mitch mcconnell and i've never seen mitch mcconnell so happy than in the last couple days. he told me he saw polling showing how unifying the issue was for the republican party. >> just on the democratic side, they've been hard to find after this loss. we tried to reach out to a number of them. will somebody be able to make use of this to get their own voters? >> even democrats will acknowledge when you talk to them they're already saying out on the stump when they go home for the weekends the republican base is more fired up than it was just a few weeks ago. so they acknowledge this say real thing. it's not just a blip. they're encountering it and their base has been fired up for a long time so they've sustained this level of energy. is the republican energy a blip and now that they got the supreme court justice they want, do they go back to being content or is that energy that is going to last another month? >> one way in which it may last, john, is related to something that was written about in the new york times. he's been a vocal trump critic. he said in this case he w

mitch mcconnell wants a vote this week. lindsey graham still believes he is confirmed but judge kavanaugh will never be the same. judge kavanaugh's family have been through a horrific time with all of this. joining me to break this down as we wait for mitch mcconnell, deroy murdoch and former sex crimes prosecutor scott bolden. i apologize if we break away from mcconnell. deroy, we heard from mcconnell on the senate floor. we heard from chuck schumer, he wants to be completely briefed on fbi investigation. we don't know what is in the investigation. they're talking to everyone seems to have witnessed brett kavanaugh have a beer at a party. have we gone too far. >> this is gone on, too far. the breaking news today brett kavanaugh threw ice at somebody in college. this is ridiculous. this man written 306 judicial opinions. i have heard no discussion about that. if you're a liberal democrat, i'm sure a lot of things in his opinions you could challenge, why would you rule this way, why would he write such a thing. we're talking

we know this fbi report, mitch mcconnell said it is coming to the senate tonight. we know there are some top senate leaders are supposed to be here at 8 am eastern but just a reminder there's still a lot of back and forth going on between senator grassley, the chair of the committee and ford's legal team, just to remind begun once therapist notes because somewhere shared with the washington post, polygraph recordings of doctor ford taking the test. this is what her attorneys say, doctor ford is providing those documents to the fbi when she interviews which we've not yet heard about scheduling an interview with her. >> the senate is doing its investigation. democrats call the investigation, not sure why doctor ford's attorneys won't give the senators job is to do the investigation with the records they are asking for. >> this is what grassley says in response. the constitution past the senate, not the media, providing advice and consent for supreme court nominees, disappointing the doctor ford's attorneys were willing to share evidence with washington post any weeks

but mitch mcconnell really made that happen. he stood by and with the process and understanding the rules and agreeing to this investigation as part of the fbi, keeping wayward members happy. not enough has been said about the republican leader and how instrumental he was in not only of this nomination but the prior one. it helps to have a president of the united states that put forth the names he did. mitch mcconnell had to make it happen and this was as dicey as it came. through clear grit and savviness to make it happened. looks like it will come to pass and it was mitch mcconnell that cleared the roadway here to make sure it did. from the white house, blake burman on their reaction. >> at the 35 minute mark, i reached out to the white house official who has been very instrumental to get reaction on the speech. this person responded to me the following saying this speech is outstanding. a very big relief at the white house today. sarah sanders echoed on twitter, thank you senator collins for standing by your convictions and d

now i do think mitch mcconnell e been very critical and i know you have too of mitch mcconnell, but i think he is the one push pushing to say we're going to vote and we're going to vote soon. enough of the charade. lou: he had stood up admirably in defense of judge kavanaugh on the floor of the u.s. senate. he's making it very clear there will be a vote this week between the majority leader and the judiciary chairman chuck grassily. they're making it very clear. there will be no delay inspired by the left that is suddenly realizing that the american public is aware. they have nothing. this is a great juris and a person of judge kavanaugh and he deserves to be on the court adds appointed by president trump. >> if you sit back and look at it, they're not judging this person based on the merits. they're not arguing about a position. it's the politics of personal destruction. it's the scorched earth philosophy and then it radiates out and that's why you have these verbal attacks on the majority leader. you have other things happen. there's consequences to what the democrats are doing and

house, kevine cirilli on his interview with mitch mcconnell. pompeo's goaltary in going to saudi arabia? did he achieve it? bill: we are still waiting for a readout. he was there to get a full explanation on the missing journalist. what are the saudis doing and how credible is investigation? and to convey some of the rising concern in the unit it's about how this could damage the -- couldn about how this damage the u.s.-saudi relationship. we will hopefully get a sense of what some of the intelligence is that the turkish authorities say they have on the disappearance and killing. david: now we go to roman talk budget.e italian they submitted they budget and went. past the 2% limit. the italian bond did not really get hurt. greg: it's been very well signaled. what the is 3% for eurozone countries are allowed to spend on the deficit. italy has always held a fairly harder stance because it has such a large that. the eu commission has always set harder standards for italy. they went over what the eu wanted to spend. the previous garment -- governme

mitch mcconnell shepherded in neil gorsuch and now it looks like mitch mcconnell will bring in brett kavanaugh so mitch mcconnell deserves quite a tremendous amount of accolade in this entire process. >> this was probably going to be the most significant vote. >> donald trump deserves a lot of credit. there was a lot of pressure on the vitriol, sexism, misogyny, all these attacks. i have always said, we talked about this earlier, the victory of donald trump in 2016 was going to be significant for republicans because he was going to teach them how to fight and they all stood strong and you see these attacks even now. do we have the tweet on susan collins? >> the left totally attacking on this, it is predictable but the very interesting outcome of this. >> senator collins is a rape apologist. this over-the-top stuff turned a lot of people off. >> totally absurd and that is why the brett kavanaugh effect is a real one and republicans coalesced around this president but chuck grassley, lindsey graham, mitch mcconnell, the headline from the wall street journal in an article said brett kav

>> the senate majority leader mitch mcconnell initiated a four-day process. he's repeatedly said he wants to have the confirmation vote this week. so we had to initiate this process tonight before midnight and what he did here on capitol hill is filing an effort to limit debate. he filed that tonight buried by senate rule, that needs a day to lay over so tomorrow it lays dormant and that it ripens like a fruit on friday. that means it's available for a vote. that's the procedural vote to cut off debate. in these 51. in the old days, laster, 2017 when they were dealing with neil gorsuch mitch mcconnell lowered the bar to end filibusters. it used to be 60, it's now down to 51 so if you have invoked it on day three, friday, voted to cut off debate, then a 30 hour clock begins to run. that's all the time that the minority -- that opponents of the nomination can consume until it culminates in a confirmation vote probably on saturday, 30 hours thereafter. the senate rule says you vote on it one after you come in so it's possible they could have come in friday morni

so mitch mcconnell stopped merritt garland. mitch mcconnell pushed through justice kavanaugh. is mitch the king of the hill now for republicans? >> when you're at the capitol talking to senators in both parties you hear about the kavanaugh nomination being the searing national crucible that's changing our culture in so many ways. the senators trace it back to the garland nomination. when senators like flake were telling me over the weekend this is rock bottom for this institution they are referring to the atmosphere that goes back to garland, that led to kavanaugh with both leader schumer and leader mcconnell in their own separate camps. this is an institution when you see it up close where both sides are very rarely speaking to each other, the tensions are palpable and it comes down future of the courts in a way they are both dug in. leader mcconnell is about power. the courts are his concentration day in, day out. wants to overhaul the federal judiciary. it comes with a cost. he can talk about the historical, the lineups of the senate when other parties are in powerer and al

do you think he has the votes, though -- mitch mcconnell? >> i think he does. and, look, it's not just president trump that campaigned on scalia-like justices or more conservatives on the supreme court. a lot of senators campaigned on that issue and supporting president trump and throwing their support behind him for that reason, and many social conservatives put their support and their entire groups of followers behind president trump for this very reason. so the president and many others are relying on this to move forward. and, look, people are saying they're rushing this through. this was set for markup and vote last week. and based on the request from the democrats, we pushed that back. we had more time for testimony. we brought the fbi investigation, and as expected, the fbi's parameter was limited to credible and current testimony that had come up in the senate judiciary committee. i was confident they would get it done well before friday, and they did. and the senators will have plenty of time to read over this and have the vote and vote as many of them

that's because mitch mcconnell changed the calendar to keep the senatein. makes it harder for republicans to try to win re-election with the judges that elected donald trump in 2016. just a few minutes from now, we are expected to see rosendale in bozeman with vice president mike pence. >> dana: up there in god's country, have a good time. we are awaiting remarks from president trump. he's in philadelphia, as the white house touts the strong economy and its new trade agreement. >> dana: as the fbi digs into christine blasey ford's sexual assault allegations against judge brett kavanaugh, accusations of two other women still linger. although it remains uncertain whether investigators consider these claims credible or think they will pose any real challenge to his confirmation. joining me now is former policy director for the mitt romney campaign. good to have you here in studio, of course. take a listen to diane feinstein talking about this friday, three days from now, four days, being too soon to vote. watc watch. >> would a vote on friday on the floor be t

do you think he has the votes, though, mitch mcconnell? >> i think he does. and, look, it's not just president trump that campaigned on scalia-like justices or more conservatives on the supreme court. a lot of senators campaigned on that issue and supporting president trump and throwing their support behind him for that reason, and many social conservatives put their support and their entire groups of followers behind president trump for this very reason. so the president and many others are relying on this to move forward. and, look, people are saying they're rushing this through. this was set for markup and vote last week. and based on the request from the democrats, we pushed that back. we had more time for testimony. we brought the fbi investigation, and as expected, the fbi's parameter was limited to credible and current testimony that had come up in the senate judiciary committee. i was confident they would get it done well before friday, and they did. and the senators will have plenty of time to read over this and have the vote and vote as many of them

mitch mcconnell saying, hey, this vote is happening this week. he could not have been more clear about it. i understand you spoke to another key senator in all of this, west virginia democrat, joe manchin. >> reporter: that's right. we heard schumer, the democrats are not intending to move the goalpost any further, this is about this fbi investigation. they stand by that. setting this conversation aside, one week is one week. schumer believes the fbi can do their job. >> just to be clear -- nobody is arguing this should go past friday, it sounds like, republicans nor democrats are saying they want to extend this. everybody seems fine with the friday deadline. >> reporter: as long as the fbi is not straight jacketed as a democrat described it. as long as the fbi is able to do the work they deem necessary, yes. everyone seems to be fine with the concept of the week. schumer pushed back aggressively on republican hypocrisy on democrats overpoliticizing placing someone on the court, pointing out the months, months and months that republicans refused

mitch mcconnell wants to rule from decades ago. but he is imposing order as you sees it on the majority of americans. i have a feeling that the outrage over that will last longer than the sugar high of having gotten their man. >> and as we know in the constitution, the senate is not basically elected based on majority rule by the country. certainly not popular rule. states like montana, north dakota, they can collect a very conservative senator forever and not have to deal with the national passions at all. >> and i think that speaking of the so-called kavanaugh bump that strategists i've been speaking with are excited about, where you are really going to see impact are in these red states where you have democratic candidates who were in tight races with republicans, specifically look at the example of tennessee and how former governor's numbers have suffered since the start of this confirmation process. so in the suburban districts that are -- the house races that are under tough contests, you might not necessarily see any movemen

of course this republican leader mitch mcconnell knows how do this. he has corralled his entire caucus except for murkowski who has her own state politics to deal with and he has himself a victory here. >> and as i'm watching this, a couple things jumped out at me. one of which is mike pence calling for the restoring of order. you look at that tableau. this is a country that was founded to be blunt on the idea that being a free white land male gave you super citizenship, that you were more acitizen than anyone else. mitch mcconnell believes in rule. democrats tend to believe in governing. republicans believe in rule. this is mitch mcconnell's rule. he is restoring order as he and people like him understand it. and they will impose it on the people like those people who are protesting. women who are streaking out in agony saying you cannot impose this on us, you can't accepted us back to the 50s. but mitch mcconnell says yes i can, i can impose order on -- >> shh. you know what the parallel will be. the recount in 2000. republicans like the rule, the t

hats off to mitch mcconnell. he could have walked away from kavanaugh and taken the easy way out but he didn't. he has a backbone. hats off to senator lindsey graham, he jumped in impassioned defense of the judge and called the democrats behavior what it is, shameful. tell it how it is, mr. senator. the second hour of "varney & company" is about to begin. ♪ okay, now this is a big deal. the latest read on mortgage rates, the number. ashley: actually down a hair from last week. still 4.71%. it was 4.72% last thursday. listen, there is a huge up side risk to mortgage rates because the economy is so robust and we know, given what we've seen on the 10-year yield, rates are edging higher. we expect mortgage rates moving higher. full effect is not felt yet. stuart: we were at 3.19% on 10-year treasury. that is the base mark for mortgage rates. ashley: correct. stuart: it has gone up very sharply last couple days. ashley: seven-year high. stuart: seven-year high. this is my opinion, only a matter of time before we get

this is mitch mcconnell's thing. he wants to t populat courts. this is now the second trump nominee that he'll be able to say that he put on the court. and it's interesting about don mcgahn. you have to remember, brett kavanaughasn't on trump's original list of nomination. there wer some machinations to get him on to that list, because he's a o creaturef washington and and trump wasn't maybe going to look that favorably on this. this is a great victo for mitch mcconnell. he was certainly relieved after susan collins' speech. he gave her the shout-out,is sad was an inspirational speech, one of best i've seen in the history of the senate, because it saved him. because the conservative community, ks youw, is still a little suspicious of mitch mcconnell. >> let's talk about that suspicion, because the conservative community in the senasi, on the o, they're all watching kavanaugh, a little rattled by what happened wh his testimony. before senator collins defended judge kavanaugh's credentials on the senate floor today, the judge, as abby said, present

>> i think it's clear mitch mcconnell always wan this had vote to happen. he has said time and time again through hell or high water the senate is going to vote on brett kavanaugh. they can vote it up or down but there is going to be a vote. i'm so surprised that even after folks pushed forever an fbi investigation, that the fbi investigation didn't even bother to interview dr. ford. so i understand why not only dr. ford's attorney but many senate democrats and folks outside of the senate are saying this cannot be a credible investigation. >> why have an investigation and not interview the principals. >> look, you've had people on the show segments before us who gave all sorts of texture what they could be doing and what could have happened. we don't know what the investigation says. we have no idea what the report says. i don't want to say there's no way it's credible. >> i was surprised they put out a statement. unless they have some idea meaning christine blasey ford's attorneys unless they have ideas what it said. >> the senate just got it tonight. >> w

these fellow republicans of mitch mcconnell make all the difference. >> and to be clear, mitch mcconnell didn't decide to ask the white house for the fbi to reopen its background investigation out of the goodness of its heart. >> he was forced. >> he did so because, to dana's point, the three senators we have been talking about said we won't vote for him. which means he would fail. mitch mcconnell doesn't think this is any better an idea today than he did a week ago when he said this is ridiculous. so we shouldn't be surprised by what he said. but in a way, dana is right, the democrats don't make a big difference. in a way, everybody not named collins, murkowski and flake, and that includes mitch mcconnell, don't make a huge difference here. because what they decide, particularly if they decide in unison, is all that matters. >> yeah. i would add, joe manchin, maybe to that equation, as well. everyone stand by. i want to ask about a new poll and whether it has an impact on whether voters want judge kavanaugh confirmed. >>> and president trump goes out of his way to praise the north korea

she just had lunch with mitch mcconnell. she expressed optimism afterwards. >> i would also look at joe manchin's vote. sometimes when senators vote to end debate which is what happened with manchin and collins. they don't always reflect that in the confirmation vote or vote on final passage. lot of senators will say always vote for cloture. i'll always vote to end debate. those two things don't always align. your guess is as good as mine. we thought if any democrat would, joe manchin would push this across the finish line. >> dana: how is it possible that senator murkowski is saying she's still on the fence. she voted no to end debate and she doesn't think he's the right man for the job. >> she sort of is undeclared. people are saying it would be hard for her to come back from that, come back from that vote where she voted no and come back from that statement and vote yes. she's undeclared. that's the official position. we hope we have some clarity from her later this afternoon. of course, the confirmation vote we don't exp

this is mitch mcconnell's thing. he wants to populate trt c this is now the second trump nominee that he'll be able to say that put on the court. and it's interesting about don mcgahn. you have to remember, brett kavanaugh wasn't on's tru original list of nomination. there weree s machinations to get him on to that list, because he's a creature of washington d and trump wasn't maybe going to look that favorably on this. this is a great victorytc for mcconnell. he was certainly relieved after susan collins' speech. he gave her the shout-out, said this was an inspirational speech, one of best i've seen in the history of the senate, cause it saved him. because the conservative community, as you kw, is still a little suspicious of mitch mcconnell. >> let's talk about that suspicion, because the conservative community in the senate, on the outsi all watching kavanaugh, a little rattled by what happened with hisesmony. before senator collins defended judge kavanaugh's credentials on the senate floor today, the judge, as ab

that's lindsey graham, but i think we're also going to go to mitch mcconnell. whichever one we're going to take, let's take it. >> an acclaimed judge who appears and colleagues praise in the very strongest terms. a jurist whom the american bar association awarded its very highest rating unanimously, well qualified. here's what the aba says it takes to earn that distinction. to merit a rating of well qualified, the nominee must be at the top of the legal profession in his or her legal community, have outstanding legal ability, breadth of experience, and the highest reputation for integrity and demonstrate the capacity for sound judicial temperament. this is the nonpartisan test that my friend the democratic leader, among others, used to call the gold standard. judge kavanaugh passed that with flying colors. so to be clear, this seal of approval comes from the aba's standing committee on the federal judiciary, an independent entity within the organization. even after the aba's president tried to play politics with the nomination last week, the standing committee

vonnie: mitch mcconnell and thanks to kevin cirilli. coming up, goldman sachs and morgan stanley close-out u.s. bank earnings with a banging. -- bang. this is bloomberg. ♪ guy: from london, i'm guy johnson. vonnie: i am vonnie quinn. this is bloomberg markets. morgan stanley and goldman sachs reporting surprising equity strengths while backlog disappoints in this morning's round of earnings. obviously investors reacting better to one then the other. morgan stanley really losing the way at least for investment banking. >> yes. morgan stanley's numbers are really good on their investment banking side. their management side is a little weaker. people are overlooking that. up over thely years. it has been one of their strengths after the crisis. the investment banking side, their trading revenues are up on both asked income and equities which many have struggled to do. all the other banks that have reported one or the other was down for very little up. everything is good. are all positive numbers. vonnie: across the board it feels like el

mitch mcconnell calling the fight over kavanaugh an adrenaline shot for republicans. could heidi heitkamp lose the seat after voting no? >> reporter: heidi heitkamp having fun, walking in a classic north dakota parade. >> hi there. >> hi. >> reporter: her smile masks her political reality. she's the most endangered senate democrat. and those voting against brett kavanaugh probably didn't help. >> it's been a tough week for me. the political rhetoric is, you can't vote that way if you expect to come back. and i tell people, my parents didn't raise me to vote a certain way so i could win. they raised me to vote the right way. >> reporter: applause here, but elsewhere, reminders that president trump carried the state by 36 points. >> i don't know how we're going to ever get over that. >> you're obviously a north dakota voter, you're disappointed with her vote against kavanaugh? >> yes. >> her republican challenger well ahead in the polls, said he was shocked. >> i really fully expected her to vote yes. >> why? >> she had been building her entire brand as the bipartisan s

that's a whole mitch mcconnell thing. he gave her the floor, she was going to end the conversation there, have the woman do it, talk for 40 minutes. but i just don't believe that she was ever going to vote no. >> she had a 45-minute speech ready to go. >> yes. >> 45-minute speech it was staged. >> i think this is also the party that let the violence against women act expire. when we say what are the contrasts, where are the contrast between the republican and democratic party, the republican party has no regard for women and their ability to feel safe at a basic level. >> and also that women don't have the right to ask for it. even women of the republican party say we're worried about our elite, collegiate sons, but not our daughters. >> that's been the most amazing talking point. even kavanaugh said if you have a son -- if you look at the way lindsey graham is talking about it, they're phrasing it to get women to say my son could also make a mistake at 17 this is just not fair. this is a longer-term failure of the democr

so mitch mcconnell can't bring himself to say one honest word about that. joining our discussion now ron klain, and he was also a former chief of staff to vice prests joe biden and al gore. and lisa graves, also former senate staffer of the judicial committee is back with us. and mitch mcconnell cannot handle the truth on this one, so he has to take everything and mischaracterize it, minimize and describe it as something it wasn't. >> this is the contagion of the trump era. the president lies and makes other republicans lie. the president's lies led to judge kavanaugh's toxic performance before the judiciary committee last week where he was really trying to appeal to trump not to pull his nomination. and today you see susan collins and jeff flake saying that that fbi investigation was quote-unquote very thorough. well, it was a lot of things but there's really no human being who believes it was very thorough. we just got a contagion of lying spreading through the republican party launched by donald trump, and others are just following along in his example.

it's part of mitch mcconnell's plan with don mcgahn to completely reshape the judiciary, something they have done in speights over the last year and a half or so. i was struck not just by the protesters, which again we see quite often, but by the final two speech that is we heard before the vote, by senator schumer and senator mcconnell schumer going down a litany of the reasons why he didn't believe that calf maw, and a point-by-point request, for people if you don't like this aspect or that aspect of what happened, he said, vote. basically calling on people to vote if they had a problem with this. and mitch mcconnell, while he once again as he's done weeks on end went through why they you see believe judge calf gnaws was probably one of the best ever nominated, he made the point of voting yes or getting through this process could lead on a brighter day later. he 'talked about what happened over the last three weeks, as one of the darkest periods of the senate. he's referred to the mccarthy era and tried to make parallels to that. you see how diametrically opposed they are on the conve

if mitch mcconnell is wrong, mitch mcconnell is wrong, but he stated the commentator is not understanding what his point is, so with that, you know, regardless, i don't think this is going to do anything to affect the midterms. i think this is a disagreement. i think mitch mcconnell thinks he's is right on track, and that the commentator did not understand what he was trying to say. and it's fact versus fact, and it looks like obviously the facts are on the other side, and the other guy won the fact point, but where mitch mcconnell is concerned, he's disagreeing with how this was laid out. >> simone, the argument -- you're laughing and i want to know why in a moment. it seems like the argument being made here in part is that the facts don't matter as much on that, and charles blow, liberal columnist in "the new york times," let me read you what he writes. liberals have to look beyond emotions, talking about the midterms, beyond emotions, beyond reactionary enthusiasm, beyond falling in love with candidates to vote for them, and toward the coming showdown. what is the most effective way fo

we're happy to be to be joined exclusively by senate majority leader mitch mcconnell. when did you know you had the votes? >> when the roll was called. >> laura: really? >> yeah, they were all very guarded about making an announcement. this is one of those rare situations, when you go into a vote, not really knowing for sure. that you had them. >> laura: you usually call cloe tour, you -- cloture unless you know you have the votes. >> we had to move on this, this was not going to get better. i decided a week ago we were going to vote on friday. we watched what was happening, they were trying to destroy this good man with rumors and the rest of the stuff. we need to have the vote in order to bring to it a conclusion. >> laura: why didn't senator murkowski go along? you have fliek and collins with the long speech today, and flake, she impressed a lot of people with her passion and dedication, advise and consent. what happened to murkowski? >> i'd rather celebrate the victory. and i think there's plenty of credit to go around. president trump for making great choices. cha

you have heard mitch mcconnell say as much. this thing they want it wrapped up by the end of the week, period. >> neil: all right, buddy. thank you very, very much. kevin corke at the white house. i want to explore this more with a.b. stoddard democratic congressman what he makes of the soap opera going on here. a.b., one of the things that occurred to me if they do wrap up interviews as soon as tomorrow, and i don't know how truthful that could be, a number of people on both sides would probably say boy, they rushed it. or they had an understanding that that would not too include anyone connected with, including julie swetnick. what is your understanding of who is being interviewed or who is being approached? >> well, i think, actually, neil, they have kept that sort of purposefully unclear, and i think that the president's comments today, obviously made it sound as if it could last a very long time because he wanted the fbi investigators to go wherever the information they received and interviews lead. and those introduce. >>

mitch mcconnell still wants to vote this week. so all those developments and what we're learning at the top of the hour as we get it right here. >> sandra: fox news alert. the white house telling the f.b.i. to interview anyone necessary as the agency expands its investigation into sexual misconduct allegations against judge brett kavanaugh. welcome to a new hour of "america's newsroom." 11:00 a.m. i'm sandra smith. how are you doing? >> bill: all right. you? >> sandra: i'm great. >> bill: rock-n-roll. i'm bill hemmer, good morning. we're learning the f.b.i. has not contacted dr. ford for an interview. that may be not unusual. oftentimes they'll interview the principals surrounding the accuser. reports suggesting the investigation could wrap up this week. here is what the president had to say about that in his latest comment. >> president trump: i want it to be comprehensive. i think it's a good thing for judge kavanaugh. with that being said i would like it to be quickly. the reason i would like it to be quickly is simple. it's so

laura ingraham is next with mitch mcconnell, the senate majority leader. see you monday. >> laura: hello, from washington, i'm laura ingraham, this is the "ingraham angle." tonight, senator susan collins driving what could be the final nail in the coffin for the democrat's resistance against brett kavanaugh. senate majority leader much mcconnell will join me exclusively in moments revealing what he said to collins in today's lunch meetings just moments before she said yes to kavanaugh. and the me too movement is hitting the board room. but not in the way you might think. raymond arroyo is here for friday follies and you want to stick around for diamond and silk. it's not friday without diamond and silk. but first, the democrats' phony victim play. that's the focus of tonight's "angle." . the democrats and many on this the left worked around the clock to kill brett kavanaugh's nomination to the supreme court. but i think they made a fatal miscalculation. they thought it was okay along the way to jettison the principle of due process, and to use victims to p

i want to play some sound of the president praising mitch mcconnell. president trump: he'll go down as the greatest leader in my opinion in history. what we have done is incredible together. but he's better when i'm president than he ever was when anybody else was president. jesse: make mitch great again. how are you going to turn that into immigration. >> give me 30 seconds. right after kavanaugh gets through you have got to praise mitch mcconnell. but the mistake of the trump administration so far is trump giving into the mitch mcconnell agenda rather than the other way around. mccain couldn't win the way the country has been changed by immigration. trump won, so why don't republicans in congress think this guy knows how to do it. let's be like him and pass funding for the wall. no, they go back to the old republican playbook. tax cuts. military spending. continue the various wars we have around the universe. who are the biggest stars right now in the republican party? donald trump, lindsey graham and that wonderful bill cassidy. what did they do? th

your thoughts first about mitch mcconnell. >> mitch mcconnell was a stalwart throughout all this. he kept it going forward. he never lost faith. when everybody else was having some serious doubts about it, he had no doubts. he kept saying i have the votes. he kept assuring the white house he had the votes, and he kept his members in line, and i think it was an extraordinary effort and going to be one of his great legacies, these two last court pi -- court appointments. lou: mitch mcconnell has not been always a supporter, a friend of president trump. he has pretended to be i think it's perhaps some would say unfair of me to suggest a friend, but not stepping out for trump economics, for his foreign policy, for the man himself. this is a difference maker, it seems to me, because this president chose in judge kavanaugh, justice kavanaugh now, a man who was supported by the establishment republican party as well as all of the trump supporters, the conservatives in the country. he chose strategically very well, even as he chose a man who is absolutely perfect for the job. >> that cour

mitch mcconnell's words on the senate floor today -- he had some very harsh words. he talked about mccarthyism, he talked about a lot of stuff. he accused democrats of engaging in bad faith. take a listen and give me your reaction. >> in the next few days we will then be treat today a lecture, a lecture, that anything short of a totally unbounded fishing expedition of indefinite duration is too limited or too arbitrary or somehow insufficient. we all know that's coming. if you listen carefully, mr. president, you can practically hear the sounds of the democrats moving the goal post. >> your reaction. >> well, mitch mcconnell has really been conspiring with the president to limit the information that the senate receives. after all, the president put 100,000 pages under the mark of presidential privilege that we've never received about key issues, where there seems to be discrepancies, regarding torture, regarding what judge nominations kavanaugh was involved in, regarding the receipt of stolen information and stolen documents. and so there is tremendous amount of rel

bill: mitch mcconnell with laura ingraham last night. senator chuck grassley, sir, thank you for your time and good afternoon to you. i don't know what you're feeling right now but go ahead and let's start there. >> well, i feel it's a great day for us going through a fair and thorough process that i said i was going to hold throughout the committee process, a lot of times i didn't know whether we'd ever get to this point but i'm very glad we do. i think the most important thing is to think about what it says about the background of judge kavanaugh, a person who has been very well educated, very well devote today public service, but more importantly, 12 years on the second most important court in our land and having 307 opinions, if anybody reads them, you'd know that he's going to serve as a justice as anybody that's -- a judge should do. he will look at the law and the facts of the case, he will lose his own personal views out of it and he's going to not do what some judges do be super legislator trying to fill in holes or modernize th

mitch mcconnell is at the center of it. when senator flake said what he said in the judiciary committee, the first thing that came to mind, none of this matters. it all depends on what mcconnell wants. mcconnell wants more than anything judge kavanaugh to be -- >> it does matter because they're hungry for a moment though. like what happened with chris coons, jeff flake and senator amy klobuchar. americans want to see compromise. they want to see senators on both sides coming together to look at the facts, and then you see what political leadership does to absolutely try to screw it up. >> americans want to live better lives more than they care about politics. i got to ask about julie and her allegations because they're massive. this woman alleges that kavanaugh was at a party where women were gang raped. i mean, that is a term, that's an allegation that you cannot walk away from. nbc news has not been able to independently corroborate any of these claims and when we asked her attorney michael avenatti for any witnesses, any

this all comes after mitch mcconnell filed for cloture. what is cloture? it is a vote to end debate on the nomination which if passed would move the nomination on to a confirmation vote by the senate. 16 senators must sign the petition to invoke cloture then the petition is ignored for a day, 24 hour period known as the legislative day where senators will review the fbi report. after that there is a vote on cloture which can be held no sooner than friday morning once those 24 hours have passed. if that vote passes with a simple majority then debate on brett cavanagh is limited to just 30 hours and that means democrats cannot filibuster the nomination and the senate could vote to confirm as early as saturday. that may seem complicated, the final vote pretty simple. it comes down to these votes. jeff flake, lisa murkowski and susan collins and red state democrats where brett kavanaugh is popular, heidi heitkamp and west virginia's joe mentioned. brett kavanaugh must get 50 votes in the senate before mike pence could break the tie. the review of the fbi repor

we have those comments from mitch mcconnell cued up. i want to let our viewers take a look at those. >> it's driven by the three big entitlement programs that are very popular. meds care, social security and medicaid. that's 70% of what we spend every year. there's been a reluctant to tackle that because of the popularity of those programs. hopefully we'll get serious about this. we haven't been yet. >> those comments have been seized on by many democrats, including joe manchin who has been trying to warn voters. do you think those comments there and the effect of them is going to be enough to counteract the effect we've seen, the fallout from the kavanaugh hear,s and the increased republican enthusiasm? >> i do. and the reason i feel that way, kasie is that these health issues are so personal to people. we were talking about pre-existing conditions. if millions and millions of americans from sea to shining sea go to bed realizing that the trump administration wants to take away protections for those with pre-existing conditions, that i

mitch mcconnell promising to deliver the first vote for judge kavanaugh no the president this frid friday. >> one thing for sure, the senate will vote on judge kavanaugh here on this floor this week. >> and flying solo, the first lady taking her solo trip to the africa and trying to present a better face to a continent famously slurred by her husband. >> and good day, everyone. i'm andrea mitchell in washingt washington. fbi agents are moving to next phase of the background investigation into federal judge brett kavanaugh. after political pressure got the president to expand the probe. now, questioning is being completed on the four people on the original witness list and three people that the dr. christine blasey ford says that were at party where she was sexu sexually sas saulted. and debra ramirez is the second woman to accuse him of sexual misconduct. and kavanaugh has repeatedly denied any misconduct. and the instructions to the fbi from the president have not changed the message to supporters in tennessee last night about his supreme court nominee. >> he is a good man. great student

. >> what's the deal with senator majority leader mitch mcconnell. gone are phrases like plow right through it to get the vote on the floor. instead mcconnell finds himself needing to walk the line on timing here to keep three republicans in the fold. they want this fbi investigation to run its course this week, but that could complicate mcconnell's plans to wrap up debate by the middle of the week to force a vote as early as friday. >> judge kavanagh's nomination is out of committee. we're considering it here on the floor. a mr. president, we'll be voting this week. >> that plan depend on whether the fbi completes its investigation into these allegations by tomorrow. if that doesn't happen, there's the possibility this timeline may slide a bit. >>> president trump announced he will be replacing nafta with a revamped trade deal with canada and mexico. while the new agreement may benefit farmers, it could have a damaging effect for american car buyers. >> reporter: it's nafta 2.0. president trump praising his new deal with canada and mexico, announced

senate majority leader mitch mcconnell proclaiming again this morning that no matter what, the senate will vote on the supreme court nomination this week. so investigators now have less than four days remaining, and it is still a huge question. let's be honest, in partisan washington, who is going to believe the eventual outcome of the investigation when it comes. the president now saying that the fbi, though, can investigate whoever they want. >> the fbi is doing pretty much as the senate wants. and we want to know everything. we like the idea of the fbi looking for the seventh time. this is number seven, by the way, the seventh time they will have looked. we think that he's going to be in great shape, and hopefully in the very near future, they'll take a final vote. >> investigators have already talked to the yale classmate who claimed kavanaugh exposed himself to her. they have talked to three high school classmates about christine blasey ford's allegations, and now there's word of a bar fight back in 1985. cnn's abby phillip has the latest from the white house. we heard from the p

the senate will vote on judge kavana >> can leader mitch mcconnell to make a friday vote happen, he would need to file cloture connel timeline is listen to chuck schumer. we are he because louisa murkow susan collins and >> who caused that? who caused this delay, i would not the democrats. we don't have the ability to do it. it was three members on his side who sincerely were seeking >> it is true that a republican line by week's end or at all for that matter. last week's agreement was simple the fbi investigation runs its can file the motions to proceed. the fbi is done interviewin they said their client has not anothe question, who does said the witness list should withou their consent. that seems to be the big questi how lo will it take, who will >> no question about it. will they be satisfied with the invest will go to the depths they what we are hearing from the key senato is the white house colleg earlie moments ago, we caught questi the fbi look commit here's how she responded. >> should they look into whethe colleg >> i think the fbi is doing what we tasked the fbi to do. that's a

. >>> even as the fbi investigation plays out, senate republican leader mitch mcconnell is gearing up for a final vote on brett kavanaugh's nomination, promising it will happen this week. let's bring in our congressional phil, both parties are trying to set the stage for whatever the fbi probe does or doesn't turn up. >> reporter: yeah, that's exactly right. but, wolf, you may a key point. the senate majority leader says in matter what is coming the senate is moving forward. as you noted, mitch mcconnell saying there will be a vote this week and that's reflective of the broad base of the republican party in the senate. most of them are ready to move forward, but not all. i think that's the key point here. the three senators that essentially helped launch the fbi investigation, wolf, i'm told behind the scenes they have been in repeated contact with the white house over the course of the last couple of days and were in part responsible for the shifts on the white house's strategy in terms of the scope of the investigation. susan collins now saying she is comfortable that she was heard

senate majority leader mitch mcconnell has promised a vote this week. we have fox team coverage tonight. you've congressional correspondent mike emanuel with the pressure on senators to make a decision on meg kavanaugh's converse. we begin with kevin corke with more on the president's take on has an battle nominee. good evening. >> before leaving for events in pennsylvania and mississippi, the president reignited the debate over how uncorroborated allegations can damage people and especially when they are accused, like a supreme court nominee, judge brett kavanaugh. >> it's a very scary time for young men and america when you can be guilty of something that you may not be guilty of. >> and expressing support for his supreme court nominee, president trump today called the unsubstantiated allegations surrounding judge brett kavanaugh a symptom of an extremist political environment that is hurting america. >> what's happening here has much more to do and even the appointment of a supreme court justice. it really does. >> kavanaugh has been accused by three