As the vote on Kavanaugh approaches, all eyes are on Congress

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The main story Thursday morning shows: The impending vote to advance Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court.

“That’s it. They’re going to vote,” Chris Cuomo said on CNN Wednesday night. “The FBI report is almost complete. Will it change votes? Probably not. Why? The timing, the strategy, the essence of the whole process. This has never been a truth campaign – about ‘getting to the bottom of the allegations.’ “This is about getting Kavanaugh at any cost.”

According to the latest from CNN, senators will be able to read the FBI’s findings Thursday morning. Mitch McConnell filed cloture on Wednesday night, allowing Senate Republicans to prepare for a vote on Friday to end debate on the nomination. Final voting will not take place until Saturday at the earliest.

— Banner on “The Situation Room” Wednesday evening: “White House denies Trump mocked Kavanaugh accuser after Trump mocks Kavanaugh accuser.”

– Ronan Farrow tweeted Wednesday night: “The FBI refused to interview primary witnesses related to the Kavanaugh allegations it was tasked with reviewing. Some of them resorted to sending unsolicited sworn statements.” Jane Mayer and Farrow have come up with a new story…

– Now on CNN.com: “Yale roommate says Kavanaugh lied under oath about drinking and yearbook.” James Roche spoke in an op-ed for Slate and an interview on “AC360…”

– An example of widespread conservative criticism of news coverage: “You Idiot Reporters Are Making It Worse,” by NRO’s Jonah Goldberg…

— Anti-Kavanaugh protests will take place in DC and elsewhere…

–Justice Stephen Breyer to speak at Atlantic Festival in the morning…

–Trump has an afternoon fundraiser in Minneapolis and an evening rally in Rochester…

That’s the message on this week’s cover of TIME — to be officially unveiled Thursday morning.

Time says, “Using words and phrases from Ford’s testimony, San Francisco-based artist John Mavroudis recreated his likeness by drawing each letter by hand.”

– Concerns are deepening about missing Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who entered the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on Tuesday “to obtain paperwork related to his upcoming marriage” and “has not been heard from since.” …” (Vapo)

-Nicaragua has deported Carl David Goyette-Luciak, an Austrian-American reporter who had been covering anti-Ortega protests for months… (The Guardian)

– Eli Rosenberg’s latest: “Facebook blocked several gay-themed ads as part of its new advertising policy, angering LGBT groups…” (Wapo)

Julia Waldo Email: Broadcast news legend Connie Chung published an extremely powerful letter to Christine Blasey Ford about her experience with sexual assault, which dates back nearly 50 years. She writes that her attacker was her family doctor. “Christine, even I am terrified to reveal this publicly,” Chung wrote. “I can’t sleep. I can’t eat. Can you eat? If you can’t eat, I understand. I’m scared, I’m scared, I can’t even cry.”

This letter was published by Washpost. She wrote, “I wish I could forget this true incident, but I can’t because it’s true.” “I am writing to you because I know that exact dates, exact years are unimportant. We remember exactly what happened to us and who did it to us. We always remember the truth…”

– Two Fox News personalities have books on Amazon’s top ten list right now: Tucker Carlson’s “Ship of Fools” is No. 2 and Steve Doocy’s family cookbook is No. 4. Upcoming Trump parody book “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” has “Staff holding steady at No. 1…

– Meanwhile, the weekly NYT bestseller list came out on Wednesday and Bob Woodward’s “Fear” is at No. 1 for the third week in a row…

– NYT opinion writer and editor Bari Weiss is writing a book: “The New Seven Dirty Words.” Holt will publish it in winter 2020…

The CBS morning show has always had a three-person format until now. Briana Golodryga was introduced as co-host on Wednesday mornings, adding a fourth co-host chair to the set. The move makes a lot of sense: Golodryga already exists on the show as a fill-in host and/or correspondent…

BTW: “She will continue to serve as a contributor to various CNN programs,” says Variety’s Brian Steinberg…

CNNMoney (New York) First Published October 4, 2018: 12:43am ET