Kavanaugh Confirmation Near Certain As Collins, Flake & Manchin Say They'll Vote Yes
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Out front next, Brett Kavanaugh all but certain to be the country's next Supreme Court justice. Christine Blasey Ford's family responds on out front. Plus, Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan, just moments ago, weighing in on the court's disappearing middle and concerns about staying above the fray. And some Democrats already saying there could be grounds for impeaching Kavanaugh. One of those Democrats is my guest. Let's go out front. Good evening, everyone, I'm Kate Bolduan in for Erin Burnett. Out front tonight, profile in courage or cowardice? Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine in a dramatic Senate speech announced she will vote yes to confirm Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court her decision all but insuring Kavanaugh's confirmation to the highest court in the land. The protests started almost as soon as she begins speaking today.</s>SEN. SUSAN COLLINS (R), MAINE: Thank you Mr. President.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Senator Collins, please vote no. I have been voter from --</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Senator will suspend --</s>BOLDUAN: Then in a nearly 45-minute address, the Maine Republican laid out a lengthy defense of Kavanaugh's judicial record and finally then turning to the heart of the bitter fight that has been playing out over the judge allegations of sexual assault. And Collins then revealed her vote.</s>COLLINS: The facts presented do not mean that President -- that Professor Ford was not sexually assaulted that night or at some other time. But they do lead me to conclude that the allegations fail to meet the more likely than not standard. Therefore, I do not believe that these charges can fairly prevent Judge Kavanaugh from serving on the court. Mr. President, I will vote to confirm Judge Kavanaugh.</s>BOLDUAN: Minutes later, Democrat Joe Manchin of West Virginia said that he too would vote yes on Kavanaugh, the only Democrat in the Senate to do so. Incensed protesters descended on Manchin then in the halls of Congress shouting, shame, as he defended his decision. Listen.</s>UNIDENTIDIED MALE: You can listen to the people here. Are you concerned about --</s>SEN. JOE MANCHIN (D), WEST VIRGINIA: I'm very much concerned basically with the sexual abuse that people have to endure. I'm very much concerned that we have to do something as a country. But I had to deal with the facts I had in front of me.</s>BOLDUAN: But it's Collins whose announcement sparked some of the strongest reaction, Senator Lindsey Graham saying this, "Simply put, Senator Collins has shown great courage under fire." Former President George H.W. Bush tweeting, "Senator Collins political courage and class." But the criticism was just as swift and cut just as deep. Planned Parenthood's political arm out of Maine tweeted during Collins' speech the following, "You don't get to say you believe Doctor Christine Blasey Ford and then vote to put her assailant on the Supreme Court". And made the Democratic Party adding this, "Collins had her chance and she chose not to stand with women". The Senate will vote in less than 24 hours from now and barring the unexpected. And, yes, we have seen a lot, Judge Kavanaugh will become Justice Kavanaugh very soon. Jeff Zeleny is out front for us tonight at the White House. Jeff, what is the President's reaction tonight?</s>JEFF ZELENEY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kate, for as loud as the protests were on Capitol Hill, you could hear them echoing through the halls there. The silence here at the White House all day long was interesting as well. The president did not speak publicly, but behind the scenes, I'm told he was watching every minute of that 45-minute speech on the Senate floor from Senator Susan Collins. They were not sure how this was going to work out or evolve. But now, they know they are likely to almost certainly get this confirmation and this is a major deal, and the first two years of this administration. The president will now put two conservatives on the Supreme Court and fill the seat of Justice Anthony Kennedy. This is something that this White House has been waiting for. It's coming four before the midterm elections. Yes, it has fired up Democrats as you just saw there in Maine. But it's also unified Republicans. And there was a sense here over the last several weeks and certainly several days that the Republicans were wondering around the country, can this party govern? Can this White House govern? This is something that they are now going to use as an achievement with the unemployment rate as well, the lowest since 1969 they take it to the midterm voters. So now we will see which side actually is, you know, the strongest in their view. But Kate, an interesting note. The President was a mere bystander today, not calling Senators. One President was much more involved. I am told by people close to the process President George W. Bush was calling Susan Collins and other Senators in recent days and weeks, but particularly Senator Collins, telling her that Judge Kavanaugh has the temperament to be on the bench. You know, that he has the character to be on the bench. Of course, Judge Kavanaugh worked in the Bush White House as the president's staff secretary, as his associate counsel here, so this is a major win for the Republican establishment, no question. We'll see now what voters have to say as they chew this over, over the next 32 days before the midterm elections. Kate?</s>BOLDUAN: Absolutely. Such a short period of time and also a lifetime in what we've been looking at recently, Jeff.</s>ZELENY: No doubt.</s>BOLDUAN: Thanks so much. Out front with me tonight, David Gergen, who served as an adviser to four presidents, Joan Walsh is a national affairs correspondent for "The Nation", and Marc Short he's a former White House director of legislative affairs for President Trump. Thanks for being here you guys. David, if this vote count holds, like we saw today, the final tally, 51-49. That's exactly what was expected before kind of the latest round of twists and turns. If that's the case, what was this exercise for then?</s>DAVID GERGEN, FORMER PRESIDENTIAL ADVISER FOR FOUR PRESIDENTS: I'm not sure what it was for but I know what it has created. And that is it has left women, you know, to very discouraged millions of women very discouraged and disgusted, angry has left both parties about as poisonously divided as any time in our -- in memory. And it's left the Supreme Court in the hands of conservatives, the clear majority, for at least to generation. So it's a momentous night, a sad night in many ways. That, you know, I think whether you're on the right or the left, this is a time to be sad about what's happened to the country because this should have been a much smoother process. It was not. And I think both sides feel the other one really cheated on them. They bullied them. They acted improperly, and they're really, really angry with each other.</s>BOLDUAN: Yes. You know, Joan, Susan Collins said that she believes Christine Blasey Ford. She believes she's a survivor of sexual assault. She believes some trauma happened to her in her youth, but she also -- she read the FBI report, and she says that there's no corroboration. And I'm going to play a little bit more of what she said today. Listen.</s>COLLINS: The four witnesses she named could not corroborate any of the events of that evening gathering where she says the assault occurred. None of the individuals Professor Ford says were at the party has any recollection at all of that night.</s>BOLDUAN: Collins went into that secure room to look at the report three, maybe four times, Joan, and she says the allegation doesn't, in her view, meet the more than like -- more likely than not standard that she was looking at.</s>JOAN WALSH, NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT, THE NATION: Sure. You can't say you believe Doctor Blasey Ford but that Judge Kavanaugh didn't do it because Doctor Blasey Ford says he did. I'm not saying that's proof. I'm just saying that's inconsistent. I think I'm somebody who a week ago was very happy when the Senate paused and agreed to do this FBI investigation.</s>BOLDUAN: Yes.</s>WALSH: But I think it was a complete sham. I think it was actually worse than doing nothing at all. Doctor Ford had several people that she wanted interviewed, they were not. Debbie Ramirez, the other credible accuser, had 20 people she wanted interviewed they were not. I think the most telling fact is that Judge Kavanaugh himself was not interviewed. Because he was treated -- he was given foot rubs by the Republicans last week, and it would have been really useful to have FBI agents asking him the same questions that the Democrats were. He would not have been able to come back with the -- them and say, oh, do you have a drinking problem? Do you black out? And I think that also, it did -- it did -- Susan Collins and the other folks who went for him today, a real favor by distancing us a full week from the outrageous and kind of disgraceful performance of Judge Kavanaugh showing himself to be an incredible partisan hack, saying that Democrats were going to reap the wind or reap what they sowed and talking about the revenge of the Clintons. He gave such a disgraceful performance, what happened actually gave Donald Trump a big favor by sort of -- having that fade in people's minds --</s>BOLDUAN: Yes.</s>WALSH: -- except he'll always be Matt Damon to me.</s>BOLDUAN: Marc, worse than doing nothing at all, the outcome today, Joan says.</s>MARC SHORT, FORMER W.H. DIRECTOR OF LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS FOR PRESIDENT TRUMP: Oh, look, I've shared on your show, Kate, that I think this process, as David said, has been a terrible process. It reflects poorly on Congress, but at the same time, I think it's something that this President promised the American people, and he was very transparent in putting out a list of 21 judges from which he would choose from and now two of them have been confirmed. This is what the American people voted for and elected Donald Trump to help do exactly what he's done with the Supreme Court and it's not just the Supreme Court. As you mentioned it's also the lowest unemployment rate in 50 years, it's also promises delivered on the regulatory front removing, the indecency the Jerusalem as promised, getting out of the Iran deal. You can like him or dislike him but you can't argue that the first two years haven't been incredibly successful on the President delivering on his promises, including two Supreme Court justices.</s>BOLDUAN: Marc, can I ask you? When it comes to kind of what we're seeing play out on Capitol Hill, is this a situation where folks called Susan Collins undecided but she was really just undeclared publicly, was she a yes until proven otherwise?</s>SHORT: No. My closest friends on the Hills said they were unsure as of this morning. I think that whatever you say about Susan Collins decision today, I've had my own frustrations on Susan Collins when she didn't help us to overturn Obamacare. She's a very independent voice. She's very thorough. She's very conscientious, and I think that you saw that today. She was very thorough and laying out why she came to the decision she did and the things that she said. And I think rebutting the testimony of Dr. Ford with things that other Republican Senators would have had a very difficult time doing. She was able to do it very effectively and very artfully and I think that she benefited not just herself but many Republicans today in the way she handled herself.</s>WALSH: Well, with all due respect, Marc, I understand why you appreciate that. But a lot of American women don't appreciate that it was a woman who chose to use her time and her 45 minutes to impeach Dr. Ford. So she -- what she has done today, you say she's been independent and she has a lot of times, but she has undone her legacy of being a feminist, a pro-choice feminist, as well as a really, truly bipartisan person. Her breaks with Judge Kavanaugh was --</s>SHORT: That's incredibly sexist thing to say, Joan. To say that woman can say the same.</s>WALSH: -- insanely partisan. She actually mentioned the name Merrick Garland. She had the nerve to cite Merrick Garland as an example of how bipartisan Judge Kavanaugh is when we all know Republicans really hurt the legitimacy of this court by not even giving that man a hearing, not even meeting with that man. So she showed her she really gave up her bipartisan bona fides and her feminist bona fides. She will be remembered every time he votes the abortion rights, voting rights, women's rights, reproductive rights.</s>SHORT: I guess you get to determine who's feminist and who's not, Joan. But the way I looked at it it's pretty hard to suggest that Susan Collins is not a bipartisan Senator.</s>WALSH: I think the vast majority of American women will determine that.</s>BOLDUAN: We'll see. This is a big vote. That's -- We all know that for every Senator who sat there and voted today. They know they took these votes very seriously. You can see she took it -- she knew the moment was going to be dramatic. She laid out that she was going to announce and then she spoke for 45 minutes about it. And one thing she said, David, and I also heard it from others, is that they hope that they've hit rock bottom here. After the battle -- this battle as nasty as this one, do you see any evidence, quite honestly, of any lessons learned on either side tonight?</s>GERGEN: No, no. And I think what -- I think the Democrats are going to seek revenge just as the Republicans thought they were seeking revenge. I think this is going to be a continuing around. I think the trust levels have gone down deeper than, distrust levels have gone higher, let's say, between the parties than I can remember. And I think this is a bitter, bitter pill for the country. I have to emphasize, Joan is right that the left is going to be -- is livid with Susan Collins, and the left is going to be energized going into the midterms. But it's also exciting them and --</s>BOLDUAN: Isn't it -- do you think it is something --</s>GERGEN: Yes, please?</s>BOLDUAN: -- I don't mean misplaced but is it a lot to be putting on Susan Collins? Because there were 50 other Republican Senators who could be --</s>GERGEN: That's true.</s>BOLDUAN: -- who could and should be facing the same criticism from the left.</s>GERGEN: Well, that's true. But it came down today to -- and as it looked like it might.</s>BOLDUAN: Yes.</s>WALSH: Right.</s>GERGEN: It came down to Susan Collins because Joe Manchin was basically going to vote the same way she did.</s>WALSH: Exactly. She has never have voted, yes</s>GERGEN: She, in effect, had two -- Yes, she, in effect had two votes right at the end of this process. And she gave a talk that a large part of it about the judicial background --</s>WALSH: Yes.</s>GERGEN: -- and the legal cases and so forth the very mainstream and thoughtful. But her comments with regard to the personality, the temperament, and the drinking problems that we've all been talking about for the few days, she basically just brushed those aside and she concluded that she believed Doctor Ford but obviously it was somebody else. That theory has been discredited, that there was somebody else.</s>SHORT: Kate, I think it's pretty incredible we're on this show now trying to proclaim that Susan Collins is a partisan. I think there's a lot that you can say about Susan Collins but that's not one of them. The reality is --</s>WALSH: She is a politician, Marc.</s>GERGEN: I didn't intentionally --</s>SHORT: Let me finish my comments. The reality is that we talk about this energizing the left base.</s>BOLDUAN: Yes.</s>SHORT: Every poll I've seen in the last ten days has shown Republican surge in Indiana, north Dakota, Florida, west Virginia, because they know what a sham is, and they've seen Democrats railroad this, they've seen the character assassination, and Republicans are rallying.</s>BOLDUAN: And there is a point to it. As angry as the left may be, there is anger on the right of how the process went down.</s>GERGEN: That's exaggerating.</s>BOLDUAN: I guess now it comes down to, unfortunately whose more angry? Which I think is maybe the saddest statement of where we are right now. Guys, I really appreciate it.</s>GERGEN: Exactly.</s>BOLDUAN: Thanks for coming up here.</s>GERGEN: Thank you.</s>BOLDUAN: Out front next, Justice Elena Kagan says the court's legitimacy depends on staying above the political fray. Is she sending a message to Brett Kavanaugh tonight? And Christine Blasey Ford, how is she reacting? I'll ask Doctor Ford's sister-in-law. And an international mystery, the president of Interpol has vanished. Imagine if the head of the FBI just went missing.