text: 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. ||||| Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh said it was like a “gut punch” when he learned about the numerous sexual misconduct allegations levied against Judge Alex Kozinski, one of his former mentors, by numerous women. 
   
   Kavanaugh, who was asked about his relationship to Kozinski by Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch during his Supreme Court confirmation hearing Wednesday, said he was “shocked, disappointed [and] angry” by the allegations and felt a “swirl of emotions.” He said he was not aware of the alleged behavior until the accusations were made public. 
   
   Kozinski abruptly retired from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in California last year after several female former law clerks and colleagues accused him of sexual misconduct that included touching, inappropriate sexual comments and forced viewings of pornography in his chambers. The case has prompted federal courts to examine how to better protect law clerks from harassment by powerful judges who can make or break their careers. 
   
   “When [the allegations] became public, the first thought I had was no one should be subjected to sexual harassment in the workplace ever – including in the judiciary, especially in the judiciary,” Kavanaugh said. 
   
   KAVANAUGH CONFIRMATION HEARING LIKELY TO FOCUS ON ABORTION, GUN RIGHTS AND MORE 
   
   But Kavanaugh said the allegations against Kozinski – who has denied the accusations through his attorney – are part of a broader national issue and said there should be a better system for reporting harassment in the workplace. 
   
   “Whether it’s priests or coaches or teachers or doctors or businesspeople or news people, there’s a broad national problem that needs to be addressed, including in the judiciary,” Kavanaugh said, adding that he supports Chief Justice John Roberts' establishment of a working group to tackle issues with sexual harassment in the judiciary. 
   
   “I’m interested in doing everything I can to assist those efforts to make those workplaces safe,” Kavanaugh added. 
   
   Kavanaugh’s ties to Kozinski were expected to be brought up during the hearing. Kozinski advocated on behalf of Kavanaugh in 2006 when he was brought before the Senate Judiciary Committee ahead of being appointed a federal judge. 
   
   Kavanaugh is a former clerk of Kozinski's and landed a coveted clerkship for Justice Anthony Kennedy at the Supreme Court – who he is now trying to replace – with backing from Kozinski. The Senate confirmed Kavanaugh to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit shortly after Kozinski gave him his "highest recommendation" in 2006, three years after George W. Bush first nominated him to a judgeship. 
   
   There are other links between the two men. Kavanaugh and Kozinski have together in recent years screened applicants for Kennedy clerkships. Kavanaugh hired Kozinski's youngest son, Yale law graduate Clayton Kozinski, last year as one of his clerks. The younger Kozinski had been in line to be a Kennedy clerk this year before the justice's announced retirement. 
   
   KAVANAUGH SUPREME COURT HEARING KICKS OFF WITH NUMEROUS ARRESTS AS PROTESTERS SHOUT DOWN LAWMAKERS 
   
   So far, no evidence has surfaced to suggest Kavanaugh was aware of Kozinski’s alleged behavior before the accusations were made public. Kavanaugh told lawmakers Wednesday it was “not often” that he spoke to or saw Kozinski and said he could not recall ever receiving emails from Kozinski that were inappropriate in nature. 
   
   Prior to the confirmation hearing, Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, said, “Alex Kozinski’s relationship with Judge Kavanaugh is a legitimate area of inquiry, and I plan to question Judge Kavanaugh on this topic.” 
   
   This is the second day of Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing and the first when members of the Senate Judiciary Committee are able to ask the judge questions. The contentious hearing has been marked with numerous protests – from those in the audience and from Democratic senators who spent much of the first day calling for a delay in the hearing. 
   
   The Associated Press contributed to this report. ||||| Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., the ranking member on the Senate Judiciary Committee, questions President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, a federal appeals court judge, as he testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2018,... (Associated Press) 
   
   Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., the ranking member on the Senate Judiciary Committee, questions President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, a federal appeals court judge, as he testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2018,... (Associated Press) Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., the ranking member on the Senate Judiciary Committee, questions President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, a federal appeals court judge, as he testifies... (Associated Press) 
   
   WASHINGTON (AP) — In her questioning of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh on Wednesday, a Democratic senator vastly overstated the number of women believed to have died from illegal abortions in the two decades before the procedure was affirmed as a constitutional right. 
   
   SEN. DIANNE FEINSTEIN: "In the 1950s and 60s, the two decades before Roe, deaths from illegal abortions in this country ran between 200,000 and 1.2 million. That's according to the Guttmacher Institute." 
   
   THE FACTS: Known deaths from illegal abortion were much smaller. The California senator conflated the estimated number of women who had an illegal abortion with the number who died from it, according to the research she cites. 
   
   The Guttmacher Institute, which supports abortion rights, cites estimates in a 2003 report that 200,000 to 1.2 million illegal abortions were performed in the 1950s and 1960s in the U.S. The report says the number of deaths from illegal abortion dropped from just under 1,700 in 1940 to just over 300 by 1950 and a little under 200 by 1965. The Supreme Court established a constitutional right to abortion in the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. 
   
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   Find AP Fact Checks at http://apne.ws/2kbx8bd 
   
   Follow @APFactCheck on Twitter: https://twitter.com/APFactCheck 
   
   ___ 
   
   Online: 
   
   Guttmacher report: https://bit.ly/2JSHHI8 ||||| President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, a federal appeals court judge, arrives before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2018, for... (Associated Press) 
   
   President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, a federal appeals court judge, arrives before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2018, for the second day of his confirmation to replace retired Justice Anthony Kennedy. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) (Associated Press) 
   
   WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on the Senate hearings on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh (all times local): 
   
   5:15 p.m. 
   
   Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh says he stopped voting shortly after becoming a federal appeals court judge in 2006. 
   
   Republican Sen. Ted Cruz asked Kavanaugh on Wednesday whether he considers himself a "Republican judge." Kavanaugh responded he believes he voted in one election as a judge and wasn't sure what his voter registration says. 
   
   Kavanaugh says he read about Supreme Court Justice John Marshall Harlan II, who didn't vote as a federal judge. He says he thought Harlan's practice was a "good model for a federal judge" to follow. 
   
   He says, "It seemed to me that voting is a very personal expression of your policy beliefs in many ways and your personal beliefs." 
   
   Kavanaugh previously noted his decision to stop voting in a 2016 law review article. 
   
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   3:50 p.m. 
   
   Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh says he has not taken a position on the constitutionality of investigating a sitting president. Yet his past writings cast doubt on the idea. 
   
   Asked by Sen. Amy Klobuchar Wednesday whether he believes such investigations are only acceptable in impeachment proceedings, Kavanaugh replied: "I did not take a position on the constitutionality. Period." 
   
   In a footnote to a 2009 law review article, Kavanaugh wrote that "a serious constitutional question exists regarding whether a President can be criminally indicted and tried while in office." 
   
   A decade earlier, Kavanaugh wrote that the Constitution seems to dictate that "congressional investigation must take place in lieu of criminal investigation when the President is the subject of investigation, and that criminal prosecution can occur only after the President has left office." 
   
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   2:25 p.m. 
   
   President Donald Trump says he's been watching the Senate confirmation hearings of his Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. He says the judge has "an outstanding intellect." 
   
   Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office as he welcomes the emir of Kuwait to the White House, Trump says he's "happy" with the way the proceedings are going. 
   
   Trump says he "saw some incredible answers to very complex questions," when he tuned in to the proceedings. Trump called Kavanaugh "an outstanding judge" who was "born for the position." 
   
   Kavanaugh was questioned before the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday. 
   
   Trump says Democrats are "grasping at straws" in their questioning of Kavanaugh. 
   
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   2:05 p.m. 
   
   Senate Republicans have been forced to adjourn the Senate to continue the confirmation hearing for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. 
   
   Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer objected to a request from Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to allow Kavanaugh's hearing to continue past 2 p.m. Wednesday. Under Senate rules, the minority leader must agree before a hearing can extend two hours past the opening of the Senate. The chamber opened at noon on Wednesday. 
   
   Schumer objected, protesting that Republicans are holding back records from Kavanaugh's time in government. 
   
   Rather than allowing Kavanaugh's hearing to end at 2 p.m., McConnell adjourned the Senate. The confirmation hearing is expected to last into the late evening. 
   
   Earlier in the day, liberal groups blasted Schumer's handling of the Supreme Court fight, declaring, "you are failing us." 
   
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   12:25 p.m. 
   
   Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is denying that he misled senators in testimony when he was nominated to be an appellate judge in 2006. He says the testimony was "100 percent accurate." 
   
   The response does not appear to have satisfied Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont. Leahy is suggesting that confidential documents not available to the public may contradict Kavanaugh's assertions that he knew nothing about a Bush administration warrantless surveillance program or efforts by a Republican Judiciary Committee aide to steal material from Democrats in advance of judicial nomination hearings. 
   
   Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley said he would consider making the documents public in time for Leahy's next round of questions Thursday. 
   
   Kavanaugh's response came after an unusual moment where Democrats played a video clip of Kavanaugh's 2006 testimony. 
   
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   12:15 p.m. 
   
   Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is declining to answer questions about the extent of the president's pardon power. 
   
   Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont asked Kavanaugh: "President Trump claims he has an absolute right to pardon himself. Does he?" 
   
   Kavanaugh responded that the question was a hypothetical one he "can't begin to answer in this context as a sitting judge and as a nominee to the Supreme Court." 
   
   Leahy followed by asking whether the president has the ability to pardon someone in exchange for a promise not to testify against him. Kavanaugh declined to answer. 
   
   Leahy concluded by saying: "I hope for the sake of the country that remains a hypothetical question." 
   
   President Donald Trump has declined to rule out pardons for people convicted in special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation. 
   
   ___ 
   
   11:35 a.m. 
   
   Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh says he knew nothing about the sexual misconduct allegations against a judge who was a friend and mentor. 
   
   Kavanaugh said Wednesday that when the allegations against former federal appeals court judge Alex Kozinski became public, they were a "gut punch" for him and for the federal judiciary. Asked whether he knew 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." 
   
   Kozinski retired in December after several female former law clerks and colleagues accused him of sexual misconduct. 
   
   Kavanaugh clerked for Kozinski, and Kozinski introduced him during his 2006 confirmation hearing to be a judge. 
   
   ___ 
   
   11:20 a.m. 
   
   Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is refusing to say whether a president can be forced to testify in a criminal case, calling it a hypothetical. 
   
   The topic is front-and-center at Kavanaugh's hearing because the man who nominated him, President Donald Trump, could face a subpoena in special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. 
   
   The top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, asked Kavanaugh whether he thinks a sitting president can "be required to respond to a subpoena." 
   
   Kavanaugh responded: "I can't give you an answer on that hypothetical question." 
   
   The Supreme Court has never ruled on a presidential subpoena. 
   
   President Bill Clinton was subpoenaed by independent counsel Kenneth Starr in 1998. Clinton eventually agreed to testify voluntarily and the subpoena was withdrawn. 
   
   Kavanaugh worked for Starr. 
   
   ___ 
   
   11 a.m. 
   
   Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh says a 1973 Supreme Court decision that established a constitutional right to an abortion is an "important precedent" that has "been reaffirmed many times." 
   
   Kavanaugh was asked about the Roe v. Wade ruling by Democrat Dianne Feinstein of California. He said the decision has "been reaffirmed many times over the past 45 years." And he noted that a 1992 decision of the court called Planned Parenthood v. Casey didn't just reaffirm Roe v. Wade in passing. He said that decision becomes "precedent on precedent." 
   
   Kavanaugh compared the Roe decision to another case, Miranda v. Arizona, which requires law enforcement to tell suspects their rights. Kavanaugh noted that former Chief Justice William Rehnquist had been a critic of the Miranda decision but later upheld it as precedent. 
   
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   10:30 a.m. 
   
   Republicans are invoking Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg to make the case that Brett Kavanaugh should decline to say how he might vote on any particular case. 
   
   Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley referred to the so-called "Ginsburg standard" Wednesday during the second day of Kavanaugh's confirmation hearings. 
   
   Ginsburg said during her 1993 confirmation hearing that it would be wrong for her to "preview in this legislative chamber how I would cast my vote on questions the Supreme Court may be called upon to decide." 
   
   As Kavanaugh put it, quoting Ginsburg, that means "no hints, no forecasts, no previews." 
   
   Despite her statement, Ginsburg was questioned extensively about abortion during her hearing. She told lawmakers, "It is essential to woman's equality with man that she be the decision maker." 
   
   ___ 
   
   10:20 a.m. 
   
   Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is pointing to a decision where he ruled for an associate of Osama bin Laden as evidence of his independence as judge. 
   
   Asked by Judiciary Chairman Charles Grassley to discuss what judicial independence means to him, Kavanaugh pointed to his opinion in a case involving Salim Ahmed Hamdan, who was bin Laden's former chauffeur. Hamdan challenged his detention at the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. 
   
   Kavanaugh told senators that "you'll never have a nominee who's ruled for a more unpopular defendant." Kavanaugh says judges don't make decisions based on who people are, but "whether they have the law on their side." 
   
   Hamdan was released from Guantanamo before the appeals court ruling that vacated his conviction. 
   
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   9:55 a.m. 
   
   Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh says he believes the first thing that makes a good judge is "independence." 
   
   Kavanaugh is answering questions Wednesday in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee. It's his first day answering questions from lawmakers. 
   
   Committee chairman Chuck Grassley began the day by asking Kavanaugh to explain what he thinks makes a good judge. 
   
   Kavanaugh responded that he thinks "the first quality of a good judge in our constitutional system is independence." He said being a good judge also requires paying attention to the words of the Constitution and the words of laws, "not doing what I want to do." 
   
   The judge said he wants parties to leave oral arguments in his cases believing he had an "open mind, he gave me a fair shake." 
   
   9:50 a.m. 
   
   Demonstrators are again disrupting the hearings for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. 
   
   Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley attempted to gavel in the second day of hearings on Wednesday when shouting protesters began disrupting the hearings. Grassley said 70 people were arrested during the first day of hearings the day before. 
   
   Kavanaugh will be answering questions from senators all day. Democratic senators are expected to press for his views on issues like abortion, guns and executive power. 
   
   President Donald Trump nominated the 53-year-old appellate judge in July to fill the seat of retired Justice Anthony Kennedy. 
   
   ___ 
   
   9:20 a.m. 
   
   Liberal and progressive groups are pressuring Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to unify Democrats against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. 
   
   A letter sent to Schumer on the second day of hearings for President Donald Trump's court pick says bluntly: "You are failing us." 
   
   Democrats face a difficult climb trying to block Kavanaugh's confirmation. If nearly all Republicans back Kavanaugh, as is expected, several Democrats facing tough re-election races may vote to confirm him. 
   
   But the groups say Democrats in states like West Virginia, North Dakota, Indiana, Missouri, Montana and Alabama have nothing to fear from voting against Kavanaugh. They say voters in those states "care deeply" about the issues before the court and "will reward a principled vote." 
   
   The Senate's questioning of Kavanaugh is set to begin Wednesday morning. 
   
   ___ 
   
   4:20 a.m. 
   
   Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh touted the importance of an independent judiciary as his confirmation hearings began with strident Democratic criticism that he would be President Donald Trump's man on the high court. 
   
   On Wednesday, Kavanaugh can expect to spend most of the day in the hot seat, sparring with Democratic senators over abortion, guns, executive power and other high-profile issues. 
   
   A long day of questioning awaits the 53-year-old appellate judge, whom Trump nominated in July to fill the seat of retired Justice Anthony Kennedy. The change could make the court more conservative on a range of issues. 
   
   Barring a surprise, Republicans appear on track to confirm Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, perhaps in time for the first day of the new term on Oct. 1.
target: – After the "chaotic" first day of Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court nomination hearing, Wednesday saw the 53-year-old appellate judge bombarded with questions from senators. The AP describes him as "treading carefully," and highlights some of the biggest issues raised during the second day of the hearing. Kavanaugh "didn't show his hand" when questioned about abortion rights, for example, though he did call Roe v. Wade "important precedent" that has "been reaffirmed many times over the past 45 years." (The AP also notes that Sen. Dianne Feinstein "vastly overstated" the number of deaths from illegal abortions in the decades before Roe v. Wade; it has a fact-check here.) More from the hearing, which is expected to extend into the late evening hours of Wednesday: Kavanaugh said it was like a "gut punch" to learn that multiple women had accused one of his mentors, Judge Alex Kozinski, of sexual misconduct, and that it highlights the broader need for a better system of reporting workplace harassment; he said he was not aware of the allegations until they were made public. Fox News has more.