>> welcome to inside politics. thank you for sharing your day with us. a stung twist in a senate race. a bible quoting conservative accused of pursuing and sexually abusing one woman. they want him to quit the race, but don't count on it. >> judge moore will remain on the ballot as a republican nominee because it's within that

76-day window. >> four women have quoted by name in the devastating account that backed him up, but altright kwar yours said ignore the women. it's another media conspiracy. >> interesting. "the washington post" that dropped that dime on donald trump is the same amazon "washington post" that dropped the dime this afternoon on judge roy moore. now, is that a coincidence? >> plus polite on trade. hitting face-to-face with china's president. president trump returns to his campaign-style tough talk. >> we are not going to let the united states be taken advantage of anymore. i am always going to put america first. >> we begin the hour with a

storm around alabama senate conditionedidate roy moore now that it turned from an inconv e inconvenience to a crisis for the establishment. >> the senate majority leader's discomfort with the campaign and career. a promise to put morale in the bible above all else. shortly after 1:00, this from "the washington post." woman said roy moore initiated a sexual encounter when she was 14 and he was 32. the age of consent is 16. the story is sorted. the post citing 30 source sos said more than a 30 something-year-old man promises teen girls dates and sexually abused a 14-year-old after

inviting her to his home. she is now 53 and here right there. she said she met moore outside of court here and volunteered to baby-sit her while her mother went inside and skds for her phone number. he was in her home when he told her to undress and tried to make her touch him. if true, had it been caught then it would have put him in jail for more than 10 years. they call at this time very definition of fake news. moore calls himself a spiritual warrior and on the frontlines of a war with the amoral left. the obama clinton machines and liberal media lap dogs launched the most vicious and nasty round of attacks. moore said we are in the midst of a spiritual battle with those who want to silence our message. they will lie, cheat, steal physical harm if they believe it will silence and shut up

christian conservatives. as the candidate blames the forces of evil, women are quoted by name saying moore pursued them when they were teenagers. they verified they spoke of their encounters at the time. the alabama election is in a month and the republican party is in a panic. the most common gop attraction tracks the white house response. like most americans. the president believes we cannot allow a mere allegation, from many years ago to destroy a person's life. he believes if these allegations are true, judge moore will do the right thing and step aside. some republicans are saying if true, wiggle room is cowardly. 2012 nominee mitt romney tweeted this. innocent until proven guilty is for criminal convictions, not elections. her account is too serious to ignore. he is unfit for office and should step aside. on this very day, the

federalist. what do they do? >> well, i think yesterday's reaction from them was widespread among republicans in the senate. you have to step aside. they were hoping that would work. to them it's inconceivable that a man charged with this kind of incident would continue to run for office. however they didn't account for roy moore and his supporters saying we are sticking with it. mitch mcconnell likes to talk about his record in throwing out packwood. it's a real, real test for these folks. >> yesterday when they were coming out of their meeting, they had just met to talk about the tax plan. members were not trying to tell reporters i will talk to you later. they were coming out trying to

make it clear they were not going to stand for this as a party and trying to get him to go ahead and bend out of the race and he definitely didn't do that. >> this is the cost of banking on a candidate as steve bannon and the right did in alabama who his selling point is that he bucks these norms. he would not step aside because he's in a battle that he talks about. that's the price you pay for this. he is not going to behave like a normal actor. i want to speak to the actual lawmaker who is came out of the meeting. they had few facts before them. it's a presumption of innocence. this account is not rolling stone rape allegations that i don't know how it got into print. as far as we can tell, they are activists and their name is on it and an mo matches up between the four of them. their reports and they did a lot of reporting around this. we need to be careful about how these are reported. you don't want one anonymous

allegation to bring you down, but you can say is this credible? >> this is jump the first accusations. as we learned with these other past cases with harvey weinstein and kevin spacey, more came out in an avalanche. that has to be concerns that the republican party is having. the politics seem to be easy and this seemed to be easy. putting the two together, the politics and ethics is a dilemma they are facing and they will have to choose. >> a number of conversations are at play. what would judge moore do? she not going anywhere. we will see what continues to come. one argument is this is the washington establishment and "the washington post." mitch mcconnell and the liberal media. to your point and i top the say it over and over again. they put their names and reputations at stake. these are not anonymous source. they have friends and family members and they told us about

these accounts. he can attack the media all he wants, but address what they are saying. did he spend time with them? we are not getting that yet. here's how it is back home. look at the month gomry advertisers. if he doesn't vote, will they write in a candidate or can the democrat win. >> a democrat couldn't win previously, but there is a possibility now. he is credible and put a lot of money into tv advertising. it's not inconceivable he could be washed out. i want to give credit to "the washington post" and they seem to be aware of the possibilities of this push back. they have it nailed down pretty well. i think the democrat could win

and we will just have to see how strongly the party now wants to get behind him. >> is there any if roy moore won this election that mitch mcconnell would refuse to seat him? >> there could be an effort and roy was appointed to replace barack obama. there was controversy around him. the democrats talked for a time about not seating him the way he got his seat from the governor. >> it will make the republicans uncomfortable if he is elected. it gives the democrats a good political point to say this is a party who is tolerating this alleged behavior. >> we sit in washington and there is a question does washington understand the country. alabama is different and way back in the day when this happened. culturally it's different. one of the mothers was enkourping her daughter to have this conversation. i understand we in washington need to take a deep breath.

i want to read you this reaction from the state auditor in alabama. mary was a teenager and joseph was an adult carpenter and became parents of jesus. do we want republicans on the record from california to maine? >> that's skip theurally wrong because they didn't have relations. >> that is. thank you very much for that. you va on the flip side and i top the play this again. i want you to think and again we will talk about this later. i want you to imagine this were a democratic candidate. do you think you would hear this from steve bannon? >> it's interesting. the bezos amazon "washington post" that dropped that dime on donald trump is the same bezos amazon "washington post" that dropped a dime this afternoon on

judge roy moore. now, is that a coincidence? that's what i mean when i say opposition party. right? it's purely part of the apparatus of the democratic party. they don't make any bones about it. >> i want to talk about the politics of that later, but right there. what does it matter? he was talking about the "access hollywood" tape. he was talking about conduct that if it happened is felony sexual assault. who records you robbing a bank whether liberal or conservative. he gets that video and it's still you. in the case of this story, these women are quoted by name. what is that? >> we center to remember that "the washington post" is a major national newspaper. they will break big stories. it's not a experience that a major national newspaper has major stories on candidates running for president or the u.s. senate. >> after tuesday's election the

republicans are more nervous about this. one. they have enough problems. >> they are looking at losing seats in the house certainly. they are all saying well, virginia is a blue state, but you better watch out. >> there is a lot more talk as president and he is back talking trade. asian allies with the message of america 50.

accused of obstructing justice to theat the fbinuclear war, and of violating the constitution by taking money from foreign governments and threatening to shut down news organizations that report the truth. if that isn't a case for impeaching and removing a dangerous president, then what has our government become? i'm tom steyer, and like you, i'm a citizen who knows it's up to us to do something. it's why i'm funding this effort to raise our voices together and demand that elected officials take a stand on impeachment. a republican congress once impeached a president for far less. yet today people in congress and his own administration know that this president is a clear and present danger who's mentally unstable and armed with nuclear weapons. and they do nothing. join us and tell your member of congress that they have a moral responsibility to stop doing what's political and start doing what's right. our country depends on it.

>> president trump's asia tour continued with a stop in vietnam. they shook hands as they posted the traditional class photo of all the leaders attending the economic summit. in a speech earlier, president trump talked tough on trade. >> we are not going to let the united states be taken advantage

of anymore. i am always going to put america first in the same way i expect you to put your countries first. >> mr. trump's first trip to asia has been fascinating to watch from afar from two of the frequency guests. traveling with the president, michael bender of the "wall street journal." ladies first. take us the water cooler talk and the most fascinating moment we have not been able to see back home here? >> i think the most fascinating moment is one we are still waiting on. whether president trump has this with aside with vladimir putin. there have not been deliverables so far. will he or won't he? & will he put more pressure?

when he was in the presence of china, saying how flattered he was and how much the relationship was great. he didn't deliver a touch message from china, but he did in vietnam. a lot of people question about what happened. why wouldn't you do that face-to-face in china? >> that seems to be their exact strategy. it is a tough needle to thread on one hand as you mentioned. he wants to be chummy with the president and i was in the pool for the day in beijing and the bond and the chemistry between them is undeniable. a lot of putting each other's hands on their backs and a lot of nodding.

that seems real. and trump wants to project that air of friendliness in the same room together. outside the same room to his back, he's a lot tougher and wants to project the message of strength. all presidents want to project an era of strength, but what he views back home. >> our country is doing very well from this standpoint. unemployment is at a 17-year low and so many other great things are happening to the united states ek economically. too many to mention. >> economic growth reached 3.2%

and going higher. >> he has a favorable economic str to tell, but the other leaders meeting with him are well aware his poll numbers in the united states are historically low. while the president has been on this trip, he was the big issue in a democratic roud in tuesday's elections. and donald trump's candidates shift and burned. the shift in virginia handed trump an embarrassing defeat. has this come up in the trip that he took a shelac back home? no, not at all. from beijing, sarah sanders came back as we were landing to deliver a statement on judge moore.

she was very clear in her statement that this is the last they want to talk about that. they don't want to have anything to do with it. there is not that many good ones to tell. the way from d.c., the president came back and they talked a little bit about it. as your viewers know well, she accumulated more power than any modern chinese leader. as i was going through the list of accomplishments for xi, he interrupted and said excuse me i have successes too. it's the stock market and the unemployment numbers am that's him hanging on to the one positive story he has back home. >> did it seem like a little bit of defensiveness when she was

responding to michael bender's question. it was also abe and the president was meeting world headers who are more powerful at a time when he still has the russia investigations and he suffered another political defeat while he was abroad. speaking to advisers before we went on the trip, they acknowledged that the president did feel like having this investigation hanging over him, that could be a distraction to him. in part because he was distracted by the russia headlines. even if they are not talking about it abroad, he can't escape the story. the russia headlines continue and political defeats continue at home even if that's not what they want to talk about when they are in vietnam. >> they want to talk about the foreign trip because they feel like they are having a good trip. it may not be a lot of

deliverables and how much the trade balance narrowed with china. at each stop, the staff was overwhelmed with the state dinner and performance they got. they feel like they are having a good trip and that's what they want to focus on. >> no gaffes would be a big accomplishment and they seem happy, but it's the headlines back home they can't steap. he might want to stay. appreciate you hanging in there. another, yes another twist in the dramatic tale of michael flynn's downfall. a potential multimillion-dollar pay out.

another spy novel twist to the special counsel investigation. this one involving trump adviser michael flynn. all along, the "wall street journal" said robert mueller and his investigators are exploring whether flynn while working in the trump campaign and transition was associating with turkey about forcibly removing a muslim cleric from the united states. turkey's president erdogan talked about applying a coop against his government. the investigation fork using on an alleged deal where flynn with the help of his son would get paid as much as $15 million to somehow seize the cleric and hand him over to turkey. ghoul in, by the way, has legal residency status in the united states and lives in pennsylvania. a spokesman for flynn denied the talks. what? again, innocent until proven

guilty, but if the special counsel is looking into while he was on the campaign payroll and while he was slated to become national adviser in the trump pedestrian during the trump transition had a consuling business and meetings with the turkish government or representatives to essentially -- >> do a special op? >> the two people about whom we talked most for the campaign and flynn are the two about whom we are finding out the most about trady sections and actions. >> it also speaks to the breath of this investigation. it seems like there is more pieces to this and this could be a story and a separate investigation. that's fascinating. >> and the white house is

telling the "wall street journal" we don't have such evidence. if it did take place, it happened not with standing. flynn was free lansing. i accept that as fact. maybe they knew nothing about this. again, this is the guy who campaigned saying i hire the best people. michael flynn -- a lot of americans have a second job and i say this rolling my eyes. $15 million to kidnap a guy and turn him over to the turks? >> this was a recurring issue. if it was free lansing, there was no protection between the candidate and people doing such free lansing. he was not low level, but there was no way to screen that or vet them or keep it away from the candidate. that's going to plague them as well. >> to build on that, it's amazing how much continues to come out of this investigation. this has been information that is leaking. think about what happened with the power that mueller has. the depth. this is growing and growing of an investigation and what could be coming out i think is beyond

our imagination. >> to me it's classic manafort and flynn. there seems to be a real rush to cash in at this time to take advantage. he's out of the military. it started like a real movie. if you picked up the hill on election day, there was an op ed by a guy named michael flynn. we should not provide a safe haven. that's on the morning of election day. the national adviser for the campaign. they put an amendment on this online for when flynn had to disclose and put in his forms

that he was consulting with the turkish government and making money in the campaign. >> erdogan is not part of it. >> the president thinks he is. >> the way that he is parsing that part and he is going to get worse. and that's not connected to the trump campaign. they were warned about michael flynn. we also know that the special counsel spoke out and when hope hicks gets back from this long trip, the president hopes this goes away as we are in november approaching thanksgiving and beginning to think about 2018. this is with us for a while, correct? >> no doubt. they are tapping on the inner circle. you rattled off the names. that's part of the reason why we

didn't see that. and this is a dangerous situation. in the past trump would have had the meeting and said who cares? this is a real risk. these republicans are going to make a decision about what they are willing to stick behind the president for. they picked up the pace at interviewing witnesses including keith schiller who came into the white house and he is more known as the president's security and body guy for year when is donald trump was still in the real estate business. he said in his testimony that

yes, that infamous dossier of when trump went to russia there was hanky panky. schiller said no, there was no such thing, but somebody in one of the meetings who he described as a russian or ukrainian offered to send women to trump's room and he said go away. then citizen donald trump and he both laughed it off as a joke. i don't know that i want to talk about the substance of that, but what does it tell you? are they getting back? >> i think you are right. if you talk to people, things come out. they are making headway there. i still think that committee itself is much more polarized on that than the senate intelligence committee and they are turning up a few things. it is very interesting that offer was even made.

that's coming true. he was very adamant that never happened. >> to be risky for them, i am unconvinced. i don't buy that part of it, but if you are talking to three or four different investigations, many of it being illegal to save things that are inconsistent and you will get in more trouble. that remains a problem for them. >> when we come back, the house and senate has a tax cut plan. and senate has a tax cut plan. is that good news or bad news?

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>> welcome back. big moves in both the house and the senate in the tax cut debate. is that proof of progress or problems? as republicans rush to achieve one of the big policy goals this year. the house ways and means committee approved their version. the full house expected to vote next week and the senate released their own plan. there are key differences. they cut the brackets from 7 to 4 and the senate keeps seven, but lowers the rates. thes en's repeals the property tax deductions. bad news for taxpayers in high tax states. it keeps the estate tax, but fewer would have to pay it. the senate plan waits a year before the corporate tax rate

takes effect. gop said all will be tiny in the end. they will negotiate a compromise. well, count rush limbaugh among the skeptics. >> we are exhausted. the senate republicans are torpedoing tax reform. the stock market is down 200. we want to delay the corporate tax cuts. we don't want to pay those. this is pure trump sabotage is whether or not it is going on. if it's trump sabotage, it's you being sabotaged. you who voted for him. that's what ticks me off. >> it is refreshing, isn't it? the love and the trust of our congressional republican leadership. you can write off what you hear from russia's chatter, but if you are conservative and you turn on talk radio whether it's rush or local boys, this skepticism is real. they remember the obamacare debacle and they don't trust

mitch mcconnell and they think they will mess it up again. is this right? . house and the senate passes. >> that's the hope. we will work out our differences and members of the senate are feeling the pressure. they know they can't do it again. they failed on health care because they lost three votes. it's not as if they lost 20. they are going into this and vote for whatever they need to be voting for. but they are not so sure about senator corker and jeff flake who offered some concerns about how much of the debt and deficit this bill could drive up. that's what a lot of members are worried about. >> it's the imperative that we have to do something or we are wiped out of 2018 and policy concerns whether you are the state and local income tax for

the states or deficit from another state or help me. you have been around as long as i have. there was a conference committee the way it's supposed to work that passed major legislation. i think they could pass a tax bill. in congressional terms, these are not irreconcilable differences. this is a hope they can do it. they better before the alabama election because if they lose another republican seat, we are going to -- >> if you are on the ballot in 2018, all politics are local.

>> increase the taxes of my firefighters and nurses who voted for trump. they are the ones who he thinks is being betrayed. this is not health care. this is a lot more momentum behind this. susan collins wants to vote for a tax cut. >> i would say that's what i'm hearing. this is a different temperature negotiation than the last one that was always a recognition that there were going to be two bills. they were talking with that in mind. the tax foundation and taxation and policy that have said this would provide tax reand this change in the house bill that they have something to pitch here. it does look different in the senate and dream the impossible dream. this is what governing can look like. we are early in the process and from what i hear, people feel like they are in a better place and they trust republicans more on taxes than health care.

obviously something that sells fairly well. >> there was criticism and the white house wants that as soon as possible. keep the train on the tracks. they are willing to work and they have measures that democrats are willing to work with. paul ryan was saying earlier that this has to pass. trust me. we are going to get this across the finish line. >> they said it about obamacare too. >> they scared it it into action and not inaction. people on the campaign are

saying look, the anger with washington has more to do with the lack of progress in washington including congress than anything trump is doing. >> it could cost them seats next year in blue states if they stick with the state and local tax. people will lose seats or retire over that. >> it's fascinating. they don't have that much time left. we will see if it carries over. steve bannon goes to war and establishment republicans are saying we told you so. be sensational! lash sensational full fan effect mascara from maybelline new york. our unique fanning brush reveals layers of lashes for the sensational full-fan effect. lash sensational mascara. make it happen ♪maybelline new york

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steve bannon loves to be in the middle of a storm and at least he is consistent. that is donald trump on the infamous "access hollywood" tape bragging about conduct that if true, would be felony sexual

assault. there are four women who risk reputations to say on the record that moore pursued them when they were in their teens and he was in his 30s. imagine if it was a democrat on that bus or if the story was about a democratic candidate. but this is about donald trump and roy moore so the altright said what you see, hear, or read doesn't matter. it's a media hit job. last night in addition defending moore, he bragged about how he helped through the "access hollywood" story. they don't care about locky room talk. they care about their count rye. i said we doubled down now. you are donald trump and they are not.

senate republicans keep roy moore out of the senate and that's the headline and republicans declared the judge guilty and they lead an establishment to push roy moore out of the senate race. my issue here and democrats are happy with steve bannon in recent days. i'm not sure they processed that, but democrats are happy. i don't want to go back to "access hollywood." it's not locky room talk. he is president of the united states and the american people had their say on that one. study the results from tuesday and that was off the chars in favor of democrats. do you want to invest your

defend your integrity in roy moore? >> he was right about trump. you are trump and you can get away with this? can roy moore do the same? i don't know. perhaps in al bam a. i will argue that will not work in virginia. will it work in the rust belt where they changed the game using this character as trump. the reason that bannon can say it's a hit job is the media has not been trustworthy. if you look back to the rolling stone and where the folks were railroaded and the lion of the senate because many kept quiet about that or bill clinton or what have you.

and mary good was reporting because someone was friends with weinstein. it has four women's names on it and we need to think about how to gauge believability and this lies in that category. >> if you think about not the fight, but the long-term trajectory of the movement or the party, one would think you would pay attention to what the people think. this is intensified. the establishment doesn't like bannon. the whole story is now part of this. they are arguing the age of concept for teens. josh holmes is a former aide who is part of that senate. he said this is what happens when you let reckless incompetent idiots like steve bannon recruit idiots who have

no business running if are the senate. >> this is a bad situation for mitch mcconnell with this hanging over him. it's a good argument against the attacks from steve bannon. this is what mitch mcconnell has been saying though he refuses to say his name and is now referring to it as an element in the party. they are going to push candidates who can't win general elections or have trouble or cause trouble or get in trouble. this was his first big shot in the war. they think they have a favorable map. you have to put in so many resources to defend candidate who is have won in states like

mississippi. does this man belong with us in the senate. thanks for joining us and i will see you here monday morning. be here for that. wolf blitzer in the chair after a quick break. have a great weekend.

it's 12 noon in birmingham, alabama. 1:00 a.m. saturday in vietnam. wherever you are watching for around the world, thanks very much for joining us. the alabama republican nominee for the u.s. senate seat accused of sexually abusing a 14-year-old girl when he was 32 years old. lawmaker steve bannon and the white house are all weighing in. michael flynn reportedly under investigation for an alleged plot to