good evening. we begin tonight with roy moore and things left unsaid. new reporting on a possible reason why. and breaking news surrounding the allegations the republican candidate for senate from alabama. the lawyer for mr. moore taking aim late this afternoon at one of the accusers, questioning her credibility, in fact denying all

agsz against the candidate. we'll have more on that shortly. first, though, the silence about all of it coming from the white house. president trump stepped up to the microphone today under pressure to say something about roy moore. he talked for more than 20 minutes stopping several times for water as he recapped his 12 day swing through asia. now, remember he declined to talk about moore during the trip telling reporters aboard air force one rave been with you folks so i haven't gotten a chance to see much. he said he would make a major statement when he got back, but did not say on what. now that he's seen how the story is playing out, heard the calls from republicans for roy moore to get out of the race and more importantly now that he's got a national television audience to speak to, here is what the president said. >> should roy moore resign, mr. president? >> should he resign? >> he said nothing about his speech and did not answer any of the questions that were shouted at him. the question is why isn't the president weighing in.

a number of republicans including senate majority leader mitch mcconnell are proposing a way out for him. one that would also let him replace attorney general jeff sessions, namely persuading sessions to run as a write in candidate for his old seat. that seems like it would be pretty simple and would have the added benefit, at least for president trump, of removing mr. sessions from his attorney general post which according to the wrorting back in july president trump wanted anyway because of his anger over mr. sessions recusing himself from the russia investigation. other republicans, including senator lindsey gram just today wanted the president to speak out for no other reason than he's head of the republican party. and his daughter xianga has spoken out. there's a special place in hell for people who pray on children. yet from her father so far nothing. and again, the question is why. well, according to new cnn reporting it has to do with stories like this. >> then the meal finished and the stewardess cleared away the dishes and everything else like that, and it was like suddenly

he's liken kroechg on my side of the seat. and his habds were everywhere. >> did he say anything? >> no. and i didn't either. >> you didn't say anything to him. >> i didn't say anything. >> you say his hands were everywhere. can you be specific? >> well, he was grabbing my breasts and trying to turn me towards him and kissing me. and then after a bit, that's when his hands started going -- i was wearing a skirt and his hands started going towards my knee and up my skirt. and that's when i said i don't need this and i got up. >> that was my conversation with jessica leads last october accounting an alleged incident back in is the 79. misleads, one of a string of women accusing then candidate donald trump of a variety of sexual misconduct which our source or republican familiar

with the matter said he's worried about the conversation moving to his pasta could you sayers. the source noting that the president still believes and again this is the source talking that his accuser were unfair and some of moore's may be too. the prosecuted, of course accident denies all allegations against him. but again this is a republican source. and so that point members of the moore campaign spoke to reporters late out. it was not to get out of the race. so this press conference today was not exactly what people expected. >> no, because it was happening at the same time as appear emergency meeting of the state dp op, the belief was that this might be something substantive about the future of the campaign and ned it ended up being much about handwriting. so what the attorney for roy moore said is he wants the public to decide. so here it is. take a look at these three

handwriting samples. what the attorney said is look at the way his handwriting looks. to your right is what it looked like in 19 # 99 when he was vieng as a judge and below that is the year book, the year book is beverly nelson showed at that hearted break en-- look at the way those two letters look, anderson. now it looks like it's going even further. legal wrangling over the year book. indeed a very messy next step. >> what else did morris' attorney say. >> the next part that he said fts quite interesting to us. you may recall after she had her news conference shegd that she didn't have any further contact with moore since that incident when she was of years old. the attorney came out very hard and he said he this did have contact because moore was the judge when nelson got divorced.

but here are the big questions. did she ever have to appear before moore and then we should point out that when nelson had that new conference, shortly after that moore came out and said that i don't even know the woman. i don't know about her, yet today he's saying he was now the judge presiding over her divorce case. >> appreciate that. late today the accuser's lawyer reacted speaking to wolf blitzer when asked whether they'll turn over the year book in question, gloria allred said this but only if moore does this. >> is he or is he not going to stand up and take the oath and swear to tell the tloout before the united states senate before the public, not only in alabama but before the nation. which he is ready for it, if reese ld for it, if the senate will conduct that needed hearing prior to the election that we

have made our offer to allow an independent examiner to examine this. we think that's reasonable. put until then if he wants to evade, avoid, deny, distract, threaten to sue, try to smear, try to discredit, we're not going to allow ourselves to be distracted by all of that noise. let him step up, let him testify and then everyone can draw their conclusion about who is telling the truth. >> wolf also asked her about the divorce case that moore's attorney raised. >> but gloria, just acknowledge whether or not she knew that he was the divorce judge in that 1999 case. did she appear before him? was she aware that judge moore was the judge in that divorce proceeding? >> all of these questions will be cansed -- >> why not can ka you answer that nu? it's a simple question. >> because this is not a senate hearing, last time i checked.

and we're not going to put everything out there unless and until -- >> but gloria, it's a simple question whether or not she knew he was the judge in that divorce proceeding. you know, we'll go back to the records, but i assume you've discussed this with her. >> well, of course i never would disclose what i would discuss with a client that might be attorney-client privileged, confidential information. that was not discussed at the press conference and she did not discuss it one way or another. and there's a lot that senator -- well, sashd former judge roy moore has not discussed. a lot that he hasn't disclosed. so let's do it in a hearing. and want be distracted by anything else. >> gloria all red on "the situation room" this evening. i want to bring in our plit legal panel. mark, does it make sense to you

that gloria allred would not, a, hand over to some neutral party this year book for analysis or to even answer the question about what -- what miss nelson knew or did not know? >> well, the year book, i think, even if you have an independent expert look at it, the independent expert is going to want what's called an exemplar from the time. you can't really -- most handwriting experts are never going to be able to sef conclusively based on somebody who is 70 now and was 30 something at the time. they're going to want exemplars. they would need something to compare it with at the time when he was 32, 33 -- >> when he was the assistant district attorney there must have been plenty kpafls of his handwriting from back then. >> right. and so that's what they would need. and question, i would think that turning over the year book would

clear this up, although taking a look at it, a layperson can testify in most jurisdictions as to handwriting. the thing that's more trouble, inning, for the accuser is the part about the divorce poe. and that's where somebody needs to do some investigation. somebody needs to go down there, look at the court docket sheet. see if it was just assigned to judge moore dh happens on many occasions or whether he actually presided over it. and genl the document court will show whether she appeared in court, in front of the done or all done without her presence and by haurg. that to me would tell you dwiebt. if in fact she had appeared in front of him, that's something that i most people that i know that if through divorces, recall the name and everything that happened about her divorce case. so that would be something that would be very kernel if i'm

reting the accuseser. i'd want to know that and i'd want to see the docket sheet. >> i'm wondering what you made of the press conference from moore's phone. >> i just have to say this point on gloria allred, when i listened to her call in to wolf blitzer's show earlier, i was just shaking my head in disbelief that she is asking for a senate hearing on a campaign issue. roy moore is not a u.s. senator. the u.s. senate is not going to hold hearings about a campaign iesh. if roy moore is elected, perhaps the senate ethics committee would take a look into his past history, but only until he's a u.s. senator would ever happen. she i think is clearly asking for something that will not happen so she can perhaps throw a fit about. i don't know because her request is so unreasonable and i think makes her client look bad. >> david, i mean, the take away from the roy moore campaign had to be he's not backing and down and he's not dropping out. >> what a mis. this is a nightmare for the republican party. i for the life of me cannot

understand in steve bannon hasn't seen that he ought to protect his old boss and friend and get roy moore out of the race. it seems to me steve bannon is the one that bears responsibility for roy moore. i would think to protect his friend he would ask had i am to get out of the house and settled once and for all. this looks bad forth the republican party, the president, it doesn't look good for gloria allred. i think most people are shaking their heads and saying what if it goes on many or damages. the democrats are going to win that seat and that's going to be a blow to the president. steve bannon ought to step in the way and take that bullet. >> ed, how do you see it? well, look, david summarized it pretty well. i think a lot of people looked bad. yipg it was a great conference by the roy moore camp. i thought it was confusing. at the end of the day alabamans get to vote on this and it feels

like a political hit, but it feels like ran orchestrated effort. gloria allred comes in. she tries to go a little too far of hammering home her idea of a hearing. the alabama people are going to decide between a washington most fight and roadway moore and it comes down to things like the next supreme court judge who is going to decide on amorgs and thimgs like that immigration and that's where roy moore wince. they have drafts of the lawsuit against the "washington post." i think roy moore if he's going to sue. if he really believes like he said he ought to sue and then he can say out to the public i will be in court and these women will get their day in court. mitch mcconnell should apologize. if there's a legal proceeding. i'll wait until the case is over

and then the senate will act of the this is a mitt cal heat on roadway moore and he's got to fix it, though. >> i do think there is a more elegant solution that involves not steve bannon taking a hit but perhaps the sitting senator luther strange. he could simply resign his seat and trigger a new election. he would resign from the seat. governor kate eye have i would appoint a new senator in the place and have a new special election where the people of bachl could vote with this information in mind. is that necessarily fair to the democrat running in that race? no. but these are tools that they do have at their disposal to exercise if they so choose. >> from a standpoint, does it make sense to you that -- roy moore is threatening to sue. ed is saying they're preparing for that. there's a lot of people who threaten to sue and then never actually follow through because if he was to sue he would have to go through the whole deposition discovery process and

he would have to answer questions. >> yeah. except the timing of this is march for him because he can sue right now. he can sue tomorrow. he can file on friday. he does not have to serve it immediately. he could literally sue. he would have his kmant out there and it would be not be sfonded to -- he wouldn't have to do a deposition. there would be no discovery in this special election. so if east -- >> let me finish. okay. >> alabama procedure i looked up alabama procedure and it looks like in this kind of case they could try to expedite depositions actually and do it rather quickly. there is a risk of that. if you want to solve it politically if i'm roy moore i follow that lawsuit tomorrow and put jeff bezos and then i go and i say i'm willing to put myself under oath in this lawsuit and the wm will get their day in court. they will be there too and then if he doesn't want to go through

with the lawsuit in six months you can drop the lawsuit. >> he could file the lawsuit and literally dismiss it the day after the election and that's the end of that. >> exactly. >> david, what do you think of the whole idea of a little lawsuit? david gergen? >> oh, i'm sorry. i didn't understand. listen, what about the other two women? there are now six women who have come out here. come on, guys. you know, this is a question of class and being a gentleman. he ought to recognize, as so many people tried to tell him, that this is really hurting his party. its hurting his president and he can say, look, i didn't do this but for the sake of my friends and my party i'm stepping out of this. there's a simple way to solve this. >> we should look at what roy moore's job was today. his job today was to make the case to conservatives and people in alabama that he had an

explanation. he did not. instead he chose to question the handwriting in the year book. he chose to threaten more lawsuits against reporters and he sent have anything else. he had to come up with an explanation, and all he has is more bluster. he dient do his job today. >> we've got to take a break. we'll talk to ed and everybody else. we'll continue this discussion. also the growing calls from republican senators for moore to step down. it's time for the sleep number semi-annual sale on the only bed that adjusts on both sides to your ideal comfort your sleep number setting. and snoring? does your bed do that? it's the final days of our semi-annual sale, where our c4 mattress with adjustable comfort on both sides is now only $1499. save $300. ends sunday.

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president weigh in and join your calls for roy moore -- >> well, that would be up to him, but he's the head of the party. it would probably be good if he'd say something. >> senator graham there referring to moore allegedly being on a watch list of sorts at the local shopping mall back in the 80s and back now with the panel. i mean, david, the silence from the president today, sources tell cnn he's worried the conversation would shift to his pasta could you sayers, all of which of course he's denied. politically speaking is not saying anything about this the safest play for him? >> i think, anderson, look, he has a flip i excuse today. he wanted to talk about his trip and he didn't want to step on his own story, but i think he's got 24 hours more to say something. he is president. this is a really important test of his presidency. his whole agenda, where he stands. he may catch some flak for it, but that's what being a leader is. he's got to step up and do a tough thing and he's got to get this guy out of the race for the salk of his own party and his own agenda. >> ed, as a supporter of the

president, how do you see it, because the flipside is he already weighed in to tell people to vote for luther strange and he got a loss on that. does he really want to weigh in on this. >> no. i mean, i see it exactly the opposite of david gergen on both points he just made back to back. one he says the guy gets accused, therefore the classy thing is to quit. i think if that's the standard then no one will run for office. lindsey graham has been accused of all times of things in terms of his own private life. if the president comes out and says to alabamans i'm going to take away your right to choose, and if he does that, evangelicals and kesht catholics will look up and say, boy, why is he weighing in on the wrong side of that? what he should say is this. roy moore should stand up and say i will go in court. i'll suit the "washington post" and the women will get their day and rile get my day and we'll get to the bottom of this.

until then don't judge this guy and smear him. where do you go ba to get back your reputation after david gergen says your classless on national tv if you incident do it. and david doesn't know he did it and david doesn't know if the women are true. there's a part of this that's the borm part of our political system. >> well, listen, sir, you're so wrong on so mp points i'm not sure where to go with this. >> if you want dab. >> that is absolutely true. it's absolutely true we do not know the truth. going for a lawsuit is only going to postpone the whole thing until after the elections. it is a transparent way to avoid the issue before the election. >> no, it's not. >> i don't think it's very honorable. i have known all sorts of people who left public life, not because they had done something wrong but because they thought there was a standard of loyalty to their party, to their white house, to their president. and they did what i think is an

honorable thing. they fell on their own sword. you can pull out all sorts of legal ichls and did he tours and -- >> there's no -- it's moral. >> but face the truth and that is that the republicans who represent the bulk of this party in washington, d.c., you may not like them, but they're trying to preserve a party and preserve an agenda. and they say get out of the race. period. get out. that's what the message is. >> let me ask you, for those who care about the president's agenda, i mean, it is -- you know, scott jennings made this point last night. if roy moore loses and a democrat gets elected, the president's agenda is in real danger. >> yeah. well, he is boxed into silence on this topic right now because he can't speak to the sunl of a man being accused of sexual assault. that's nobody one. but also, he cannot speak to a possible write-in campaign because i think the president does prefer this option because it would take away jeff

sessions. they are coalescing around session and having some kind of write in campaign against roy moore. why can't donald trump talk about that? because donald trump would like nothing more than to get jeff sessions out of the department of justice and to get a more favorable attorney general who can help block the witch-hunt hoax russia investigation. if he were to come out and advocate that he should rn for that seat the democrats would have a lum political gift for anything to do with russia going forward. therefore he can't talk about roy moore at all. >> there was something that what the attorney for moor support say at this press conference. he raised this idea that moore had been involved in the divorce proceedings for mrs. nelson, which actually contradicts, it would seem to contradict what judge moore himself had said, which he did not know anything approximate this person. didn't know this person. and there's still obviously nothing said about the allegations made by the woman whofts 14 years old at the time

she says roy moore initiated a sexual encounter with her. >> well, as far as the judge knowing somebody was in front of him, you know, and mind you, i'm no fan of roy moore, but in defense of judges who handle thousands of cases a year, the idea that they're going to remember a specific litigant from 1999 is slim and none unless there was significant about it. so that doesn't cut off -- or cut off any kind of credibility. i mean, the lawyer for moore had a really bad day today when he was doing an interview and so today was not a great day for the lawyers involved in this case. it seems like everybody was having problems. i think that to bring it full circle to what we discussed before, david gergen i think makes the most telling people. maybe i'm getting outside my lane. i think at the end of the day this is really going to turn on steve bannon.

steve bannon is the one. if bannon pulses the support, if steve pulls the support in this case, then i don't think he's got a way to go. i don't think there's a path to victory. bullet if bannon sticks with mim, i'm not so sure that alabama get -- appleness don't get their ire up and say we're not going to be dictated to by establishment washington republicans. and i don't think -- i think this idea of a write in the campaign. this isn't lisa murkowski in alaska. i jent ent dwon if that's a real thing. her solution makes some sense. if he resigns and she appoints somebody or cancels the election, this is one path for the republicans. >> you more than anyone obviously p the president's agenda to move forward. >> yeah. >> do you fear if a democrat is elected that that's suddenly the

president's agenda is more vulnerable. >> yeah, you bet. >> and there are worth -- if roy moore is the cost of preventing that, is that worth it? >> no. look, if a democrat wince this election the blame are lie right at the feet of guys like mitch mcconnell and paul ryan and everybody and as i understand see gram who said they want to look -- >> we could also say the blame would go to roy moore for what people believe are his actions -- >> anderson, if you believe he did all that, that's okay. but if he doesn't think he did, then he has a right to tanned up and say i didn't do it. i think what the president should say, the people of alabama should decide who they want to represent them, and after they decide we'll have a discussion on all these other things. i think the best thing would be some mechanism, a lawsuit by roy moore dpeps the wash post would give the women -- menendez is in court and no one is saying we're

going to expel him. he's in court for being indicted and they're saying we'll wait and see what the judgment is. in this case no, no. i think it's really unfair and alabamans i think are going to reject it. america may not. you may say oh, my, moor is bad. we want a pro life justice replacing ruth baseder ginsberg. >> that is one of the concerns certainly for the president weighing in that, you know, that for the people in alabama who support him and again, there are a lot of people. we've seen them at the ral riz. that he already in his opinion, i guess, made a mistake on backing luther strange. that didn't work out and then for him to weigh in against -- on a states rights issue sh does that look bad for him? i would assume that's part of the consideration for him. >> i don't think any great option for the president in which he doesn't come out with some wounds. but it does seem to me that the

best option from his point of view that jeff sections on the ticket or be a write in candidate that people can unite behind. and you put these other arguments aside, we know for some time now that jeff sessions has had tense relationships with the president any way and he seems to be unhappy in the job. he lost his own job. so i thought from the beginning and said so last week that the russians option is the best waun for the president and for the waert every party. but i think somebody has to -- there are six women involved here, you know. what we're being told by the moore people is you can't believe any of them. all six are lying. is that really credible? >> well, we'll end it on that. everyone, thanks. roy moore is drawing on his deep ties. in a moment we'll talk with the president of the southern baptist -- me, your dry skin.

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hey xfinhey guys...e netflix. youtube people getting scared. [screaming] but what about that one? [screaming] tv that's more than tv is awesome. get netflix, youtube and more. now on xfinity x1. xfinity. the future of awesome. there's more breaking news out of alabama tonight. two new accusers coming forward. the "washington post" has the story. their headline, two more women

describe unwanted over tours by roy moore at alabama mall. joining us on the phone from gadsden, one of three reporters on the by line, beth reason heart. if you could just explain what you've been reporting. >> so we were aware last week that about fourteen age girls that roy moore when he was in his early 30s, he was a local prosecutor pursued and one of the women we heard about was 14 when roy touched her sexually. and as a result of that story some women have been encouraged to come forward. and one of them wrote about in a story posting tonight a woman named gena richard son who was a high school sister working at the mall at sears when roy moore approached her, asked her for her number. she declined. they then was in school a couple

days later in trig class when she heard she got a call. she thought oh, my goodness, is it my dad. she went to the office and it turned out to be roy moore asking her out on a date. >> what age was she -- she was a senior in high school you're saying? >> yeah. she was 17 or 18. >> and do you know what happened -- i mean, roy moore actually called her through the school, she's saying. >> he called her at school. she said i can't talk now i'm in trig class. so he came back to see her where she worked and asked her out again. she relented. she met him that night at the movies. and they went to a movie and then he offered to drive her to her car, which was on the other side of the mall parking lot. and sort of, you know, grabbed and kissed her, at which point she got kind of nervous and said i really need to go and left. and then when he would come back

into the mall she would sort of hide from him. and this was at a time in the late 70, early 80s he was gaining this reputation around the mall. we talked to a number of women around the mall who back then were asked out by him. some of them did go out on dates with him, but they say he was a constant presence at the mall and, you know, his -- he was constantly going after girls who were teenagers or early 20s. >> and is this -- you said this is the one person. is there a second person who has also come forward? >> yes. yes. there's another woman that we have an on the record interview in our story posting this evening. she worked at another store -- >> in the same mall. >> yes. and she zriebds how roy moore would come in frequently, ask

her out. she would say no. he persisted. she finally complained to her manager at the time and so it just seems that he was, you know, constantly at the mall and asking girls out, some of whom thought it was flattering and did go out with him. some of whom felt very uncomfortable about it. >> were you able to confirm with the person who was the manager at the time? >> unfortunately, that manager has passed away. >> i see. there had also been reports i think the first one was, if i'm not wrong, on alabama.com, i believe, talked to somebody who was in a record store last night who remembers their being questions raised about roy moore and being told to alert store security or mall security if mr. moore was seen in the mall. have you heard anything more about that? . >> we have heard that, but

what's in the story that we posted tonight is really what we substantiated on the record, which is, you know, we quote women who talk about being pursued by roy moore when they were teenagers and as much as we could we corroborated their stories. >> and beth, obviously the question some people would ask is why is it now that these women are coming forward. what do they say to that? >> well -- >> or what's your sense of that? >> i would say that the women that we talked to, for example, this high school senior, you know, contacted the post after she saw the story that we wrote last week, which included an account of a woman who when she was 14 roy moore picked her up around the corner from her home and took her to his house and touched her. so she read that story and she contacted the post and she said i want to tell you what happened to me. and she told us a story about

how he had called her in trig class and asked her to the movies. >> appreciate it. thank you very much. i want to bring back in the panel. amanda, i mean, you know, often, you know -- i think somebody on the show said last week this is early days. thoo these are the first reports coming out, who knows what's coming out. we're hearing more women coming forward saying something happened with them. >> yeah. i think the people of alabama have to take a look. these are their sisters, daughters, wives, aunts coming out and saying this happened to me. and this isn't going to be an issue that is settled by the washington post or mitch mcconnell or someone else in washington. the people of alabama have to decide this issue. and republicans in alabama in particular. the governor of alabama is a woman. her name is kaye ivy. she's running for re-election in 2018. she is going to have the

spotlight on her because she does have the tools to do something about this. she has not wanted to make any adjustments. she has said very recently that i will vote for roy moore. i no reason not to. i think she needs to come under a lot more scrutiny because she has the power to delay an election. she has the power if luther strange resigns to appoint someone else. the people of alabama have to stand up because they will either lose this election and hand it -- the of alabama will hand the seat to a democrat or they can say this is not a man who will represent our party and we are going to take action and change things. and i will be deeply disappointed if a female governor does not do something soon. >> ed, does it creep you out at all the number of people just alone in this mall who have now come forward and said, oh, yeah, he used to troll around here. >> yeah. when you describe behavior to

me, when that reporter describes behavior to me or wherever the magazine described ted kennedy and senator to do, what they did to that waitress, it creeps me out. here is the question and i would add beth reason heart to the lawsuit. i'm not saying it's this, but i'm saying when you do an opposition play you go piece by piece. there's no knock out blows. it's death by a thousand cuts and roy moore is being cut a thousand times. i'm not saying these women aren't being truthful. i don't know. but the people of alabama deserve to make the decision. and i want to know now whether the "washington post" had this information three months ago and waited until after the primary. and look, this is all factors and we're not going to know before the election and i think the people of alabama get to decide who they want to represent them. by the way, this thing about sessions coming in. they did polling. sessions won't win a write in. it's not mark's thing.

that sessions thing is a red herring. the question is going to be these two guys, who is it going to be and the people are going to decide. and i hope just like what they did with frum -- anderson, i sat in the top executive in one of the other networks and he told me we never thought trump could win after billy bush and he won. we p don't know what the people -- the people on these shows can tell you they don't want the "washington post" telling them who is a good guy and who is a bad guy. it's not going to work. >> throwing out the possibility that beth reason heart and these other reporters are did he famg -- but for you to go through and say that beth reason heart are potentially did he famg people, i think you should possibly be fonl for that too. perhaps you should quit -- >> what i'm saying is that that's what a lawsuit, if roy

moore is saying -- >> well, until someone actually puts their name on a complaint i think people should quit talking about suing the press. they never do. ask donald trump. >> ed, donald trump certainly has talked about suing people all the time and doesn't actually end up suing people. >> anderson, you can't have amanda say that roy moore doesn't get to defend himself -- these women haven't filed suit. if the standard is -- >> the statute of limitations is out the window if it happened 30 years ago but roy moore keeps saying i'm going to file suit. quick talking about it and just do it. >> go ahead, mark. >> i was just going to say, the filing suit, there are some practical consequences. you know, that was kind of the approach that bill cosby took, which is filing against his accusers. it's been kind of the approach that some of these other hollywood types have taken where they're filing suit against the accusers. that's generally not a grat path

to go down. and i think ultimately at the end of the day it's one of the reasons the president has probably not weighed in is he's probably got his lawyer yelling at him just stay away from this. this is the last thing you want to do. you yourself have got exposure here. >> we're going to leave it there. appreciate -- david, quickly. >> yeah. we now have, what, six or eight women who have come forward. how many people has roy moore come forward who worked at the mall who said, yeah, we knew roy moore and he was a gentleman. he wasn't produced one single credible witness on his behalf and he has a responsibility to people to do that and he has a responsibility as a republican to his party. he is not simply oi man on his own. he is representing a party. and most people who do that have some sense of loyalty to the party. >> we've got to leave it there. thank you. i want to look kroeser at the moral and ethical dimensions

here. joining us now is russell moore. it's always good to have you on. so roy moore says this is a spiritual battle. is this a spiritual battle, in your opinion? >> well, yop generally like it when people use the language of spiritual warfare about their political ups and downs because i believe it's real. i actually believe there is such a thing as spiritual warfare. and so i think we need to use that language where it's appropriate. and where it's appropriate is in tell us of the gospel of jeetsz christ. and that's what concerns me here is people who are turning away from what they see as a cynical use of religion all across the country and in -- all across the political spectrum when that's not what christianity is. christianity is not about who is up and who is down in terms of political polling. christianity is about the good news that god has -- >> we have heard supporters in alabama saying -- talking about

biblical precedent about, you know, the age of men and women who were involved in each other in the bible. they've talked about -- they've compared this to lawn mowers, what do you think? >> my blood pressure has been elevated in recent days with people suggesting that even when such horrible things take place that it's the equivalent of mary and joseph. no, it's not. or as i heard one person say on television, i believe it was yesterday, that this would be a misdemeanor and so it would be the equivalent of stealing a lawn mower. stealing a lawn mower. that's the most horrifying sort of moral relativism that i can imagine, especially when we're living in a country where there are so many women and girls who have their lives being crushed by a powerful men who are using sexual advances and sexual

assault against them. we need to have the moral clarity to come out and say sexual assault is always immoral and always wrong. >> the executive director of the billy graham center for eadvantage lichl told worshippers this week that the proper christian responses to say i believe you and show mercy. do you agree with that? >> well, yes, i think that one of the things i've heard in recent days is from a lot of evangelical women who are coming forward and talking about their own experiences. and in many cases there are women who believe that they won't be received, that they won't be believed if they come forward and say identify had this happen to me when it's somebody who has relative power within whatever community that is. the church needs to be very clear in saying that we're not about who has the most power. that we're going to administer to and care for vulnerable women and girls.

and many, many kesht evangelical churches are doing that right now. some of the best ministries that i see to hurting women who have been through sexual violence are in gos elchristian evangelical churches. and so i think we need to make that very clear. and that means also from the very beginning post ors and leaders standing up and talk to go people in the congregation saying we will be here for you if you have experienced this sort of hurt. >> that's what jesus has called us to do. >> doctor russell moore. i appreciate your time. thank you. >> thank you, anderson. >> coming up next, the senate gop tax reform plan now includes a partial repeal of obamacare. the latest from capitol hill and why republican aides say they feel good about the bill's chances. we'll hear from bernie sappeders thinks. he joins me ahead. and respond 60 times faster. it lets you know where your data lives, down to the very server. it keeps your insights from prying eyes, so they're used by no one else but you. it. is. the cloud.

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will wi congressional republicans tax reform plans from moving ahead at a steady clip, and an

added clip, the senate gop version has partial obamacare repeal. phil mattingly joins us from capitol hill. how confident are senate republicans they can get this bill through? >> reporter: one senior gop aide told me they compared to where we were in a great place. that same aide acknowledges it's a low bar. and frankly, they've added health care into this. th that's a concern for people like senator susan collins who has concerns about the mandate. you have people like bob corker or jeff flake who have concerns about the deficit implications of this and then you have a firm "no" vote, at least at this point. senator ron johnson coming out tonight, not with concerns about the individual mandate, but concerns about pass-through entities that pay taxes on the individual side of things saying what the bill does doesn't go far enough for him to try and assuage his concerns here. all this really underscores, anderson, is that this is a policy thicket, and one that is still going to be very complicated. even though republicans are moving well, even though they believe they're on a good track right now, there are a lot of potential roadblocks ahead, a

lot of things bubbling under the surface. i will note president trump called senator johnson shortly after his opposition became known and tried to make clear they will try to figure out a way to get him "yes." this white house is engaged here, republican leadership is engaged here the big question remains, can they get it across the finish line. >> republicans say the bill will benefit the middle class. is that, in fact the case? do we know? >> reporter: at least for the senate proposal we don't, and that's because they've been moving so quickly. they just introduced their latest proposal last night, around 10:45 p.m., some good bedtime reading, i will note. and they don't have the distribution tables that say what this will actually do. but we do have a sense of the places where it would help people and the places where it might not. obviously there's an expansion of the child tax credit. that's a big deal. there are rate cuts on the individual side, particularly targeted to middle income individuals. but all of the individual side tax cuts and provisions would sunset, would expire all together in 2025. that would be problematic. particularly, and democrats are certainly pointing to this, when you look at what's happening on the corporate side. the slashed corporate rate from 35% to 20% that's made

permanent. other corporate side also made permanent as well. and you also have to factor in, which i've heard from susan collins, obviously still on the fence on this right now, the idea that repealing the individual mandate, the cbo projects over the course of ten years, each year that would raise premiums on average by 10%. for an individual who is getting -- or family who is getting a tax cut and then is facing premium hikes, that might cancel everything out. so those are all the dynamics at play right now. we're still waiting for the final distributional tables to get a real sense of what this senate bill will do. no question about it, the answer to that question, who this will actually help, will it help the middle class, that might dictate whether this bill has a future. >> phil mattingly. phil, thanks. i spoke earlier with senator bernie sanders for his take on the tax plan. here's that conversation. >> senator sanders, were you, first of all, surprised to see the repeal of the mandate as part of the tax bill? obviously, i know you're against it. i'm wondering why you think it's such a bad idea? >> it's a bad idea, anderson, because it's going to throw 13 million americans off the health insurance they currently have, including about six million people on medicaid.

it's going to raise premiums by about 10% for ordinary americans. it's going to be devastatingly harmful to rural hospitals all over america. on top of all that, the reasons the republicans are doing that is in order to give huge tax breaks to corporations and make them permanent. anderson, what this whole business is about, you've heard me talk about this for a long time, is the power that big money has in american politics as a result of our corrupt campaign finance system. gary cohen the other day, the president's chief economic adviser, said the people most excited about this legislation are the ceos of large corporations. and i got to admit, he is absolutely right. billionaires and millionaires have bought hundreds of millions of dollars into the political process, supporting republican candidates, and today is pay-back time for them. huge tax breaks for the rich,

huge tax breaks for multinational corporations. meanwhile, at the end of ten years, tens of millions of american families in the middle class are going to be paying more for taxes. terrible proposal, but it's paid for by the billionaire class who control the political process. >> i want to play something that your republican colleague senator james langford said to explain his support of it about why he thinks the repeal is a good idea. just listen. >> you have pretty strong agreement among republicans that we don't like the individual mandate. and the reason is it's a tax cut on those who can afford it the least. in my state, in oklahoma, 81% of the people that pay the individual mandate tax make less than $50,000 a year. so this is a tax that was intended to push people to be able to buy the product, but it's actually landed on people that can afford it the least. so we're trying to repeal it. it doesn't take away the subsidies. individuals can still get on it. they can still get full subsidies. all those things change. but we remove that tax penalty for people that actually can't afford it.

>> does the mandate hit americans as a tax? >> it is not the best way to bring people into health care. the best way, of course, is a medicare for all, single-payer system, which guarantees health care to all people, and it's funded based on ability to pay. but what mr. langford is saying is, okay, these 13 million people, or whatever, will no longer have health insurance. anderson, you tell me what happens when that person today earning $40,000 a year gets hit by a bus or finds out she has leukemia. how are they going to pay for the health care they need? they're not. you know who's going to pay for it? ordinary americans who have health insurance. what mr. langford and the republicans are trying to do is significantly undermine the affordable care act by closing off, cutting back on hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue now coming in. that is a backdoor way to try to destroy the affordable care act. what's the solution in terms of

health care? we should do what every other major country on earth does, guarantee health care to all people as a right and end the absurdity of the united states paying twice as much per capita on health care as do the people of any other nation. that is certainly not an idea that the republicans would accept for one moment. >> you've taken issue, as many democrats have, with the fact the corporate tax cuts are permanent in the bill while the individual cuts expire in 2025. couldn't a permanent tax cut encourage businesses to grow in the u.s.? i mean, that's obviously the argument. >> well, that's a funny thing. funny that you ask that question. the answer is all of this is based, number one, on the so-called trickle-down economic theory. that is, if you give huge tax breaks to profitable corporations and to the rich, somehow that money is going to end up creating jobs and improving our economy. the truth is that the times we have done it under reagan and under bush ii with very large tax breaks have gone to the wealthy have not resulted -- not brought about those results. in fact, in both instances have

seen the deficit raise very -- go up very substantially. trickle-down economics, in my view, is a fraudulent theory. it does not work, and it only benefits the wealthy. >> finally, i just want to ask you about roy moore. if he were to win, should he, an accused sexual abuser, be allowed to serve in the u.s. senate? should majority leader mcconnell allow him to take a seat? >> frankly, i think mr. jones is going to win that election. and we'll cross that bridge when we have to. but right now i have a strong feeling that the people of alabama will do the right thing and elect mr. jones. >> senator sanders, appreciate your time. thank you. >> thank you. up next, the breaking news on roy moore. "the washington post" reporting tonight that two more women have accused mr. moore of unwanted overtures at an alabama mall decades ago. this comes as moore's attorney raises questions about one of his accusers. president trump does not answer questions about how he views the allegations against the u.s. senat