The Daily - The Blasey-Kavanaugh Hearing

Episode Date: September 28, 2018

She gave a raw, reluctant account of sexual assault. He gave an angry, outraged denial. And once again, the United States Senate must take a side. Guest: Kate Zernike, who covers politics for The New York Times. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily.

From The New York Times, I'm Michael Barbaro. This is The Daily. Today. She gave a raw, reluctant account of sexual assault. He gave an angry, outraged denial that it was him. And once again, the United States Senate must take a side. It's Friday, September 28th. Kate, give us the mood as this hearing opened up on Thursday morning.

Kate, give us the mood as this hearing opened up on Thursday morning. We've only been anticipating this moment for, I guess, a week by now, but it feels like this moment has been really long in coming. Kate Cernicky covers politics for The Times. We're in this crowded room and there's cameras and all this bustle and all these people around this woman who we've heard a ton about, but we've never actually seen. And so there's sort of this revelation. Who is this woman, Christine Blasey Ford, who we've been talking about so much for the last week? And as she looks out, if we look at it from her perspective, she's looking out on this very formal setting.

And it's largely a room full of men, because the whole Republican side of the panel is 11 white men. So how does this hearing actually begin? It's open with the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman, Chuck Grassley, senator from Iowa. This morning, we continue our hearing on the nomination of Judge Brent Kavanaugh to serve as associate justice on our Supreme Court. Right. And the way the Republicans are viewing this is this is a trial, and they're trying to figure out whether Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted Christine Blasey Ford, as she has alleged. That is why the senators on this side of the dais believe an expert who has deep experience and training in interviewing victims of sexual assault and investigating sexual assault allegations should be asking questions.

And it gives the justification to why they have brought in an outside prosecutor to ask questions for the Republican side. I can think of no one better equipped to question the witnesses than Rachel Mitchell. She has dedicated her career to seeking justice for survivors of sex-related felonies. The less generous interpretation is that the Republicans, as with Anita Hill, still have all men on their side of the panel. And they don't want that spectacle that they had with Anita Hill, where it was these male senators were putting this female witness on trial. Senator Feinstein. And then. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

Dianne Feinstein gets her turn, the ranking minority leader, who is critical in all of this because, of course, she was the one who first received the letter from Dr. Bozzi Ford. Right. Yes, I did receive a letter from Dr. Ford. It was conveyed to me by a member of Congress on an issue. She starts by explaining how this all came to be, the timeline of how this letter came to her, how the letter came to be public. The next day, I called Dr. Ford.

We spoke on the phone. She reiterated that she wanted this held confidential. And I held it confidential up to a point where the witness was willing to come forward. And it's all aimed at diffusing this idea that Democrats are acting solely out of partisan motive. And that Dr. Bozzi Ford is some sort of pawn of this political process.

In this game. Too often, women's memories and credibility come under assault. In essence, they are put on trial and forced to defend themselves and often re-victimized in the process. And it's clear that what Feinstein and the Democrats want to do is establish that Christine Blasey Ford is credible, and therefore that it's right and proper to raise questions about Brett Kavanaugh's character. We are here for one reason, to determine whether Judge Kavanaugh should be elevated to one

of the most powerful positions in our country. She ends on a very firm note. She says, This is not a trial of Dr. Ford. It's a job interview for Judge Kavanaugh. Is Brett Kavanaugh who we want on the most prestigious court in our country? Is he the best we can do? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Then we actually meet Dr. Bozzi Ford. Right. Do you swear that the testimony you're about to give before this committee will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God? Thank you very much. Thank you, Senator Grassley. I think after I read my opening statement, I anticipate needing some caffeine, if that is available.

Okay. And she starts out by saying... I am here today not because I want to be. 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. And what's the story that she tells the Judiciary Committee? She's incredibly visual in her telling, and she does remember these details that give us a picture of what happened. In the summer of 1982, like most summers, I spent most every day at the Columbia Country Club in Chevy Chase, Maryland, swimming and practicing diving.

swimming and practicing diving. One evening that summer, after a day of diving at the club, I attended a small gathering at a house in the Bethesda area. There were four boys I remember specifically being at the house. Brett Kavanaugh, Mark Judge, a boy named PJ, and one other boy whose name I cannot recall. You can almost picture her going to this party and what she must have been feeling turning up at this house. When I got to the small gathering,

people were drinking beer in a small living room, family room type area on the first floor of the house. I drank one beer. Brett and Mark were visibly drunk. Early in the evening, I went up a very narrow set of stairs leading from the living room to a second floor to use the restroom. When I got to the top of the stairs, I was pushed from behind into a bedroom across from the bathroom. Brett and Mark came into the bedroom and locked the door behind them. I was pushed onto the bed, and Brett got on top of me.

He began running his hands over my body and grinding into me. I yelled, hoping that someone downstairs might hear me, and I tried to get away from him, but his weight was heavy. Brett groped me and tried to take off my clothes. He had a hard time because he was very inebriated and because I was wearing a one-piece bathing suit underneath my clothing. I believed he was going to rape me. I tried to yell for help. When I did, Brett put his hand over my mouth to stop me from yelling.

This is what terrified me the most and has had the most lasting impact on my life. It was hard for me to breathe, and I thought that Brett was accidentally going to kill me. During this assault, Mark came over and jumped on the bed twice while Brett was on top of me. And the last time that he did this, we toppled over and Brett was no longer on top of me. I was able to get up and run out of the room. Directly across from the bedroom was a small bathroom. I ran inside the bathroom and locked the door. I waited until I heard Brett and Mark leave the bedroom, laughing and loudly walk down the narrow stairway, pinballing off the walls on the way down. I waited, and when I did not hear them come back up the stairs, I left the bathroom, went down the same stairwell, through the living room, and left the house. I remember being on the street and feeling an enormous sense of relief that I had escaped that house and that Brett and Mark were not coming outside after me.

It's so clear that it's this completely disorienting, awful experience that still haunts her now. It is not my responsibility to determine whether Mr. Kavanaugh deserves to sit on the Supreme Court. My responsibility is to tell you the truth. And at this point, I will do my best to answer your questions and would request some caffeine. A Coke or something? That sounds good. That would be great. Thank you.

Thank you very much. So then, Kate, we enter into this kind of bizarre format that the two sides have come up with in this hearing, where the Democrats are going to each get five minutes to ask Dr. Blasey Ford questions. And then in between those, this prosecutor hired by the Republicans is going to break in for five minutes to ask questions on behalf of the Republicans on the panel.

So let's talk about how that actually played out, starting with the Democrats and how they used their time. Over and over, the Democrats praise her for her courage in coming forward. Now, Dr. Ford, no matter what happens with this hearing today, no matter what happens to this nomination, I know and I hear from so many in my own state of Vermont, there are millions of victims and survivors out there who have been inspired by your courage. I am. And they're talking about what an inspiration she is to

women, women who suffered sexual assault, but also just women who have felt that their voices have been stifled for too long. Dr. Ford, as difficult as this experience must be, I want you to know that your courage in coming forward has given countless Americans the strength to face their own life-shattering past and to begin to heal their wounds. And it's really striking how the Democrats are trying to do this very differently from the way it went with Anita Hill. It's very clear that what they want to establish is, we believe you. And I believe many Americans across this country believe you. Let me tell you why I believe you.

It's striking with the Democratic men in particular. One after the other, they come out and they say, we believe you. Let me tell you why I believe you. It's striking with the Democratic men in particular. One after the other, they come out and they say, we believe you. And Dr. Ford has at times been criticized for what she doesn't remember from 36 years ago. But we have numerous experts, including a study by the U.S. Army, Military Police School, Behavior, Sciences, Education,

that lapses of memory are wholly consistent with severe trauma and stress of assault. And they're confirming the way memory works, and they're validating her experience in a way that almost anticipates what the Republicans might be using against her, which is there are gaps in your memory, you don't remember all the details, you don't remember how you got home. You do remember what happened, do you not? Very much so. Thank you. At one point, Senator Leahy, Democrat of Vermont, asks her a question. Well, then let's go back to the incident. What is the strongest memory you have?

Strongest memory of the incident, something that you cannot forget. Take whatever time you need. Indelible in the hippocampus is the laughter. And she responds in this really interesting way. You know, she is a research psychologist. She's obviously steeped in this language. The uproarious laughter between the two. And they're having fun at my expense. You've never forgotten that laughter.

You've never forgotten them laughing at you. They were laughing with each other. And you were the object of the laughter? I was underneath one of them while the two laughed but then she almost shifts and she says two friends having a really good time with one another they're just two boys having fun together and it's as if she's aware that this searing experience to her to them might just be two high school guys having fun, two buddies in this moment together. Which may be her way of saying, I know why I remember it, and perhaps I understand why they don't.

Yes, because to them, it was just two friends having fun. And you were still, not just willing, but insistent that the FBI should investigate your recollection and your claim. So they're praising her for her bravery. They're talking to her about the nature of memory and supporting why she might not remember all the details. And they're also criticizing the lack of an FBI investigation. Yes, I feel like I could be more helpful if that was the case in providing some of the details that maybe people are wanting to know about. Right. Some of Dr. Bozzi Ford's most compelling testimony, I thought, had to do with what Dr. Bozzi Ford said would be the value of having this FBI investigation. She brings up, for example, Mark Judge, the other boy.

I was going to the Potomac Village Safeway. This is the one on the corner of Falls and River Road. The way she describes it is she bumps into him at a local grocery store where he's working. And I was with my mother, and I was a teenager, so I wanted her to go in one door and me go in the other. So I chose the wrong door because the door I chose was the one where Mark Judge looked like he was working there arranging the shopping carts. And I said hello to him. And his face was white and very uncomfortable saying hello back. And she says if there had been an FBI investigation, the world would know when Mark Judge worked at that grocery store,

which would have helped her figure out when she was allegedly attacked, and everybody would just have so much more information. I certainly would feel like I could be more helpful to everyone if I knew the date that he worked at the Safeway so that I could give a more specific date of the assault. What she's saying is, I want to be civic-minded, and if you help me be more civic-minded, we'll get to the bottom of this.

And the way to do that is through an FBI investigation. I wish that I could be more helpful and that others could be more helpful and that we could collaborate in a way that would get at more information. Dr. Ford is looking pretty credible. The Democrats are looking like they're trying to do the right thing. And what about the other side, the prosecutor who is acting on behalf of the Republicans? What did she do with her time? Good morning, Dr. Ford. We haven't met. My name is Rachel Mitchell.

Nice to meet you. It's a little unclear when Rachel Mitchell starts questioning what exactly she's up to. It's not even clear how much she's aligned with the Republicans.

She's sympathetic to Dr. Blasey Ford. She says, The first thing that struck me from your statement this morning was that you were terrified and I just wanted

to let you know I'm very sorry. That's not right. And as she begins, she's asking these very basic, almost like, what's your name, where were you born questions. May I ask, Dr. Ford, how did you get to Washington? In an airplane. Trying to establish it looks like a fact pattern, but it's sort of unclear what she's trying to do. Right. Prosecutors generally build a case, and building a case means building momentum through your questioning. So it's very awkward that she gets somewhere or seems to be getting somewhere, and then suddenly she's interrupted by Chairman Grassley, and she has to hand off

her time to a Democrat. Okay. Ms. Mitchell, I don't know whether this is fair for me to interrupt, but I want to keep people within five minutes. Is that a major problem for you in the middle of a question? Because I've got to treat everybody the same. I understand that. Can I go to Senator Feinstein? Yes, sir. I'm sorry. I didn't see the red. Please do. And the effect is she never gets that momentum. So in the beginning, she introduces this map. I'm going to show you, if somebody could provide to you, a map of the various people's houses. And it's got the country club on it,

and Christine Blasey Ford's house is a girl, and she's got the distances between them, but we're not really sure why she's showing us the distances, and there's some quibbling with the Democrats, but whether they have a copy of the map. Mr. Chairman, do we have a copy of these documents? You want one? We can get you one. Yes, before the questions begin so we can follow the testimony. It starts to seem like her goal may be to show gaps in memory or discrepancies, to just generally and kind of gently raise some doubts. Right. So first she says, it's unlikely that you would have gotten this distance.

It's either six or eight miles from the country club to this party and then home on foot. So someone must have driven you. But do you remember anyone driving you? And Ford says no. You said that you do not remember how you got home. Is driven you. But do you remember anyone driving you? And Ford says no. You said that you do not remember how you got home. Is that correct? I do not remember. Okay.

Other than I did not drive home. Has anyone come forward and said, oh, it was me. I drove you home that night? No. Okay. But by the end, there's a pattern that's a little bit clearer. And it seems like what she's trying to do is raise doubts about her credibility and raise doubts about her motive. And so it becomes who paid for your lawyers, who suggested your lawyers. Dr. Ford, in choosing attorneys, did anyone help you with the choice on who to choose? Various people referred me to lawyers that they knew in the Washington, D.C. area.

Who paid for the polygraph test? Who suggested you have the polygraph test? Instead, you were advised to get an attorney and take a polygraph. Is that right? Many people advised me to get an attorney. Once I had an attorney, my attorney and I discussed using the polygraph. Right. And the question that Rachel Mitchell seems to be driving at is, are you a civic-minded? Or are you just a partisan Democrat? But it doesn't really seem, perhaps because it's broken up into these five-minute increments, it doesn't really seem like Rachel Mitchell is getting anywhere. And behind her are these Republican men, and they're starting to look a little bit silenced themselves.

they're starting to look a little bit silenced themselves. Kate, I have to say, by the end of Dr. Ford's testimony, it started to feel like her credibility, her composure, her humanity, her certainty that this was Brett Kavanaugh, that it was kind of hard to imagine Kavanaugh recovering from this testimony. Right. In some ways, you had to wonder, are they going to break for lunch and Brett Kavanaugh just won't ever appear? We'll be right back.

Judge Kavanaugh, we welcome you. Are you ready? So, Kate, then it's Kavanaugh's turn. And, I mean, wow, does the mood in this room change so quickly. Very quickly. Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member Feinstein, members of the committee, thank you for allowing me to make my statement. Brett Kavanaugh is sitting there with his family behind him, his wife, his parents, friends. And the big question about Kavanaugh going into this was, what's his tone going to be? And there have been reports that President Trump and Republicans felt that in his interview with Fox News earlier in the week,

he wasn't forceful enough, that the president in particular was disappointed by how he didn't go after this and didn't look angry enough and defensive enough. So if President Trump wanted anger, he got anger. Is it any surprise that people have been willing to do anything to make any physical threat against my family, to send any violent email to my wife, against my family, to send any violent email to my wife, to make any kind of allegation against me and against my friends, to blow me up and take me down. He is way angrier than we've ever seen him. And the Republicans have been talking about this as a very partisan attack, but we haven't heard this from Brett Kavanaugh, and suddenly we do. And in Brett Kavanaugh's telling in that hearing room, it's a conspiracy. This whole two-week effort has been a calculated and orchestrated political hit, fueled with apparent pent-up anger about President Trump and the 2016 election, revenge on behalf of the Clintons, and millions of dollars in money from outside left-wing opposition groups

This is a circus His face is almost distorted He's so angry you don't recognize him And then his mood turns And he's not just angry He's distraught And he's almost coming apart Because of what this has done to his family.

Explaining this to our daughters has been about the worst experience of our lives. The other night, Ashley and my daughter Liza said their prayers. And little Liza, all 10 years old. And how his sweet 10-year-old daughter has said to his wife one night after these allegations have come out. Said to Ashley, we should pray for the woman. Dr. Ford. Exactly, for Dr. Ford. It's a lot of wisdom from a 10-year-old. We mean no ill will. And we have this picture of his beautiful life, his beautiful family. And he's saying, if this goes badly. I love teaching law. I teach. I can't teach anymore. But thanks to what some of you on this side of the committee have unleashed,

I may never be able to teach again. I coach. I can't coach anymore. I love coaching more than anything I've ever done in my whole life. But thanks to what some of you on this side of the committee have unleashed, I may never be able to coach again. And he's really talking about how this has just changed his life forever. And we've seen that now from Christine Blasey Ford. Ford was raw and wounded. Now we're seeing that Brett Kavanaugh is raw and outraged. But there's also a sense from Brett Kavanaugh of entitlement. President Trump has said about him, he was born for this.

He was born to be on the Supreme Court. And Brett Kavanaugh is kind of saying the same thing. A lifetime of public service and a lifetime of high-profile public service at the highest levels of American government. And never a hint of anything of this kind. And that's because nothing of this kind ever happened. My whole life has been prepped for this, and now you're going to deny me this

because of this outrageous allegation, this last-minute outrageous allegation? But I swear today, under oath, before the Senate and the nation, before my family and God, I am innocent of this charge. Thank you, Judge Kavanaugh. So then this prosecutor, Rachel Mitchell, acting on behalf of the Republicans, is up first with the questioning of Kavanaugh.

And what do we sense that she's up to in this role now that she's turned to questioning Kavanaugh, not Dr. Bozzie Ford? Good afternoon, Judge Kavanaugh. We have not met. My name is Rachel Mitchell. I'd like to go over a couple of guidelines. She seems to be still acting in her role as prosecutor, and she gives the same kind of wind-up that she gave with Dr. Ford, asking pretty matter-of-fact questions just to establish the basic facts of his case.

Do you know Mark Judge? I do. How Do you know Mark Judge? I do. How do you know him? He was a friend at Georgetown Prep starting in ninth grade. And then this outside prosecutor's five minutes are up, and it's the Democrats' turn again. And Kavanaugh again swings into this very antagonistic mode. So most people have done some drinking in high school and college,

and many people even struggle with alcoholism and binge drinking. Amy Klobuchar is trying to do the same thing that Democrats have tried to do throughout, which is raise questions about how honest Brett Kavanaugh has been all through this hearing process. We have heard, not under oath, but we have heard your college roommates say

that you did drink frequently. These are in news reports, that you would sometimes be belligerent. Another classmate said it's not credible for you to say you didn't have memory lapses. He's insisted that he hasn't been blackout drunk, but his speeches and his yearbook and other accounts suggest that he has. And this is important because if he has been blackout drunk, this could explain the he said, she said dynamic. Right. He may not remember this event. Exactly. Christine Blasey Ford has this very vivid memory. He has no memory because he was blacked out.

My own dad struggled with alcoholism most of his life. And he got in trouble for it. And there were consequences. She's speaking about her father's alcoholism, how he, a recovering alcoholic at age 90, still goes to AA meetings. And she asks Brett Kavanaugh if he's ever been blackout drunk. 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. I remember what happened. And there's this extraordinary moment.

I remember what happened. And there's this extraordinary moment. So you're saying there's never been a case where you drank so much that you didn't remember what happened the night before or part of what happened? You're asking about blackout. I don't know. Have you? Could you answer the question, Judge? That's not happened.

Is that your answer? Yeah, and I'm curious if you have. I have no drinking problem, Judge. Nor do I. Okay, thank you. The Democrats are having a field day, and it is collectively bringing out this pretty unflattering, aggressive behavior by Kavanaugh. Right. Senator Feinstein. And Dianne Feinstein starts asking a question. Judge Kavanaugh, if you're very confident of your position and you appear to be, why aren't you also asking the FBI to investigate these claims? Senator, I'll do whatever the committee wants. I wanted a hearing the day after the allegation came up. I wanted to be here that day.

Instead, 10 days passed where all this nonsense is coming out, you know, that I'm in gangs, I'm on boats in Rhode Island, I'm in Colorado, you know, I'm cited all over the place. So what are the Democrats up to here in returning once again to the question of an FBI investigation, but this time asking for Kavanaugh to call for one himself? There are two ways to look at this. One is the cynical and frankly Republican approach to this,

which is that the Democrats are just trying to filibuster. An FBI investigation delays the process. Maybe we get to the midterms. Maybe the Democrats take back the Senate. The other is to raise questions about his credibility. Again, as Feinstein says, if you are so solid in your case, if you are acknowledging that there are these other witnesses out there, why not just send the FBI to ask the questions? Dr. Ford has endorsed an investigation. She's willing to open herself up.

What are you trying to hide? But the FBI isn't interviewing them and isn't giving us any facts. Ford has endorsed an investigation. She's willing to open herself up. What are you trying to hide? But the FBI isn't interviewing them and isn't giving us any facts. So all we have— You're interviewing me. You're interviewing me. You're doing it, Senator. What's interesting at this point in the questioning of Kavanaugh is that Democrats are asking him tough questions.

They want to know if he will submit to an FBI investigation. Democrats are asking him tough questions. They want to know if he will submit to an FBI investigation. And really no one's standing up for Kavanaugh because, of course, the Republicans have ceded their questions to this outside lawyer. And this outside lawyer is beginning to press him on some pretty uncomfortable questions like his drinking habits. Did you consume alcohol during your high school years? Yes, we drank beer, my friends and I. It is interesting because he's not responding well to her either.

What do you consider to be too many beers? I don't know. You know, whatever the chart says, on your blood alcohol chart. And for Kavanaugh, it doesn't seem like there's any relief. Feinstein said at the beginning, this can't be a trial of Dr. Ford, but increasingly it's actually looking like a trial of Brett Kavanaugh, which is not what

the Republicans want. Senator Graham. So Lindsey Graham is the first Republican to lose his patience. Did you meet with Senator Dianne Feinstein on August 20th? I did meet with Senator Feinstein. Did you know that her staff had already recommended a lawyer to Dr. Ford? I did not know that. He breaks ranks from this whole strategy of having this outside prosecutor ask questions. And remember that Graham is a military lawyer. He's very proud of his record as a lawyer.

And he asks for his time that was going to be given to this outside prosecutor. He wants his time back. He wants to ask the questions himself. If you wanted an FBI investigation, you could have come to us. And he is just on fire with anger. What you want to do is destroy this guy's life, hold this seat open, and hope you win in 2020. You've said that, not me.

Boy, y'all want power. God, I hope you never get it. I hope the American people can see through this sham, that you knew about it and you held it. You had no intention of protecting Dr. Ford. None. She's as much of a victim as you are. God, I hate to say it because these have been my friends.

But let me tell you when it comes to this. You're looking for a fair process. You came to the wrong town at the wrong time, my friend. The Republicans realize that the Democrats are winning with emotion. That Christine Blasey Ford was incredibly pained, but it made her credible. This outside prosecutor has been pretty clinical in her questions. She's been doing what she's been hired to do, but that's not what they want anymore. They want to harness that emotion themselves.

And so what do they do exactly? Without saying anything to her or about her, the Republicans sideline this outside prosecutor they brought in. And one by one, they begin not so much to ask questions, but to repeat Lindsey Graham's outrage. Judge, don't give up. I'm not giving up. The American people are listening to this, and they will make their decision,

and I think you'll come out on the right side of that decision. And to talk about how this man has been tarnished. This man is not a monster, nor is he what has been represented here in these hearings. How this is a national disgrace. And this has been, sadly, one of the most shameful chapters in the history of the United States Senate. How the Democrats have done this. This is the Democrats' problem, and this is an outrage,

and we have reached the lowest moment in the United States Senate. I hate to say this, but this is worse than Robert Bork, and I didn't think it could get any worse than that. This is worse than Clarence Thomas. I didn't think it could get any worse than that. This is worse than Clarence Thomas. I didn't think it could get any worse than that. What's fascinating is that the Republicans end up doing what they said they didn't want to do. They wanted to fix what happened with the Anita Hill-Clarence Thomas confrontation in 1991 and how the Republicans really messed it up.

They were all grilling the woman and they were too solicitous of the man. But instead, they end up repeating that. And so they grill the woman, Christine Blasey Ford in this case, even though they have this outside prosecutor to do it. But then they jettison the outside prosecutor and they end up being solicitous of the man all over again. So, Kate, in the end, after this full day of wrenching testimony before the Judiciary Committee, it feels like we're essentially back to he said, she said. Which is exactly where we were 27 years ago with Anita Hill and Clarence Thomas. And then Hill and Thomas were stand-ins for gender, and we essentially chose he said.

In this case, Christine Bozzi Ford and Brett Kavanaugh, yes, they're stand-ins for gender. But what today made so clear is that they're really stand-ins for two sides of our divided country. And both sides are 100% certain that they are right. Thank you very much, Kate. Thank you, Michael. None of these allegations are true. Correct. No doubt in your mind? Zero.

Dr. Ford, with what degree of certainty do you believe Brett Kavanaugh assaulted you? 100%. 100% certain. 100%. 100% certain, Senator. You swear to God? I swear to God. On Thursday night, Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee said they plan to hold a vote today

on whether to advance Judge Kavanaugh's confirmation to the full Senate. The confirmation will then rest in the hands of just a few undecided senators, Republicans Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Jeff Flake of Arizona, and one Democrat, Joe Manchin of West Virginia. Senator Flake sits on the Judiciary Committee and will be seen as an early indication of how the undecided senators might ultimately vote. The full Senate vote is expected as early as Tuesday. The Daily is produced by Theo Balcom,

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Special thanks to Sam Dolman, Michaela Bouchard, and Stella Tan. That's it for The Daily. I'm Michael Barbaro. See you on Monday.