Our live, non-stop coverage of today’s emotional Senate Judiciary Committee hearing is ending for the evening, but stick with CNN Politics as we continue our reporting into the night.
Here are a few things to read:
And here are two things to watch:
Christine Blasey Ford’s full testimony | Brett Kavanaugh’s full opening statement
Sens. Roy Blunt and Bill Cassidy just said the plan, as laid out in the closed door meeting is Friday, the Senate Judiciary Committee is set to vote on the Kavanaugh nomination, and the first procedural vote is set to take place on the floor Saturday at noon.
Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Chuck Grassley repeatedly declined to answer questions as he repeated over and over again, “We’re meeting at 9:30” – a reference to the committee meeting scheduled to take place tomorrow morning.
The only other clue he gave about the state of affairs came was he asked when will the nomination come to the floor and said, “depends on what happens tomorrow.”
A GOP source close to the Kavanaugh nomination process conceded White House and Senate Republicans aren’t yet sure if they have the votes to push the nominee across the finish line.
Vice President Pence tonight said, “I stand with Judge Kavanaugh…take the vote.”
He tweeted:
Mark Judge is the third individual who Christine Blasey Ford claims was in the room when Brett Kavanaugh allegedly assaulted her.
In response to Ford’s testimony, Judge’s lawyer Barbara Van Gelder said Judge “does not recall the events described” by Ford.
Leaving the meeting with Sens. Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski and Jeff Flake, Joe Manchin said, “There have been no decisions. We meet all the time … I think you all know we trust each other. We are friends. Which is so hard to find around here.”
“We are still talking. There are no decisions on anything. There are some concerns that people have and we’re going to try to close the loop,” he said.
About the hearing, he said, “both were credible.”
Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s opening statement today, a fiery, scorched-earth speech that may well have salvaged his bid for the Supreme Court, was not only aimed at the Senate Judiciary Committee. It carried an even bigger goal: to keep President Donald Trump from losing faith in his nomination.
Kavanaugh was being urged by some — including old friends from Bush world — to take a softer approach today. But in the end, he tuned out the advice, and sat down to write a speech with a sole aide. An overarching goal: please Trump and, in turn, circle the conservative wagons behind him, an official close to the process said.
Two White House officials said that while the President never seriously considered asking Kavanaugh to withdraw, he did discuss the idea — publicly and privately — that he would quickly announce another nominee and use the rejection of Kavanaugh to rally conservatives in the mid-term elections.
It didn’t come to that, but there were “incredibly tense moments” in the White House after Christine Blasey Ford finished her testimony. A White House official said the president found Ford “compelling” and “very credible” and had serious questions about how Kavanaugh would perform.
The President was publicly silent throughout the day, but his hand was guiding nearly every pivotal move – from Sen. Lindsey Graham’s boisterous speech to the decision to shut down the Republican-selected special prosecutor.
A GoFundMe campaign set up on for Christine Blasey Ford raised more than $200,000 in the wake of her testimony Thursday.
As of 7:30 p.m., the campaign had raised more than $410,000. Before Ford’s testimony, the total amount raised was “approximately $175,000,” according to a spokeswoman for the website.
The organizers of the campaign, who set an original goal of $150,000, said all additional funds will “cover travel costs as well as security” for Ford while the initial $150,000 will go entirely to security for Ford and her family.
A Twitter account that tracks anonymous Wikipedia edits that are “made from IP addresses in the US Congress” detected edits on the pages of three Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday evening, while the committee was questioning Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
The edits appeared to post street addresses and phone numbers belonging to Sen. Orrin Hatch, Sen. Lindsey Graham, and Sen. Mike Lee.
There was also an edit on the term “Devil’s Triangle,” which Kavanaugh described as a drinking game similar to Quarters.
The developer who created the tracker said that the edits could have been made by anyone on the Capitol complex — including visitors using public WiFi.
Wikipedia has removed the information.
The four key centrist votes on Judge Brett Kavanaugh — Sens. Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Jeff Flake and Joe Manchin — are huddled privately in a Capitol office.
Staff left the room as they gathered minutes after the Kavanaugh hearing ended.
Murkowski angrily tried to order a reporter from the hallway when she arrived.
“Go,” she shouted out pointing to the end of the hallway.
The three Republicans are planning to attend the GOP conference meeting at 7:15 p.m., per an aide.
Sen. John Kennedy, who did not let GOP-hired prosecutor Rachel Mitchell use his time to question Brett Kavanaugh, came over and shook Mitchell’s hand.
“Great job, counsel,” he said.
All 11 Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee used Mitchell to ask their questions to Kavanaugh’s accuser Christine Blasey Ford. But many of them chose to speak directly to Kavanaugh.
Mitchell stayed in the room the whole time, though. Here’s footage of her sitting while Republicans questions Kavanaugh:
President Trump, clearly pleased with Brett Kavanaugh’s performance, tweeted his praise.
“Judge Kavanaugh showed America exactly why I nominated him. His testimony was powerful, honest, and riveting,” he tweeted. “Democrats’ search and destroy strategy is disgraceful and this process has been a total sham and effort to delay, obstruct, and resist. The Senate must vote!”
See the tweet:
Republican Sen. Jeff Flake, one of the key senators who could make or break Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation, was given one minute to address the hearing. He apologized to Kavanaugh — and to his accuser Christine Blasey Ford.
He also said there is still, likely “as much doubt as certainty.”
Watch more:
Responding to a question from California Democratic Sen. Kamala Harris, Judge Brett Kavanaugh said he did not watch his accuser’s testimony prior to his own.
Harris, a potential Democratic presidential contender for 2020, ended her own line of questions by asking “a direct question.”
He later added that although he had planned to watch, he did not because he was preparing for his own.
The plan was for Rachel Mitchell, an Arizona sex crimes prosecutor, to ask questions of both Ford and Kavanaugh on Republicans’ behalf. But halfway through Kavanaugh’s hearing, it was abandoned when Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and John Cornyn of Texas used their time to assail Democrats.
The tone shifted drastically as Mitchell was left sorting through papers and taking notes while Republican senators spoke directly over her.
Speaking during a break in the proceedings, CNN’s Dana Bash said, “The whole reason why the male Republicans on this committee brought a female prosecutor in to do the questioning was because of the optics of these men asking questions of this woman who says that she was attacked by Brett Kavanaugh.”
“But they completely undermined the attempt to correct the optics by pushing Rachel Mitchell aside and asking the questions themselves when it came to Brett Kavanaugh, because things were getting very down and dirty.”
Bash added, “If the whole point is to have somebody who is impartial who understands these questions to ask the questions of both, boy did they undermine that.”
Watch:
A Senior White House official said the President is happy with Brett Kavanaugh’s testimony today.
Where is Trump? As the hearing winds down, President Trump will head to the Trump International Hotel in downtown Washington. He is going for two fundraising events that are closed to press.
After the Kavanaugh-Ford hearing ends, the GOP will hold a conference meeting.
Sources say the meeting is being held to reassure Senators that the Republican staffers on Senate Judiciary conducted its own investigation into Kavanaugh’s past.
They will discuss what they found, and what they did not find.
However, it’s ultimately an attempt to calm the concerns that a handful of key Republican senators hold.
Michael Avenatti, who represents another woman accusing Brett Kavanaugh, tells CNN that Christine Blasey Ford is “very credible.”
Asked if his own client is prepared to do that? “We have yet to receive a response to the correspondence we sent this morning. She wants to testify.”
And he said this about Kavanaugh: “Judge Kavanaugh’s conduct during the hearing today demonstrates that he has no business being on the Supreme Court.”
Judge Brett Kavanaugh said the person he spent the most time with at Yale was Chris Dudley, former basketball player and 2010 GOP gubernatorial candidate in Oregon.
Dudley, speaking to CNN on Monday, said he has had a very hard time watching the allegations about his friend surface.
Dudley says he met Kavanaugh freshman year. The two men often played basketball together. Kavanaugh played JV, but JV practiced or played practice games with Varsity, Dudley remembered. The two men were also in DKE together. Dudley joined later and said it wasn’t a primary social activity for him because he was so involved with the basketball team.
Kavanaugh and Dudley have stayed in close touch in the years since. The men ran in the same social circles, and they often went to sporting events like football games together.
Dudley remembers Kavanaugh as “very humble” and “smart.”
Dudley said that he did see Kavanaugh drinking, but that he never saw Kavanaugh get out of control. Dudley said there was drinking at Yale, but that it was “not crazy.”
Dudley said he saw Kavanaugh when Kavanaugh was first nominated, but that he has not spoken to him since all of the allegations broke. He said he texted Kavanaugh something along the lines of “hang in there” more recently.
In college, Dudley said Kavanaugh was not a big dater. He had friends who were women, but he said Kavanaugh was shy and when he drank, he did not get aggressive.
“He wasn’t that type of person,” Dudley said.
In a fiery statement, Republican Nebraska Sen. Benjamin Sasse asked why Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s staff hadn’t handled the allegations earlier, rather than let them “do crap to his (Kavanaugh’s) family.”
“I think Dr. Ford is a victim and I think she’s been through hell, and I’m very sympathetic to her,” Sasse said.
However, he continued, “None of these things were asked. But then once the process was closed, once the FBI investigation was closed, once we were done meeting in public and in private, then this was sprung on you.”
Seeming to speak to the Democrats in the room now, Sasse said, “You could have handled all this. We could have had this conversation in a private in a way that didn’t – not only do crap to his family….” he then stopped the thought.
“I yield my time.”
Watch it here:
There will be a Senate Republican conference meeting later tonight for leaders to take the temperature of the nomination and decide next steps following today’s blockbuster, and highly charged, hearings.
Time and location to be determined.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut, asked about Anita Hill at the very end of his questioning time.
“Do you believe Anita Hill?” he asked Kavanaugh. (The Judge did not have time to respond.)
While they were not loud or dramatic, there were audible groans and exclamations in the room.
A source close to the White House summing up how Trump and his administration are responding to Kavanaugh’s testimony.
The “only way to earn respect in Trumpworld is to brawl,” the source said. “And he is brawling.”
We just started the hearing again after a short break, and Judge Brett Kavanaugh started with an apology to Sen. Amy Klobuchar.
Kavanaugh and Klobuchar had a tense exchange before the break, with the senator asking him about his drinking habits, and the judge turning around and asking the same questions of her. (“I’m curious if you have,” Kavanaugh asked after Klobuchar asked he he had ever drank so much he couldn’t remember.)
“I responded by asking her a question, and I’m sorry I did. This is a tough process,” Kavanaugh said. “I’m sorry about that.”
Here’s how Klobuchar responded:
“I appreciate that. I would like to add when you have a parent that’s an alcoholic, you’re pretty careful about drinking.” (Klobuchar has talked extensively about her father’s alcoholism and the impact it had on her.)
In a tense back-and-forth, Democratic Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar tried asking if Kavanaugh ever blacked out, but Kavanaugh repeatedly refused to answer – and repeatedly attempted to turn it around on the Minnesota senator.
Klobuchar began by asking, “Was there ever a time when you drank so much that you couldn’t remember what happened or part of what happened the night before?”
“No,” Kavanaugh answered. “I remember what happened and I think you’ve probably had beers, Senator.”
When Klobuchar asked again, Kavanaugh dodged, turning the question back on Klobuchar. “I’m curious if you have (blacked out),” Kavanaugh asked at one point.
Finally, Klobuchar exasperatedly answered, “I have no drinking problem, judge.”
“Nor do I,” Kavanaugh responded.
Watch the exchange:
As Christine Blasey Ford testified, C-SPAN viewers did what they can do every day–call in and give their viewpoints on the day’s political topics.
Today was markedly different.
Some began calling in, sharing their own heartbreaking and personal experiences with sexual abuse.
WATCH:
If you, or someone you know, is dealing with the aftermath of a sexual assault, these organizations can help:
Wake up to a summary of today’s hearings and other big stories with CNN’s morning newsletter, “5 Things to know.”
The Republican senators who would not ask questions during Christine Blasey Ford’s testimony are now questioning Brett Kavanaugh — and furiously condemning their Democratic colleagues.
Rachel Mitchell, the prosecutor the Republicans hired to question Ford, is still in the hearing room, however, seated directly in front of them.
Here’s a photo from the room:
Brett Kavanaugh’s opening statement has calmed a number GOP aides and senators after a morning that was viewed as a potentially dire turn for his nomination, according to multiple GOP aides.
Asked what the day has been like so far, the aide said, “A roller coaster, no question. A roller coaster.”
The aide says that no final decisions have been made about whether to move forward with a possible vote tomorrow — that won’t be locked in one way or the other until the hearing ends and the temperature is taken of the committee members and conference on the whole.
But Kavanaugh’s opening statement “went a long way to make it more likely.”
Another aide cautioned that the overall dynamics remain unchanged: It all comes down to a small number of senators and nobody knows where they stand right now.
But, the aide said, “This is exactly what most of our guys wanted to hear.”
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina had harsh words for his Democratic colleagues, calling the handling of allegations against Judge Brett Kavanaugh since his nomination “the most unethical sham since I’ve been in politics.”
Turning to Kavanaugh, Graham later added:
Watching from the White House, press secretary Sarah Sanders cheered him on.
Sen. Dick Durbin, a Democrat from Illinois, urged Brett Kavanaugh to ask White House Counsel Don McGahn to ask for an FBI investigation into the sexual assault allegations against him.
That’s when Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley jumped in.
“Stop the clock,” Grassley said. This committee is running this hearing, not the White House, not Don McGahn, not even you as a nominee.”
Grassley then said the Senate would not suspend the confirmation process for Kavanaugh.
Watch the exchange:
President Trump is still watching his Supreme Court nominee from the White House residence, a source says, as officials in the West Wing are glued to their TVs and reviewing Brett Kavanaugh’s performance.
Officials are telling each other they believe Kavanaugh hit the perfect tone in his opening statement, which they believe shifted the dynamic in his favor after a credible appearance by Christine Blasey Ford initially raised a lot of concern.
But before expressing confidence that things are back on track, aides say they are waiting to see how the coverage plays out tonight.
In a statement, Bill Russo, a spokesperson for former Vice President Joe Biden, responded to comments Biden previously made in 1991.
A Republican source close to Brett Kavanaugh and the nomination process explained that his performance in his Fox News interview troubled people inside at the White House, and among the GOP members and staffers on the committee, for its “stiffness.”
“I think the stiffness in his Fox News interview set off some alarms. It felt over-rehearsed and wooden,” the source said.
“This is real and raw, and he’s taking risks by showing this much emotion but I think a lot of people will say they would’ve felt that same fury if their families had been through what he has,” they added.
In a tense exchange, Judge Brett Kavanaugh interrupted Democratic California Sen. Dianne Feinstein as she lamented the inability of the FBI to interview witnesses and give Senate investigators “any facts.”
Kavanaugh had said in his opening statement that he would welcome “any kind of investigation: Senate, FBI or otherwise.”
“I wanted a hearing the next day. My family’s been destroyed by this Senator, destroyed. And whatever the committee decides. I’m all in immediately,” he told Feinstein.
Feinstein called it “terrible and hard” that the Senate is not “in a position to prove it or disprove” allegations like this, and needed to rely an “some outside authority.”
During an exchange with Feinstein, Kavanaugh was asked again if he was denying every allegation made against him – by Ford, by Deborah Ramirez and by Julie Swetnick.
“That is emphatically what I’m doing,” Kavanaugh said, adding: “The Swetnick thing is a joke. That is a farce.”
Kavanaugh leaned back in his seat, appearing incensed.
“Would you like to say more about it?” Feinstein asked.
“No,” he shot back.
Watch the exchange:
Judge Brett Kavanaugh acknowledged for the first line during today’s Senate Judiciary committee hearing that he drank beer, he liked beer, and he and his friends “sometimes probably had too many beers.”
Rachel Mitchell, the Arizona prosecutor asking questions on behalf of the Senate Republicans, then asked what he considered to be too many.
Kavanaugh responded, “I don’t know. You know – whatever the chart says. Blood alcohol chart,” and chuckled.
Mitchell then asked if Kavanaugh ever “passed out from drinking.”
He said no. “I’ve gone to sleep, but I’ve never blacked out. That’s the allegation, and that’s – that’s wrong.”
Prosecutor Rachel Mitchell asked Judge Brett Kavanaugh a series of questions about the allegations against him. He responded “no” to all of them.
Here’s the exchange:
Brett Kavanaugh was just asked about his relationship with Mark Judge, who Christine Blasey Ford alleges was in the room at the time of her sexual assault.
Kavanaugh said they became friends in the ninth grade. Here’s how he described Judge:
However, Kavanaugh said he hasn’t talked to judge in a few years. “We’ve probably been on mass e-mails or group e-mails that go around among my high school friends,” he said.
Mark Judge has said he has no memory of the alleged sexual assault committed by Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, making the claim in a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Judge denied the incident and his lawyer said he has no plans to speak publicly.
“I have no memory of this alleged incident,” Judge states in the letter sent by his lawyer, Barbara Van Gelder.
Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh told the Senate Judiciary Committee that the accusations against him may have repercussions beyond his nomination.
Kavanaugh shared that he has taught constitutional law at Harvard Law School over the past 12 years, but said he may “never be able to teach again.”
He continued, explaining that he had spent the past seven years coaching his daughter’s basketball teams, but said he also may never be able to coach again.
Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh said he cringes when he looks back at his high school yearbook — but maintained that the jokes in it were not about anything sexual.
Kavanaugh included “Renate Alumnius” as an entry in his high school yearbook page, and two of Kavanaugh’s classmates told the New York Times the mentions of “Renate” were part of the high school football players’ unsubstantiated boasting about their conquests with Renate Schroeder Dolphin
Kavanaugh explained the reference like this:
Watch more:
A source close to Kavanaugh says he wrote every word. This was not precleared with the White House. This is 100% him.
As Kavanaugh speaks with a lot of emotion –- at times fighting through tears -– a few people in the audience have been spotted also wiping tears, including when he spoke emotionally about his father.
Police have arrested protesters who were blocking the roadway that runs between the Supreme Court and Capitol Hill.
The protesters sat in the road and linked arms.
Fellow protesters began chanting: “Arrest rapists. Not protesters.”
WATCH:
Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh teared up when he mentioned his 10-year-old daughter, Liza, during his opening statement.
Kavanaugh was explaining how he said he bears Ford no ill will when he recounted how Liza, when saying her prayers, said, “We should pray for the woman.”
Watch the moment:
Judge Brett Kavanaugh strongly denied that he assaulted Dr. Christine Blasey Ford during a high school party nearly 40 years ago, claiming that while she may have been assaulted, it wasn’t he who did it.
“That’s not who I am. It is not who I was. I am innocent of this charge,” he said.
Brett Kavanaugh, delivering a furious speech at the start of his Senate testimony, said he wouldn’t withdraw his nomination.
He continued: “No one can question your effort, but your coordinated and well-funded effort to destroy my good name and destroy my family will not drive me out. The vile threats of violence against my family will not drive me out. You may defeat me in the final vote but you’ll never get me to quit. Never.”
Watch the moment:
While speaking before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Judge Brett Kavanaugh passionately denied the allegations of sexual assault that have been brought against him, calling the accusations from the past two weeks “a calculated and orchestrated political hit.”
“This is a circus,” he said.
Brett Kavanaugh portrayed himself as a victim Thursday, saying he and his family have been “totally and permanently destroyed” by the sexual assault allegations he faces.
As the nation watched an extraordinary Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Kavanaugh rebutted his accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, in a hearing that can decide the fate of President Donald Trump’s nominee to the Supreme Court.
He said he welcomed any investigation, even as Republican senators have said they don’t see a need for the FBI probe Ford’s claim.
“This confirmation process has become a national disgrace,” he said. “The Constitution gives the Senate an important role in the confirmation process. But you have replaced advise and consent with search and destroy.”
Watch the moment:
Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh was just sworn in.
He’s now giving his opening statement, which he wrote himself, and he’s speaking in a stern, aggressive tone.
He added that he wrote his statement himself, just yesterday, and no one has seen it except a former law clerk.
Judge Brett Kavanaugh, holding his wife Ashley’s hand, just entered the hearing room. He was staring straight ahead.
See it:
Ford’s lawyers — Michael Bromwich, Lisa Banks and Debra Katz — are now seated in audience of the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing
It appears they will be watching Brett Kavanaugh’s testimony from the room.
While there is an overwhelming feeling from Kavanaugh allies that Ford came across as credible and compelling, one source close to the confirmation team argued that Christine Blasey Ford did not hit a home run.
The source argued that Ford’s testimony ended with no additional corroborating evidence to back up her allegations and showed Ford has “more muddled recollections” than was apparent in her previous statements.
Examples of the “more muddled recollections”?
Of course, these are all on the margins of her recollections of the assault itself.
Nonetheless, the source conceded that Ford came across as “a very poised, sincere person.”
“She looks and sounds sincere,” the source said. “But there’s more to credibility.”
Now, the source said, the onus will be on Kavanaugh to appear at least as compelling as Ford was.
At Cardozo Law School in New York City, about 60 students are gathered in a student lounge, watching the hearing on a large projection screen.
Some covered their mouths and held back tears during Ford’s testimony.
“I want this to matter,” said one student, Sam. “I also was assaulted and I can’t imagine putting your trauma out there.”
Sam added that Ford has nothing to gain from coming forward - “There is no best case scenario,” she said.
Ryan, another student, thinks Ford seems like a credible witness, but that the FBI should have done an investigation.
“Committee Republicans are actually being pretty fair. They are letting her speak,” he said while glancing at the projector screen. “It’s interesting. It’s the next 40 years of our country.”
He noted that law students’ responses seemed more skewed, as they “tend to be more liberal.”
Since returning from New York more than two hours ago, President Trump has been watching the testimony of Christine Blasey Ford from the residence of the White House.
One White House official said he displayed no outward signs of anger at what was unfolding before him on his television screens, but the relative silence was perhaps even more ominous.
The official said the hearing “was terrible for Brett,” but insisted that Kavanaugh still had the opportunity to tell his side of the story this afternoon.
The general feeling inside the White House? That Ford was “very credible” and “compelling,” another official said, who added that her testimony doesn’t take away the partisan criticism for why she came forward now.
The blame game, predictably, is already gearing up, but so far it’s producing far more questions than answers.
So what happens next? The President wants to hear from Kavanaugh — and to see him defend his character before making any decisions, the official said.
The White House insists there is no work being done behind the scenes today to find a second nominee — should Kavanaugh ultimately withdraw or fall short — but it should be noted that the files of well-qualified candidates have already been identified.
The President opened the door on Wednesday to being swayed by the testimony, despite his heated rhetoric for more than a week. But he also didn’t rule out having to make a second pick.
Watch more:
Expect to see a different Brett Kavanaugh than the robotic figure we saw on Fox News earlier in the week. A lot has changed since then.
“He’s incandescent” — in this case meaning extremely angry — one person involved in his prep said. And although we saw an early version of an opening statement, that is expected to change as Kavanaugh defends himself against attacks, some of which he has called coming from the “Twilight Zone.”
Kavanaugh spent one day this week sitting with White House Counsel Don McGahn and a small number of other advisors going through hearing prep. This is different from the preparations he went through — involving at times dozens of people — for his earlier confirmation hearing before Ford’s allegations came out.
For Kavanaugh, according to his supporters, it’s not as much about a Supreme Court seat now but defending his name. In regard to Ford’s allegations, he vehemently denies them. He says that perhaps she was sexually assaulted by someone in some place but it wasn’t him. But regarding other allegations — some anonymous — that have come into the committee since Ford came forward, he has called some of them “ridiculous.”
Senator Mike Crapo, a Republican from Idaho, Senator Jeff Flake, a Republican from Arizona, Senator Ben Sasse, a Republican from Nebraska, Senator Ted Cruz, a Republican from Texas, Senator Mike Lee, a Republican from Utah, and Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, a Republican from Texas, listen as Rachel Mitchell, a Republican prosecutor from Arizona, questions Christine Blasey Ford on their behalf during today’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in Washington, D.C.
Ford told Mitchell she is “one hundred percent” certain that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is the person who sexually assaulted her when they were teenagers, and she told a Senate committee that he and his friend laughed at her expense during the attack.
As the hearing ended, and Dr. Christine Blasey Ford gathered up her papers, multiple people in the room loudly said, “Thank you Dr. Ford.”
You can hear some of them here:
The Senate Judiciary Committee just wrapped up their questions for Christine Blasey Ford. The committee is now on a 45-minute recess.
When they come back, Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh will be sworn in. Senators will then have a chance to question him about the sexual assault allegations.
The White House says President Donald Trump is watching Christine Blasey Ford’s testimony. If he is watching on his favorite network, Fox News, he may not like what he’s hearing.
Rather than defending Brett Kavanaugh at all costs, like the network’s primetime hosts have been doing, Fox’s daytime journalists and commentators highlighted Ford’s credibility and humanity on display at Thursday’s hearing.
“A lot of folks” are “viewing her as a very credible witness,” Supreme Court correspondent and 11 p.m. anchor Shannon Bream said. After the first break at Thursday’s hearing, “Fox News Sunday” moderator Chris Wallace said “this is a disaster for the Republicans.”
Read more about Fox News’ coverage here.
At the beginning of California Democratic Sen. Kamala Harris’ remarks, she spoke directly to Christine Blasey Ford: “Dr. Ford, first of all so we can level set, you know you are not on trial.”
Watch the moment:
Sen. Lindsey Graham, speaking to reporters at a break, expressed his frustration with the allegations that have threatened to derail Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation and shared a warning, “Let me tell my democratic friends, if this is the new norm, you better watch out for your nominees.”
Here’s his full remark:
As Senator Lindsey Graham was heading to the elevator after a lengthy and angry exchange with us reporters trailing him in the hallway, a young woman approached him. She was waiting for him by the elevator.
This was their exchange we saw and heard on video:
Woman: “Senator Graham, I was raped 13 years ago.”
Graham: “I’m so sorry.”
Woman: “I don’t remember the exact date, but do you believe me?”
Graham: “You needed to go to the cops. Go to the cops.”
See the moment:
Rachel Mitchell, the lawyer who is asking questions for the Senate Republicans on the committee, again asked Christine Blasey Ford about the polygraph test she took in August and who paid for it.
One of her lawyers, Debra Katz, jumped in.
“As is routine,” another one of her lawyers added.
“As is routine,” Katz repeated.
The halls and elevators of the Dirksen Senate Office Building are full of protesters, sending silent messages scrawled on tape, signs and their bodies.
Outside, protesters - -and Kavanaugh supporters – are much more vocal.
CNN affiliate WJLA’s Richard Reeve captured the back and forth.
WATCH:
South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, casting doubt on Ford’s allegation, told reporters that he still thinks the committee should vote on Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination Friday after today’s testimony.
Graham later added:
Former Republican senator and presidential candidate Rick Santorum responded to the morning testimony of Christine Blasey Ford, saying she seemed “authentic.”
Watch more:
Christine Blasey Ford said she’s not sure who paid for the lie detector test she took in August. Rachel Mitchell, who’s asking questions for the Senate Republicans on the committee, asked her about it:
Mitchell: Did you pay for the polygraph yourself?
Ford: I don’t think so.
Mitchell: Do you know who did?
Ford: Not yet, no.
It’s Jamar Guy’s day off. But he came to Shaw’s Tavern in Washington, which opened early, because he needed to watch this hearing.
This is personal for him.
“I was sexually abused as a child,” Guy said. “I was 10. I told my mom about it when I was 28.”
Guy, 35, says he’s a survivor, and he understands why Ford did not tell people.
“People don’t report it for a ton of reasons,” he said. “Fear, shame are the top two. That’s how it worked for me.”
Now, he’s talking more about his story to those close to him – roommates, even friends.
“I feel the need to correct this misperception that people have, that because you didn’t tell someone about it, it didn’t happen,” he says.
Sen. John Cornyn, a Republican from Texas who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Christine Blasey Ford’s testimony is “fine” but “she’s repeating what we already knew.”
CNN asked if that meant that Cornyn hasn’t found Ford persuasive.
“No, it’s fine as far as what she’s saying. But you need more than an accusation for evidence. You need corroboration,” he said.
Rep. Carolyn Maloney, a New York Democrat, listened intently as Dr. Christine Blasey Ford testified during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing where she recounted a sexual assault that, she says, came at the hands of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
At one point, Alyssa Milano, Sen. Gillibrand and Rep. Maloney were all crying as Sen. Blumenthal spoke.
Many listening to Christine Blasey Ford recount her story and allegations of sexual assault by Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh may find the testimony emotional.
That’s especially true for those who are survivors of sexual violence.
If you or someone you know is dealing with the aftermath of sexual assault, there are organizations that can help.
Many are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and will confidentially listen, answer questions, provide local and legal resources and help determine the next steps. Click here to learn more.
A Republican congressional aide close to the process says after the morning session and the testimony by Ford, “Kavanaugh better be as compelling.”
The source says it is too early to tell how this goes.
The hearing is on a 30 minute lunch recess. When they return, six senators are left with time to question Ford.
The three Democrats left are…
And three Republicans are also left (but they have all given their time to outside counsel Rachel Mitchell to ask questions of Ford).
Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch said “it’s too early to say” if Ford is credible.
“I don’t think she’s uncredible. I think she an attractive, good witness,” he said.
I asked what he meant by “attractive.” He said, “In other words, she’s pleasing.”
Hatch said he thinks the committee will be prepared to vote tomorrow.
When asked if he’s learned anything new, Hatch said, “No I haven’t. At least I can’t think of anything.” He says he doesn’t have a strong impression so far.
“l’ll say this, she’s attractive and she’s a nice person,” he said as he headed to the elevator bank.
One Republican senator who went up to say something to Christine Blasey Ford as break started was Nebraska Republican Sen. Ben Sasse.
Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Chuck Grassley just announced that there will be a 30-minute lunch break.
After that, questioning will continue. We’ll hear more from Christine Blasey Ford before Brett Kavanaugh is sworn in and testifies.
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders just announced the previously announced meeting between President Trump and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein wouldn’t happen today, and instead would be moved to next week.
“The President spoke with Rod Rosenstein a few minutes ago and they plan to meet next week. They do not want to do anything to interfere with the hearing,” she said.
As protesters continue to mingle outside the hearing room, Democrat politicians continue to engage with them.
As Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois – and her infant daughter – entered the atrium, the crowd erupted in cheers.
“This is the only way we defeat this – is for you and the voices of people to show up,” Sen. Duckworth told the crowd gathered around her.
“It’s so critical what you are doing.”
Shortly before, Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon also met with protesters.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat from Minnesota, asked Christine Ford about the things she remembers about the night of the alleged attack.
Here’s how she answered:
Watch the moment:
Attorney Rachel Mitchell, the prosecutor Republicans hired to conduct their line of questioning, took time to ask Christine Blasey Ford about her time traveling on airplanes following reports from friends of Ford describing her having issues being in enclosed spaces.
“May I ask, how did you get to Washington?” Mitchell inquired.
Ford replied: “In an airplane.”
Mitchell went on to ask about several other trips Ford took, despite her fear of flying.
“I ask that because it has been reported by the press that you would not submit to an interview with the committee because of your fear of flying. Is that true?” Mitchell said.
Ford said she “was hoping they would come to me,” but added, “I realized that was an unrealistic request.”
“It would have been a quicker trip for me,” Mitchell joked.
Prior to Thursday’s hearing, CNN reported that two longtime friends of Ford said she had previously described feeling uncomfortable in enclosed spaces.
Democratic Congresswoman Jackie Speier, who has spoken about her own sexual assault as a young staffer on Capitol Hill and has been one of the main drivers of the (still stalled) sexual harassment legislation in Congress, sat in on the first session of the hearing this morning.
Speier says she specifically went to watch the Republican faces in the room, and spoke of her reflections of Sen. Jeff Flake face, still an undecided Republican on the committee.
“I watched their faces very closely. And Sen. Flake in particular has looked very pained. He was pained during her testimony of what happened. It is clear that some of these members are very uncomfortable with the way this is being handled.”
She said that the message Republicans are sending to women today is – if you come forward, “we will crucify you.”
She says Rachel Mitchell is a fine prosecutor and she is cross-examining Ford “gently but is cross-examining her as if her story is not going to hold up.”
Tarana Burke, founder of the #MeToo movement, is in the room watching today. She is a guest of Sen. Dianne Feinstein.
Burke said it has been “hard to watch,” but she is “encouraged” by Christine Blasey Ford.
She is wearing a handmade sticker, which says, “Believe women.”
At 10:00 a.m. ET, Manuel’s Tavern in Atlanta opened early; coffee and their lunch menu was served.
Normally, sports are on their TVs. Today, it’s the Kavanaugh-Ford hearings.
“Though it can sometimes make difficult dinner conversation, big political decisions are responsible for worldwide change, and directly or indirectly,” they wrote in a post on Facebook. “For better or worse, we are all affected.”
New York Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, who has been watching from the audience, tells CNN during break that she doesn’t see, how after today, Republicans can confirm Kavanaugh.
On Republicans’ decision to use an outside counsel to question Ford, Gillibrand said: “I think the fact they chose a prosecutor to ask these questions shows an extraordinary lack of judgment.”
One of the country’s most popular Republican governors on Thursday called for an independent investigation into the allegations made against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and said the Senate should hold off on a vote.
Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker made the comments as Professor Christine Blasey Ford testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee that Kavanaugh sexually and physically assaulted here.
“The accusations brought against Judge Kavanaugh are sickening and deserve an independent investigation,” Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker tweeted. “There should be no vote in the Senate.”
Per the travel pool with the President:
The hearing is on a brief break. Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Chuck Grassley walked by stakeout cameras during the break and said this:
Sen. Dick Durbin just asked Ford to tell her to what degree of certainty she believed it was Brett Kavanaugh who assaulted her.
Ford responded confidently: “100%.”
See it:
Sen. Dick Durbin, a Democrat from Illinois, called for Mark Judge — the other individual who Christine Blasey Ford claims was in the room during the alleged assault — to be subpoenaed.
“The FBI should have investigated your charges as they did in the Anita Hill hearing, but they did not,” Durbin said to Ford. “Mark Judge should be subpoenaed from his Bethany Beach hideaway and required to testify under oath, but he has not.”
He continued: “Judge Kavanaugh, if he truly believes there’s no evidence, no witnesses that can prove your case, should be joining us in demanding a thorough FBI investigation. But he has not.”
Sen. Patrick Leahy, a Democrat from Vermont, asked Christine Blasey Ford about her “strongest memory” from the alleged assault.
Ford said she remembers the “uproarious laughter” between Brett Kavanaugh and his friend Mark, who were “having fun at my expense.”
Here’s the exchange:
Watch the moment:
Across the world, people are watching the Kavanaugh-Ford hearing, and this includes passengers on planes at 35,000 feet.
Zette Emmons tells CNN this is her view aboard a JetBlue flight 415 from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport to San Francisco.
The New York Times’ Ron Lieber says he’s seeing a similar scene on his flight to Salt Lake City.
Once Judge Brett Kavanaugh was nominated, Christine Blasey Ford said she was “calculating daily the risk benefit” of deciding whether or not to come forward with her accusation against Kavanaugh.
Ford said she wondered if coming forward would just be “jumping in front of train that was headed to where it was headed anyway” and if she would be “personally annihilated.”
But Ford said she ultimately decided to come forward because reporters were outside her home, and in one instance, Ford said she mistook a reporter who came to one of her graduate school classes as a student.
“The mounting pressure seemed like it was time to just say what I needed to say,” she later added.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein just asked Christine Blasey Ford how she knew that Brett Kavanaugh was the boy who attacked her.
Here’s how she responded:
Feinstein followed up with this question: “So what you’re telling us is this could not be a case of mistaken identity?”
“Absolutely not,” Ford said.
Watch the exchange:
As the hearing continues, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) is meeting with protesters in the atrium outside the hearing.
A source close to Christine Blasey Ford said she wrote her prepared remarks herself.
Christine Blasey Ford, seemingly on the verge of tears, recounted the incident where she alleges Judge Brett Kavanaugh sexually and physically assaulted her while they were both at a party during their high school years.
Here’s some of what Ford alleged took place during her testimony:
Ford said the alleged assault “drastically altered” her life, and for “a very long time” she was “too afraid and ashamed to tell anyone these details.”
“I did not want to tell my parents that I, at age 15, was in a house without any parents present, drinking beer with boys. I convinced myself that because Brett did not rape me, I should just move on and just pretend that it had never happened,” Ford said.
Watch:
You can hear and see in the room, as Blasey Ford describes her alleged assault through tears, that people supporters and some Senate staffers are crying and in tears.
Senator Klobuchar wiped away a tear.
Christine Blasey Ford said she doesn’t remember all the details about how the party where she was allegedly sexually assaulted was organized. She apologized for not recalling all of them.
“I truly wish I could be more helpful with more detailed answers to all of the questions that have and will be asked about how I got to the party and where it took place and so forth,” she said.
“I don’t have all the answers, and I don’t remember as much as I would like to.”
However, she added, what she does remember, she “will never forget.”
Watch more:
Emily Qualey says she, and nine others, drove over 500 miles to deliver a message to her senator, Susan Collins: Vote no on Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court.
She and many others are silently protesting in the halls–even elevators–outside the hearing room.
Protesters lining the halls are silent. Their mouths are taped shut with “Believe survivors” and “Believe women” inscribed on the tape.
Similar messages are written on their raised palms, “I believe…We believe.”
Christine Blasey Ford just introduced herself at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, admitted she was “terrified,” and told senators why she has chosen to be there: It’s her “civic duty.”
“I am terrified. I am here because I believe it is my civic duty to tell you what happened to me while Brett Kavanaugh and I were in high school,” she said. “I have described the events publicly before. I summarized them in my letter to ranking member Feinstein, and again in a letter to Chairman Grassley. I understand and appreciate the importance of your hearing from me directly about what happened to me and the impact it has had on my life and on my family.”
She then explained how she met Brett Kavanaugh, “the boy who sexually assaulted me.”
Christine Blasey Ford was just sworn in for today’s testimony.
Watch the moment:
Following opening remarks from Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein made a jab at the Iowa Republican for not “properly” introducing Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s accuser – Christine Blasey Ford.
She then continued to read off Ford’s resume, which includes multiple degrees of higher education.
During his opening remarks, Grassley noted that Kavanaugh had been through six FBI background checks with no sexual assault allegations, and called his Democratic colleague’s call for an FBI investigation into the accusations “obstruction.”
He also criticized Feinstein for not immediately sharing Ford’s claim when she initially received the letter detailing the allegation in July.
“Every step of the way, the Democratic side refused to participate in what should have been a bipartisan investigation,” Grassley said.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein spent some of her opening statement introducing Christine Blasey Ford.
Here’s what we have learned so far:
Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, an Iowa Republican, opened up by lashing out against the process that led to the hearing, taking shots at the ranking member, California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, and defended the lack of an FBI probe into Christine Blasey Ford’s allegations.
“Some of my colleagues – consistent with their stated desires to obstruct the Kavanaugh nomination by any means necessary – pushed for an FBI investigation into the allegations,” Grassley said.
“But I have no authority to force an Executive Branch agency to conduct an investigation into a matter it considers to be closed.”
He also said the FBI was not in the business of making assessments of these kinds of allegations, suggesting Democrats’ calls for a probe were disingenuous. He also quoted another former Judiciary Committee chair, former Vice President Joe Biden, who during the Anita Hill testimony nearly 27 years ago said, “the FBI explicitly does not in this or any other case reach a conclusion.”
Democrats have argued that the FBI could help establish a baseline of facts for the senators on the committee.
Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley apologized to Brett Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford for threats they’ve received in the lead up to today’s hearing and said they were “a poor reflection on the state of civility in our democracy.”
He continued: “I want to apologize to you both for the way you’ve been treated and I intend hopefully for today’s hearing to be safe, comfortable and dignified for both of our witnesses,” he said.
When he does arrive on Capitol Hill, Judge Brett Kavanaugh is planning to watch at least the first portion of Christine Blasey Ford’s testimony from Vice President Mike Pence’s ceremonial office in the Senate side of the Capitol, a source familiar with the plan says.
As Ford’s legal team requested, and Judiciary Committee Republicans agreed to, he will never be in the same room as Ford. He will make his way to the committee room after she departs.
Christine Blasey Ford has arrived at the hearing table.
She’ll testify before Brett Kavanaugh.
Senate Democrats are not expected to consolidate their time -– meaning no one is giving up their allotted time to ask questions in order to give longer time to one or two.
But they ARE coordinating their questioning, CNN has learned.
An aide to Sen. Susan Collins tells CNN she will be watching the hearings but not from her office in the Dirksen building.
They anticipate protestors and people from the overflow viewing room just down the hall to make their way to her office later today.
A spokesperson said the senator will watch from her office in the Capitol building.
Clarification: This post has been updated to clarify where Collins is watching the hearing.
Christine Blasey Ford’s friend, Samantha Guerry, is here.
The prosecutor selected to serve as outside counsel for the Republican-led Senate Judiciary Committee at Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s hearing is officially in the room.
Rachel Mitchell has been a prosecutor for more than 25 years in Arizona involved in crimes similar to the sexual assault allegation levied by Christine Blasey Ford against Kavanaugh, who has denied the claim.
Mitchell currently serves as the Deputy County Attorney in the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office in Phoenix and is also is the division chief of the Special Victims Division, which handles cases of domestic violence, sex crimes, and auto theft. She has taken a leave of absence to come to Washington.
For over a decade, Mitchell, who was admitted to the Arizona state bar in 1992, ran the sex crimes bureau of that division, directing the prosecution of crimes including adult sexual assault.
On Thursday, however, she’ll be handling a case unlike any she’s ever prosecuted.
President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence have both phoned Judge Kavanaugh to voice their support for him ahead of today’s hearing.
Trump had a message for Kavanaugh when they spoke, per someone familiar with the call: Be aggressive and forceful in your denials. Don’t be afraid to push back on these allegations, Trump said.
Will the belligerent style Trump has employed to refute similar allegations work for Kavanaugh today? Stay tuned.
Expect to see a different Brett Kavanaugh than the robotic figure we saw on Fox News earlier in the week. A lot has changed since then.
“He’s incandescent” — in this case meaning extremely angry — one person involved in his prep said. And although we saw an early version of an opening statement, that is expected to change as Kavanaugh defends himself against attacks, some of which he has called coming from the “Twilight Zone.”
Kavanaugh spent one day this week sitting with White House Counsel Don McGahn and a small number of other advisors going through hearing prep. This is different from the preparations he went through — involving at times dozens of people — for his earlier confirmation hearing before Ford’s allegations came out.
For Kavanaugh, according to his supporters, it’s not as much about a Supreme Court seat now but defending his name. In regard to Ford’s allegations, he vehemently denies them. He says that perhaps she was sexually assaulted by someone in some place but it wasn’t him. But regarding other allegations — some anonymous — that have come into the committee since Ford came forward, he has called some of them “ridiculous”
One came from a letter sent to Sen. Gardner alleging conduct in 1998. According to the letter a woman’s daughter was with friends when Kavanaugh shoved one of the girls “up against the wall very aggressively.” Kavanaugh told the committee: “We’re dealing with an anonymous letter about an anonymous person and an anonymous friend. It’s ridiculous. Total twilight zone. And no I’ve never done anything like that.”
Democrats, on the other hand, and supporters of Christine Blasey Ford believe that Republicans on the committee are flooding the record with anonymous allegations only to diminish Ford’s allegations. They note that late last night the committee released, to the media, information suggesting committee staff met with a man who believes he, not Kavanaugh, had the encounter with Ford. A Democratic aide said they were blindsided by the release and weren’t informed beforehand.
Ford’s legal team issued a statement saying that the committee failed to point out that they found the allegation not to be credible. “This last minute attempt that seeks to undermine Dr. Ford won’t work,” the spokesman said.
There will be only about 20 seats for members of the public in room 226, the small room in which the Kavanaugh-Ford hearing will take place.
Abby Cruz, reporter for the Montgomery County Sentinel, filmed the line of people that are queuing for those limited seats.
The night before Dr. Christine Blasey Ford and Judge Brett Kavanaugh were due to face off in Washington over a decades-old sex assault accusation, a flurry of confusing developments surfaced and seemed to only muddy the waters.
Here’s a quick look at what we know about them:
Trump’s news conference: President Trump held a rare, but typically long, news conference where he veered between saying he didn’t believe the women to claiming he wanted to hear Ford out and was withholding judgement. He also admitted he was biased after years of being accused of assault himself.
RBG weighs in: Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg spoke out on the #MeToo movement and said, “every woman of my vintage has not just one story but many stories, but we thought there’s nothing you can do about it, boys will be boys.” Now, she says, “The more women that are out there doing things, the more women will be encouraged to do things, and we will all be better off for it, men, women, and children.”
It wasn’t him. It was us? Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley said Wednesday night his committee has talked to two men who each claim they were the ones who had the encounter with Ford, not Kavanaugh. Democrats were furious at the last-minute surprise,and Ford’s legal team claimed the committee failed “to point out that they found this to be not credible.”
More accusations unveiled: Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh was presented with two new allegations of misconduct yesterday, according to newly released Senate Judiciary Committee transcripts. Both victims are unnamed.
But one may have recanted: One man who alleged a close acquaintance was assaulted by a man he believed to be Kavanaugh may have tweeted that he recanted the accusation. That Twitter user’s identity is unclear, however, and CNN hasn’t received a response to an email to confirm it.
Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford, who has accused him of sexual assault, will appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee today.
Eleven Republicans — who are all men — sit on the panel:
Ten Democrats, four of whom are women, also sit on the panel:
Lawyers for Christine Blasey Ford released the prepared testimony for Thursday’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing about her sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Kavanaugh has denied the allegations.
She will then detail the alleged attack, which happened at a party Ford says both Kavanaugh and Ford attended, along with another teen named Mark Judge.
Here’s part of how she described it:
Walking into the hearing room, Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Grassley was asked, “What are you hoping for today?”
Actress and activist Alyssa Milano is in the hearing room.
Milano, who appeared on “Who’s the Boss?” and “Charmed,” has said she believes Blasey Ford and called on senators to reject Kavanaugh’s nomination.
Why we’re talking about Milano: Last year, she helped popularize the #MeToo movement. And earlier this week, she added her voice to a related hashtag movement, #WhyIDidntReport, to explain why she did not report her sexual assault to police about 30 years ago.
“It took me years after my assault to voice the experience to my closest friends,” Milano wrote in a first-person piece for Vox. “It took me three decades to tell my parents that the assault had even happened. I never filed a police report. I never told officials. I never tried to find justice for my pain because justice was never an option.”
The White House TiVos are set to capture today’s historic hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
President Trump will be traveling from New York to Washington during the morning hours of the hearing, which will keep him from watching full gavel-to-gavel coverage of the proceedings. But an official says today that the full recording will be waiting for him when he returns to the White House.
This, of course, is typical for a President who often records daily shows on Fox News and even CNN. He once told Time magazine that TiVo and other DVRs are “one of the great inventions of all time.”
Today, the President can watch TV aboard Air Force One as he flies from New York’s John F. Kennedy airport to Joint Base Andrews (that between 10:50 a.m. ET and 11:45 a.m. ET).
However, he will be unable to see the coverage aboard Marine One as he lifts from the Wall Street landing zone to JFK (10:25 a.m. ET to 10:40 a.m. ET) and later from Joint Base Andrews to the White House (11:55 a.m. ET to 12:05 a.m.) ET
The President said Wednesday that he’d be watching.
But will Trump tweet? A White House official said they did not believe the President would be tweeting during the hearing, but added that was far from certain.
“As everyone knows by now, he decides when to Tweet,” the official said.
Some friends of Ford’s friends, some of whom flew across the country to support her, will be in the room today, according to a source on Ford’s team.
They’ll be sitting in some of the limited seats during her testimony.
However, Ford’s husband, Russell Ford, is in California with their two children today, Ford’s team tells CNN. So he will not be present at the hearing.
The hearing with Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford, who has accused him of sexual assault, will start at 10 a.m. ET.
The room’s getting set up now. Take a look:
Live on national television, the California professor who alleges President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee sexually assaulted her as a teenager will tell her story — and Brett Kavanaugh will face tough questions about whether it is true.
Here’s what to watch in Thursday’s hearing:
Christine Blasey Ford will air her allegation of sexual assault against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, and Kavanaugh will defend himself, as the nation watches Thursday’s extraordinary Senate Judiciary Committee hearing.
Here’s what we know about how it will play out:
