{"id":2629,"date":"2018-10-09T10:12:38","date_gmt":"2018-10-09T14:12:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/press.nbcnews.com\/?p=2629"},"modified":"2018-10-09T10:12:38","modified_gmt":"2018-10-09T14:12:38","slug":"mtp-exclusive-sen-chris-coons-says-its-premature-to-talk-about-impeaching-justice-brett-kavanaugh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nbcuniversalnewsgroup.com\/nbcnews\/2018\/10\/09\/mtp-exclusive-sen-chris-coons-says-its-premature-to-talk-about-impeaching-justice-brett-kavanaugh\/","title":{"rendered":"MTP EXCLUSIVE: SEN. CHRIS COONS SAYS ‘IT’S PREMATURE’ TO TALK ABOUT IMPEACHING JUSTICE BRETT KAVANAUGH"},"content":{"rendered":"
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ALSO: Sen. Coons (D-Del.) Says President Trump Mocking Dr. Christine Blasey Ford \u201cWas a Low Mark in His Presidency\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

EXCLUSIVE: Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) on Dr. Ford\u2019s Testimony: \u201cEvery Sexual Assault Case is Usually \u2018He Said, She Said,\u2019 Except in This Case it\u2019s \u2018He Said, She Said, They [Witnesses] Said\u2019\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

EXCLUSIVE: Alyssa Milano Says we “Lost a Political Battle” but “are Winning the Cultural Battle”<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

PLUS: Tarana Burke on #BelieveSurvivors: \u201cIt\u2019s not Believe Them Without Investigation, Believe Them Without Interrogation\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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OCTOBER 7, 2018 \u2013 In an exclusive interview this morning on\u00a0Meet the Press<\/em>,\u00a0Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.)\u00a0<\/strong>told moderator Chuck Todd \u201cit\u2019s premature\u201d to talk about impeaching newly-confirmed Supreme Court Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh. “There’s only been one justice that’s been impeached, and I think talking about it at this point isn’t necessarily healing us and moving us forward,” Coons added. “The Senate’s role in our politics is not to just reflect the country, but to help heal and lead the country.”<\/p>\n

On the presumption of innocence in the Kavanaugh hearings, Coons said: \u201cThis is a confirmation hearing. No one is entitled to a seat on the Supreme Court. It’s not a criminal trial, it’s more like a job hearing. It\u2019s more like a job interview.\u201d<\/p>\n

On President Trump\u2019s comments on Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, Coons said: \u201cI think one of the biggest tragedies of this past week was to watch the president of the United States publicly mocking and ridiculing Dr. Ford. His initial response, which was to say that her testimony was credible and compelling was where he should have stopped. But to instead turn it into a campaign rally event where he was mocking her, I think really brought this entire conversation down and really was a low mark in his presidency.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coons responded to Sen. John Kennedy\u2019s statement earlier this week on how the process changed dramatically when Michael Avenatti got involved, taking us \u201cinto the foothills of the preposterous,\u201d and said \u201cI do think that he’s correct, that there was a widespread response, certainly on the Republican side, that these were not credible allegations.\u201d\u00a0Watch the full interview<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.)\u00a0<\/strong>also joined the broadcast in an exclusive interview, telling Todd that \u201cevery sexual assault case is usually \u2018he said, she said,\u2019 except in this case it\u2019s \u2018he said, she said, they said,\u2019\u201d adding: \u201cthe \u2018they\u2019 were the witnesses that she said were there all said it either didn\u2019t happen or they didn\u2019t remember it. One of whom is one of her best friends.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought she was credible,\u201d Alexander said of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford\u2019s testimony, adding: \u201cIf listening to her was all I had to do, I would’ve said, \u2018She seems to believe what she believes.\u2019 But that’s not all I had to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Justice Kavanaugh\u2019s testimony, Alexander said: \u201cIf you had a group of people deliberately trying to destroy your reputation with accusations that you know aren’t true \u2026 you’re not going to just sit there calmly and take that. You’re going to defend yourself against people deliberately trying to damage and destroy you \u2026 and I think the fact that he did that is the reason he’s on the court. I think if he\u2019d just sat there and taken it, that people would, would’ve been very suspicious.\u201d<\/p>\n

On concern of the public confidence in Justice Kavanaugh, Alexander said: \u201cIt’d be hard to have public confidence, if you go through an inquisition, like he did, arranged by the Democrats.\u201d\u00a0Watch the full interview<\/a>.<\/p>\n

One year after the #MeToo movement re-ignited with a tweet from actor and activist\u00a0Alyssa Milano<\/strong>, she and activist\u00a0Tarana Burke<\/strong>\u00a0joined the broadcast to discuss the movement one year later and the repercussions of the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation.<\/p>\n

Milano said: \u201cWe may have lost a political battle, but I do think we are winning the cultural battle. And often I don’t fight for the win, I’m fighting so that generations don’t have to deal with the abuses of power that we’ve had to deal with.\u201d<\/p>\n

Burke opened up about the \u201cbelieve survivors\u201d mantra, saying: \u201cIt\u2019s not believe them without investigation, believe them without interrogation \u2026 So the mantra \u2018Believe Survivors\u2019 is about, can we start with the premise that people do not often lie about the pain and the trauma of sexual violence. If we start with that premise, if you believe that it\u2019s true, then you can have an investigation, you can have an interrogation of the facts and that kind of thing. This is not to say believe people blanket and don\u2019t investigate and don\u2019t do anything else besides believe them.\u201d\u00a0Watch the full interview<\/a>.<\/p>\n

NBC News Presidential Historian and author of Presidents of War\u00a0Michael Beschloss<\/strong>, Republican strategist\u00a0Al Cardenas<\/strong>, NBC News\u2019\u00a0Kasie Hunt<\/strong>\u00a0and AEI\u2019s\u00a0Danielle Pletka<\/strong>\u00a0joined the broadcast\u2019s roundtable<\/a>\u00a0for insight and analysis on the week in politics.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Meet the Press Film Festival<\/em>\u00a0with American Film Institute (AFI)<\/em>\u00a0kicks off<\/a>\u00a0its two-day event in Washington, D.C. tonight, and most of the films are now available for a month-long showcase on\u00a0nbcnews.com<\/a>, on demand, and on streaming platforms.<\/p>\n

Read the\u00a0full transcript<\/a>\u00a0of this morning\u2019s\u00a0Meet the Press<\/em>, and follow the show\u00a0on Twitter<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0on Facebook<\/a>\u00a0for the latest.<\/p>\n

PLEASE CREDIT: NBC NEWS\u2019\u00a0<\/strong>MEET THE PRESS WITH CHUCK TODD<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n