*By Carlo Versano*
Day one of Brett Kavanaugh's Senate confirmation hearings got off to a raucous start Tuesday: protesters interrupted the proceedings, Democrats called for an adjournment, and Sen. John Cornyn of Texas said he'd never before seen a hearing "led by mob rule."
It took seven hours before the nominee could deliver his opening statement.
The tactics, while good fodder for television, are unlikely to be very effective for Democrats, said Erin Delmore, a senior political correspondent for Bustle. They also reveal the level of Democrats' desperation, she said Tuesday in an interview on Cheddar.
"It does show you how weak their hand is here," she said.
Democrats, in a futile effort to delay the hearing, were responding to growing frustrations from their base that the party has not been vocal enough in protesting the successor to Anthony Kennedy. If Kavanaugh, a staunch Republican, is confirmed, he may well tilt the court's ideology right-ward for at least a generation, as he'd replace a man who often acted as a swing vote on landmark decisions.
Justice Kennedy authored the majority opinions for [*Lawrence v. Texas*](https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/539/558/), which lifted the state's ban on sodomy, and 2013's [*Windsor v. U.S.*](http://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/windsor-v-united-states-2/), the landmark decision that granted same-sex couples the right to marry in certain states.
The ever-polarizing *Roe v. Wade* is among the cases Kavanaugh's vote could turn. He has been asked about where he stands on choice by several moderate female senators, including Susan Collins (R-ME) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), who both said Kavanaugh told them he considered Roe to be "settled law."
The key question is, "does he believe *Roe v. Wade* was settled correctly," said Delmore. That's one interrogative he's unlikely to answer in this hearing.
"If \[Collins and Murkowski\] seem like this is enough for them, then this is over," Delmore said, referring to the chance that Kavanaugh could not be confirmed.
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/the-women-who-will-determine-brett-kavanaughs-fate).
The three detainees, who have been in captivity for over a year, landed in Maryland early Thursday, where President Trump and the First Lady welcomed them back home.
The White House will host dozens of Silicon Valley executives on Thursday to discuss artificial intelligence, with a focus on how it could impact jobs in the future.
The three U.S. prisoners were released during Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's visit to the capital city of Pyongyang, marking a significant reduction in tensions between the two countries ahead of President Trump's meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
Pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal may make it harder for the United States to have any influence over Tehran, says Laura Secor, a journalist and author who has written extensively about Iran. America's European allies may "prefer to work with the Iranians," leaving the U.S. out.
President Trump's announcement that the U.S. is abandoning the Iran deal will lead to volatility in oil prices, says Patrick DeHaan, the head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy. "The more fiery the response from President Trump, the more oil prices could eventually rally," he said.
The First Lady launched her 'Be Best' initiative on Monday, focusing on children's mental health, opioid abuse, and cyberbullying. Erin Delmore, senior political correspondent at Bustle, said there are still some details missing, and others that are eerily familiar to Obama-era guidelines.
The president said the pact, which was intended to keep Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, was "a horrible one-sided deal that should have never, ever been made." He said the United States would reinstate "powerful sanctions" against Iran.
Eric Schneiderman, who put himself at the forefront of the #MeToo movement, resigned just hours after allegations of sexual abuse surfaced on Monday.
"This current White House is unfortunately a force for hate and demonization," said the political commentator and author of "The Opposite of Hate." But "the minute anyone in that White House wants to do something different and be better, I'm here for it," said Kohn, in response to First Lady Melania Trump's "Be Best" campaign.
The playwright Justin Sherin, the man behind Twitter's "Dick Nixon" account, weighs in on all those Trump-Watergate comparisons.
