[Jake Tapper, Cnn Anchor:] Democrats accuse the Trump White House of tying the FBI's hands. THE LEAD starts right now. The senators who will decide Brett Kavanaugh's fate dropping signals and weighing in on the FBI report now completed, but breaking minutes ago, one key undecided senator announce announced she's a no. As protesters flood the halls of the Senate office buildings in a major show of force against Kavanaugh, President Trump suddenly taking the side of due process as he issues a new defense of his Supreme Court nominee, and the Senate leader today following the president's lead, saying Brett Kavanaugh is the victim here. Plus, hey, look over here. Vice President Pence taking a strong stance against election interference, but it's not against Russia. Welcome to THE LEAD, everyone. I'm Jake Tapper. We begin with our politics lead. One FBI report, two interpretations. Republican leaders say there is no additional corroboration of the allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and no hint of misconduct. Democrats disagree and are taking issue with the investigation, saying it was not thorough enough and Democrats are calling for the report to be made public. But what really matters here are the key senators who have yet to say publicly how they're going to vote and what they think. Red state Democrat Heidi Heitkamp breaking the news this afternoon that she is a no on Kavanaugh. So, then there were four. Republicans need just two of these four senators to vote yes on Kavanaugh. That will make it 50-50, allowing vice president to break the tie. And of potentially huge consequence, we heard two of these senators have expressing confidence in the FBI report, Senator Susan Collins of Maine saying the investigation appears very thorough. Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona agreeing and adding, "We have seen no additional corroborating information." The final vote on Kavanaugh's nomination could happen as soon as Saturday. CNN's Sunlen Serfaty is on Capitol Hill for us, where there are major protests ongoing. Sunlen, what's going on there?
[Sunlen Serfaty, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, Jake, this as a major, loud, very vocal group of protesters here in the Hart Senate Office Building. This is a Senate office building that many key senators have their offices. We can see and you see in the shot behind me many office workers looking out of their windows down to the protests below. They are protesting against Brett Kavanaugh. A lot of them chanting, "Brett Kavanaugh has got to go." They have dying thing "Believe the Survivors." So, certainly, a dramatic moment here with a protest that really in large part colored his whole consideration up here on Capitol Hill. That aside, this story end in the math. And that is where Republicans up here on Capitol Hill feel very confident tonight. Their mood is very upbeat, especially after those comments by Senator Collins, Senator Flake, Republicans very happy with the tone, saying it gives us a key window into their mind-set likely one day before this vote.
[Sen. Tim Kaine , Virginia:] The whole thing is a sham.
[Serfaty:] With tensions on Capitol Hill boiling over as Brett Kavanaugh's fate hangs in the balance.
[Sen. Lindsey Graham , South Carolina:] Why don't we dump him in the water and see if he floats?
[Serfaty:] Significant new reactions coming from two key senators after viewing that FBI report today. Senator Susan Collins telling CNN, "It appears to be a very thorough investigation, adding, "I have not yet finished going through all the material." Senator Jeff Flake saying the report showed no additional corroborating information. Neither senator revealing yet how they will vote, but their words boosting the confidence among Republicans today.
[Sen. Bob Corker , Tennessee:] There's absolutely zero corroboration, zero corroboration to any of these allegations. I think obviously that makes people feel really good coming out of there.
[Serfaty:] Collins and Flake are two of the four senators who now hold Kavanaugh's future in their hands, after Senator Heidi Heitkamp, a key red state Democrat, told CNN affiliate
[Wday: Sen. Heidi Heitkamp , North Dakota:] I will be voting no on Judge Kavanaugh.
[Serfaty:] Adding to the drama of the moment, a highly choreographed viewing of the tightly guarded FBI report, with senators shuffling in and out of this secure location to view the sole copy of the FBI findings privately, emerging afterwards and taking partisan sides, Republicans saying the report shows no corroboration of the sexual misconduct allegations against Kavanaugh.
[Sen. Mitch Mcconnell , Majority Leader:] When the noise fades, when the uncorroborated mud washes away, what's left is the distinguished nominee who stands before us.
[Serfaty:] And Democrats taking issue with the investigation itself.
[Sen. Cory Booker , New Jersey:] This is wholly unacceptable. It is a truncated, curtailed, a not even halfway effort to interview the relevant people.
[Serfaty:] Saying it was not extensive enough, especially without interviewing Kavanaugh and the first accuser, Professor Christine Blasey Ford.
[Sen. Dianne Feinstein , California:] The most notable part of this report is what's not in it. It looks to be a product of an incomplete investigation that was limited perhaps by the White House. I don't know.
[Serfaty:] Senators have the day on Capitol Hill to finish reading the report, but then it's decision time.
[Sen. John Kennedy , Louisiana:] It's time for women to woman up and men to man up. And let's be senators. And let's start voting.
[Serfaty:] And I want to take me back to live pictures here outside the Senate Hart Office Building, where we see actress Amy Schumer being arrested in the midst of these protests, among many other protesters, certainly speaking to the passion of the moment up here on Capitol Hill. Tomorrow, though, Jake, will be the crucial moment for Brett Kavanaugh. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has scheduled a cloture vote. That means that every senator here will have to say yes or no on Brett Kavanaugh. And if he continues, that means a final confirmation vote on Saturday Jake.
[Tapper:] All right, Sunlen Serfaty at the Hart Senate Office Building. Let's talk about this with our experts. Senator Santorum, an interesting argument this morning from Andrew Napolitano, the judge on FOX News, talking about the investigation. And I want to get your reaction.
[Andrew Napolitano, Fox News:] I was disappointed that they didn't interview Judge Kavanaugh and Dr. Ford and a few more people, because now the people that don't want Judge Kavanaugh, whether they don't want him confirmed because of a perception that he is ideologically against them or because they really believe the allegations against him, now have more ammunition and more doubt to say, why was the FBI held back? Was the FBI used as a political instrument yet again? Why weren't they just allowed to interview whoever they wanted, including the two principals, Judge Kavanaugh on Dr. Ford? Those allegations are going to stick.
[Tapper:] Your response?
[Rick Santorum, Cnn Commentator:] I think the optics would have been better had they interviewed them. I don't know for a fact maybe you do whether they were told they could not. But I think what the FBI did was say that Christine Blasey Ford came forward and said, this is all the information. She was asked, is there anything else that you want to tell us? And she said, no, I have told you everything. So what else could they find out? If she said that she told him everything, there really isn't much more to find, and certainly Judge Kavanaugh, the same thing. I mean, he's been questioned repeatedly. So I think it's very likely the FBI just said there really isn't a reason for us. Let's look to see what kind of corroboration each has for their own story. And that's what you got in this report.
[Tapper:] Kirsten Powers, you have been very critical of the FBI report. You don't think it's legit.
[Kirsten Powers, Cnn Commentator:] No, it's not legit. You don't have a report where people aren't where you have somebody like Debbie Ramirez saying that there are 20 people that she has identified who can corroborate her story, and they don't talk to any of them. When you have people who are reaching out to the FBI and they can't even get through. They're like sending through like the Web site who say that they have information and they're not being responded to. So I think that the whole setup of this situation has been, if you want an FBI investigation, you're smearing a good man. I mean, that literally is what it is. And it's just that's not what's happening. Basically, what Republicans are saying is, either you just accept what he's saying and don't question it, or you're smearing him and trying to ruin his life, vs. saying, there's a credible allegation. I think there's two very credible allegations against this person. Let's do a real FBI investigation. And let's find out what happened both for the women who made the accusations and, frankly, for Judge Kavanaugh, I mean, where you can have a real investigation where people can could clear his name. That would be very important. And now what we're left with is really a sham investigation that makes people feel like this was a setup, that have basically you were told to not investigate people who could corroborate.
[Mona Charen, Ethics And Public Policy Center:] You say there are two credible allegations. I think that's very debatable. First of all, Blasey Ford's allegation itself had problems, in that there's no corroboration.
[Tapper:] There's no firsthand corroboration.
[Powers:] Sexual assaults don't have witnesses.
[Charen:] Let me finish. To contrast it with the case of Judge Moore, when his accusers said he did he did this, here's my yearbook that he signed, here's the person I told at the time who will corroborate that, yes, at the time I told them. It doesn't mean that Blasey Ford is lying.
[Hilary Rosen, Cnn Political Contributor:] Dr. Ford's sent a letter, which they released publicly today, that they offered six people that corroborated this incident well prior to his nomination.
[Rosen:] It does not matter in sexual assault cases.
[Santorum:] They said they don't recall it happening.
[Tapper:] The people that she named at the party said with the exception of Kavanaugh and Mark Judge, that they have no memory or recollection of it happening.
[Santorum:] And her best friend said she never recalled ever meeting Kavanaugh.
[Tapper:] Right. Right.
[Rosen:] One is whether she's telling the truth and the people in her life who she told this story to well before there was ever a nomination. ... any public assault allegations, that is very, very important in sexual assault and sexual harassment cases. Whether you have corroboration, whether you have told someone about this prior to it becoming public. And she's given the name of six people who she told prior to it becoming public. And the FBI chose not to use it. And the reason this matters is because senators are using this talking point, there is no corroborating evidence. But, in fact, there are corroborating witnesses who should be talked to by what the FBI
[Tapper:] I think what they mean is there no I agree that they should be precise. No contemporaneous corroborating evidence. Nothing at the time.
[Rosen:] That's not happening that way.
[Charen:] And well, sometimes it does.
[Powers:] People being told about it at the time is corroborating evidence. I mean, Debbie there are multiple people who have come out and said they remember being told about this. I actually would love to finish a sentence without being interrupted. No, really, this is what's been going on the whole time, which is, if you guys have such a great case, let other people make their case and stop yelling at them and stop talking over them.
[Tapper:] OK. Can we talk about the politics of this for one second? Because right now we have four undecided senators, and Kavanaugh's fate is with them, lies with them. Joe Manchin, the one Democrat on this list from West Virginia, he's up for reelection this year. Susan Collins from Maine. Jeff Flake of Arizona, who is retiring, and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. What we're getting signals from Collins and Flake. They're saying this investigation, whatever other people think of it, it seems comprehensive, it seems sufficient. Do you think ultimately this all means Kavanaugh will be confirmed?
[Charen:] I do. I think actually that the FBI investigation was undertaken exactly for those four senators, to satisfy them. And the idea that it actually should have been something that was for the whole country and, by the way, I don't have a side. I'm just evaluating the evidence as I see it, unlike like 99 percent of the country, which seems to have taken sides. But the fact is, those senators now need their fig leaf to be able to say, yes, I saw it, and it wasn't persuasive. And I think that's probably all they're going to need.
[Tapper:] And do you think ultimately he's going to pass? I mean, really, this could come down to I mean, I think it's likely that Flake is going to vote for him. He signaled that. It's going to come down to Murkowski and Collins. What do you think they're going to do?
[Powers:] In my gut is probably that Collins will vote for him. But I don't that's just my gut. I don't really know. I think Lisa Murkowski is going to be in a lot of trouble if she votes for him, just because there's already so much opposition to him separate from this issue.
[Tapper:] In Alaska.
[Rosen:] A Republican lobbyist told me last night that if Susan Collins votes against Kavanaugh, her career is finished. We're putting a lot of pressure on these two women, but in fact it's the entire GOP Senate who is responsible for this. And it's that leadership bullying them that's really the problem.
[Tapper:] And we're going to talk about this in the next coming up. Republicans see it one way, Democrats see it another, but will we ever really know what was in the FBI report? Plus, the fight over Kavanaugh may be energizing Democrats right now, but a big argument being made, it might also help Republicans in the midterms. Stay with us.