-Republicans are making clear
that they have no interest in hearing the truth
about Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
For more on this, it's time for "A Closer Look."
[ Cheers and applause ]
As the President faced a growing crisis
over the sexual-assault allegations
against his Supreme Court nominee,
he flew to North Carolina
to survey damage from Hurricane Florence.
And as usual, he was super weird about it.
At one point, according to reporters...
[ Laughter ]
Oh, my God, I swear Trump could see a guy jump off a building
and think, "Oh, cool -- free shoes."
[ Laughter ]
And in case you think Trump was just kidding,
he later told reporters...
[ Laughter ]
Ah, yes. Who could forget
the famous Supreme Court case of Finders v. Keepers.
[ Laughter ]
This is the guy...
[ Cheers and applause ]
That right there is the guy who gets to pick
our next Supreme Court Justice,
a man who thinks that, legally speaking,
if a boat shows up on your lawn, you get to keep it.
[ Laughter ]
And yet it's very much the case that Republicans are hoping
Trump will be able to reshape the Supreme Court
for a generation by rushing to get his nominee Brett Kavanaugh
confirmed despite the credible
sexual-assault allegations against him.
Republicans have been engaged in a 40-year project
to install a conservative majority on the court,
and Kavanaugh's nomination was supposed to be
the crowning achievement in that project.
And Trump was very proud of his choice,
although he mainly seemed concerned
with whether Kavanaugh looked the part.
-Hopefully, everything goes very well with Judge Kavanaugh.
He's central casting.
You know, 10 years ago,
they said, "He'll be a Supreme Court judge."
Justice Kavanaugh is doing great.
Looks like -- I don't know, very tough.
Central casting.
-I don't know.
If he really came from central casting,
they wouldn't make him a Supreme Court Justice.
They'd make him the manager on "Superstore."
[ Laughter ]
And if you think Kavanaugh would never lie,
here he is in his first remarks as a Supreme Court nominee
in order to shamelessly suck up to Trump.
-Mr. President, thank you.
Throughout this process, I've witnessed firsthand
your appreciation for the vital role of the American judiciary.
No president has ever consulted more widely
or talked with more people for from more backgrounds
to seek input about a Supreme Court nomination.
-There is absolutely no way that is true.
[ Laughter ]
He might as well have said,
"No president has ever looked better in a white Polo."
[ Laughter and applause ]
But Kavanaugh -- Kavanaugh was willing to lie
to please his boss because he's been a loyal partisan Republican
for most of his career,
someone conservatives know they'll be able to depend on
to implement their agenda.
Trump himself even claimed he'd heard Kavanaugh's name mentioned
as a possible Supreme Court Justice for years.
-He's an outstanding intellect.
He's an outstanding judge.
He was born for the position.
I heard as long as 10 years ago people were saying
he should be a Supreme Court judge.
I didn't know him at the time,
but I was hearing from a lot of people,
friends of mine from Washington and other places,
saying that Brett Kavanaugh
should be a Supreme Court judge someday.
-No.
[ Laughter ]
You did not hear people saying Brett Kavanaugh
should be a Supreme Court Justice 10 years ago.
10 years ago, you were yelling at Gary Busey
for stealing Meat Loaf's art supplies.
[ Laughter and applause ]
Kavanaugh's nomination was the culmination
of a decades-long ideological project to reshape the Court,
and Republicans are making it clear
that they want to see that project through,
even if it means ignoring a credible allegation
of sexual assault.
Trump was asked about the allegations
against Kavanaugh made by Dr. Christine Blasey Ford.
Trump said he wanted the process to play out
while making clear he was firmly behind Kavanaugh.
-We are looking to get this done as quickly as possible.
He is a truly outstanding person, as you know.
He is an incredible man.
He's an incredible intellect.
He will make an incredible Supreme Court Justice,
but we feel that we want to go through a process.
We want to hear both sides.
He can handle himself better than anybody.
He's a very outstanding man.
Thank you. Thank you.
-Oh, I'm totally supportive. Yes, I'm very supportive.
-You can't say you want a fair and open process
but also that you're supportive of one side.
He's like a ref at the Super Bowl saying,
"Let's have a good, clean game
so we can get that handsome Tom Brady another trophy."
[ Laughter ]
The White House is trying to have it both ways.
They're trying to insulate Trump from the political fallout
if Kavanaugh's nomination blows up
while also standing firmly
behind their Supreme Court nominee.
In fact, on Monday, Kavanaugh was at the White House
for nine hours of meetings,
but White House staff made sure to keep Trump away from him.
-Inside the White House, they were hunkered down,
closely monitoring everything,
but keeping the judge away from meeting with President Trump,
who was nearby in the Oval Office,
meeting with officials, as well. -Why?
-They don't meet, Chris, based on my reporting,
because they want to protect the President.
-So, Kavanaugh was in the building all day,
and they had to keep Trump away from him.
That means that, for nine hours,
it was someone's job inside the White House
to keep Trump distracted.
"Okay, guys, gonna be a long day.
Get me three remote controls, an issue of "Juggs" magazine,
and a cheeseburger on a string.
[ Laughter ]
"Damn you, cheeseburger."
[ Cheers and applause ]
"The cheeseburger won't stand still."
[ Applause ]
The Republicans' gambit here is to make it seem like
they want a fair and open process,
but in reality, they want it to look like a he said, she said
so they can just ignore it and move on.
They won't even interview witnesses
or let the FBI investigate.
They made it clear that they either
don't believe Ford's story or don't care.
In fact, GOP Senators are already insisting
that Ford must have gotten her story wrong
or that she might be doing this for political purposes.
-If Ms. Ford really did not want to come forward,
never intended to come forward, never planned to come forward,
why did she pay for a polygraph in August,
and why did she hire a lawyer in August
if she never intended to do what she's doing?
-Senator Cornyn this morning saying that
there are gaps in her story, appear to be gaps in her story.
-Do you think that this, in any way,
is going to derail his nomination?
-No. He's a straight-shooting, honest guy.
I think when people listen to him, they'll know --
they'll know that he's all right.
-And do you think that any of these claims are legitimate?
-No, I don't. I think --
I think this woman, whoever she is, is mixed up.
-I love these old-ass Senators
claiming other people are mixed up.
Just to give you some perspective,
here's that same Senator, Orrin Hatch,
asking Mark Zuckerberg a question about Facebook
at a hearing earlier this year.
-How do you sustain a business model
in which users don't pay for your service?
[ Laughter ]
-Senator, we run ads.
-I see.
[ Laughter ]
-"Okay, okay.
But how do you get all the faces inside the book?"
[ Laughter ]
"And where do you print this book?
Can I get the book at Barnes & Noble?
How many pages is the book?"
[ Laughter ]
"How much does the book cost?
Is the book available on Kindle?
And a follow-up question -- what's a Kindle?"
[ Laughter ]
Republicans are making it as clear as possible
they don't actually have an interest
in hearing the truth of what happened.
They're rushing to get a man accused of sexual assault
on the Supreme Court because it's the culmination
of a 40-year project to solidify
their conservative majority for a generation.
If you're looking for villains,
these guys are straight out of...
-Central casting.
-This has been "A Closer Look."
[ Cheers and applause ]