CNN's Toobin says if accuser doesn't testify, Kavanaugh will absolutely be confirmed

CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin made it very clear that if the accuser of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh didn't testify in front of Congress on Monday, Kavanaugh will absolutely be confirmed.

'It's just a factual thing.'

"Both sides seem to be clearly digging in their heels here," CNN's Anderson Cooper said to Toobin.

"That's true and I think there's a factual matter that is worth putting out on the table," Toobin responded.

"If she refuses to testify on Monday," he said forcefully, "Kavanaugh is getting confirmed."

"[Sen.] Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) has said that, [Sen.] Susan Collins (R-Me.) has said that," he explained. "If she maintains, you know, that this investigation is a sham and I'm not taking part, he is getting confirmed."

"Now that may be unfair, a good or a bad thing," he concluded, "I think it's just a factual thing."

Toobin was referring to the two most moderate Republican votes in the Senate that Democrats were hoping to persuade against the Kavanaugh nomination. Because Republicans have a majority in the Senate, Democrats have no chance to defeat Kavanaugh without some Republicans flipping.

What if she does testify?

"If she does testify then I think all the cards are thrown up in the air. He may well be confirmed anyway. But I think everybody should be clear what the stakes are of her decision to come forward or not before the committee, it's up or down."

Here's the segment with Toobin's comments:

The Kavanaugh nomination seemed to be heading toward confirmation before Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) disclosed that she had passed a letter to the FBI to investigate the claims from a former high school classmate of Kavanaugh accusing him of a sexual assault attack in the early 1980s.

Christine Blasey Ford initially said she would testify and then abruptly demanded that the FBI investigate the claims before her testimony. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) indicated that if she doesn't testify that the hearings will continue without interruption.