The start of Tuesday’s Senate confirmation hearing for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh erupted in chaos as Democrats demanded an adjournment and protesters interrupted with repeated shouts and were dragged out by police. 
 
 As Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) began his opening statements, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) interrupted to ask that the hearing be postponed so senators could review 42,000 pages of documents about Kavanaugh’s time in the George W. Bush White House that were dumped late Monday. 
 
 “We cannot possibly move forward, Mr. Chairman,” Harris insisted. 
 
 “You are out of order,” Grassley responded. 
 
 The Democrats’ objections were greeted by applause from activists in the audience, while some rose to scream objections to Kavanaugh. 
 
 They were removed by police, one at a time. 
 
 “This is the first confirmation hearing for a Supreme Court justice I’ve seen [subject] to mob rule,” fumed Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas). 
 
 According to Capitol Police, 61 individuals were arrested inside the hearing and nine outside. 
 
 Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) criticized Democrats who have 2020 presidential aspirations for grandstanding for the cameras. 
 
 “They want that coveted TV clip. Frankly, I wish we could drop all that nonsense,” he said. 
 
 In the morning, Kavanaugh introduces wife Ashley and daughters Liza and Margaret. 
 
 But later, as the protests heated up, Kavanaugh’s daughters were escorted out, according to Fox News. 
 
 “I’m sorry your daughters had to endure the political circus of this morning,” said Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas). 
 
 The kids returned later to hear former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Lisa Blatt, a liberal Democrat and appellate lawyer, argue for Kavanaugh’s confirmation. 
 
 Kavanaugh finally got a chance to address the committee seven hours after the hearing began. 
 
 “A good judge must be an umpire, a neutral and impartial arbiter who favors no litigant or policy,” he said. 
 
 “In our independent Judiciary, the Supreme Court is the last line of defense for the separation of powers, and the rights and liberties guaranteed by the Constitution. 
 
 “The Supreme Court must never be viewed as a partisan institution … If confirmed to the court, I would be part of a Team of Nine, committed to deciding cases according to the Constitution and laws of the United States. I would always strive to be a team player on the Team of Nine.” 
 
 Democrats delivered long monologues complaining about a lack of transparency and raising concerns that Kavanaugh would roll back abortion rights, gun control and shield President Trump from criminal prosecution. 
 
 As Kavanaugh spoke, Trump took to Twitter to denounce the Democrats trying to block his nominee. 
 
 “The Brett Kavanaugh hearings for the future Justice of the Supreme Court are truly a display of how mean, angry, and despicable the other side is. They will say anything, and are only looking to inflict pain and embarrassment to one of the most highly renowned jurists to ever appear before Congress. So sad to see!” he wrote. ||||| • Republicans praised Kavanaugh and expressed confidence he will be confirmed. 
 
 Republicans used their opening statements to praise Judge Kavanaugh as highly qualified and a good man. They accused Democrats of hypocrisy and argued that his 12 years of appeals court rulings, which are public, are the best way to evaluate what kind of Supreme Court justice he would be. And, secure in the knowledge that they control the Senate and can confirmed the judge with a simple majority vote, Republicans expressed confidence that however unruly things get, the Senate will ultimately approve his appointment. 
 
 • The hearing foreshadowed likely Democratic frustration in coming days. 
 
 Democrats signaled in their opening statements that they intend to press Judge Kavanaugh to explain in detail what he thinks about contentious legal questions, especially whether the Roe v. Wade abortion rights decision was rightly decided — an issue that could illuminate whether he views it as settled precedent or vulnerable to overturning. But Republicans like Mr. Grassley said it would be inappropriate for him to indicate how he might rule on anything that might come before the court in the future. In his prepared opening statement, Judge Kavanaugh laid the groundwork for disclaiming that he will bring any ideological lens to interpreting ambiguous constitutional text, invoking the ideal of a judge as an “umpire — a neutral and impartial arbiter who favors no litigant or policy.” 
 
 The hearing is scheduled to resume at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, starting with questioning by Mr. Grassley and by Senator Dianne Feinstein of California, the ranking Democrat. Each senator on the committee will have 30 minutes in the first round of questioning and 20 in a second round, which is expected to wrap up on Thursday. Judge Kavanaugh would then be excused, and the senators will question a panel of legal experts who support and oppose his confirmation. 
 
 Can’t get enough? The rest of our dispatches from the day are below. ||||| Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., left, questions President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, in the evening of the second day of his Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing,... (Associated Press) 
 
 Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., left, questions President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, in the evening of the second day of his Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing, Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2018, on Capitol Hill in Washington, to replace retired Justice Anthony Kennedy.... (Associated Press) 
 
 WASHINGTON (AP) — Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation tumbled into highly charged arguing Thursday over whether key documents were being withheld, and one Democrat risked Senate discipline by releasing confidential material. A newly disclosed email revealed that President Donald Trump's pick once suggested Roe v. Wade was not settled law 
 
 The finger-pointing over the unusual vetting process for Trump's nominee made for a rough start for the final day of questioning of Kavanaugh who has so far avoided major missteps that could block his confirmation. Republican John Cornyn of Texas said senators could be expelled from office for violating confidentially rules, while Democrats led by Cory Booker of New Jersey, responded, "Bring it on." 
 
 Meanwhile it was shown, in an email obtained by The Associated Press, that Kavanaugh had taken a different tone on a 2003 abortion case than he had during Wednesday's hearing when he stressed how difficult it is to overturn precedents like Roe. In the email, Kavanaugh was reviewing a potential op-ed article in support of two judicial nominees while he was working at the George W. Bush White House, according to the document. It had been held by the committee as confidential. 
 
 "I am not sure that all legal scholars refer to Roe as the settled law of the land at the Supreme Court level since Court can always overrule its precedent, and three current Justices on the Court would do so," Kavanaugh wrote, referring to justices at the time, in an email to a Republican Senate aide. The document is partially redacted. 
 
 Asked about it by the committee's top Democrat, Dianne Feinstein of California, Kavanaugh reiterated his previous testimony that "Roe v. Wade is an important precedent of the Supreme Court." 
 
 The 15-year-old email underscored a dispute that has dominated part of the hearing over Kavanaugh's unusually long paper trail stemming from his years in the Bush White House. The panel's process resulted in hundreds of thousands of pages of Kavanaugh's documents being withheld as confidential or kept from release under presidential privilege by the Trump White House. 
 
 Booker called the process "a bit of a sham." He was chastised by GOP colleagues for having discussed a confidential document about Kavanaugh's legal views on race. Cornyn said it was "irresponsible and conduct unbecoming a senator." 
 
 Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said more documents would be released Thursday and stood by his handling of Kavanaugh's paper trail. 
 
 "My process was fair," Grassley said as he opened the session. 
 
 So far, Kavanaugh appears on track toward confirmation in the Republican-held Senate, but after a marathon 12-hour session Wednesday, he also does not seem to have changed minds on the committee, which is split along partisan lines. 
 
 The judge left unanswered questions over how he would handle investigations of the executive branch and whether he would recuse himself if cases involving Trump under special counsel Robert Mueller's probe end up at the court. 
 
 Trump says he's pleased with his nominee's performance, and Republicans are united behind him, eager to add a conservative judge to the court. 
 
 Late in the evening, Kavanaugh seemed to stumble at first when questioned by Democrat Kamala Harris of California about whom he might have spoken with at a law firm concerning the investigation into Russian election meddling. The firm in question was founded by Marc Kasowitz, who has represented Trump. 
 
 Kavanaugh eventually said he couldn't think of any such conversations but would need to see a list of the firm's lawyers. 
 
 Protesters have repeatedly tried to interrupt the hearing, which has carried strong political overtones ahead of the November congressional elections. Democrats lack the votes to block confirmation but have been pressing Kavanaugh for his views on abortion rights, gun control and other issues. 
 
 On Wednesday the judge insisted he fully embraced the importance of judicial independence. But he refused to provide direct answers to Democrats who wanted him to say whether there are limits on a president's power to issue pardons, including to himself or in exchange for a bribe. He also would not say whether he believes the president can be subpoenaed to testify. Still, he began his long day in the witness chair by declaring that "no one is above the law." 
 
 Democrats are concerned that Kavanaugh will push the court to the right and that he will side with Trump in cases stemming from Mueller's investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election and possible ties to the Trump campaign. The 53-year-old appellate judge answered cautiously when asked about most of those matters, refusing an invitation from Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut to pledge to step aside from any Supreme Court cases dealing with Trump and Mueller's investigation. 
 
 Under questioning by Republicans, Kavanaugh stressed the importance of judicial independence, "not being swayed by political or public pressure." 
 
 On abortion, Kavanaugh noted that Roe has been affirmed "many times." He defended his dissenting opinion last year in the case of a pregnant immigrant teen in federal custody. Kavanaugh would have denied her immediate access to an abortion, even after she received permission from a Texas judge. 
 
 Kavanaugh told Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, he had been unaware of the domestic violence allegations against Rob Porter, who was Trump's staff secretary, until they were publicly disclosed. Journalist Bob Woodward's new book about Trump says Kavanaugh recommended Porter for the job. 
 
 Kavanaugh had served as staff secretary to George W. Bush, and his work in the White House has figured in the hearing. Democratic senators have fought for access to documents from his three years as staff secretary, saying those could shed light on his views about policies from that era, including the detention and interrogation of terror suspects. Republicans have declined to seek the papers, and instead have gathered documents from his work as White House counsel to Bush. 
 
 When questioned about the honesty of his 2006 testimony during his nomination for the appellate court when he said he was not involved in some Bush-era policies, Kavanaugh said he was "100 percent accurate." 
 
 Republicans hope to confirm Kavanaugh in time for the first day of the new Supreme Court term, Oct. 1. 
 
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 Associated Press writer Jessica Gresko contributed to this report. 
 
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 Read more on AP's coverage of Kavanaugh at https://apnews.com/tag/Kavanaughnomination ||||| Washington (CNN) Brett Kavanaugh emerged from two days of tough questioning in the Senate Judiciary Committee without making any obvious missteps that could imperil his confirmation as the justice who will pull the Supreme Court to the right and hand Donald Trump a generational presidential legacy. 
 
 He avoided ceding ground on the most contentious issues, either by saying he wanted to keep "three zip codes" away from politics or by arguing that he could not comment on "hypothetical" cases that could come before him on the nation's top bench. 
 
 Kavanaugh refused to say whether a sitting president must respond to a subpoena -- not an academic issue in the age of Trump. He declined to agree to Democratic calls for him to recuse himself from any cases related to the Russia investigation. And he would not say where he would come down on abortion, amid expectations among conservatives he would like to overturn Roe v. Wade. 
 
 But Democrats did not walk away from a deeply divisive hearing with nothing. Top lawmakers showed vigor in cross examining Kavanaugh and by portraying him as Trump's man on the court and may have at least partly lived up to expectations of the party's fired up base for a show of backbone ahead of the mid-term elections. 
 
 After emerging largely unscathed after the final round of questions from senators that stretched late into Thursday evening, Kavanaugh could take comfort in passing his biggest test. If Republicans stick together he is almost certain to be confirmed while minority Democrats face their own challenge in keeping the votes of red state senators with tough re-election races in their column. 
 
 Booker's document fight 
 
 Thursday's hearing featured another bitter showdown between Democrats who are furious at the failure of the White House to hand over tens of thousands of key documents on time or at all, and at restrictions on the public release of material that was made available. 
 
 New Jersey Democrat Cory Booker said he was ready to risk expulsion from the Senate for making public documents pertinent Kavanaugh's time as a top White House aide to President George W. Bush, but the GOP mocked him for grandstanding ahead of a possible 2020 run -- saying it had already cleared the emails for release. 
 
 In a striking political gambit, Booker, backed up by Democratic Sen. Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, released emails -- which had been designated as "committee confidential" -- that reference Kavanaugh's position on racial profiling and thoughts on Roe v. Wade dating from his time as a White House official under Bush. 
 
 Booker, who as a potential 2020 presidential candidate had an incentive to make a splash in the hearing, said he took the action as an act of "civil disobedience." 
 
 "I understand the penalty comes with potential ousting from the Senate. ... I openly invite and accept the consequences of my team releasing that email right now," Booker said. 
 
 "This is about the closest I'll probably ever have in my life to an 'I am Spartacus' moment," he added. 
 
 Republican Sen John Cornyn warned Booker that releasing documents marked "committee confidential" would break Senate rules. 
 
 "Running for president is not an excuse for violating the rules of the Senate," the Texas Republican said. 
 
 Later Thursday, Bill Burck, a lawyer who oversaw the process of providing Bush administration documents, undercut Booker's grand gesture, saying that the material in question had been cleared on Wednesday night at the request of the senator's staff. 
 
 "We were surprised to learn about Senator Booker's histrionics this morning because we had already told him he could use the documents publicly. In fact, we have said yes to every request made by the Senate Democrats to make documents public," Burck said in a statement. 
 
 The office of Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, an Iowa Republican, also said that senators, including Booker, were notified "before they spoke today" that the restrictions on the documents had been waived. 
 
 Booker, however, insisted he was in the right, saying he read from the documents aloud in the hearing on Wednesday night long before they were cleared at around 4 a.m. Democrats have repeatedly complained that the White House is withholding tens of thousands of documents relevant to the nomination and wants many more that have been provided released to the public. 
 
 The New Jersey senator also said he doubted Cornyn would follow through on his threats to enforce Senate discipline against him. 
 
 "I think he's like a lot of bullies are: a lot of talk, no action," Booker said. 
 
 North Carolina Republican Sen. Thom Tillis took exception to his Democratic colleague's tactics. 
 
 "Certainly in the six hours between the time that email hit your email box and the theatrics that happened in this chamber today you could have actually found out that you didn't have to be Spartacus, you didn't have to go interact with civil disobedience, you got what you wanted," Tillis said. 
 
 The schoolyard taunts underlined how the hearing, ahead of what appears to be Kavanaugh's likely confirmation, has become another battlefield in the vicious partisanship and complete lack of trust between the parties that is wracking Washington at a critical moment of the Trump era 
 
 Booker's intervention followed a set of glowing reviews from liberals for another potential 2020 Democratic presidential candidate on the Judiciary Committee, Sen. Kamala Harris of California, who late Wednesday night appeared to discomfort Kavanaugh with a series of questions designed to find out with whom he had discussed special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation. 
 
 Harris returned to the question on Thursday evening, saying that she had been working on "reliable information" that Kavanaugh had a conversation about the probe with someone from Kasowitz Benson Torres, the law firm founded by Trump's personal attorney Marc Kasowitz. 
 
 Kavanaugh had sidestepped the question on Wednesday, so Harris asked him again and he replied "the answer's no." 
 
 Earlier, the firm said in a statement to CNN there had been no such discussions. 
 
 Harris did not disclose the "reliable information" on which she based her questions. 
 
 JUST WATCHED Senator challenges Kavanaugh on Mueller probe Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Senator challenges Kavanaugh on Mueller probe 02:55 
 
 2003 email shows Kavanaugh discussing Roe 
 
 In another flashpoint development, a previously unreleased 2003 email from Kavanaugh, while he was an official in the Bush White House, shows him raising the point of whether Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court ruling that upheld the right to an abortion, was settled law of the land. 
 
 In the internal White House email, obtained by CNN, Kavanaugh wrote: "I am not sure that all legal scholars refer to Roe v. Wade as the settled law of the land at the Supreme Court level since Court can always overrule its precedent, and three current Justices on the Court would do so." 
 
 "The point there is in the inferior court point," Kavanaugh wrote, responding to a draft op-ed that had been circulated for edits between lawmakers and White House staff. 
 
 The draft, meant to be submitted under the name of "high-profile, pro-choice" women in support of a Bush judicial nominee, had said that "it is widely understood accepted by legal scholars across the board that Roe v. Wade and its progeny are the settled law of the land." 
 
 During the confirmation hearing on Wednesday, Kavanaugh said: "As a general proposition I understand the importance of the precedent set forth in Roe v. Wade." 
 
 Trump said during his campaign that he would appoint Supreme Court justices who would overturn Roe. In recent years, Supreme Court nominees have gotten through their confirmation hearings by refusing to say how they would rule on what they say is a hypothetical future case on the issue. 
 
 The New York Times first reported the email. 
 
 Throughout the contentious hearing, now in its third day, Kavanaugh has tried to give political questions -- especially those related to Trump and his potential legal woes -- a wide berth. 
 
 On Wednesday he insisted that "no one is above the law" but declined to say whether a sitting president must respond to a subpoena. 
 
 Senate Democrats have suggested that Kavanaugh could be biased in favor of the President and worry that his views on the primacy of executive power could help Trump evade legal scrutiny. 
 
 Booker warned that given Trump's frequent attacks on the Justice Department there was a "shadow over the independence of the judiciary" and said it was understandable for some Americans to wonder whether a nominee picked by the President would owe loyalty to him or had been nominated to shield him from a criminal investigation. 
 
 "My only loyalty is to the Constitution," Kavanaugh responded. "I have made that clear, I am an independent judge." ||||| FILE - In this Sept. 6, 2018, file photo, President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, for the third day... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE - In this Sept. 6, 2018, file photo, President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, for the third day of his confirmation hearing to replace retired Justice Anthony Kennedy. Christine Blasey Ford, the... (Associated Press) 
 
 WASHINGTON (AP) — Judge Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation for the Supreme Court is taking an uncertain turn as Republican senators express concern over a woman's private-turned-public allegation that a drunken Kavanaugh groped her and tried to take off her clothes at a party when they were teenagers. 
 
 The White House and other Kavanaugh supporters had dismissed the allegation of sexual misconduct when it was initially conveyed in a private letter. With a name and disturbing details, the accusation raised the prospect of congressional Republicans defending President Donald Trump's nominee ahead of midterm elections featuring an unprecedented number of female candidates and informed in part by the #MeToo movement. 
 
 The GOP-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee appeared nonetheless committed to a vote later this week despite Christine Blasey Ford's account in The Washington Post. Kavanaugh, she said, pinned her to a bed at a Maryland party in the early 1980s, clumsily tried to remove her clothing and put his hand over her mouth when she tried to scream. Kavanaugh repeated his previous denial that such an incident ever took place. 
 
 A split seemed to be emerging among the GOP. 
 
 As Democrats, led by Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, called for a delay in the vote, two committee Republicans — all 11 on the GOP side are men — Sens. Jeff Flake of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, said they wanted to hear more from Ford. Flake went as far as to say he was "not comfortable" voting for Kavanaugh for the time being. A potential "no" vote from Flake would complicate the judge's prospects. A Republican not on the committee, Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee, said the vote should be postponed until the committee heard from Ford. Contacted Sunday by CNN, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, wouldn't say if the vote should be postponed. 
 
 Some Senate Republicans, along with the White House, see no need to postpone voting over what they consider uncorroborated and unverifiable accusations, according to a person familiar with the situation but not authorized to speak publicly. 
 
 A committee spokesman said late Sunday that its chairman, Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, was trying to arrange separate, follow-up calls with Kavanaugh and Ford, but just for aides to Grassley and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., before Thursday's scheduled vote. Critics have already accused the GOP of fast-tracking the process to get Kavanaugh on the court by Oct. 1, the first day of the fall term. 
 
 The allegation against Kavanaugh first came to light late last week in the form of a letter that had been for some time in the possession of Feinstein, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee and one of its four female members. On Sunday, The Washington Post published an interview with Ford, who after months of soul-searching decided to go public. 
 
 "I thought he might inadvertently kill me," said Ford, 51, a clinical psychology professor at Palo Alto University in California. "He was trying to attack me and remove my clothing." She told the Post that she was able to escape after a friend of Kavanaugh's who was in the room jumped on top of them and everyone tumbled. 
 
 Through the White House, Kavanaugh, 53, a federal appeals judge in Washington, said Sunday: "I categorically and unequivocally deny this allegation. I did not do this back in high school or at any time." 
 
 Senate Republicans, along with the White House, see no need to postpone voting over what they consider uncorroborated and unverifiable accusations, according to a person familiar with the situation but not authorized to speak publicly. 
 
 In considering their options Sunday, Republicans largely settled on the view that Ford's story alone was not enough to delay Kavanaugh's confirmation. 
 
 Grassley could invite Ford to testify, likely in closed session before Thursday. Kavanaugh would also probably be asked to appear before senators. The panel would also likely seek testimony from Mark Judge, Kavanaugh's friend and classmate who Ford says jumped on top of her and Kavanaugh. Judge has denied that the incident happened. 
 
 Republicans have not settled on the strategy, the person familiar with the situation said, but were weighing options, including doing nothing. 
 
 Republicans say the allegations have already cast a shadow over Kavanaugh but that it does not appear to be enough to change the votes in the narrowly divided 51-49 Senate. Key will be the views of Collins and Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. 
 
 The White House has accused Feinstein of mounting an "11th hour attempt to delay his confirmation." The White House has also sought to cast doubt about Ford's allegation by noting that the FBI has repeatedly investigated Kavanaugh since the 1990s for highly sensitive positions he has held, including in the office of independent counsel Ken Starr, at the White House and his current post on the federal appeals court in Washington. 
 
 Kavanaugh's nomination had already sharply divided the Senate along party lines. But the allegations of sexual misconduct, particularly coming amid the #MeToo movement against sexual harassment, coupled with Ford's emergence could complicate matters, especially as key Republican senators, including Collins and Murkowski, are under enormous pressure from outside groups who want them to oppose Kavanaugh on grounds that as a justice he could vote to undercut the Roe v. Wade ruling legalizing abortion in the U.S. 
 
 Ford told the Post that Kavanaugh and a friend — both "stumbling drunk," she says — corralled her in a bedroom when she was around 15 and Kavanaugh was around 17. She says Kavanaugh groped her over her clothes, grinded his body against hers and tried to take off her one-piece swimsuit and the outfit she wore over it. Kavanaugh covered her mouth with his hand when she tried to scream, she says, and escaped when Judge jumped on them. 
 
 Kavanaugh attended a private school for boys in Maryland while Ford attended a nearby school. 
 
 In the interview, Ford says she never revealed what had happened to her until 2012, when she and her husband sought couples therapy. Ford's husband, Russell Ford, said he recalled his wife using Kavanaugh's last name and expressing concern that Kavanaugh — then a federal judge — might someday be nominated to the Supreme Court. 
 
 Sixty-five women who knew Kavanagh in high school defended him in a separate letter, circulated by Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans, as someone who "always treated women with decency and respect." 
 
 ___ 
 
 Associated Press writer Zeke Miller contributed to this report. 
 
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 Follow Darlene Superville and Lisa Mascaro on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/dsupervilleap and http://www.twitter.com/LisaMascaro 
 
 ___ 
 
 This story has been corrected to show the name is Dianne, not Diane. ||||| 'Believe Women, Until It's Time To Stop': Republican Senators Celebrate In 'SNL' Open 
 
 Saturday Night Live returned with its second episode of the 44th season, imagining the locker room talk among Senate Republicans on a day that marked a big victory for conservatives as Brett Kavanaugh became the newest Supreme Court justice. 
 
 Saturday Night Live via YouTube 
 
 As CNN's Dana Bash (Heidi Gardner) reported from the locker room celebration, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (Beck Bennett) proclaims, "Republicans read the mood of the country and we could tell that people really wanted Kavanaugh. Everyone's pumped — from white men over 60 to white men over 70." 
 
 Kate McKinnon was back as Sen. Lindsey Graham: "We made a lot of women real worried today, but I'm not getting pregnant so I don't care!" 
 
 Cecily Strong took on Susan Collins, the Republican senator from Maine who had reportedly been undecided on Kavanaugh's nomination, though offered a lengthy defense of him in a speech Friday. 
 
 "The last thing I wanted was to make this about me," Strong's Collins says. "That's why I told everyone to tune in at 3 p.m. So I could tell all my female supporters: Psych!" 
 
 "Listen, I think it's important to believe women, until it's time to stop," she adds. 
 
 Later in the scene, McKinnon's Graham alluded to the protesters that have gathered in Washington, D.C. in the past few days to oppose Kavanaugh's nomination. 
 
 "This one is about the fans. They've been there for us all week, cheering and screaming outside of our offices," he says. " ... And I know that they agree with us because they're shouting out, 'Me too.' " 
 
 Later in the show, a brief prerecorded scene wondered what would happen if the "presidential alert" that millions of Americans received Wednesday were to resemble the president's tweets: "Puerto Rico is fine now! I guess the paper towels worked!" Another: "Warning: White men are under attack." 
 
 Saturday Night Live via YouTube 
 
 Another recorded video waded into the Texas senate race between Ted Cruz and Beto O'Rourke. While supporters chalk up progressive challenger Beto O'Rourke's "cool" factor — like when a video circulated on social media of the Texas congressman skateboarding in a parking lot, or when Texas Republicans mocked his earlier years as a punk musician — SNL imagined a Ted Cruz rally's attempt at "cool." "Maybe Ted Cruz can't sound cool, but I bet we can make him look cool!" says this week's host Awkwafina, in character as a "hype woman." 
 
 Saturday Night Live via YouTube 
 
 On Weekend Update, the Trump brothers were back again, with Alex Moffat and Mikey Day reprising their frequent roles as Eric and Donald Jr. 
 
 Saturday Night Live via YouTube 
 
 Last week, Kanye West made headlines for, among other things (like wearing a Perrier costume), making a speech after the show had gone off the air in support of President Trump. West wore a "Make America Great Again" hat and said, "They bullied me backstage, they said don't go out there with that hat on." 
 
 Cast member Pete Davidson took to the Weekend Update desk this week and said that wasn't true. He started off by saying, "A lot of people thought [Weekend Update co-anchor Michael] Che should be the one to talk about Kanye. But we discussed it, you know, because Che's black. But like, I'm crazy, and we both know which side of Kanye is at the wheel right now." 
 
 Davidson debuted a new hat: "Make Kanye 2006 Again." 
 
 Saturday Night Live via YouTube 
 
 The show is back on Oct. 13 with host Seth Meyers and musical guest Paul Simon. ||||| poster="http://v.politico.com/images/1155968404/201809/3444/1155968404_5830669495001_5830646952001-vs.jpg?pubId=1155968404" true Democrats create chaos at Kavanaugh hearing Chuck Schumer helped coordinate the Democrats' strategy, but Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley refused to hold a vote on adjournment. 
 
 Democrats sought to take control of Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court confirmation hearing Tuesday, mounting a failed bid to delay President Donald Trump's nominee and interrupting Republicans dozens of times as multiple activists on the left disrupted the proceedings. 
 
 The volley of Democratic interjections began after Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) attempted to open the high-stakes four-day hearing. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) helped coordinate that strategy despite not serving on the Judiciary panel, convening a call with the committee's minority members over the weekend, according to a source familiar with the planning. 
 
 Story Continued Below 
 
 Grassley, attempting to speak over Democrats as they sought a vote on a motion to adjourn the hearing, acknowledged that "maybe it’s not going exactly the way that the minority would like to have it go." One after another, Democrats repeatedly interrupted Grassley in the opening minutes, breaking into their protests to allow Kavanaugh to speak before resuming their push to stop the process until they can examine more records. 
 
 But the display of disruption, galvanizing as it was to Kavanaugh’s liberal critics, ultimately did little but delay a day of partisan jockeying that closed, more than seven hours later, with the nominee telling senators that “I do not decide cases based on personal or policy preferences.” 
 
 Grassley said at the end of the hearing that he’s preparing to schedule a committee vote on Kavanaugh for Sept. 13, paving the way for a final floor vote on confirmation before the new Supreme Court term opens next month. Democrats are expected to exercise their procedural right to delay that by a week, at a minimum. 
 
 Senators got more than 42,000 pages of documents late Monday night on a "committee confidential" basis, a designation that prevents their public release and likely stops Democrats from citing them during the hearing. Even before that latest release, however, Democrats already had begun discussing the protest they would mount Tuesday. 
 
 The move appeared to get under the skin of some in the GOP. After repeated interruptions from anti-Kavanaugh demonstrators who were escorted from the hearing room by police, Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas) suggested that Democrats would be held in "contempt of court" — drawing quick pushback from Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) — and likened the moment to “mob rule.” 
 
 Grassley flatly ruled out Democrats’ repeated calls for an adjournment vote, but the fireworks at the start of the hearing already had set the tone for a raucous week to come. The White House sent a tally of the number of times each Democrat had interrupted Grassley during the first hour of the hearing, for a total of 44 interjections. 
 
 Kavanaugh is expected to ultimately be confirmed, with the Senate headed toward a return to 51-49 GOP control following the selection Tuesday of former Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) — who guided Trump’s nominee through the confirmation gantlet — to replace the late Sen. John McCain. But Democratic senators are still readying an intense volley of questions for the 53-year-old appeals court judge, focusing on his stance toward an ongoing challenge to Obamacare, the future of Roe v. Wade and his already-expressed skepticism about criminal investigations of sitting presidents. 
 
 Democrats have offered few indications that they're prepared to attempt a formal boycott of the Judiciary hearing to channel their ire over the withholding of hundreds of thousands of pages of Kavanaugh-related documents from public release. 
 
 "We will attend the meetings. We will question assiduously. But we want to express our concerns,” the panel’s top Democrat, Dianne Feinstein of California, told reporters alongside her fellow minority-party members at a gathering on the Supreme Court steps early Tuesday. 
 
 Republicans have touted the release of more than 290,000 pages of records from Kavanaugh's time in George W. Bush's White House counsel's office, noting that the volume of public disclosure has dwarfed that for previous Supreme Court picks. But Democrats have been infuriated by the GOP’s omission of any document requests governing Kavanaugh’s time as staff secretary to then-President Bush, tension that was stoked last week when the Trump administration cited executive privilege to shield more than 100,000 pages of records, angering the minority. 
 
 After Democrats’ interruptions cooled, Kavanaugh focused his opening statement on his family and friends as well as the support he’s provided to others as a constitutional law professor and volunteer. The judge, who also played a prominent role in drafting the Starr Report on former President Bill Clinton, described himself as “especially grateful to the dean who first hired me” at Harvard Law School — Democratic-tapped Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan. 
 
 Trump’s nominee described himself as a player on the high court's “Team of Nine” and a “neutral and impartial arbiter,” if he wins confirmation in the coming weeks. 
 
 Liberal activists mounted their own show of force against Kavanaugh throughout Tuesday, the first of four days that are expected to stretch to marathon length. Women dressed in the red-and-white garb made famous by the dystopian novel "The Handmaid's Tale" gathered outside the hearing room, demonstrating against Kavanaugh's potential to rule against abortion rights. 
 
 Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) was among several committee members in both parties acknowledging the difficulty of speaking over the demonstrators, saying that “we ought to have this loudmouth removed” after a woman cried out about protecting pre-existing conditions. 
 
 Capitol Police charged 61 protesters with disorderly conduct, a spokeswoman said. An additional nine were charged with obstruction or "crowding." 
 
 Kavanaugh notably name-checked Merrick Garland, former President Barack Obama's pick for the Supreme Court who was stonewalled by Republican senators ahead of the 2016 election. Garland is currently a colleague of Kavanaugh's on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. 
 
 "I have served with 17 other judges, each of them a colleague and a friend, on a court now led by our superb chief judge, Merrick Garland," Kavanaugh said. That gesture was bound to fall on deaf ears with Democrats who view the entire confirmation process as unnecessarily hurried to get Trump a second seat on the high court in two years. 
 
 “When Justice [Antonin] Scalia died, Republicans refused to even meet — even a meeting in their office — with President Obama’s nominee and held the seat open for one year,” Feinstein said in her opening statement. “Now, with a Republican in the White House, they’ve changed their position.” 
 
 While Democrats recognize their limited power to stop Kavanaugh's nomination, they're still using the confirmation process to score political points, especially given the stakes. Kavanaugh would likely bend the court significantly to the right, given that he's replacing retired justice Anthony Kennedy, who long served as a swing vote. ||||| Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, from left, Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., and Sen. Amy Klobuchar,... (Associated Press) 
 
 Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, from left, Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., pause during questioning of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh about his time in the... (Associated Press) 
 
 WASHINGTON (AP) — Judge Brett Kavanaugh is treading carefully during his confirmation hearing as senators bombard him with questions about abortion, presidential power and the independence of the judiciary. 
 
 Some highlights from the Supreme Court nominee' confirmation hearing Wednesday: 
 
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 ROE v. WADE 
 
 Democrats and liberal interest groups have treated Kavanaugh's nomination as a moment of extreme danger for abortion rights. Abortion opponents hope he'll be a vote to uphold additional restrictions on the procedure and even possibly overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that established a constitutional right to an abortion. 
 
 Kavanaugh didn't show his hand either way on Wednesday. 
 
 He did call Roe v. Wade an "important precedent" that has "been reaffirmed many times over the past 45 years." And he noted that a 1992 decision of the court — Planned Parenthood v. Casey — didn't just reaffirm Roe v. Wade in passing. He said that decision becomes "precedent on precedent." 
 
 Supreme Court justices are generally reluctant to overturn precedent, but that doesn't mean it doesn't happen. Last term, the court squarely overturned three precedents. One of those cases was from 1967 and had been reaffirmed in 1992. 
 
 Also in responding to questions about the Roe v. Wade decision Kavanaugh said that he understands "how passionate and how deeply people feel about this issue" of abortion. He also said he understands the "real world effects of that decision." 
 
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 PRESIDENTIAL POWER 
 
 Kavanaugh declined to answer a series of questions about the powers of the president, questions important to Democrats particularly because of ongoing investigations surrounding President Donald Trump. 
 
 Nominees generally decline to answer questions they deem could potentially come before the court. They say they decide issues only after hearing both sides of a case. 
 
 Among the questions Kavanaugh said were too hypothetical to answer: Does the president have an absolute right to pardon himself? Can the president pardon someone in exchange for a promise not to testify against him? Can the president be required to respond to a subpoena? 
 
 That last question is among the most important at Kavanaugh's hearing since Trump could face a subpoena in special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation. Trump has declined to rule out pardons for people convicted as part of that investigation. 
 
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 ALEX KOZINSKI 
 
 Repercussions of the "Me Too" era made an appearance at Kavanaugh's hearing. The judge was asked what he knew about sexual misconduct allegations against a judge who was a friend and mentor, former federal appeals court judge Alex Kozinski. Kozinski retired in December after several female former law clerks and colleagues accused him of sexual misconduct. 
 
 Kavanaugh said that when the allegations became public, they were a "gut punch" for him and for the federal judiciary. Asked whether he knew anything about the allegations before they became public, Kavanaugh responded: "nothing." He said he was "shocked and disappointed." 
 
 Asked whether he was on an email list that Kozinski used to send offensive material, Kavanaugh responded: "I don't remember anything like that." 
 
 Kavanaugh clerked for Kozinski, and Kozinski introduced him during his 2006 confirmation hearing to be a judge. The two also worked together to screen applicants who wanted to clerk for Justice Anthony Kennedy, whom Kavanaugh clerked for and whom he would replace. ||||| As dusk falls, groups including "Sing Out Louise," of New York City, front in pink, and Herndon Reston Indivisible, of northern Virginia, protest the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court,... (Associated Press) 
 
 WASHINGTON (AP) — Brett Kavanaugh was sworn in Saturday night as the 114th justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, after a wrenching debate over sexual misconduct and judicial temperament that shattered the Senate, captivated the nation and ushered in an acrimonious new level of polarization — now encroaching on the court that the 53-year-old judge may well swing rightward for decades to come. 
 
 Even as Kavanaugh took his oath of office in a quiet private ceremony, not long after the narrowest Senate confirmation in nearly a century and a half, protesters chanted outside the court building across the street from the Capitol. 
 
 The climactic 50-48 roll call capped a fight that seized the national conversation after claims emerged that he had sexually assaulted women three decades ago — allegations he emphatically denied. Those accusations transformed the clash from a routine struggle over judicial ideology into an angry jumble of questions about victims' rights, the presumption of innocence and personal attacks on nominees. 
 
 His confirmation provides a defining accomplishment for President Donald Trump and the Republican Party, which found a unifying force in the cause of putting a new conservative majority on the court. Before the sexual accusations grabbed the Senate's and the nation's attention, Democrats had argued that Kavanaugh's rulings and writings as an appeals court judge had raised serious concerns about his views on abortion rights and a president's right to bat away legal probes. 
 
 Trump, flying to Kansas for a political rally, flashed a thumbs-up gesture when the tally was announced and praised Kavanaugh for being "able to withstand this horrible, horrible attack by the Democrats." He later telephoned his congratulations to the new justice, then at the rally returned to his own attack on the Democrats as "an angry left-wing mob." 
 
 Like Trump, senators at the Capitol predicted voters would react strongly by defeating the other party's candidates in next month's congressional elections. 
 
 "It's turned our base on fire," declared Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. But Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York forecast gains for his party instead: "Change must come from where change in America always begins: the ballot box." 
 
 The justices themselves made a quiet show of solidarity. Kavanaugh was sworn in by Chief Justice John Roberts and the man he's replacing, retired Justice Anthony Kennedy, as fellow Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Elena Kagan looked on — two conservatives and two liberals. 
 
 Still, Kagan noted the night before that Kennedy has been "a person who found the center" and 'it's not so clear we'll have that' now. 
 
 Noisy to the end, the Senate battle featured a call of the roll that was interrupted several times by protesters shouting in the spectators' gallery before Capitol Police removed them. Vice President Mike Pence presided, his potential tie-breaking vote unnecessary. 
 
 Trump has now put his stamp on the court with his second justice in as many years. Yet Kavanaugh is joining under a cloud. Accusations from several women remain under scrutiny, and House Democrats have pledged further investigation if they win the majority in November. Outside groups are culling an unusually long paper trail from his previous government and political work, with the National Archives and Records Administration expected to release a cache of millions of documents later this month. 
 
 Kavanaugh, a father of two, strenuously denied the allegations of Christine Blasey Ford, who says he sexually assaulted her when they were teens. An appellate court judge on the District of Columbia circuit for the past 12 years, he pushed for the Senate vote as hard as Republican leaders — not just to reach this capstone of his legal career, but in fighting to clear his name 
 
 After Ford's allegations, Democrats and their allies became engaged as seldom before, though there were obvious echoes of Thomas' combative confirmation over the sexual harassment accusations of Anita Hill, who worked for him at two federal agencies. Protesters began swarming Capitol Hill, creating a tense, confrontational atmosphere that put Capitol Police on edge. 
 
 As exhausted senators prepared for Saturday's vote, some were flanked by security guards. Hangers and worse have been delivered to their offices, a Roe v. Wade reference. 
 
 Some 164 people were arrested, most for demonstrating on the Capitol steps, 14 for disrupting the Senate's roll call vote. 
 
 McConnell told The Associated Press in an interview that the "mob" of opposition — confronting senators in the hallways and at their homes — united his narrowly divided GOP majority as Kavanaugh's confirmation teetered and will give momentum to his party chances this fall. 
 
 Beyond the sexual misconduct allegations, Democrats raised questions about Kavanaugh's temperament and impartiality after he delivered defiant, emotional, testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee where he denounced their party. 
 
 Schumer said Kavanaugh's "partisan screed" showed not only a temperament unfitting for the high court but a lack of objectivity that should make him ineligible to serve. At one point in the hearing, Kavanaugh blamed a Clinton-revenge conspiracy for the accusations against him. 
 
 The fight ended up less about judicial views than the sexual assault accusations that riveted the nation and are certain to continue a national debate and #MeToo reckoning that is yet to be resolved. 
 
 Republicans argued that a supplemental FBI investigation instigated by wavering GOP senators and ordered by the White House turned up no corroborating witnesses to the claims and that Kavanaugh had sterling credentials for the court. Democrats dismissed the truncated report as insufficient. 
 
 In the end, all but one Republican, Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, lined up behind the judge. She said on the Senate floor late Friday that Kavanaugh is "a good man" but his "appearance of impropriety has become unavoidable." 
 
 In a twist, Murkowski voted "present" Saturday as a courtesy to Republican Kavanaugh supporter Steve Daines, who was to walk his daughter down the aisle at her wedding in Montana. That balanced out the absence without affecting the outcome, and gave Kavanaugh the same two-vote margin he'd have received had both lawmakers voted. 
 
 It was the closest roll call to confirm a justice since 1881, when Stanley Matthews was approved by 24-23, according to Senate records. 
 
 As the Senate tried to recover from its charged atmosphere, Murkowski's move offered a moment of civility. "I do hope that it reminds us that we can take very small steps to be gracious with one another and maybe those small gracious steps can lead to more," she said. 
 
 Republicans control the Senate by a meager 51-49 margin, and announcements of support Friday from Republicans Jeff Flake of Arizona and Susan Collins of Maine, along with Democrat Joe Manchin of West Virginia, locked in the needed votes. 
 
 Manchin was the only Democrat to vote for Kavanaugh's confirmation. He expressed empathy for sexual assault victims, but said that after factoring in the FBI report, "I have found Judge Kavanaugh to be a qualified jurist who will follow the Constitution." 
 
 A procedural vote Friday made Saturday's confirmation a foregone conclusion. White House Counsel Don McGahn, who helped salvage Kavanaugh's nomination as it teetered, sat in the front row of the visitors' gallery for the vote with deputy White House press secretary Raj Shah. 
 
 Senators on both sides know they have work to do to put the chamber back together again after a ferocious debate that saw them arguing over the sordid details of high school drinking games, sexual allegations and cryptic yearbook entries. 
 
 Sen. John Cornyn of Texas said, "The Senate has been an embarrassment. We have a lot of work to do." 
 
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 Associated Press writers Mary Clare Jalonick, Matthew Daly, Padmananda Rama, Ken Thomas, Catherine Lucey, Juliet Linderman and Mark Sherman contributed to this report.
– One word keeps showing up in coverage of the first day of Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court confirmation hearing: "chaos." (See here, here, and here.) Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas had a stronger phrase: "mob rule," while Democrat Dick Durbin of Illinois heard the "noise of democracy." Democrats were staging a unified front to try to keep the hearing from proceeding, angry about withheld documents from Kavanaugh's past, including his tenure in the George W. Bush White House. The release of more than 40,000 documents Monday night seems to have only made things worse, with Democrats arguing that it was humanly impossible to review them in time. Despite the Democrats' protests, Senate Judiciary Committee Charles Grassley says he will not stop the hearing, which is expected to last four days, reports Politico. Other developments: Arrests: Capitol Police arrested 22 protesters on disorderly conduct charges during the morning, reports the Washington Post. Handmaid's Tale: Women dressed as characters from the Handmaid's Tale were among the protesters outside the hearing room, notes the Huffington Post. See an image here. The costumes illustrate their concerns that Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court will be a setback for women's rights. Roe v. Wade: When the direct questions finally begin, Democrats are expected to press Kavanaugh on whether he'd be willing to overturn the ruling that legalized abortion, reports the New York Times. The question, said Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, is not whether he believes that Roe v. Wade is “settled law,” but “whether you believe it is the correct law.” The judge's views on executive power and gun control also were expected to be examined. 2 views: The interruptions and chaos are about "Democratic senators trying to re-litigate the 2016 election and just as importantly, working to begin litigating the 2020 presidential election," said Republican Ted Cruz, per the AP. But Democrat Patrick Leahy wondered, “What are we trying to hide? Why are we rushing?” Excerpts: Read excerpts of Kavanaugh's eventual opening statement here via MarketWatch. "A good judge must be an umpire—a neutral and impartial arbiter who favors no litigant or policy," Kavanaugh is to say. "I don’t decide cases based on personal or policy preferences. I am not a pro-plaintiff or pro-defendant judge. I am not a pro-prosecution or pro-defense judge. I am a pro-law judge."