ABC, CBS, and NBC — preempting their usual daytime TV lineups — will air live reports as Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday.
The highly anticipated event, which is scheduled to start at 10 a.m. ET on Thursday, Sept. 27, will also be covered by live cable news networks and live-streamed on the internet.
Kavanaugh has now been accused by three women of sexual misconduct. Ford was the first to come forward, saying that Kavanaugh assaulted her at a high school party in 1982. Kavanaugh has repeatedly denied the accusations, and told Fox News’ Martha MacCallum in an interview Monday that he was a virgin “in high school or for many years thereafter.”
Some Republican senators including Susan Collins (R.-Maine) have remained undecided about whether to vote to confirm Kavanaugh, and Thursday’s hearing may determine the outcome of his nomination by President Donald Trump. Trump has defended Kavanaugh and questioned the motives of the female accusers.
As with former FBI director James Comey’s Senate testimony in 2017, the broadcast networks’ decision to break into daytime programming reflects the national attention Kavanaugh’s case has garnered. Critics have dismissed the claims by the women accusing Kavanaugh of misconduct and their timing, while activists have protested the GOP push to get Kavanaugh confirmed and have promoted hashtags like #WhyIDidntReport on social media.
Here’s how to watch the Kavanaugh and Ford hearing on TV and online:
- ABC News: The network will air a live report as the two testify, beginning at 10 a.m. ET. Chief anchor George Stephanopoulos will lead network coverage of the hearing, and “World News Tonight” anchor David Muir will anchor coverage from Capitol Hill, where ABC News senior congressional correspondent Mary Bruce will provide live updates. Chief foreign correspondent Terry Moran will report from the Supreme Court with additional reporting. ABC News coverage of the testimony will be available on ABC TV, ABCNews.com, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, as well as ABC News Live (at abcnews.go.com/live), the network’s 24-hour breaking news and live events channel.
- CBS News: “CBS This Morning” and “CBS Evening News With Jeff Glor” will originate from Washington, D.C. Gayle King, Norah O’Donnell, John Dickerson, and Jeff Glor will anchor coverage from Washington and lead the network’s special coverage beginning at 10 a.m. ET on the CBS Television Network with additional coverage on the CBSN streaming news service (at cbsnews.com/live) and its Facebook page. “CBS This Morning” will begin the day with coverage ahead of the hearings and will also offer an optional additional hour for select stations at 9 a.m. ET.
- NBC News: Coverage starts at 9:30 a.m. ET led by “NBC Nightly News” anchor Lester Holt, NBC News chief legal correspondent and “Today” co-anchor Savannah Guthrie, moderator of “Meet the Press” and NBC News political director Chuck Todd, Megyn Kelly, and NBC News chief foreign affairs correspondent Andrea Mitchell. On MSNBC, coverage begins at 9:50 a.m. ET with Stephanie Ruhle who will be joined by Brian Williams, host of “The 11th Hour with Brian Williams,” leading up to the hearings. Beginning at 9:30 a.m. ET, special coverage will stream live on NBCNews.com, MSNBC.com, the NBC News app, YouTube, and other platforms.
- Fox News Channel: Fox News will live-stream the hearing and related coverage for pay-TV subscribers on FoxNews.com and on Fox News apps. “Special Report” host Bret Baier and “The Story” anchor Martha MacCallum will co-anchor, with additional contributions by Fox News contributors and analysts.
- CNN: The network will livestream the testimony on CNN.com and across mobile devices via CNN’s apps for iOS and Android, with no log-in required. CNN’s coverage will start at 8:30 a.m. ET, anchored by Wolf Blitzer and Jake Tapper. The livestream can also be viewed on its Facebook page, CNNgo on desktop (at go.cnn.com), and smartphone and iPad apps.
- PBS: “PBS NewsHour” will carry live coverage, led by anchor Judy Woodruff with correspondent Lisa Desjardins, on local member TV stations as well as at pbs.org/newshour and on its on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube accounts.
- Univision: “Univison Noticias” will stream live coverage of the hearing on its website (at this link), UnivisionNow apps for mobile and connected-TV devices, on its Facebook page, via Twitter’s Periscope and on its YouTube channel.
- Telemundo: Telemundo News coverage is scheduled to start at 9:50 a.m. ET and will stream in Spanish at telemundo.com/noticias and across social channels.
- C-SPAN: C-SPAN 3 will offer a free livestream of the Kavanaugh-Ford hearing on its website (at c-span.org/networks/?channel=c-span-3).
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