-Republicans are rushing to confirm
the Supreme Court nominee of a president
who is in so much legal jeopardy even his own lawyers
have warned him he could go to jail.
For more on this, it's time for A Closer look.
[ Cheers and applause ]
Let's just step back for a moment and consider that fact
that Trump is trying to appoint someone
to a lifetime seat on the Supreme Court
while simultaneously being implicated
in a truly staggering number of criminal cases
and corruption scandals.
That's like Bonnie getting arrested and saying,
"You know who's make a great judge?
Clyde."
[ Laughter ]
Just to review, here's what we already know
about the various crimes and corruption scandals
swirling around the president --
his campaign chairman was convicted
on eight counts of tax and bank fraud,
his deputy campaign chairman
admitted to embezzlement and money laundering,
his personal lawyer admitted he conspired with the president
to break federal election laws to pay hush money
to cover up an affair,
his national security adviser plead guilty
to lying to the FBI about his contacts with the Russians,
his foreign policy adviser also plead guilty
to lying to the FBI about his contacts with the Russians,
his first congressional backer
was indicted for insider trading,
his second congressional backer was indicted
for wire fraud and campaign-finance violations,
a Republican lobbyist just plead guilty
to steering illegal funds from a pro-Russian oligarchy
to Trump's inauguration,
and Steven Miller has been sleeping rent-free
in the White House attic.
[ Laughter ]
Now...
[ Applause, laughter ]
...Trump's already -- already expressed support
for a few of those guys.
And now, he's backing two more alleged criminals --
GOP congressmen Chris Collins and Ducan Hunter.
On Monday, Trump slammed Attorney General Jeff Sessions
for allowing prosecutors to bring cases against them.
openly admitting that those cases were hurting
Republicans' chances in the midterm elections.
-The president writes, quote, "Two long-running, Obama era,
investigations of two very popular Republican congressmen
were brought to a well-publicized charge,
just ahead of the midterms,
by the Jeff Sessions Justice Department.
Two easy wins now in doubt
because there is not enough time.
Good job, Jeff."
"The Democrats -- none of whom voted for Jeff Sessions --
must love him now."
-First of all, no one loves Jeff Sessions.
[ Laughter ]
He looks like a haunted doll
that moves whenever you look away.
"I could have sworn I put my Little Sessions of that chair.
Oh, my God, he's behind me!"
[ Laughter ]
Second -- think about that.
Trump just openly admitted on Twitter
that he wants the Justice Department --
which is supposed to be independent --
to cover up crimes by Republicans
in order to help them win elections.
Not only is Trump corrupt, but he's so obvious about it.
He's like a guy who would try to pick your pocket from the front.
[ As Trump ] "Whoops. I've bumped into you by accident.
now, just give me a second, and I'll be on my way.
Come on, wallet. where are you, wallet."
[ Laughter ]
[ Normal voice ] In fact, today, we got some explosive new details
about just how much legal jeopardy
Trump's own lawyers think he might be in.
Excerpts from famed journalist Bob Woodward's forthcoming book
about the Trump White House began to leak out,
including one conversation where Trump's lawyer,
John Dowd, warned Trump that if he testified
to the Russia probe, he might go to jail.
"Dowd was convinced that Trump would commit perjury
if he talked to Special Counsel Robert Mueller.
But Trump, concerned about the optics
of a president refusing to testify,
and convinced that he could handle Mueller's questions,
had, by then, decided otherwise.
Trump told Dowd, 'I'll be a real good witness.'
Dowd replied, 'You are not a good witness.'"
[ Laughter ]
In fact, the Mueller inquiry apparently looms
over the White House every day, to the point where
even foreign leaders ask Trump about it.
According to the Washington Post,
"Hovering over the White House was Mueller's inquiry,
which deeply embarrassed the president.
Woodward describes Trump calling his Egyptian counterpart
to secure the release of an imprisoned charity worker,
and President Abdel Fatah al-Sissi saying,
'Donald, I'm worried about this investigation.
Are you going to be around?'
Trump relayed the conversation to Dowd,
and said it was 'like a kick in the nuts.'"
In fairness, every day working in your White House
is like a kick in the nuts.
Why do you think Rudy Guiliani always looks like this?
[ Laughter ]
That's...
[ Applause ]
That's the face of a guy who lost a bet
and has to stand in front of a tennis-ball machine
without a racket.
[ Laughter ]
Apparently, Trump knew this book would be explosive,
because last month he called Woodward to talk about it.
Woodward recorded the call, and as he explained to Trump
what the book would be about, you can hear it
slowly dawn on Trump that it could be very damaging for him.
-It's also a difficult time, where the political system,
and you and my business...
-Yeah. -...is being tested.
-Yeah. -And I take it very seriously.
I've done books on eight presidents,
going back from Nixon to Obama.
-Right. -And I learned something
about reporting, frankly, Mr. President.
-Good. -I've got to go talk to people,
and see them outside of the White House,
and outside of their offices.
And I've gained a lot of insight and documentation.
And it's -- you know, it's a tough look
at the world, and your administration, and you.
-Right. Well, I assume that means
it's gonna be a negative book.
-Oh, my God.
[ Laughter ]
He's like a guy who doesn't understand
why he's being dumped.
"I'm breaking up with you because you're dumb, annoying,
selfish, ugly, and I don't like you,
and I'm not attracted to you in any way."
[ As Trump ] "So, it sounds like you're on the fence
about going to prom with me."
[ Laughter ]
[ Normal voice ] So, Trump is harassing and threatening
the Justice Department, and even his own lawyers
have warned him he might go to jail,
which is why it's absurd to let him appoint anyone
to a permanent seat on the Supreme Court,
let alone a life-long partisan Republican
like Brett Kavanaugh. And yet,
not only are Republicans rushing forward
within Kavanaugh's nomination,
they're doing it with an unprecedented level of secrecy.
"The Trump White House, citing executive privilege,
is withholding from the Senate
more than 100,000 pages of records
from Kavanaugh's time as a lawyer
in the Bush administration."
Republicans are trying to hide as much about Kavanaugh's record
as they can because they know it would be damning.
So, what do they want you to know about Kavanaugh instead?
they want you to know that
he's just like your next-door neighbor.
-This is a guy who coaches basketball,
who does all kinds of food pantries.
He's like your next-door neighbor.
-And then, he talked about his daughter.
And then, he talked about CYO and food pantries.
And I said, "You know what? This is the guy next door."
-Just a really nice guy.
Just a decent person, a person of integrity.
You have to see his eyes light up
when he talks about his daughters,
coaching their basketball team.
-One friend called him, "A regular, old carpool dad."
I think we all know what that is.
It's the dad who drives the kids to school.
-[ Sarcastically ] Oh, is that what it is?
[ Laughter ]
The two words with their exact definitions?
"He's like a peanut-butter sandwich.
We all know what that is.
It's a sandwich with peanut butter on it."
[ Laughter ]
And I'm sorry you think he's qualified
to be a Supreme Court justice because he's a carpool dad.
Anyone can drive a car.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg pulled one
when she wore -- when she won World's Strongest Judge.
[ Laughter ]
Now, today, Democrats tried
to do everything they could to delay the hearing
until all of Kavanaugh's records were released.
And the chairman of the committee --
Iowa senator Chuck Grassley --
did everything he could to ignore them.
For example, when several Democratic senators
tried to interrupt Grassley's opening statement
to register their objections, he just shouted over them.
-We cannot possibly move forward, Mr. Chairman --
-I extend a very warm welcome... -We have not been given...
-...to Judge Kavanaugh... -...an opportunity
to have a meaningful hearing... -...to his wife, Ashley...
-...on this nominee. -...their two daughters...
-Mr. Chairman... -...their extended family...
-...I agree with my colleague... -...and friends.
-...Senator Harris. Mr. Chairman...
[ Indistinct talking, interrupting ]
-You know you're not in a good place
when you have to scream your banal compliments at the witness.
[ Yelling ] "I want to extend a very warm welcome
to your wife and you two daughters!
I know that you are a carpool dad --
which is a dad who carpools!"
[ Scattered applause, laughter ]
[ Applause ]
[ Normal voice ] Then...
when Senator Corey Booker interrupted Grassley
to express his frustration with the process,
Grassley tried a new tactic --
ignoring Booker and softly tapping his gavel.
[ Gavel gently tapping ]
is a violation of even the values
I've heard you talk about time and time again,
The ideals that we should have.
What is the rush?
What are we trying to hide
by not having the documents out front?
[ Gavel gently tapping ]
What are we hiding by not letting
those documents come out?
[ Gavel Gently tapping ]
You yourself -- limited documents.
We thought there should be more.
We have not received the documents
[ Gavel gently tapping ]
-Oh, my God. When Chuck Grassley knocks on someone's door,
they probably don't even know he's there.
[ Laughter ]
"Chuck! how long have you been here?"
[ As Grassley ] "Five hours."
[ Laughter ]
[ Normal voice ] When he tries to kill a fly,
it probably takes him forever.
[ Laughter ]
Is he calling for order
or trying to keep track of his pulse?
[ Laughter ]
Hey...
Hey. Republicans say we don't need to see
all of Kavanaugh's records to confirm him to the Supreme Court.
And at least they've been consistent.
I'm sure there isn't video of Grassley
from just a few years ago saying the exact opposite
about President Obama's nominee for the court, Elena Kagan.
-The Senate needs enough time to adequately review
the nominee's record.
In order for the Senate to fulfill
its constitutional responsibility
of advice and consent,
we must get all of her documents from the Clinton Library
and have enough time to analyze them,
so that we can determine whether she should be a justice.
-Wow. The only thing missing from that clip
was Grassley slowly banging his gavel at himself.
-We must get all of her documents
[ Gavel gently bangs ]
and have enough time to analyze them
[ Gavel gently bangs ]
-Republicans are rushing to confirm
the Supreme Court nominee
of a president under criminal investigation
who's trying to subvert the justice system
to his own political ends
so they can roll back voting rights,
reproductive rights, and workers' rights,
and solidify their grip on power.
And their only argument is that he's a...
-"..carpool dad."
-This has been A Closer Look.
[ Applause ]