Hillary Clinton: Kavanaugh Swear-In "Undermined Integrity of Court"
BALDWIN: After Brett Kavanaugh was sworn into the Supreme Court, Hillary Clinton says President Trump staged such a spectacle, it undermined the courts integrity She spoke exclusively with CNN's Christiane Amanpour.</s>HILLARY CLINTON, (D), FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE & FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: What was done last night in the White House was a political rally. It further undermined the image and integrity of the court. And that troubles me greatly. It saddens me. Because our judicial system has been viewed as one of main pillars of our constitutional government. So I don't know how people are going to react to it. I think, given our divides, it will pretty much fall predictably between those who are for and those who are against. But the president has been true to form. He has insulted, attacked, demeaned women throughout the campaign, for many years leading up to the campaign, and he's continued to do that inside the White House.</s>BALDWIN: Mary Katharine Hamm is still with us. Joining us, CNN politics reporter and editor-at-large, Chris Cillizza. Chris Cillizza, she called what happened last night a political rally. We know Trump is pretty effective when it comes to rallies. What is Hillary Clinton up to here?</s>CHRIS CILLIZZA, CNN POLITICS REPORTER & CNN EDITOR-AT-LARGE: Well, I mean, I think in her mind she's filling a space that no one else can fill between now and whenever Democrats choose who their nominee is going to be in 2020, which is sort of the face of the Trump resistance. I don't think this is some long con that she's going to run for president again. I think she's done with that. But I do think she believes that there need to be voices that speak up and say this is not normal, this is the sort of thing that we have to call out and she believes herself to be in a position still to do that. You know, I don't know how much she helps the cause. I think she herself is so divisive. She says people are going to line up in their camps one way or another as it relates to the Trump/Kavanaugh thing Monday night. Well, Hillary Clinton's comments about the Trump/Kavanaugh thing, people are going to line up in their camps, too.</s>BALDWIN: Is she the person, M.K., to be --</s>HAMM: She's welcome to be who she wants. She's been out there for years. She's been in politics a long time. It's a reflect to be in the political arena. Do I think it's strategically super helpful or she's a vibrant new face for the Democratic Party or resistance? I do not. And there are others who speak out plenty who serve that role probably better.</s>BALDWIN: Let me play one other clip. Hillary Clinton weighed in on the confirmation process just on the whole.</s>CLINTON: You cannot be civil with a political party that wants to destroy what you stand for, what you care about. That's why I believe, if we are fortunate enough to win back the House and/or the Senate, that's when civility can start again. Until then, the only thing the Republicans seem to recognize and respect is strength. And you heard how the Republican members, led by Mitch McConnell, the president, really demeaned the confirmation process, insulted and attacked not only Dr. Ford but women who were speaking out. You know, look, I remember Republican operatives shutting down the voting in Florida in 2000. I remember the swiftboating of John Kerry. I remember the thing that even the Republican Party did to John McCain in 2000. I remember what they did to me for 25 years, the falsehoods, the lies, which unfortunately people believe because the Republicans have put a lot of time, money and effort in promoting them. So when you're dealing with an ideological party that is driven by the lust for power, that is funded by corporate interests who want a government that does its bidding, you can be civil but you can't overcome what they intend to do unless you win elections.</s>BALDWIN: Chris, we watched this really spectacle volatility unfold during this whole process. It was ugly no matter what. But does running on an anger platform remedy it?</s>CILLIZZA: Hillary Clinton, whether purposely or not, is running the case for Michael Avenatti 2020. Both parties are driven by ideology. That's why they're parties. They are cohered by a set of ideology and values. It's a little oversimplified. I do, however, think, there will be a real debate as Democrats look to who they want and there's going to be a million -- 30-plus candidates. There will be a debate do we want to get back to politics pre-Trump, where it was more genteel and civil or do we need for lack of a better word, an Avenatti? Donald Trump changed it and we need to fight fire with fire.</s>BALDWIN: Can we go back, Mary Katharine, into a pre-Trump era to a "pre-genteel" era of politics or do you need a Trump to out-trump Trump?</s>HAMM: I think some of that is looking through rose-colored glasses. Trump was a response to what many felt was cultural bullying during the Obama years. They felt like they needed a bully to stand up to that. Hillary Clinton's comments here are sort of a tell that the civility gambit is nonsense. It's not about civility. It's about you shut up until we win. That's not actually civility. And with respect, I am old enough to remember how the Clinton company treated his accusers and paramours over the years. It wasn't civil. It was part of my political coming of age at 18 or 19 to see how that played out. So to hear it from her is somewhat hollow for me. In this process, activists have been abetted by -- ran with the Avenatti outlandish accusations that did not have corroborations. So that wasn't exactly civil or part of the normal process. I'm not endorsing the ratchet but this is a ratchet situation here.</s>BALDWIN: Mary Katharine Hamm, Chris Cillizza, thank you both very much.</s>HAMM: Thank you.</s>BALDWIN: As a small community in New York is in mourning after a horrific limo crash that killed 20, we now have details about the owner of the company who owned the limo and new reports of text messages sent by the victims in moments before the crash. What they had to say about the condition of the limo as they were in it. That's next.