welcome to inside politics. john king is off and i'm dana bash. we begin with breaking news. senate majority leader mitch mcconnell made a big move to pressure the alabama senate candidate roy moore to dropout of the race. he said i believe the women who accused moore of sexual misconduct when they were teenagers decades ago. he said the alabama republican should quit the race and told reporters that write in options are being looked at. roy moore shows no sign of stepping aside and said he will

sue "the washington post" over an article it ran alleging the sexual misconduct. four women to be exact told the paper moore pursued them when they were teenagers including who claims moore sexually abused her when she was 14 years old. even before mcconnell's comments, several republicans said moore should dropout now. as for the white house, they said moore should quit if the allegations are proven true. he denies the accusations and is digging in for a fight. >> these are completely false and untrue. >> breitbart news run by former

trump adviser and big moore booster steve bannon ran that headline the youngest accuser's mother said the post worked to convince her daughter to speak out. here with me now to share their reporting and insights -- they put it in contact. roy moore is an outsider. he is somebody who made a pledge to topple mitch mcconnell, the man who said he believes the women before any of this happened. it's not likely that roy moore will hear the senate majority leader tell him to dropout and he will say see you later, i'm out. not going to happen. it seems to me and i will start with you since you cover the hill every day and know the leader well, what he is trying to do is self preservation for republicans. >> assuming that moore doesn't

dropout, he is sending the signal that moore is not one of them and republican party will not tolerate this, if true. he is politically preserving the republican party. at least trying. >> trying to find another candidate presumably luther strange. do you divide the public and get a democratic senator. he wants to disassociate the brand as much as possible. mcconnell also is being careful in how he is pushing roy moore out of the race. this event is a tax reform advantage. he stepped aside and asked directly. out screaming from the

megaphone. he does not want to be an issue in this race. roy moore ran an effective primary and wanted to get rid of mitch mcconnell and he is worried about the republican brand. >> what are you said is telling. mitch mcconnell was at a tax event and we are talking about him saying that he believes the women who are accusing roy moore. roy moore should step aside. case and point and at least one of the examples of why they are pulling their hair out. >> here knocked off the talking points. this has to be a moment for mitch mcconnell. he said in public that the party has to stop nominating these people in a general election. it was clear he was talking about among others, roy moore. roy moore is a giant middle finger to washington, d.c. it's hard to imagine what he

said today will have much of an impact unless he gets shn to run as a write in. i think it's difficult to see over the path in which that doesn't divide the republican electora electorate. >> all weekend white house officials start going up to the line on saying roy moore should go in. the president was not very happy that the guy he endorsed lost, but in any event, what officials are doing is saying innocent until proven guilty. >> if more evidence comes out that proves he did this, then sure. by all means he should be disqualifie disqualified. that's a huge if. >> i want to make sure that we as a nation are not always prosecuting people through the press. he has denied the allegations and i read the stories. i heard not the testimony and the evidence, but what people

are saying publicly. i denounce that conduct and if true, he should step aside. >> i only know what i see on tv and read in the paper, but if the allegations are true, he should step down. >> what's your take? >> the idea that it has to be proven asks what is the standard of proof here? a lot of them said it has to be beyond a reasonable doubt. that's a criminal conviction. that doesn't persuade voters that they have to have that same standard. you have four women coming forward, all who don't know each other telling stories about how roy moore pursued them in their teens. three were not criminality. the age of consent is 16. it's wrong and creepy and moore didn't deny that he had dated teen when is he was asked did this happen? not generally, no. i think that is why you saw people like mike lee.

one of the most conservative people. mike lee is the furthest thing away from the establishment. they think that these allegations are very credible and serious. >> unless he drops out or the republicans find a way to get him not off the ballot because that's too late, but find a way to get a write in campaign or something along those lines, it will be up to alabama voters. i want you to weigh in and listen to what alabama voters told cnn. >> why didn't they come up seven or eight months ago. now all this stuff comes up. >> i'm a conservative republican. i vote republican. this is a country based on justice and on a person is innocent until proven guilty. that needs to sort itself out.

>> the moore supporters are going to leave this camp regardless of what the allegations are true or not. >> it's interesting if what's happening in alabama does reflect and in some ways it's different. it shows a tight race. in the democratic challenger, doug jones is a serious prosecutor and someone who never held local office before. all of us being equal is a viable alternative. it's a very republican state. the interesting thing to me is you have mcconnell and others talking about mounting a writing campaign and they talked about the reporter and basically threatened and anyone who gets behind a campaign that they never will be able to run for office in alabama again. you have the chair woman of the party and they did get that one interview. essentially pushing back hard in

a strong arm tactic and going to bat for moore. there is a disconnect between washington and alabama, but it's way too early to see how it plays out. >> this is a proxy between mcconnell and bannon, of course. in some ways he probably is pleased with the way this is happening. roy moore is the kind of candidate he says he has been warning against. they can't nominate people like this and you want to keep the majority and bannon is going after every single incumbent and trying to get mcconnell as majority leader. the out come of this can have repercussions for the larger fight and maintain the senate majority and the primaries and the key races. >> we were just quoting because we didn't have the tape, but we

have this now. >> do you believe these allegations to be true? >> i believe the women, yes. >> as usual he is straight to the point. he didn't make a lot of extra words. olivia, do you think this is just kind of the latest in the republican civil war or do you think the allegations are so unbelievable that this could be a turning point. >> i think this is different. not merely an argument over the federal government in american life. this is a different thing. allegations of serious misconduct by roy moore. the statute of limitations as run out, but roy moore might make it possible for us to have a conversation about these allegations being proven. if he sues "the washington post," he will be in a legal

setting in which these women would have a day in court. i don't think this is just another day in the republican civil war. >> even if he wins, the senate will be under immense pressure to investigate these claims. they said they couldn't take it up until they are sworn in. they give two thirds the power to expel and not necessarily exclu exclude. they would investigate and the standard threshold for believing it or not is clear and convincing evidence. it's more than a majority. >> one of the last times a republican senator was threatened with expulsion, the ethics committee was led by mr. mcconnell. that's your history lesson. up next, what the filipino government said president trump did not talk about in his meeting with its leader. - [narrator] imagine a shirt that actually makes

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i'll take that. -yeeeeeah! ensure high protein. with 16 grams of protein and 4 grams of sugar. ensure. always be you. a test of american values for president trump today as he appeared to trade in the mantle of human rights for an economic trade relationship and a warm welcome for us. the president's last stop is the philippines and his sweeping war on drugs. his tactics are crime against humanity deserving of a court date at the international war crimes tribunal. he endorsed the drug users and i would be happy to slaughter them all and favorably compared

himself to hitler. the filipino government said they didn't come you up at all. in public, no sign of animosity and talk of a relationship with disdain from reporters. the open session and i would like to get the media. leave us alone. >> sarah murray is traveling with the president and not leaving anyone alone. i am sure. sarah? >> it is unusual to see the disparity between the two sides. president trump has hardly gone on the foreign travels as the champion of human rights.

they made it clear that they are think about the trade deals and to see them go into the meeting and come out with different accounts about whether the issue came up. that is bizarre. later in a more formal read out said there was agreement about the importance of human rights and human life. some of the president's famous critics in the senate, members of his party are weighing in. john mccain took to twitter to mention that president trump doesn't seem to be hammering the human rights issue abroad using one of trump's own favorite phrases, saying "sad." >> this is something to be expected knowing the way the prosecute operates in a very

transactional way and sometimes that's not a pajurorative thiej. >> if it did or didn't come up briefly, why it didn't come up in public and why he didn't bring it up in a serious way, the u.s. has a long history of pressing on human rights issues in the meetings when the president travel and many brought this up. not that they have all been successful, but the warmth sends a message to people in the philippines and the world and other world leaders that this is not something that will get you in trouble with the united states if you go and basically shoot drug users in the head because they are using drugs. just that simple. they are called extra judicial killings. when you think about what's happening, even the president himself dragging that he himself had killed somebody.

going and killing people because they are using drugs. it's a pretty unbelievable situation. the idea that the u.s. is not a ser certing its leadership is something to take away. >> you and i covered george w. bush's trips to asia and we saw and we know that it's delicate. when you have to balance economic interest and other interests versus what has historically been what american presidents do. >> there is a tension between the two. there is a tension between values and interest. some define human rights as an interest. this administration, they talked about raising the issues in private. what they know from elite transcript of a phone call between president trump and their president is he is not

inclined to bring it up. we shouldn't pretend that they always work. i haven't seen signs that he does. when american president appears, they take questions. reporters as a way to show how it's done. they didn't do that there. and that's the trip. the president had the opportunity to do something. raise an issue with private quarters. it didn't. >> let's talk about the trip. he started out very strong. even his critics thought he gave a robust speech about north korea.

this weekend happened and he had his phone and boy did he take to twitter. i want to give examples of what we saw. let's dive in. when will all the haters and fools realize having a good relationship with russia is a good thing and not a bad thing? they are always playing politics. bad for our country. i want to solve north korea and syria and ukraine and russia can help. does the fake news remember what crooked hillary clinton was begging russia to be our friend and obama tied and had zero chemistry with putin. this is the crowd first. why would kim jong un insult my by calling me old when i tonight call him short and fat. that was the president of the united states, not your third

grader being upset about something he or she saw on social media. >> right. it's incredibly childish. i don't know what there is to say. this is probably the most tense international standoff in the world between the united states and north korea and the president popping off with obviously no help or guidance or probably knowledge of his hot foreign policy. >> kellyanne conway struggled to explain why the president did this. saying how was this helpful to the president's efforts to deescalate the crisis with north kor korea. she said look at the whole trip. these are the things that distract from the message. >> i want to read quotes from john kelly about the tweets.

he will try the best he can to deal with it. twitter is not one of them. look at the way he described it. someone said we all just react to tweets. we don't. i don't. i don't allow the staff to. we know what we are doing. i do not follow the tweets and find out about them, but for my purpose, we make sure the president is briefed up on what he is about to do. the tweets don't run life. good staff work runs it. i get that you sort of work in the universe that you are given, but he is basically saying i just make sure that the staff is working correctly and never mind that the president could just kind of shatter it all with one tweet. >> it's both practical and ridiculous. he has been fooling with the control and he knows he can't control twitter. nobody can. he's stating the obvious.

but he's also being likely dismissive of this as if it's a distraction when it's the voice of the president of the united states. people take it seriously and hear what he has to say. i think it's a lot of wishful thinking. >> this is a case where i wouldn't argue for north korea refrained from provoxative actions. he had policy stuff in there and diplomacy. he was offering an off-ramp out of the crisis. i don't think that the fact remains the product of the people around the present. he almost got through the trip with the former and not the

latter. the good staff gets a speech without the tweets. >> maybe it doesn't matter. we will talk more about this. >> and the russia relationship in general. president trump goes from one extreme to the other. how will the united states intelligence community respond? that's next. crohn's symptoms ae holding you back, and your current treatment hasn't worked well enough, it may be time for a change. ask your doctor about entyvio, the only biologic developed and approved just for uc and crohn's. entyvio works at the site of inflammation in the gi tract and is clinically proven to help many patients achieve both symptom relief and remission. infusion and serious allergic reactions can happen during or after treatment. entyvio may increase risk of infection, which can be serious. pml, a rare, serious, potentially fatal brain infection caused by a virus may be possible.

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>> welcome back. let's for a moment take a trip in a way back machine and imagine how a pair of key historic events may have played out in the presidents that took

the approach that donald trump is taking now. instead of ronald reagan saying mr. gorbichev, tear down this wall, he might have said if you want to keep the wall, you can. you said you like it. go back to president kennedy. imagine if he told agencies he did not believe that nuclear missiles were headed towards cuba because they said it's not true. that's the way president trump is still treating unanimous u.s. intelligence that russia meddled in the election after chats with russian president putin in vietnam, president trump emerged sounding confident russia didn't do it. why? because putin told him so. the outrage was too much even for trump to bear so he attempted to back pedal on sunday. >> i believe that he feels that he and russia did not meddle in the election. as to whether i believe it or not, i'm with the agencies as currently constituted with the

leadership. i believe in our intel agencies and worked with them strongly. >> a carefully worded statement from the president. he believes the intel community as it stands with the leaders he endorsed. let's take a look at what they have to say about russia's role in the election. >> i am confident that the russians meddled. >> i stand behind the intelligence. >> i have no reason to doubt the assessment of the intelligence community. it's acknowledged and accepted that russia definitely did try to influence the campaign. >> current members of the intelligence community, leaders under the trump administration. take it back around the table. i'm going to start with you, our international expert. >> what are do you want to know?

>> each your speech. >> the president strongly found the findings and walking back slowly and comes back around. i don't know how they are doing this back and forth. >> it has happened in the last 11 months. the fact that it's still happening even though you have all of his leadership in the intelligence community saying it's not true and after he talked on the sidelines with putin, i'm going to give you one of the many, many quotes from his unbelievable gaggle on air force one about putin. here's what president trump said. he said, speaking of putin, he absolutely did not meddle in our

election. he didn't do what they are saying he did. he said i didn't do that and i believe he means it. huh? >> that's what got him into hot water. it sounded like he was siding with putin. i didn't do it. fine. move on. he may have gotten help from a foreign power who said it's a ploy to make it sound like russians did anything to help with the victory. remember when the intelligence community did say that russians interfered with the elections to try to help president trump and this was an effort that was orchestrated by vladimir putin himself. they didn't say he tried to interfere with the process. that's something i think is hard for the president to acknowledge

personally. he may have benefitted. >> you are right. this is always and always has been a soft spot for the president. he believes any talk of russian meddling questions the legitimacy of his election which sends him off. they put it into question the legitimacy of american int intelligen intelligence. there have been important questions like the iraq war. let's look at the reaction. not a big trump fan, but understands the national security and history. there is nothing america first about taking the word of a kgb colonel over that of the american intelligence community. there is no principal cooperating to prop up the murderous assad reyeem that remains the biggest obstacle that would bring an end to bloodsh bloodshed. he believes otherwise is not only naive, but places our

national security at risk. i want you to listen to what two people called out by name. the reaction to what donald trump said. >> it demonstrates to mr. putin that donald trump can be played. they are going to appeal to his ego and play upon his insecurities. that's very, very worrisome. >> do you agree that donald trump can be played by the leaders. does that make you concerned about the security of the united states. >> i do. >> the honor guards and all the trappings and pomp and circumstance.

that appeals to him. that plays to his insecurities and i do think both chinese and russians think they can play. >> we all say this is just the president, but they make very important points. this is about establishing parameters in a relationship that could be very consequential and will be as issues erupt and as they are going up right now. >> it's naive for the president to say he believes and he didn't have anything to do with it. he thinks that's high level interference and that's unbelievable. i think it goes back to the president's habit of trying to be nice to someone. it doesn't work when you are on the international stage dealing with dictators. >> he may be feeling service as they continue as the house

judiciary committee and about to hear from jeff sessions. they warned him that they were pressing him and this testimony that house intelligence community is interviewing the russian lobbyist at the meeting in trump tower. there is a lot going on right now as both the special counsel and congressional committees are investigating for people in the inner circle. >> i'm sure it's uncomfortable, but he is feeding into the notion about why he is still being so nice to vladimir putin. stand by. up next. the clock is ticking on tax reform. we will let you know what the latest is after the break. ♪ well, well, well youuuu topped steak & twisted potatoes at applebee's. eatin' good in the neighborhood.

did yon the national debt?ssman get elected by talking tough will they stay true to their words? or did they promise you one thing... only to do another? right now, congress is talking about tax cuts that will add trillions to our national debt and hurt our economy. it's time to tell congress... don't borrow more money from china. and leave more debt to our kids. keep your word. tax cuts shouldn't add to the national debt.

republicans have just a few weeks left to meet a self imposed deadline for passing their tax reform bill. so far congress remains on schedule. the house is expected to vote on its version as soon as thursday. the senate can vote on their own bill next week. it is far from certain that republican leaders have the votes to pass either one. major differences. that's for medical cost and student loans. they kept a deduction for adoptio adoptions. the senate keeps the deduction for state and local taxes. the house keeps a more limited version and the senate kills it completely. that could be a deal breaker in the house where dozens of republicans know constituents

rely on the deduction. kevin brady called it non-negotiateiable. >> we want people to keep more of what they earn regardless of wherever they live including the high tax states. you saying the white house will not accept a total elimination and that won't fly even if the senate passes it? >> that's what i'm saying. >> okay. i'm not saying that chairman brady doesn't think it's important for all americans, blue or red to keep their deductions, but i will point out a fact which is that in the house republican struggle to keep their majority, they have a lot of vulnerable members in blue states where the deductions are a big deal. california 14. new york 9. illinois 7. new jersey 5. minnesota 3. >> that's going to be an issue. they push it through this week.

if there is any question falling short. there are significant differences on that. touch does it add to the deficit and people like jeff flake who are concerned about the numbers coming out on the senate. they want to push this through quickly. they can appease the members as well as just to get it through so they can pass it on in asome majority vote without democrats. >> the big problem in the senate, if you don't do this, you change it and undo part of the roll back, you have to fill

the hole another way. somewhere else we are talking about a lot of money. this is all a game of whack a mole. you give someone what they want and you have to take it away from somewhere else. the biggest question will be not weather the chambers are able to pass a bill. what happened when they go to reconcile them. they are making trade offs that are getting the bills through their own houses. the other thing that's notable is very few jeff flakes and fiscal hawks left anymore. they are waiting if are a tax cut, particularly middle class voters. steve mnuchin who was here yesterday described the middle class voters.

>> by simplifying the code, we put everyone on a level playing field. we have run hundreds of thousands of examples within treasury. for most people and it may not be 100%, but by far the majority provide little income tax relief. that's what we want to do. >> it is complicated. the tax code is complicated. many voters who are taking donald trump's word for it that this is not your father's republican party are waiting to see if their tax burden goes down. >> the voters who are going to end up worse off is about 7% of the country. the problem for the republicans in the country, they are in these high tax suburban distracts that hillary clinton won. they are not in the blue states. there are a lot of moving parts. you can't look at the state and local income tax without the

fact that they double the the standard deduction and get rid of the purchase. you have to look at it and see how it affects yourself. about 20%. a lot more discussion on taxes. we'll be right back with discussion about joe biden and 2020. david. what's going on? oh hey! ♪ that's it? yeah. ♪ everybody two seconds! ♪ "dear sebastian, after careful consideration of your application, it is with great pleasure that we offer our congratulations on your acceptance..." through the tuition assistance program, every day mcdonald's helps more people go to college. it's part of our commitment to being america's best first job. ♪ if yor crohn's symptoms are holding you back,

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which egg has better taste only eggland's best. and is the only egg i'll serve my family? eggland's best. better taste, better nutrition, better eggs. has there been a thought or consideration for 2020? >> not yet.

i say that not yet because i'm a great respecter of fate. i don't plan on running. kwleen things are going to be two years from now. you just don't know. i'm not doing anything to organize and run, but i will continue to do what i have done since i was 26 years old. >> former vice president joe biden talking to oprah winfrey, staying a bit coy about a presidential run in 2020. he is not ruling anything out. he has been spending a lot of time as part of the publicity tour he is watching for the new book, promise me, dad. beau biden died from brain cancer. he doesn't regret choosing no the to run out of concern for his family, but he regrets that he is not the president. you said joe lieberman may have to give it over.

>> not reliving the stretch of his life. it was clear when he went to the rose garden and said he was not running, he wanted to. he doesn't want to leave the political stage and wants to be part of the effort to shape the country. he's a man in public and always has been. >> she known as president obama's vice president. he also has a history with the working class voters that donald trump stole and lured over to the republican side, many of them in 2016. could he get them back? >> that's the theory that he could win the people over.

not the same baggage. he said something interesting. don't run for president. >> there is another thing about joe biden. he's not the youngest person in the world in his mid 70s. "saturday night live" had fun with the fact that he's not the only democratic leader who is a senior citizen. >> you love our fresh new ideas delivered by fresh new faces like me, nancy pelosi. >> and me, dianne feinstein. >> and me, chuck schumer. >> and yo soy tim kaine. >> and i'm team player donna brazile. >> and new players like hot young thing, elizabeth warren and that's right -- >> it's biden time. >> i'm still around too.

>> they have a thin bench to go after donald trump in 2020 and faces from the past. >> you had all these democrats lose. you had the huge backlashes. >> there is a long list of democrats under 50. thank you very much for joining us on inside politics. wolf blitzer is up after a quick break.

>> wherever you are watching from around the world, thanks very much for joining us. whiplash, russia interfered in america's election, but president trump praising vladimir putin and attacks his own