everyone that defended locker room talk from President Trump is not going to have credibility before the american people. Yes, he does have to defend himself on this. And he is at a significant disadvantage because he cant have the white house behind him because they are compromised on this issue. And so i think he can make it through. I think he can be confirmed if no other evidence comes up. But if there is one witness that comes out, one more story, a picture, anything, given the categorical denials that he has given, he has no wiggle room. You were at the white house during the Clarence Thomas hearings, right . The bush white house, you worked for the Vice President , dan quayle. Does this remind you of all that . I was there working with the teams reporting, Clarence Thomas, i never thought id see that again. Here we are, you know. This allegation is more serious than the one it is more serious. Theyre quite different in many ways. Right. I just think we need to have the testimony from both of them, and then see what what other con temperatutemporaneous evide witness theres are on another seed and make a sober judgment. Because you think Brett Kavanaugh drank too much or others think that professor ford should have come forward earlier, its irrelevant. Either its true professor ford says something happened, judge kavanaugh says it didnt. Lets do our best to find out the truth. Jake, i want to be clear, for me there is no debate. I believe professor ford. Judge kavanaugh has lied multiple times under oath come on, thats ridiculous. Thats ridiculous. Im saying i believe her you think theres no chance you were convinced by one allegation about something 35 years ago im convinced, jake, because when i was in college, i was intoxicated, and a man who i had previously rebuffed his advances multiple times took advantage of the fact that i could not consent one night. The next day, he denied raping me. Thats exactly what he did. And if he ever came came up for a Supreme Court nomination, president of the united states, or congressman, whatever, i dont care, its been 20 years, 50 years, i would come forward. I dont think anyone that has ever done that, whether it was once in their life or 50 times, deserves to sit at the highest seat in power i agree. We have no knowledge whether Brett Kavanaugh did that i believe Christine Ford no, because to come forward, she has no theres no enticeme enticementleenticements for her to come forward and have her life destroyed. To have folks sit on panels such as these and others and have the senate, the leader in the senate, basically tear down her character and assert that shes a liar. So theres no incentive for her to come forward except to tell the truth. Except to do her Due Diligence this. Isnt a criminal proceeding. This is i think something happened to her. I not theres a ton. Potential for gray area in this kind of scenario. If he was stumbling drunk, well, why did it stop . Did she stop and maybe he stopped . The speculation, its just wrong. The part of this is why this is such a difficult situation. If you are going to stop this confirmation, we need more information. I think this because we dont teach consent is the issue. I think what she said in her letter or what she said and her lawyer has conveyed is that kavanaugh alleged lie wly on to her and a friend of kavanaughs, mark judge, jumped on them and knocked him off, and she was able to get out. I think thats how it happened. Sounds like a terrible drunken situation where a lot of things could go wrong. No, look, the letter is compelling in the arenas that it doesnt look like something that was made up. And in fact, she puts in details that could or could not be corroborated. Was mark judge in the room, they can probably try to find out if there was such a party and so forth. I am not questioning her motives or at this point saying that i know whos telling the truth. This is we need to have the hearing, need to investigate this. There are a couple of observations i have. The first is there were 65 women who signed to a letter, you know, attesting to the great moral character of Brett Kavanaugh women who knew him back in High School High school. And Chuck Grassley who headsup the Judiciary Committee released this letter without telling these women why they were signing on to this letter. Now, after those 65 women have signed on to it, they found out what happened, two of them have spoken up. So bill, i would say to you, someone who i enjoy being on panels with all the time, even watching your response to simone right now, the kind of this overbearing, overtalking of with women, is exactly the reason why anita hill had the kind of hearing she had when you were helping Clarence Thomas and the reason why a lot of women refuse to speak up because not only i do believe in the criminal justice system. But this is not a criminal justice situation i agree, and im not criticizing her for speaking up. I think we need to suspend judgment we learn more. Why dont you believe her . Im saying i dont know who to believe, thats correct. I tried carefully to say that. Im saying i dont know who to believe. I think thats okay. The reason for even that doubt, that is exactly why this hearing, this investigation, everything about their testimony needs to be in a public format i agree with that. I agree with that. Can we say its brave that you came out, you did it on twitter also, and shared your story. We all know you. I believe you, im sure everybody here believes you. I dont know professor ford. And so i think there are a lot of people who might just be i want to hear what she has to say, im not saying she didnt do it shes got a polygraph, therapist notes from 2013 and 2012. Some would say why did it take so long . I had a cousin who told us she was molested, and shes older now. What the timing is. Thank god i am privileged, ive never been subject to molestation or Sexual Assault. I dont know what that burden is like. But i would like for us to at least give these folks to have the grace to come forward whenever they do thats something thats come out of this. Im serious. The initial reaction when it came out, a lot of conservative men that i follow on twitter were like, that was 17 years ago, he was a kid, it doesnt matter more than 17. 35 deletedet tweets. They saw deleted the tweets. They saw what happened, what happens to 15yearold girls can change the rest of their life. They said, you changed my mind. I think theres greater understanding. Even though we dont know for sure, where the context was, who could have seen it, there is more understanding of the situation. And well all well come back and talk more. Well come to you first. We want to hear more. She deserves her day in court. Will republicans delay the kavanaugh vote in thats the question. Majority leader Mitch Mcconnell weighing in moments ago. Plus, the worst is yet to come. Thats the warning from one citys mayor in North Carolina where water is rapidly rising. Ooh, heaven is a place on earth uhp. I didnt believe it. Again. Ooh, baby, do you know what thats worth . I want to believe it. [ claps hands ] ooh im not hearing the confidence. Okay, hold the name your price tool. 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