but as [website] people you talked to around the president, they are just people you talked to, they have very readily said that this is about a culture war, is that correct? >> they have been pretty blunt about it. in a white house where on certain issues it can be hard to get an answer, this is an area where people close o to him are pretty candid and they say this is his idea of a culture war issue. he doesn't out of on social issues, but he does focus on issues he can galvanize it's unusual to hear it spoken about quite so bluntly. but they are very candid that's where he thinks where he is it's for him where the people who've been with him want to be and

this is coming after he had this dance with bipartisan for a moment. amidst the alabama race he became concerned about what his followers were i go this. i think that was very much on his mind because roy moore is the other candidate is much more a trump candidate in other ways. >> to my it's fascinating . >> it's an unfortunate decision he's made. you have 3.4 million u.s. citizens who almost got wiped off the map in puerto rico. any other president in a situation like this would be trying to rally not just the country but the world to help what's going on in puerto rico. instead he decides to pick a fight with unfortunately african-american athletes,

including steph curry. apparently he didn't get the memo that dads in america created steph curry in a lab so our kids would have snob look up to. how do you get into a fight with steph curry when we're on the verge of a nuclear war? it plays up this particular kind of a role that is so unfortunate it actually makes it seem like they're eprotesting the flag and the national anthem. that is not what they're protesting. they're protesting the fact the neighbors they came from, there is real pain and suffering and police misconduct. this is not an act of disrespect. it's a distress signal by black america. he's turning it into into a nasty way and it still racial undertones. >> i marvel.

like we're watching 15% movie and two different impressions. he loves to test things out and see the reaction. what we see is a real reaction. people are saying what is it that kaepernick meant? what does he care about? the kneeling and the national anthem, a lot of america looks up and say don't kneel or disrespect the flag. this president creates more opportunities for people to communicate on serious issues. obama didn't venture out and people criticized him. >> why do you guys see it as so disrespectful? what happened at first, kaepernick, he was just sitting down. he wouldn't even stand up and then a green beret told him that's not right, so take a knee. in sports you take a neap when something's injured.

he's trying to show respect. why is it always seen as he's disrespecting it? >> i think kaepernick said it was a protest. he's saying something is wrong. >> he's not protesting the flag. >> right, when someone has a response, why can't you protest? kaepernick was berchld, not that it matters, but he was benched when he decides to set an example. my thing is, if you want to make a point, people also get to be upset with that. maggie's right. in politics, in alabama, they wouldn't let their guys kneel, bend down, anything. there was a way that this is impacted and i don't think it's racial as much as it is kind of who we are as americans. a lot of them are showing in the polling. americans are like don't do that during our anthem ask during the flag. >> i think that's what he was doing politically, but i think that's a separate question of whether that is what a president

ought to be doing and there are understandable criticisms whether this is president should be weighing into the same way whether president obama should be weighing in. >> everyone knew he wasn't going to do what normal presidents do. >> i worked in the white house for about 37 seconds, okay? i don't want to overstate it. i was there for six months. it changed my life. being in that building. the weight of the responsibility. it's unbelievable. i've never had an experience like that before and i never will again. it will always be my he's honor. i don't understand why it's not changing the president. >> how do you see this? >> first of all i see a couple things. one, one side of these protests is trying to make a statement about exactly what van said.

but the other said and what people see on television, i'm an nfl fan. what i say and wh what i see is you have a captive audience. this is a game. this is entertainment, you're going to turn my entertainment into a political statement and force me to pick sides. if you make it that, then that's what we're doing here. we're voting. for the other side, it is about disrespecting the flag, so you don't have two sides saying, arguing about the same thing. you don't have that. look, the nfl has been so hypocritical. they punished the steelers player william gay, for wearing

purple cleats. but this which is in their rules, they let. >> i'm glad you brought up domestic violence because this is more offensive to you maybe and certainly to these players than all the domestic violence. >> who said that? >> i never saw this kind of reaction when time after time you've accused these players -- there was never this level of reaction. where was donald trump's tweet storms about it? i don't remember that. so i just want to say -- can you just not interrupt me for one second. >> it's literally when did you stop beating your wife? literally you just did that. >> let her finish. >> okay. >> go ahead. >> can i talk. >> go for it. >> the point is that people should matter more than a symbol and that doesn't mean the flag isn't important. the point is there are people that are trying to tell you that something is wrong.

for you to say i just turned on the tv does your job is to entertain me, that's not very respectful to people. >> they can protest whenever they want but not on the job. >> but they need to protest when people are paying attention. if you have any reason for them, just the tiniest bit of respect for them, you should top and think i respect them as athletes but also as human beings and i want to hear what they have to say. aren't you curious? >> i'll add that it's not like the political people are dealing with this issue of police misconduct. donald trump got the car going in reverse. obama at least tried to deal with it. now department of justice under trump is going backwards. where are they supposed to speak up, when the african-americans are marching down the street it's called black lives matter, that get criticized. at a certain point it sounds

line donald trump doesn't want to hear black protests and that's concerning to people. >> i just don't see that, van. i think colin kaepernick is one of the smarter guys you've interviewed. the question is whether we need to have a movement of people that are kneeling during the national anthem. by the way, why can't it be we have a difference of opinion on that. why can't the kid from pittsburgh talk about what it's like to be in the army. whatever the topic is, is that what the point is? i think what ken is saying is americans a a little sick of having the slicing and diagnosis of the groups should you have had at them that you have to understand by point of view and it's football. i don't think the president is wrong. he taps into an emotion that feels like not anti-somebody but for the american experience. >> aren't we at an age when you talk about the slicing and dicing and having stuff should

you have had -- shoved in our faces, those voices were not heard in american history and those people didn't have access to being in the military. people didn't have access to all the benefits that white america has, and so a few people have been able to rise up and be in a position where you all and me and everybody else is forced to actually hear them, see them kneel, what's wrong with that? >> i know, but you think said it. we've made so much progress in this country. people don't want to watch the nfl and think about how bad and wrong and wrong they are. >> what do you mean people don't want to? what people? >> you're the one saying when they protest they're talking for people in the inner city. where i come froms the inner city is dominated by -- >> national anthem they stood for. >> let's take a quick break and

continue this on the other side. we'll be right back. where you can compare multiple quote options online and choose what's right for you. woah. flo and jamie here to see hqx. flo and jamie request entry. slovakia. triceratops. tapioca. racquetball. staccato. me llamo jamie. pumpernickel. pudding. employee: hey, guys! home quote explorer. it's home insurance made easy. password was "hey guys." it't-mobile's unlimited nowsy. includes netflix on us. that's right, netflix on us. get four unlimited lines for just forty bucks each. taxes and fees included. and now, netflix included. so go ahead, binge on us. another reason why t-mobile is america's best unlimited network.

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michael hader weighed in. approximate pittsburgh native and longtime steelers fan says he agrees on colin kaepernick but agrees more with president trump's remarks in alabama. quote, i never imagined myself saying this before friday, but i'm forced to choose in this dispute, put me down with kaepernick. back with the panel. ed was saying before and the

idea was expressed of you're tuning in to see a game. why be forced to confront this? >> i think first of all we shouldn't underestimate the heroism of our own cause as americans much we are trying to make a multiracial, multifaith democracy work 300 million people, it's never been tried and we do a good job most days. but the reality is i sit here and when i'm watching these games and going through life, i have a huge platform. i get to be on cnn. i feel frustrated that we have to pretend that severing okayy don't cary in america. we made progress as black americans and we should sit down and shut up. when i know for sure the amount of pain and you went going on in the community. when you get to a point that guys are protesting on their job, by the way, people say they're rich they shouldn't protest, donald trump is rich

and he complains all the time. i don't want to hear having money means you can't complain. or they're celebrities, but donald trump is a celebrity. these guys get to have an opinion. it makes me so proud to see these guys taking those risks and sticking up for people who will nevada be heard from. if donald trump can say listen, i'm handling police brutality, i have a commission on it, i don't have to protest, thalgd be different. but he's going in the opposite direction. when they don't speak up, who's going to? >> has the president spoken about allegations of police brutality? >> in the reverse direction. he had a line in a speech where he fired prescribreince priebuse wanted police officers not to be so nice. he said things like this during

the campaign in a similar venue. it's different when you're leading millions of law enforcement as far as across the country, that can send a real signal. you saw a lot of pushback including people from the doj saying this is not how we treat police. this is coming after a nationwide debate about police tactics. he has shown an inability to talk about this in a cohe's as i was, sensitive way. >> calling them sons much pitches, is that appropriate? if you want to start -- you sort of praised him for bringing this issue. the issue is racial inequality, that's the issue these players are trying to bring to the fore. do you see any racial component in where her response this, how

he did it, and the language he used? >> when he said -- i'm from st. louis where the school system is trapped mostly black and brown acids kid's and poor people. when he came to everywhere it was on the campaign trail and said to african-americans that the democratic party was supposed to help you for 40 years and they can't help you. >> what do you got to lose. >> right. when you see the national anthem, lots of african-americans watch football. but a lot of the country is hurting with jobs being gone and no future and all the epidemic of opioid crisis and all this. that would become you're a bad person if the black problem of police brutality is central to this, that's kind of over the top for someone who watches the nfl. when he says that, people say, aha, he's on your side. doesn't mean he's not on that their side too. the black lives matter guy said

he's not anti-cop, i'm anti-bad cop. let's get anti-bad cop. >> that's what black lives matter's been saying the whole time. >> when he says this isn't the time to protest and make it a -- >> but that see president talked about him being anti-bad cop? he did tell police officers to bang their heads into police cars. >> does he have to say for everything. he's not for someone who uses -- >> a police officer who bangs a suspect's head -- >> that's called unreasonable and unlawful use of force. >> also called bad humor. >> here's what i think we got to be able to deal with. yes, if somebody wanted to stand up and talk about the opioid crisis, i've been working on that with newt gingrich.

there's a lot of these issues that bring folks together. there are some issues where we've got to listen. the president said i went to talk to the veterans who are hurting and that's why i'm standing up. hold on a second. you got a bunch much d.r.e.a.m.ers who are in the military right now, he's not standing up for them or transgender. when he got the chance to serve, he said his foot hurt. don't use your soldiers into the debate to make yourself look better. let's deal with the issue. >> the bottom line is there's never a place where it's appropriate for african-americans to complain, whether it's jamil hill on twitter, that's not okay. you're kneeling, you're not creating a scene, you're a respected member of society, republicans don't accept there's a problem with the criminal justice system. you don't want to be shot in the back by a cop. it's pretty basic. and that's not okay.

i guarantee no matter what they do you are going to have a problem with them. literally. please stop interrupting me. >> that's ridiculous. >> you demonize black lives matter. >> who does? >> conservatives. it's always however it's being done. >> any group saying kill the pigs -- >> no, hold on. >> that is not what happened. that's just factually total false and debunked. my at some point you always find a way -- >> i want to correct that on the record. >> how can it be never? >> when did you do it? >> let me ask you a different question. is there arrive place where it's not okay to protest? would it be okay for someone to get -- >> a peaceful lawful protest is always okay. >> always okay? on cnn right now i could say i'm here and i want to protest against abortion, i think killing babies is terrible and

cnn might say, ed, wrong time, wrong place, nice gesture, you're fired. >> i don't know that you would get fired over that. but i don't think that's a good analogy. you distracted from the question. when have you said it's ochlkka. give me an example. >> anytime they want to express themselves. i'm from st. louis. >> it's always the complaint is they're not not saying it the right way. >> "t" sweeping defamation is really in here. i've worked on criminal justice reform sins the 1990s, since i left the attorney general's office. this kind of crap is not tolerable. >> i just said that. >> and you say none of us never do anything about it. some of us have been working on it for years. >> we got to go.

>> i just want to say, i think of people make this mistake. you wouldn't make the on purpose, i know you very well. there was one rally where some people at a black lives matter protest said try them like bacon. it was seven people at the back of the rally. that happened one time. it's been shown over and over again. i want to let you know for sure, that is not what 99% of these rallies have been about. i don't want them to all be tarred forever with those seven people. >> i appreciate that. look, i work with law enforcement legal defense fund. we protect cops who get baloney charges. >> my dad was a cop in the military. i understand what you're saying. >> they're lives are put on the line every day in the defense of innocent people against evil which existed in every neighborhood in this country. >> we don't have to have this argument. i don't want funerals.

i don't want black or blue funerals. and we're going to get more if we keep talking past each other. you have a bunch of young african-american kids trying to pick a hair country better. let's not put them all in the negative category for more funerals. >> quick reminder, we're going to be devoting an hour to the subject tomorrow night talking with the best and brightest on all sides of the issue, the it's a special town hall tomorrow at 9:00. we'll be right back. balance for over 75 years. hey, big guy! come on in! let me guess your weight! win a prize! sure, why not. 12 ounces! sorry, mate. four ounces. i've been taking the stairs lately. you win, big guy. sorry, 'scuse me! oh, he looks so much more real on tv. yeah... over 75 years of savings and service. get your rate quote today.

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jeff sessions old seat. 40% of presints reporting judge roy moore leads the president's pick. luther strange, at 43%. the mood there has got to be jubilant. >> anderson, there's a lot of jubilation in this roomment you can hear the celebration going on behind me. cnn has not yet called this race, but the campaign is certainly optimistic that this is the way the race is going, that judge roy moore has indeed won the senate leadership fund which is the super pac that is affiliated, that is one that's poured millions of dollars into this campaign. this is a massive below to the senate republican leadership and the establishment. this is so much more than the republican primary in a senate race. this is latest battle for the

soul of the republican party, one that has divided republicans into two camps. you have president trump who has gone against his natural instincts and has been supporting the establishment. someone who is seen very much as part of the establishment as i as i mentioned, he got millions of dollars from that superpac. on the other hand, you have people like former alaska governor sarah palin and trump's former senior adviser steve bannon who have come out for judge roy moore. he is someone who's very much the outsider in this race, has no washington experience, someone who talks about draining the swamp. he's much more in the mold of trump. but at the rally president trump headlined on friday night in huntsville for luther strange, he made it clear it was a question of loyalty. we know how much the president values loyalty. strange had shown him loyalty.

he said that strange was a reliable vote in the senate. he had fought along side the president against obamacare in favor of repealing and replacing obamacare. in the same event with luther strange standing a few paces away, the president mused aloud whether it was a mistake getting involved in this race at all. he said that luther strange stood a significant chance of losing and in that case, it would be a major embarrassment to him. so that's certainly something that the white house is bracing themselves for tonight. anderson? >> the president giveth and taketh away. >> this is exactly what we expected. look, the hat i usually wear is the conservative one. >> cnn is calling the race now for former judge moore. >> judge moore has won almost every part of the state, that's counted votes. this is establishment versus

trying to tell us battle from the get go. luther strange is the lisa murkowski. this was really moore resources mcconnell and the washington establishment. luther made the mistake of arriving in washington and cozying right up and despite all the money they could bring and air force one and air force two yesterday, the basic anti-establishment fervor going on in alabama carried the day. >> tavis mistake for president trump to side with strange? >> here's the thing i want to point out. twice the president in recent memory said i'll work with the establishment and it will all work out. luther strange, i'll work with him. two is obamacare. you guys will pass repeal. both went down. the president is going to realize that idea of working, bannon said in an interview with charlie rose we made a decision to work with the establishment. it's not working out. the base of the party and the base of the country is looking up and saying we may agree with you on some of your cultural

instincts, but on these elections -- it's coming. the wave is coming. >> that's why bob corker retired. >> they knew he was going to lose. he retired today because judge moore was going to win. lindsey graham said if judge moore wins, we're all in trouble, and you bet they are. they're afraid of their own base. >> i've never seen people nain mission giggle more than these guys. >> populace. we want less right-wing cooperatetists and more for the people. >> listen, i admire senator sanders a great deal, but i will say there is a positive populism that's available to republicans, and there's a negative populism that's available to republicans. same for democrats. what i would say is simply this. you're now creating a situation where you will not be able to

govern. you don't have enough votes to pass the ultra pop list stuff you want to pass which means you're not going to get much done. at some point people are going to say we gave the republicans a chance, they ate their own babies, they can't govern and we get the ball back. >> do you think this sends shock waves to republicans on capitol hill right now? >> yes, i definitely do. this is a rebuke of donald trump, particularly rebuke of mcconnell and ryan and what's happening on the hill. i think van is right. first of all, in alabama if you win the republic primary, you probably are going to win the seat. if somebody could lose it, this is the person. this is somebody who was recently referring to native americans as reds and asians as yellows and someone who got in trouble for violating the law in terms of same sex marriage was telling judges not to issue same

sex -- >> he was suspended for that. >> maybe in alabama it doesn't matter. but if there's somebody who's going to be problematic, it's going to be him. van is right. this is future of the republican party, i don't see how you're going to get everything done. >> how much dodge did the president do by saying i'm for him but just the other night basically -- >> we supportbrooks in the firs. this is the second round of a primary. alabama requires a 50% vote. nobody got that on august 15th. brooks was stopped by the president supporting strange. brooks didn't make the run jo because the president stepped in and stopped the momentum. the president came in and changed the outcome in that round, but the themes that congressman brook started which was the mcconnell comparison where they were spending all the money attacking books, carried into the second round and moore

is a natural candidate for this because he's already defined. the game that mcconnell usually plays is to overwhelm challengers to the establishment with money and define them as the professional politician, et cetera. they couldn't do that in alabama. roy moore was too well noon. when we come back the new development that could open the door for the special counsel to get a copy of president trump's tax returns. we'll talk about that ahead. check it out! self-appendectomy! oh, that's really attached. that's why i rent from national. where i get the control to choose any car in the aisle i want, not some car they choose for me. which makes me one smooth operator. ah! still a little tender. (vo) go national. go like a pro.

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breaking news in the russian investigation. the irs and special counsel robert mueller are working together on the russia probe. sources tell 199 the irs is sharing information that could include tax return data from key campaign officials. questions about the scope of the investigation, the question now is whether this move could potentially open the door for the toirs share the president's tax returns with mueller. pamela brown joins us now. what are you learning? they can't say reporting? >> we've learned, anderson, after a summer clash that the irs is now sharing information with investigators working with special counsel robert mueller. this comes after the two sides were at odds for months they went back and forth over the scope of mueller's investigation into russian meddling. mueller's investigators wanted information on several people associated with the trump campaign, including former campaign chairman paul manafort and michael flynn, the former

national security adviser. we're told by sources that the irs has reservations when mueller's team reached out because of what were seen as far reaching and broad requests for information in the case of mafrpt, the scope includes possible tax and financial crimes that date back to january of 2006, ten years before the russian meddling in the election last fall. it's unclear whether he obtained the tax returns belonging to the president, but, of course, that is still very much a big question that we all have considering he would not release his tax returns during the campaign, anderson. >> your reporting indicates the dispute between the mueller team and the irs centers on the july raid on manafort's home. >> it is. multiple sources tell us that the irs didn't participate in

the raid because the irs objections. we're told the irs and the fbi initially had their own manafort probe before last year's election and before mueller was ever appointed. the special counsel's office went ahead with the search of manafort eats home with fbi agents carrying this raid out which is unusual for the irs to sit out on something around financial matters. there is new information sharing that is happening with the russia probe. >> thanks very much. let's bring the panel back. how significant do you think this is, kirstin? >> it reinforces the idea that they're putting a lot of pressure on him to try to get in the way you saw ken starr with

the mccdoughls. >> i would say that what's publicly known would indicate that maybe it's appropriate for department of justice prosecutors to investigate it's way outside the jurisdiction for mueller. i don't think it's unusual at all to be seeking irs information in an investigation that might involve finances. that's pretty standard. for anybody related to it, that doesn't surprise me at all, but there is still the oddity of going back so far with manafort, who appears to have his own problems well before he came into the campaign and some of the e-mails we saw recently via "the new york times" and "washington post" where campaign people were questioning certain concerns with manafort, and

manafort was blowing them off saying don't respond to that and just kind of walling himself off. he seems to be getting more walled off now. >> you think this is beyond the scope? a lot of people say the marching orders for mueller were actually pretty broad? >> the only way you count this is within the bounds of the jurisdiction. now i'm talking about the old stuff with manafort. >> 2006. >> if he's trying to get leverage. leverage isn't an appropriate part of an investigation. you're supposed to try to get truth, not lench leverage, and that's not what's going on here. i have an idealistic view, this is outside those boundaries. >> van, i see you sort of skeptical. isn't this what prosecutors do to people all the time. >> the technically latin is they do it all day, err day. this is exactly how prosecutors behave, it's exactly what they

do. they get the kitchen sink and they try to get you to do what they want you to do. if conservatives think that's a bad thing i think it's weird for us to be picking on that one thing. i think for a lot of people, this deeper disquiet with the president's silence about the cyber attack on our democracy is going to get bigger over time. i know people think it's a partisan thing. but i don't understand a lot of things i'm seeing right now. if i were the president of the united states and i was in that situation you go out there and lead the charge. i'm going after these russians. instead he's doing the opposite, meanwhile this thing gets bigger. >> when you said the president, i thought you meant the former president when he didn't do as much when he was in charge on this question from the

beginning, last time i was on, i called them the walking dead. mueller is the zombie lawyer who's going to keep searching until he devours somebody. the idea of taking the russia attempt to influence the election as a way to take down this president has been going on since right after the election when hillary lost. >> listen, i said that from the point of view of democrats who think this is going to be their way to get him out of the white house. there's not going to be an impeachment. you're a patriot. aren't you concerned about your democracy? >> yes. >> more on the russian investigation next including details on roger stone's testimony on capitol hill today, the president's longtime confidant with you was there.

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new developments tonight of the russia probe. interviewed today on capitol hill by the house intelligence committee, and of course we have our own breaking news. the irs -- congressman, i'm wondering what your reaction to reporting. according to cnn sources the irs is now sharing information with mueller's team. >> good evening. that is encouraging. i don't think any investigation in congress or criminal would be complete without looking at the president's taxes and the taxes of other individuals who had financial dealings with russia. we have seen consistently the president denied any prior or financial transactions and dealings with russia. and only because of media reporting and investigations we see we had any interest in doing business with russia and then prior patents that were given to him in russia, russians who have bought and invested in real

estate in the united states. so following the money is time-tested principle. and i hope that's what they're doing here. >> so just to deal clear, you think that mueller should be looking at the president's tax returns the. >> yes, absolutely. >> the closed door interview, after the interview stone described it as a quote, frank exchange. he also said it was quote, a tiring political exercise. did you get the answers you were looking for sph. >> mr. stones statements starts and ends with a tweet that he sent teletelling jaling john pos going to spend his time in a barrel. when he was asked who did you talk to at wikileaks, he refused to disclose who the intermediary is. i hope he has the sense of

country and duty as we do. otherwise we'll have to subpoena him and get that information. principally around who was he talking to? the intelligence community has assessed it was indeed russians who he was talking to, who had hacked secretary clinton's e-mails and dnc e-mails and john podesta's e-mails. so he was in contact with them. he was helping to disseminate hack e-mails on there's. so there was a working relationship they had established. so it would be very helpful to know who he was working with. also in his public opening statement he said the dnc should have been more forthcoming in turning over the serve that was hacked, and i think he needs to

be forthcoming. >> they could start interviewing staff as soon as this week. generally speaking, how key are those players in the investigation in. >> most of them are pivotal, anderson. many of them were communications with russians during the peak time of russian interference. and i hope we're inspired to move as fast in this investigation and as thoroughly as it appears that bob mueller and his team are doing. i think the best think we can to do prevent a future attack is to show unity between republicans and democrats. tae that's the best shield. the best way to sharpen swords for the next election is disunity. coming up the ridiculous is next. we'll be right back.

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time now for ridiculous. and tonight we have a public service announcement for the good people of green tennessee. what i'm about to siis going to sound counter intuitive. if you see a dead body on chucky pike don't call the police. let me amend that, if you see

this particular dead body, don't call the police. if you see a different body, by all means call. but you don't have to call for this particular one because it's not real. it's just clothes stuffed with newspaper and the it's food coloring and hair gel. yes, it has absolutely alarmed some people. it's an early hall awean decoration. >> it looked to me like he was dead. >> here's the gentleman who called 911, just a concerned citizen wanting to report what he saw. >> i thought it was somebody. he said we'll turn out to check it. >> i said thank you guys for caring, but i'm doing just fine. when the police came today, they pulled the boot off just to make sure there wasn't a person. >> no one really seems to be

taking offense, not even the deputy and sergeant who received the call. >> a bad situation that wasn't turned out all right. >> we all thought it was funny. it was a good halloween decoration. >> the green county sheriff's department has now posted this on its facebook page. attention, everyone, this is a halloween decoration. do not call 911 reporting a dead body. instead congratulate the homeowner on a great display. the homeowner does have one minor problem, his halloween surprise pretty much ruined when it hit the news. >> when i had my halloween party i was actually going to dress up under there and when they come out to get drinks or something, pop up out of the garage door and scare everybody. >> the best laid plans often do

go awry, and sometimes end up on the ridiculous. "cnn tonight" starts now. >> announcer: this is cnn breaking news. here's the breaking news. president trump's candidate defeated by steve bannon's in alabama. this is "cnn tonight." i'm don lemon. that senate runoff race has people asking tonight whose gop is it anyway? what is the future of the party? and what's up with the horse? plus big developments in the russia investigation. the million dollar question. how did russians know who to target with those ads on facebook during the presidential election? did they have help? we have a lot to get to tonight in this hour. but i want to get right to cnn's alex