"Happiness and relief" inside White House after Kavanaugh confirmation
President Trump watched the confirmation vote from aboard Air Force One as he headed to a rally in Kansas. The president said he is "100 percent" certain that Dr. Christine Blasey Ford named the wrong person when she accused Kavanaugh.
As he left the White House this afternoon, Mr. Trump praised the embattled Kavanaugh and surprisingly, the contentious confirmation process.
"I thought it was really good a lot of very positive things happened in last week, didn't look that way, but that's what happened," Mr. Trump said.
A White House official tells CBS News the mood inside the White House is one of "happiness and relief" after securing the critical yes vote from Republican Sen. Susan Collins.
Before wrapping up her trip to Africa, first lady Melania Trump praised Kavanaugh. In a rare press conference in Cairo, she said "I think he's highly qualified for the Supreme Court. I'm glad that Dr. Ford was heard, I'm glad that Judge Kavanaugh was heard, the FBI investigation was done, is completed, and Senate voted."
She was also asked if she believes Ford. She said "I think all the victims-we need to help all the victims, no matter what kind of abuse they had, but I'm against any kind of abuse or violence."
Kavanaugh is expected to take his seat on the bench this week. Friday night, Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan, speaking alongside Justice Sonia Sotomayor, stressed the court's legitimacy hinges on it remaining an apolitical body.
"It's an incredibly important thing for the Court to guard is this reputation of being fair of being impartial of being neutral and of not being simply an extension of the terribly polarized political process and environment that we live in," Kagan said.
