Sen. Kennedy: There are no 'winners' in Kavanaugh process
Senator John Kennedy speaks out on 'The Story' about the handling of the Brett Kavanaugh allegations.
This is a rush transcript from "The Story," October 5, 2018. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
ED HENRY, FOX NEWS HOST: Thanks, Chris. What a week, and it's still going. Breaking tonight: at this time tomorrow, Judge Brett be known as Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Kavanaugh is expected to finally be the next justice on the highest court in the land as President Trump apparently succeeds against all odds to reshape the Supreme Court. Thanks to the support leaked today from two key swing votes. Senator Susan Collins and Joe Manchin.
Good evening, everybody. I'm Ed Henry, in for Martha McCallum, and this is "The Story" tonight. The Republican senator from Maine, teased a big reveal was coming late this afternoon. But liberal protesters tried to cut her off before she could barely get out of word.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEN. SUSAN COLLINS, R-MAINE: Thank you, Mr. President.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Senator Collins, please vote no.
HENRY: Collins, eventually making her case laying out what she called Judge Kavanaugh's extensive qualifications. While delivering this blistering message to the left about how they allegedly used Dr. Christine Blasey Ford for their own purposes.
COLLINS: Watching her Mr. President, I could not help but feel that some people who wanted to engineer the defeat of this nomination cared little if at all for her well-being.
HENRY: And also helping to solidify victory for the president, the support of Senator Joe Manchin. A Democrat facing a tight reelection, he's already facing the wrath of the resistance for breaking party ranks to back Kavanaugh.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You betrayed America. Shame on you.
SEN. JOE MANCHIN, D-WV, SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: (INAUDIBLE).
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HENRY: All of this, as new questions continue to swirl around Dianne Feinstein's role in the confirmation battle, amid new allegations at the final FBI report on Kavanaugh included evidence that various witnesses were being coached to change their stories to hurt the president's nominee.
Senator John Kennedy who's read the details of that FBI report and says there's no doubt politics were involved, joins me in a moment. But first, let's go straight to Chief White House Correspondent John Roberts. He's live on the North Lawn with our top story. Good evening, John.
JOHN ROBERTS, FOX NEWS CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Ed, good evening to you. They are not quite popping the champagne corks just yet at the White House even though they think that Judge Kavanaugh will be confirmed tomorrow. They have been closed before a couple of weeks ago and watched it all fall apart. So, they're still taking a moment-by-moment.
But they are feeling pretty good tonight. They knew this morning that there was a good likelihood that he was going to be confirmed because sources tell Fox News that West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin called the White House this morning to tell them that he would be a yes on Kavanaugh in making his position known to the White House, at least, before Senator Flake or Senator Collins declared. But he waited until after Senator Collins made her declaration to go public with it.
Maine Senator Susan Collins did not call the White House this morning to indicate one way or another how she was going to vote. The White House wasn't worried about that, figuring that she would have only called them if she was a no.
But the White House sort of breathlessly watching as she made that impassioned statement on the Senate floor this afternoon when she led up to her decision. And with or the decision that she had made at least on Judge Kavanaugh. And you can bet that there were some tense moments here at the White House as she laid out her thinking.
Certainly, didn't take long as you pointed out the top, Ed, for protestors to go after both Collins and Manchin speaking to reporters outside of his office, you could barely hear with what Manchin was saying above the cacophony. Listen, here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MANCHIN: (INAUDIBLE).
CROWD: Shame! Shame! Sham!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: And some women's groups who had passionately but mostly politely been urging Collins to vote no on Kavanaugh took a machete to her after the speech, the women's march tweeting out a graphic that reads senator Collins rape apologist, cancelKavanaugh.com.
Kavanaugh, Ed, may be confirmed this morning but I have a hunch that none of this is going to end with this confirmation. Ed.
HENRY: That's right, we heard you loud and clear, John. Those protesters be going until tomorrow afternoon's vote, no doubt. Thank you, John, for leading us off.
ROBERTS: Thank you.
HENRY: Here now, Republican Senator John Kennedy from Louisiana. He sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, of course. Good evening, sir.
SEN. JOHN KENNEDY, R-LA, SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: Good evening, Ed.
HENRY: Last week, you call this an intergalactic freak show. Where are we tonight?
KENNEDY: It's an intergalactic freak show on steroids.
HENRY: Why do you -- why do you say that? Because he's finally -- we think being confirmed, unless there's some other big surprise.
KENNEDY: Yes, and I'm very pleased. But, there are no winners. I'll bet you this time, Judge Kavanaugh, this time tomorrow night, Judge Kavanaugh, who I think will be confirmed and I'm very pleased. He won't feel like a winner.
I bet Dr. Ford and her family will not feeling like a winner. And it all could have been avoided if Senator Feinstein had just turned over Dr. Ford's anonymous note request for confidentiality to us. We could've investigated without the intergalactic freak show.
HENRY: Well.
KENNEDY: And it's -- and it's very, very sad but there are no winners.
HENRY: Well, speaking of Senator Feinstein, your chairman Republican Chuck Grassley this morning on Fox and Friends, did not name her, but he suggested that Democrats perhaps, had been trying to coach witnesses to provide testimony against Judge Kavanaugh. Listen to what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRIAN KILMEADE, FOX NEWS CHANNEL HOST: We have understand that Leland Keyser the former friend of Dr. Ford feels -- for his felt pressure to revisit her denial and of knowing about the alleged assault.
SEN. CHUCK GRASSLEY, R-IOWA, SENATE BUDGET COMMITTEE: I can't speak about it because it's in the FBI report, but there's evidence about other people that have been questioned that they were led into it as well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENRY: You saw that FBI report. What is he referring to?
KENNEDY: I can't speak about it, either. I wish I could. I think it's a huge mistake not to release the FBI report. I trust the American people or draw their own conclusions. It show -- it show -- it --
(CROSSTALK)
HENRY: Well, you're tantalizing us more. Pardon me one second.
KENNEDY: Sure.
HENRY: Because Dianne Feinstein who had been calling for transparency earlier in this process. I noticed in the last couple of days, she keeps saying, "We need to keep this FBI report confidential." Is that because Democrats don't want us to see something?
KENNEDY: Well, I disagree with her. I agree with Senator Grassley's comments. Under the law, we can't talk about the details. I wish we could. I will say that it's clear to me now more than ever that there was a lot of politics involved in this.
FBI interviewed every one of the witnesses suggested by Ms. Ramirez and Dr. Ford. Not a single one corroborated the allegations. And there were some indications of politics. And I think, we're making a mistake not to allow the American people to see this report and Judge for themselves. I trust them.
HENRY: Yes. Now, you said also in recent days that Congress has hit rock bottom and keeps on digging.
KENNEDY: Yes.
HENRY: I don't know if you were referring to this, but the House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, basically compared Judge Kavanaugh to a dictator. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. NANCY PELOSI, D-CALI., HOUSE MINORITY LEADER: I guess there's a similarity that people have that -- the people that they respect, crazy about Putin, in love with Kim Jong-un. Thinks Kavanaugh is a great upstanding person. You know what, it doesn't even know what he's talking about.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENRY: How do you react to that?
KENNEDY: I probably shouldn't say this, but I'm going, to be frank. Billy goat brain, mockingbird mouth.
HENRY: Wow.
KENNEDY: That's just typical, that's symbolic of all that's going on. And it didn't have to be this way. But there's some high points, I guess. I'm so pleased that --
(CROSSTALK)
HENRY: Such as what? Let's give a positive thing. So, what do you think is positive to that?
KENNEDY: Sure. I'm so pleased that Judge Kavanaugh, I think, is going to be confirmed. I'm so pleased that due process still matters in America. I'm so pleased that there is more awareness about sexual violence in this country because it's real. It's absolutely real.
HENRY: In fact, you said the other day, there is no room in this country for creepy old men or creepy young men. But you said this is also not a country, this is not America without innocent until proven guilty.
KENNEDY: That's right. I mean, some of my colleagues have advanced the idea that you're morally tainted if you don't automatically believe the accuser.
HENRY: Yes.
KENNEDY: And that -- that's wrong. That's un-American. You're morally tainted if you don't treat both the accuser and the accused with fairness and with respect, and with due process.
(CROSSTALK)
HENRY: So, you -- yes, go ahead.
KENNEDY: But this process -- I mean, finally, we decided we that people were going to have due process, but in terms of the whole episode, if our founders could have envisioned confirmation being like this, a couple probably would have stuck with King George. It's been an embarrassment.
HENRY: That's something that I want to push back on something you're obviously happy that Judge Kavanaugh is likely to become Justice Kavanaugh. But there might be an asterisk.
KENNEDY: Yes. And I can give you a great Justice.
HENRY: There are -- there may be an asterisk if you listen to Democrats. And retired Justice John Paul Stevens had this to say about his temperament. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN PAUL STEVENS, FORMER SUPREME COURT JUSTICE: He's a fine federal judge, and he should have been confirmed when he was in the nominee. But I think that his performance during the hearings caused me to change my mind.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENRY: So, I understand that you and others have said, look, he was accused, he says falsely of rape and other things. So, that's why he lost his cool. But even Judge Kavanaugh admitted in this Wall Street Journal op-ed today, he might have gone too far, sir.
KENNEDY: Look, Justice Stevens, is title to his opinion. This is America. But what I saw from Judge Kavanaugh at the hearing was a human being, responding to being called rich, lying, drunk, sexual predator, and he responded, he was offended on behalf of himself, his reputation, his spouse, his parents, his 13-year-old, and his 10-year-old.
And I saw a human being responding to wild accusations that he hated women, he hated children, he hated little warm puppies, and he was evil. This thing -- this thing would be over the top if some people believed in a top.
HENRY: Senator, I've got less than a minute. You just heard John Roberts report a moment ago that people already on the Left saying that Susan Collins for voting for the judge is an apologist for rapists.
You had people accusing Judge Kavanaugh of being a rapist, he says falsely. How in the world do we pick up the pieces? What would be your advice to President Trump? We've got a midterm election that might be even nastier in the next few weeks. After that election, how do you pick up the pieces?
KENNEDY: I would say number one, we have to recognize that sexual violence is real in this country. And it is no country for creepy old men or young men or middle-aged men, but it is no country at all without due process.
And people have the right to defend themselves. And no one is guilty until proven innocent. You're innocent until proven guilty.
HENRY: Senator John Kennedy, he has been out front throughout this process. We appreciate you coming in live tonight, sir.
KENNEDY: Thank you.
HENRY: All right. Still ahead. The Judge Kavanaugh's likely confirmation. What kind of recourse does he have for all of those character attacks he faced by many in the media? My next guest says, he should sue them all.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I've had many false accusations. I've had it all of that. I've had so many. And when I say it didn't happen, nobody believes me.
They can say anything they want and we can't sue them because if you're famous, you can't sue. Figure that one out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JULIE SWETNICK, ACCUSER OF BRETT KAVANAUGH: He was very aggressive, very sloppy drunk, very mean drunk. He'd push his body against theirs. He would grope them.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There are things that she told us on camera that differ from her written statement last week.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All afternoon the little lies lying over and over about his yearbook page.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I do know that if he gets to the Supreme Court, a good chunk of this country is going to think that somebody who got away with sexual assault is sitting on a Supreme Court.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENRY: Sexual assault they say. New calls from legal experts tonight urging Judge Brett Kavanaugh to take action against some of those uncorroborated claims pushed in the media night after night, allegations Kavanaugh says have ruined his good name.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRETT KAVANAUGH, NOMINEE, SUPREME COURT JUSTICE: This has destroyed my family and my good name, a good name built up through decades of very hard work and public service at the highest levels of the American government.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENRY: My next guest writing in a new op-ed "unsolicited advice to Judge Kavanaugh, sue them all. Attorney L. Lin Wood is a defamation law and reputation protection expert. Good evening, sir.
L. LIN WOOD, DEFAMATION LAW ATTORNEY: Good evening, Ed.
HENRY: Now, I've heard all the allegations, you've heard them all obviously because it led you to write this op-ed. What do you see is most actionable? I mean calling someone a liar, unfortunately, this is sort of par for the course in Washington and all over social media, but sloppy, mean, drunk, someone guilty of sexual assault without evidence, what do you see is actionable?
WOOD: Well, let me give you an example. When NBC made the decision to put Ms. Swetnick on their air, they admitted that they could not corroborate her story. That's recklessness. And when you do that, when you put someone on the air to make accusations of a heinous crime and you have the responsibility to at least corroborate it before you do, then I think you ought to be held accountable for that type of conduct.
HENRY: Well, you and I both know your times are impacting -- sure, pardon me, but you and I both know the New York Times versus Sullivan, NBC News will come out and say look this is a great public interest. We were airing this but we also said we were transparent that we couldn't fully confirm all of this but we were airing what she said and try to give Judge Kavanaugh his side. What see you?
WOOD: I say the shout of guilty has never overcome by the whisper of innocence. NBC can try to disclaim their actions or explain them away but it's irresponsible. New York Times versus Sullivan, I'm well aware of that decision, it's not it's not easy to sue if you're a public figure to prove actual malice, but actual malice consists of publication or broadcast with a reckless disregard for truth or falsity, and I believe that any fair- minded person who saw that broadcast of Ms. Swetnick on NBC would agree that NBC acted recklessly and did not have any regard for truth or falsity and that makes it actionable.
HENRY: And she alleged among other things gang rape, she couldn't quite place Judge Kavanaugh as someone who allegedly raped her but said she was he was there. He may have spiked the punch and all the rest. He vehemently denies it as you suggest, but her attorney Michael Avenatti has been on Twitter daring you and anyone else to get involved here. Among other things he said, if Brett Kavanaugh and his supporters are so convinced that all of the scores of women including my client are lying, he is innocent, he's been so wronged as reputation has been damaged for no reason, then he should sue us all today. I hope that he does so, so we can prove the truth.
A, he wants to prove the truth and B, I assume he thinks if you open this up to discovery, a justice on the Supreme Court does not want to go -- want to go through a discovery in that painful process.
WOOD: Well, Michael Avenatti probably wants to be sued because he wants some excuse to try to remain relevant in the public eye as he apparently now campaigns for presidency of the United States. Yes -- and look, the burden of proof is it does flip the system on its head not unlike what they tried to do to Judge Kavanaugh in the hearing. When you file a libel lawsuit, you have the burden of proof, but in an accusation so heinous as to accuse this good man of being involved or complicit in gang rape indecent exposure and sexual assault, sometimes the decision has to be that doing nothing is unacceptable.
I don't expect Judge Kavanaugh will file a lawsuit. He's going to spend the next few years hopefully writing some incredible decisions on the United States Supreme Court. He's supposed to be a litigant in civil lawsuits but that doesn't change my advice. The message should be sent. People should know there needs to be accountability.
HENRY: So how do you weigh that because there's a cost benefit of course? On one hand, I hear you and I think this man says his reputation was unfairly destroyed. He should stand up. On the other hand, as you just said, if he is in fact confirmed tomorrow as we expect and we'll see if there's a last-minute snag, he's got a lot more important business to do. Should he be spending -- I want to say wasting time because it wouldn't be seen as a waste by you and others -- but should he spend time when he's on the high court dealing with Michael Avenatti and the rest or should he just move on?
WOOD: I think he has actionable cases. I would recommend to him that they have merit. But the client has to decide that cost-benefit pro and con analysis and it would be totally understandable for him to put a put aside his right to clear his name in a court of law so that he can work for the next several years on making sure that the rights of the American public are enforced under the Constitution. I could understand the choice but it doesn't change the fact that the public needs to know that even with the Supreme Court justice, we cannot tolerate this idea of accusations that are unsupported being turned into findings of guilt.
HENRY: Yes.
WOOD: Unsupported accusations cannot be the basis for saying that someone is guilty of a crime. There's got to be due process in this country and people don't seem to give a lot of credence to due process. I believe the people would give credence to it if the time comes where they want to rely on it to protect their reputations and the reputations of their family.
HENRY: I've got less than 30 seconds. Have you -- you've been experienced as this --- as we said at the top, have you ever seen what many have believed to be a character assassination like this? I mean, like I said, on social media or elsewhere, people are attacking one another, unfortunately, all the time but have you ever seen anything like this?
WOOD: It's gotten a lot worse, Ed, because of the social media but I'll tell you what they did to Richard Jewell, what was done to Gary Cohn and I've had a list of clients that where the accusations have been egregious and heinous, but I will tell you this one probably takes the cake. This is probably the worst case of sustained accusations against a man with an impeccable life history as an adult. I've never seen the media stoop to this level of recklessness and they need to be held accountable, if not in this case in another case if they do it again. They need to learn their lesson. They need to learn their lesson.
HENRY: Strong message tonight from L. Lin Wood. We appreciate you coming in, sir.
WOOD: Thank you, Ed.
HENRY: All right, coming up, the other huge story out of the White House today on the President's promise to put more Americans back to work. The economy is roaring right now and Justice Brett Kavanaugh is likely to be in favor of cutting even more government regulations. Why isn't anyone talking about that? Well, Bill Bennett can't wait to jump in on that one. He's here next.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We have the best economy in our history. Stock market today just hit another record high. That's the hundred -- I think it's 103 times since I'm president that we've hit a new high and hopefully next year at this time we'll hit many more.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LARRY KUDLOW, WHITE HOUSE ECONOMIC ADVISER: We're humming. I mean, we're just humming and this what should happen is happening right now. The economy is really running good steam, full steam ahead.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENRY: White House Economic Adviser Larry Kudlow practically giddy about today's other big news. The unemployment rate hitting 3.7 percent. That is the lowest level since December 1969. Put that in a little perspective. This song had just hit number one on the Billboard chart.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm leaving on a jet plane. I don't know when I'll be back again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENRY: And my next guest probably celebrated his 16th birthday around then. Bill Bennett, Host of the Bill Bennett podcast, former Education Secretary, Fox News Contributor, and I should say in the interest of full disclosure, he's been kind enough to invite me on the podcast and I think we're going to do it next week. Thank you, sir.
BILL BENNETT, FOX NEWS CHANNEL CONTRIBUTOR: That's right. Peter Paul and Mary, I want to see them in concert.
HENRY: Yes, indeed. I tried to shave a few years off your age, I'm trying to be generous. Talk about the economy --
BENNETT: Yes, you did, you did.
HENRY: Nobody really wants to give the president that much credit right now but Brett Kavanaugh we should note is somebody they didn't talk a lot about his decisions about 300 of them as a federal judge. Some of those decisions he's been very aggressive about saying we need to cut government regulation, something the president has already done and has helped unleash this economy.
BENNETT: No, sure he deserves credit for it. And you know, and I love Senator Kennedy who was on earlier but I disagree with him. He's very quotable and I usually agree but there were winners in this. It was bloody, it was like a war but there are winners and Donald Trump is one of the winners. This was his nominee. This will be a great achievement.
Brett Kavanaugh though bloodied, unbeaten and prevailed. Mitch McConnell did an excellent job. The star of the show I think was Susan Collins and that needs to be considered for a minute because although a lot of conservatives don't like her, I've known her for a long time and liked her. She is not ideological but she is principled and she is thorough and she's a procedural regular and she was a winner. Most important, the American people were winners. If this had prevailed the other way, if this had gone the other way, we would have exalted some notions like if you disagree with someone you can destroy them and you should assume the worst of a person if an accusation comes up --
HENRY: Well, Bill --
BENNETT: -- that could have been much worse. So, there are winners --
HENRY: On that point --
BENNETT: It was a tough, tough, tough road but yes --
HENRY: On that point, some tried to destroy Brett Kavanaugh, now maybe they're going to try to destroy Susan Collins. I noticed and I've got a quick quote here. The Women's March, a lot of folks on the left who get votes from Susan Collins oftentimes, they're going after her tonight.
"Senator Susan Collins is the mother and grandmother of white women in America who gave us a Donald Trump presidency. She's a disgrace and her legacy will be that she was a traitor to women and marginalized communities. History, they say, will not treat her kindly." That's Linda Sarsour from the Women's March. What say you, sir?
BILL BENNETT, FORMER UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF EDUCATION: Yes. What I say is what was said to Joe McCarthy. Ladies, have you know shame? Really, how about just a little quiet, just a little recognition that someone searched her conscious, searched her record and did the right thing.
I hope she's safe up there. There's some crazy people up there in Maine. And I hope people watch out for her and watch out for her. She did a good and brave thing. She should be thanked for it.
(CROSSTALK)
HENRY: But none--
BENNETT: But you know, this is what I worry about, Ed.
HENRY: Yes.
BENNETT: Is go ahead -- what happens in the future.
HENRY: Sure.
BENNETT: Because this isn't over. This was one battle. But we're in a war. We're in a big culture (Ph) of war.
HENRY: Yes. I don't mean to interrupt. I want to build on what you're saying. Because I listen closely to get the Democratic perspective. Chuck Schumer today was saying, look, Mr. President, please, send us someone else. I know it will be right at center. But we'll give them a fair shot. And I thought wait a second. Schumer was against Brett Kavanaugh before the sexual assault allegations.
BENNETT: Yes.
HENRY: And in fact, listen to Susan Collins. Here's what she said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. SUSAN COLLINS, R-MAINE: The president nominated Brett Kavanaugh on July 9. Within moments of that announcement, a number of senators joined the race to announce their opposition, but they were beaten to the punch by one of our colleagues who actually announced opposition before the nominee's identity was even known.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENRY: And in fact, Schumer said, I oppose Judge Kavanaugh that very night with everything I have.
BENNETT: That's right. That's right. Again, this is not an ideological person, Susan Collins. But she's a procedural regular. And you can tell if you watched her remarks, she was about as exercised on that point as any. They were opposed before they had a name to fill in on the blank.
I'm worried about the future, Ed. Because I think we now have a situation where a good chunk of the country believes that we have an illegitimate member of the Supreme Court. I heard a couple people say, we have two illegitimate members of the Supreme Court, Clarence Thomas or Brett Kavanaugh or soon will.
HENRY: Yes.
BENNETT: What will that mean? What will people take out of decision said, will people say because they're illegitimate the rulings of the court are not illegitimate? Or will people say, well, he certainly can't rule on anything related to politics since he showed his political views. This thing will go on until people on the left develop some sense of shame and embarrassment.
HENRY: Bill Bennett, a man of big ideas and still a very young man, we want to point out host of the Bill Bennett podcast. Looking forward to doing it, sir. Thanks for coming in.
BENNETT: Thank you. We'll make you famous.
HENRY: I can't wait. Up next, brand new video just released of Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky getting a little cozy behind the scenes back in the Oval Office in 1997. Raising some eyebrows tonight as are comments by Chelsea Clinton attacking Judge Kavanaugh. Juanita Broaddrick is here to respond, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HENRY: At this hour, Brett Kavanaugh poised to become the next Supreme Court justice. But it will no doubt anger his critics who lashed out against his nomination all this week and before that, including former first daughter Chelsea Clinton.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHELSEA CLINTON, HILLARY CLINTON'S DAUGHTER: What was so troubling with how nakedly partisan he was. So admittedly my opposition to him is rooted in policy, but I now am even more kind of intense in my feelings because of how political he's become.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm wondering what your response is to how we've seen Dr. Ford's play? What is your response to those who might say, you know what, I was going to do that but I don't need to go through that?
CLINTON: Well, I would say I understand that and I hope you're still willing to raise your hand, raise your voice.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENRY: Here now, Juanita Broaddrick who has accused former President Bill Clinton of raping her while he was running for governor of Arkansas in 1978. Good evening, Juanita.
JUANITA BROADDRICK, ACCUSED BILL CLINTON OF SEXUAL MISCONDUCT: Hi. Nice to be with you.
HENRY: Good to be with you.
Now what happened allegedly between you and what Bill Clinton did to you that you allege? Obviously Chelsea Clinton is not culpable for that but how do you react to with she had to say about Judge Kavanaugh and Dr. Ford?
BROADDRICK: I think it's ridiculous, Ed. I truly do. I feel like that she needs to say something about her own family and deal with her own family and what they did to me before she can even have the right to make a comment against Judge Kavanaugh or in favor of Dr. Ford.
HENRY: Well, speaking of her family, let's look at what Hillary Clinton, of course, the former presidential candidate said in 2015. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON, D-FORMER UNITED STATES PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, I would say that everybody should be believed at first until they are disbelieved based on evidence.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENRY: Everyone should be believed and then move it forward to the debate this past week or so. And we heard Democrat after Democrat say when it came to Dr. Ford, we believe her. But it sounds like you got a much different reaction that you came for.
BROADDRICK: I did. I didn't have anyone that was on my side really except the public. The public was on my side. But the media just hounded me and had the most awful, you know, things to say about me. It was very disheartening.
HENRY: Now what we heard in the past week that might have tilted in the last day or so, Susan Collins and Joe Manchin to support Judge Kavanaugh. It was the idea that there was no corroboration to the allegations that Dr. Ford raised. What was the corroboration that you brought to the table to be fair here?
BROADDRICK: Ed, my goodness. I had the lady that found me 30 minutes after the rape and I told five other people. I had the documentation of the seminar that I was supposed to be attending that day. It was -- there were so many things. I can remember everything about the event.
And I can't imagine Dr. Ford, if anything like that happened to her, not to be able to remember the littlest details. I do.
(CROSSTALK)
HENRY: But did you come forward at that time to the Arkansas police?
BROADDRICK: No. How could I come forward to the police? Bill Clinton was the police. He was the attorney general. And also--
(CROSSTALK)
HENRY: He was attorney general, later governor, of course.
BROADDRICK: Right. And also he regulated my nursing homes. I owned nursing homes at that time.
HENRY: But--
BROADDRICK: And he was the one that was responsible for regulating nursing homes.
HENRY: But we hear President Trump take some heat this week for raising questions about Dr. Ford's story. And among other things he said, you know, why didn't she, why didn't her loving parents come forward with this story decades ago. How do you answer that?
BROADDRICK: I was frightened. I was intimidated by Hillary Clinton three weeks after the rape. And I was very frightened. I was frightened of them. And they gain power by the year. I still was a struggling business owner that Bill Clinton could have shut down at a moment's notice.
HENRY: You talked about Dianne Feinstein who has been front and center in the Kavanaugh nomination battle obviously, receiving that anonymous letter from Dr. Ford, sitting on it and a all the rest.
BROADDRICK: Right.
HENRY: When you came forward, she didn't want to hear your story.
BROADDRICK: No, not at all. And I didn't come forward willingly. I was outed by the Paula Jones suit. And then here's Ken Starr's people. And that's when I finally told the truth. I went through a very difficult deposition, you know, with the independent counsel.
HENRY: So--
BROADDRICK: And they refused to read it. Not one Democrat would read it.
HENRY: So final question. What do you want all of these years later? What would be justice for you?
BROADDRICK: Justice for me would be is if I could have an investigation. If they're going to go back 35 years, 36 years for Christine Ford, they ought to be able to go back 39 for me. And I would like to see, if they can-- if it can be proved that this happened, I would like to see President Clinton perks as a former president removed. He receives millions of dollars from our tax dollars every year. I'd like to see those stripped.
HENRY: Juanita Broaddrick, we appreciate you coming in tonight.
BROADDRICK: Yes. Thank you.
HENRY: OK. We want to go straight to a Fox News alert. Republicans Senator Lisa Murkowski, you see her there, she's from Alaska, she's speaking out on the Senate floor. We want to dip in real quick.
SEN. LISA MURKOWSKI, R-ALASKA: Been damaged, been damaged terribly. And as both of these individuals, Dr. Ford and Judge Kavanaugh have been harmed, their families have, too.
And we need to, we must do better by them. We must do better as a legislative branch. We have an obligation, a moral obligation to do better than this.
I spent more time evaluating and considering the nomination of Judge Kavanaugh than I have with any of the previous nominations to the United States Supreme Court that I've had the privilege to review. I've had the opportunity to vote on five justices prior to this.
And I took my time. I was deliberate. I was thoughtful. Some accused me of being too deliberate, too thoughtful. Taking too much time. But this is important to me. It should be important to all of us. And I know that it is important to all of us.
And so I studied the record. I sat with Judge Kavanaugh for a lengthy period of time. About an hour and a half and asked the questions that I had and did more due diligence. Reviewed the cases and did my homework. Listened to the concerns that were raised by many in my state on issues that were all over the board, whether it was women's right to choose, whether it was the Affordable Care Act, whether it was executive authority, deference to the agencies native issues. I took considerable time.
And when the hearings came, not being on the judiciary committee, I paid attention. I followed the testimony of the judge, the very critical questioning from many of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle.
And then when the end of the process or so seemingly what we believed to be the end of the process, there were more questions. I went back to Judge Kavanaugh. Had a good conversation with him.
And then the allegations that we have been discussing and trying to understand more about came forward and we all moved from focusing on the issues to truly a discussion that none of us ever thought that we would be having when it came to confirmation process for someone to the highest court in the land.
And so there was more work to be done. I was one who wanted to make sure that there was a process going forward. And when there were more questions that were raised after the initial process, was one who joined in asking that the FBI step in and do further reviews.
So I have been engaged in this lengthy and deliberative process for months now. And I was truly leaning toward supporting Judge Kavanaugh in his nomination as I looked to that record. But we know that in our rule of advice and consent, it's not just -- it is not the record itself. There is more that is attached to it.
It is way when in the State of Alaska a nomination for a judge goes forward, you rate them not only on their professional competence, what they have demonstrated through their record, but also matters of temperament and just demeanor, which are very important.
So we moved, we shifted that conversation from so many of the issues that I had been focused on to two other areas that are also important in evaluating a nominee for the court.
But I listened, I listened very carefully to the remarks, the strong well articulated remarks of my colleague, and my friend that sits next to my here, Senator Collins. And I found that I agreed with many of the points that she raised on the floor earlier. I do not think that Judge Kavanaugh will be a vote to overturn Roe versus Wade.
And I also join with her in saying that I do not think that protections for those with pre-existing conditions will be at risk. And I also do not think that he will be a threat to Alaska Natives. That was an issue that certainly had been raised.
But I had extended conversation with the judge on just these issues. And I believe that he recognizes as he told me that Alaska Natives are not in that identical place as Native Hawaiians.
Alaskan tribes are included on the list of a federally recognized tribes and the fact remains that Native Hawaiians are not, this is a distinction, a difference.
I am one who in this body have said I would like to see Native Hawaiians there. And I worked with my friend Senator Akaka when he was in this body to help advance that. I supported those.
But the fact remains that the constitutional status of Alaska Natives and the Indian commerce clause are simply not at play with this nomination. I don't believe that.
So the question fairly asked, say that you think he's going to be there on issues that matter to Alaskans? That you have taken strong positions on.
The reason that I could not support Judge Kavanaugh in this cloture motion this afternoon is that in my role, my responsibility as one senator on this floor, I take this obligation that we have in the role of advice and consent as seriously as anything that I am obligated or privileged to be able to vote on.
And so, I have a very high standard. I have a very high bar for any nominee to the Supreme Court of the United States. The code of judicial conduct rule, 1.2, this is one that many, many people in this body know. But it states that, quote, "A judge act at all times in a manner that promotes public confidence in the independence, integrity, and impartiality of the judiciary and shall avoid impropriety and the appearance of impropriety."
I go back. I look to that. It is pretty high. It is really high. That a judge shall act at all times. Not just sometimes when you're wearing your robe, but a judge should act at all times in a manner that promotes public confidence. Public confidence. Where is the public confidence?
So it is high. And even -- even in the face of the worst thing that could happen, a sexual assault allegation, even in the face of an overly and overtly, overtly political process, a politicized process and even when one side of this chamber is absolutely dead set on defeating his nomination from the very get-go, before he was even named, even -- even in these situations, the standard is that a judge must act at all times in a manner that promotes public confidence and the independence, integrity and partiality of the judiciary and shall avoid impropriety and the appearance of impropriety.
And after the hearing that we all watched last week, last Thursday, it became clear to me or was becoming clearer that that appearance of impropriety has become unavoidable.
And I've been deliberating, agonizing about what is fair. Is this too unfair a burden to place on somebody that is dealing with the worst -- the most horrific allegations that go to your integrity, that go to everything that you are. I think we all struggle with how we would respond.
But I am reminded there are only -- there are only nine seats on the bench of the highest court in the land. And these seats are occupied by these men and women for their lifetime. And so those who seek one of these seats must meet the highest standards in all respects at all times. And that is hard.
Mr. President, we are at a time when many in this country have lost faith in the executive branch. And it's not -- it's not just with this administration. We saw -- we saw much of that in the last as well.
And here in Congress, many around the country have just given up on us. They've completely said we've had enough. But I maintain that the public still views, I still view that there is some small shred of hope that remains with our judiciary.
This judiciary that must be perceived as independent as nonpartisan, as fair and balanced in order for our form of government to function. And it's that hope, it's that hope that I seek to maintain. I think that's why I have demanded such a high standard to maintain or regain that public confidence. Because it is so critical that we have that public confidence in at least one of our three branches of government.
Mr. President, I think we saw from the vote earlier today, we've seen from statements from several of our colleagues that it does appear that Judge Kavanaugh will be seated on the Supreme Court without my vote.
It is my hope, it is truly my hope that Judge Kavanaugh will share that same hope in rebuilding, maintaining a level of public confidence, that he will strive for that ideal every day.
It's my hope that he will be that neutral arbiter, the umpire who only calls the balls and the strikes. That he will be that force for stability.
I believe that Judge Kavanaugh is a good man. He's a good man. He's clearly a learned judge. But in my conscious, because that's how I have to vote, to end of the day, is with my conscious, I could not conclude that he is the right person for the court at this time.
And this has been agonizing for me with this decision. It is a -- it is as hard a choice probably as close a call as any that I can ever remember. And I hope, I hope and I pray that we don't find ourselves in this situation again.
HENRY: Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski. She made a little news by saying she does not believe that Judge or soon to be Justice Kavanaugh will vote to overturn Roe v. Wade, but said that the appearance of impropriety in terms of how he handle himself and his temperament at that hearing last week she cannot get to yes and she realizes he'll get to the court without her vote.
That's our "Story" on this Friday night. Tomorrow don't miss special coverage of Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation, the final vote. I'll be joining Shannon Bream for special coverage beginning 6.30 p.m. tomorrow evening. For now, stay tuned for Tucker. He's up next.
END
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