Judge Kavanaugh and Accuser to Face Each Other on Monday; President Moon Jae-in Welcomed by North Koreans.
ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN HOST: Public hearing. Brett Kavanaugh will testify to clear his name. His accuser will speak to prove her claim. At stake, a lifetime appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court. Carolina towns now islands. The waters and death toll rising. The hurricane maybe over, but the worst of the storm maybe yet to come. Plus, Moon Jae-in becomes the first South Korean president to visit Pyongyang in more than a decade. On a mission to revive stalled nuclear talks and formally end a decades' long war. Hello, and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States and from all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church. And this is CNN Newsroom. Well, the woman who claims U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her three decades ago will get a chance to tell her story to the American public. Christine Blasey Ford will testify before a Senate committee on Monday. Ford says back in high school, Kavanaugh held her down and tried to take off her clothes. Kavanaugh denies the allegation. The conservative judge spent the day at the White House on Monday working on a strategy to save his nomination. CNN's Jeff Zeleny reports.</s>JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Trump standing firmly behind Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He's an outstanding intellect and outstanding judge. Respected by anybody. Never a little blemish on his record.</s>ZELENY: He said he would be open to delaying the confirmation vote.</s>TRUMP: I want him to go in the at the absolute highest level. And I think to do that you have to go through this. If it takes a delay. It will take a delay. It shouldn't certainly be very much.</s>ZELENY: But behind the scenes seen the president is furious and frustrated by what he suspects is an event hour attempt to smear his pick for the Supreme Court. A California professor, Christine Blasey Ford accusing Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her while they were teenagers in high school. Kavanaugh calling it a completely false allegation. Yet his confirmation now hangs in the balance. Kellyanne Conway, one of the highest ranking woman in the White House trying to set a tone of civility.</s>KELLYANNE CONWAY, WHITE HOUSE SENIOR ADVISOR: (Inaudible) the president might have spoken at length about this. She shouldn't be ignored or insulted. She should be heard.</s>ZELENY: Sending a message to others around the president this moment is a serious one. It came after the president's son Donald Trump, Jr. mocked the accuser in this Instagram post. Citing, "Judge Kavanaugh sexual assault letter found by Dems. Will you be my girlfriend? Yes, no. Love, Brett." The president has been dismissive of other women who have come forward accusing him and other women of sexual misconduct. Including with Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore.</s>TRUMP: If he says he didn't happen, and you know, you have to listen to him also. You're talking about he said 40 years ago this didn't happen.</s>ZELENY: But less than two months before the midterm elections where women voters and candidates are playing a critical role the White House is treading lightly. For now at least. Saying both Kavanaugh and his accuser should be heard. Now Judge Kavanaugh spent nearly nine hours at the White House today. Working behind the scenes with his confirmation team. One official described his as shaken but said he was focused on defending his integrity. Now he and his accuser will be in a separate public hearing on Monday by the judiciary committee. Certainly raising the stakes on this battle. Something we've not seen in Washington like this for decades. Jeff Zeleny, CNN, the White House.</s>CHURCH: Joining me now from London, Inderjeet Parmar, professor of international politics at City University. Good to have you with us.</s>INDERJEET PARMAR, PROFESSOR, CITY UNIVERSITY IN LONDON: Good morning.</s>CHURCH: So after much debate, Brett Kavanaugh and his accuser Christine Blasey Ford will now both testify Monday in this public hearing. It will be a case of his word against hers. But without a thorough investigation, and any evidence to corroborate the accuser story how much closer can senators ever hope to get to the truth of what exactly happened at that high school party.</s>PARMAR: Well, you're right. It does require thorough airing of all the evidence. And there are others involved as well. That's going to be the key question. Whether Judge Kavanaugh's denial that he was ever at the particular place where he's alleged to have carried out that assault. That's going to be the key issue. And I think Mark Judge's friend who is also named in this incident, his testimony or evidence if he comes forward it may well be very, very important as many of those others who may be at the party as well.</s>CHURCH: And of course the president and his senior aide Kellyanne Conway as we saw have both said that the accuser must have a voice and have her say. That's very different to the way Mr. Trump has dealt with issues like this in the past. So what might this change in tactic signal politically do you think?</s>PARMAR: Of course. Politically they want a, they want this judge to go to the Supreme Court because he's an ultra conservative. He has kind of an originalist attitude towards the Constitution. He is for corporate deregulation. And he also has his own record saying he's not sure whether sitting president should ever be investigated for any kind of wrongdoing. And of course we have the midterm elections coming up. Any sort of derailing of this particular process could have a big effect on the outcome in the midterm. And I think the reason, if you're like, why there's a major shift in addition to that is that large number of white women supporters of the Republican Party, and possibly those who voted for President Trump in 2016. A lot of them have already left the Trump coalition, if you like. And I think there's a big worry that there will be a meltdown in that regard, possibly in the Senate as well in November.</s>CHURCH: And of course Mr. Trump hasn't been able to control what his son is saying on the issue, though, has he?</s>PARMAR: I don't think there's much control. Maybe we look at every memoir of anyone who has anywhere near the White House for the last two years or so or just about two years. There's chaos. There's very little control. There would appear to be a difficulty in messaging. And I think this is a very good example of it. And I think it has contributed a great deal to a lot of people who voted for Trump even though they may support his economic policy, for example. The economy generally speaking is doing quite well. They are worried that this government is in a status of meltdown. And I think this is just another example of that basic fact about this administration.</s>CHURCH: Now, whether Brett Kavanaugh is confirmed for this lifetime spot on the Supreme Court will ultimately come down to key Republican Senators like Jeff Flake, Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, and Bob Corker. They are the ones we need to watch. We don't know how they are going to vote or who they will believe in the end. But what are the numbers look like right now and what all is at stake here?</s>PARMAR: Well, the numbers are very, very close as you said. And what's at stake here is effectively the coloration the political coloration of the Supreme Court for decades to come. Kavanaugh is only, I think in his mid-50s, 54 or 55. So he is going to be around for a very long time. And that means that even after the Trump administration or the GOP is out of par, there can be a very large scale sort of political control, if you like, of what the agenda could be going forward in regard to corporation regulation or deregulation. So I think this is a very important appointment. And I think the Republicans Trump administration would want this done before the midterm in case there's a major meltdown including in the Senate as well. Jeff Flake as we know is stepping down. He has very little to lose. And he's been saying a great deal about the Trump administration. On the other hand, he's a conservative who has voted with the Trump administration probably about 93 percent of the time. So it's very difficult to know exactly which way he's going to go. But as you said, the Supreme Court is a very, very powerful agency and it has big -- has judges there for life. And if there's such a large majority in maybe of kind of ultra conservativism this is going to impact any administration after the Trump administration as well.</s>CHURCH: Right. And Brett Kavanaugh we understand is 53 years old. Just put that on the record there. Inderjeet Parmar, thank you so much for joining us. We appreciate it.</s>PARMAR: Thank you very much.</s>CHURCH: Well, North Korea is blaming the U.S. for the lack of progress on their nuclear talks. According to state media ever since the June meeting between President Trump and Kim Jong-un the U.S. has been stubbornly insisting on full denuclearization while not holding up its end of the deal to formally end the Korean War. Now the man who is trying to bring those two sides together on those issues is now in Pyongyang. You can see those pictures there. South Korean President Moon Jae-in is holding talks this hour with Kim Jong-un. And Mr. Moon has played the role of mediator for months now. And this could be his biggest challenge yet. So let's turn to our Paula Hancocks, she has been following President Moon's visit and joins us now live from Seoul in South Korea. So Paula, the images coming out of Pyongyang, you know, we saw it there. This warm relationship between North Korea's Kim Jong-un and South Korea's President Moon Jae-in as they start this three-day summit. But it is going to be a very delicate task for the South Korean leader to work as chief negotiator in this effort to bring the U.S. and North Korea closer together. Particularly now with the North blaming the U.S. for the stalemate. How delicate an operation is this for Moon Jae-in and what are his major challenges right now?</s>PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rosemary, there's no doubt that there appears to be some kind of rapport between the leaders of North and South Korea. But there's also no doubt that it was an accident that on the same day as President Moon is in Pyongyang there is this vote on Sinmun be, the North Korean state run newspaper article slamming the U.S. saying the U.S. is totally to blame for the stalemate between the U.S. and North Korea. So it's just laying out how difficult it is going to be for the South Korean president to try and bring these two sides closer together. Especially now he's been asked by both sides to be the chief negotiator until there's a more active dialogue between Washington and Pyongyang. So we have been seeing plenty of pomp and ceremony this morning. It was a warm welcome. We saw some remarkable images of a motorcade driving to the streets of Pyongyang with both leaders standing out of the sunroof and waving to thousands of residents which were lining that route. But the fact is the hard work starts behind closed doors. And that is happening right now. We know that about half an hour ago it was planned that the two leaders would meet at the headquarters of the central committee of the Workers Party of Korea. Now this is the first time that an inter-Korean summit has been held at this headquarters to the Blue House so that in itself it's significant. But it will be a tough sell for the South Korean president. The U.S. does want total denuclearization before it considers concessions before it thinks about the declaration of the end of the war, the lifting of sanctions. This is what we have heard publicly from U.S. officials. But North Korea believes that it has already made concessions. It believes that it has taken confidence building steps and wants to see the same from the United States. So for Moon Jae-in now he has to try and bring those two very separate positions closer together. Rosemary?</s>CHURCH: A three day summit. We'll see what happens. We will of course be following it very closely as well our Paula Hancocks, joining us there live from Seoul in South Korea, where it's 4.12 in the afternoon. Many thanks. Well, the flooding disaster in North and South Carolina could still get worse. What's left of hurricane Florence has moved out of the Carolinas but rivers are still rising to very dangerous levels. And if devastating flooding and endless rain wasn't enough, Florence is also bringing tornados as it moves north. We'll have more on that when we come back.