♪ i'm michael smerconish in philadelphia. we welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. a torrent of sexual wrongdoing charges continues across party lines. the latest against senator al franken who sum already say should step down. could that happen? should that happen? naomi wolf is here to weigh in. despite additional accusers alabama senate candidate roy moore swears he'll never step down until he's in his grave. but as moore falls behind in the polls, what are the gop's

options? plus, you've seen the ads, california billionaire tom stooir is on a crusade to begin impeachment proceeding against president trump but there's the crime of treason or bribery, i'll ask. and the pentagon paid for a transgender surgery. the surgeon who performed that, dr. christine mcginn, herself a transgender is here to explain. first, good news, amidst the drip, drip, drip of daily allegations of sexual harassment we're in the middle of a sexual rights revolution. the right of a woman to be left alone and the obligation of a man to leave her alone with real consequences for him of any violations. now, in order for that right to be fully recognized more women will have to make conten rains complaints and pursue their legal remedies against those men

who overstepped. too often in the past, stigma and embarrassment precluded prompt reporting. hopefully that will change in a more welcoming environment in which women who are wrong can present their claims. that's in heir best interest and in the best interest of men who stand accused, because each may then rely on fresh memories and evidence. otherwise, there's no way to safe guard the due process rights of the men accused. and the public is left making decisions swayed by gender or partisan elections. the latest to be accused of such claims is senator al franken. while this story is just two days old, it's already a remarkable snapshot of just how far the refrlts has taken us. in the old days which may mean going back a couple weeks, the accusation likely wouldn't have been made. or if it had it probably wouldn't have been denied. the perpetrator's colleagues would have said this is a matter for someone else like the courts to decide.

or this seems out of character for the person we know. but now women are feeling somewhat more emancipated to come forward. and perpetrators are somewhat more likely to admit fault like franken did. and colleagues are more likely to undertake an investigation agency the u.s. senate will do. and punish, even over issues that rose many years ago. until the revolution is complete, there will be some instances based on events many years ago, where sharp disagreement exists between the parties as to what occurred. in those cases, the public will need to apply critical thinking andest year analysis to that which is known resisting the temperature operation making judgment based upon like or commonality with the parties. some of us lived through the civil rights revolution for african-americans, including the passage of the civil rights act. most of us lived through the gay rights revolution. including the national recognition of marriage equality. now, we may be at the beginning of the development of the civil

right to be left alone. it's about time for this right to be recognized, valued, asserted. and protected by us all. joining me now to discuss, naomi wolf, offer of the seminal book the "the beauty net and" and the ceo of daily clout and she also served as an adviser to al gore. naomi what do you make of my assessment that zhis a remarkable moment in time. >> mike, you're right, is this a remarkable moment in time but the law is very clear and actually very good on what the alleged violations are. what is changing women and men are done with taking into themselves shame and bad secrets that don't belong to them. and their bringing them forward. and technology is helping, too. social media allows women, and i'll just use women for shorthand, men are violated as well, to make claims that other peoply real sometime can

validate. what happens then, you start to look at the methodology of the perpetrator, rather than signaling out the victim. looking at her, what was she wearing, what did she say, was it her fault? perpetrators often have the same methodology over and over. so that really does radically change our reality, we're looking at an historical event that are like rather than the esister-in-law he said/she said. >> with regard to senator franken, there are two aspects of this claim. there's the forced kiss and there's the photograph. in nome yommy wolf's assessment are they equally reprehensible or is one worse than the other? >> well, i'd really like us to get away, mike, from these discussions of alleged sexual assault and bring it into the realm of law. i was in my 50s before i was told by my partner who is a private investigator that my

professor putting his hands between my thighs against my will when i was 19 is sexual assault according to the laws of connecticut. i didn't know, i thought it was harassment. all of the discussion in the media and including cnn has identified a lot of these violations are crimes according to state law, they vary state by state, but they are crimes as harassment. that's not accurate. so forcibly abusing someone is sexual battery or assault, depending on where you are, in afghanistan or on a plane, u.s. law applies. the other thing is, i can't see from the image, that extraordinary image, whether senator franken then al franken's hands were on miss tweeden's body. it's different, if he's touching her it's sexual battery or sexual assault. if he is touching her it's an incredibly horribly insensitive thing to do.

>> i asked because leeann tweeden in her state and interviews said she was groped. from that photograph, i don't know that he's actually physically touching her. he's maybe staging something. presumably, she would have been awakened. >> i mean, not necessarily. just to jump in, all of these waves of horrible description of the crime, this tweeden thing gets me. i started to speak publicly that, i, too am a survivor of childhood rape. and the image -- it says everything and it's triggering to a lot of rape victims about rape culture. there's nothing funny about this image. first of all, she's unconscious, so she's unconscious, she's been in a war zone. she legally cannot consent if she's not conscious. if she's asleep. the law's very clear about that. and it just says everything about, you know, how rape culture says women's bodies are yours to enjoy.

use. touch. manipulate. they have no boundaries. so, it's a very serious image to me. and the thing that really offends me about senator franken's apology even though it was clearly kind of written with a lot of input from women and it sounded nominally kind of heartfelt, it infuriates me. it's 2006 when that image took place. it's not 1840. women like me, along with a lot of these women have been very vocal for decades and decades and the lay is very clear touching women against their will when they're unconscious or intoxicated is illegal. a third of women have already been raped or sexually moll equivalented by the time they're 18. 7% of men. he doesn't know she's already been violated, right? women who are victimized are being revictimized. so it's a very serious image. i don't think the apology is

sufficient in these terms. >> okay. you've just anticipated my final question, where she has accepted his apology, are we obligated as a society to do so? >> well, again, mike, i don't mean to be so difficult, but i want to keep challenging this notion of what's our social views about this. it's not up to her to decide what standard procedure should be in the senate, when someone's accused of an assault or violation, right? there should be transparent procedures in every workplace, including in the senate, including on a uso tour, including u.s. military, in afghanistan, right, where the u.s. was holding this event with a nonprofit. and they should be transparent. i mean, when i saw the complaint against dr. bloom, decades later i filed a form grievance as you encouraged women to do, i did it. the system is leann, what do you want to have happen? it's not up to me. when a woman files a police report it's the state that

should be process cuting the perpetrator. >> i get it, you're making an argument for the rule of law. nao naomi, thank you as always. >> what are your thoughts tweet me @smerconish or my facebook page. kathryn what do we have -- from facebook, i think it's great. the floodgates are open and women are ready to talk in a forum where people are actually listening and caring. amanda, agency part of my opening commentary, what i was trying to say is -- go back to the first one. that's a good thing for women, right, because hopefully now they won't feel ostracized if they bring forth their claims. it's also good for men that there be timely complaintses made when memories are fresh and when there's other evidence supporting or contradictory of the charges. one more if i've got time. there are sexual assault, sexual harassment and bad behavior.

don't you think franken is more about bad-than harassment? staged photo with the intent to be funny and a rehearsal kearse that wasn't forced? naomi suggests they're equally reprehensible. that's my view of it. up next, that other potential senate scandal, alabama candidate roy moore who says he'll only step down when he's in his grave. how will this story end? i want to go over the options. people would stare. psoriasis does that. it was tough getting out there on stage. i wanted to be clear. i wanted it to last. so i kept on fighting. i found something that worked. and keeps on working. now? they see me. see me. see if cosentyx could make a difference for you-

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standoff going to end? with alabama november 12th special easy election for former jeff sessions' former seat less than a month away what are the remaining options for the republican party and what's the view from the ground? joining me alabama secretary of state john marele and gop chair marty connors. mr. secretary, i want to game it out. election day is 12/12. people are voting by about tentee, there's no choice roy moore's name comes off that ballot in any scenario, right? >> no, sir, our state law recommended that after confirmed by the state party on october 11th, that when the ballots were printed and begun distribution on october 18th, within that 76-day window, there's absolutely no way that the ballot can be changed. again it cannot be not about

substituted or to removed from the ballot at that time. >> you could have a write-in candidate, has anyone, as far as you know, mr. secretary, won in alabama statewide, as a write-in candidate? >> no, sir. to our knowledge, we cannot find any indication of any candidate that's ever wound statewide. we've had regional elections where write-in candidates have been successful, local county races, local races where that has occurred but not at the state level. we have had people introduced to us who have an interest in write-ins. one of the things we'll do at the polls on election day to make the process a lot simpler for our voters is we will have an information sheet and instruction sheet that will be available for review. and will also be on our website to review prior to the election if they wish to write in a candidate of their choice, other than the two that will appear on the ballot. all right. number three on my list does

governor kay ivy have the opportunity to postpone this election, and if so, on what basis? >> well, a governmental proclamation from governor ivy will be and that's not going to happen in this instance. voting has begun for overseas voters for regular about the tentee voters who wish to participate. those hundreds of ballots cast in all 67 counties are out there. and i know the governor does not want to interrupt that process from delaying the vote that will occur in 24 days. >> here's scenario 24, and thank you for being so concise in your assessment. let's say judge moore is elected to the senate. he gets to the senate and is expelled by a two-thirds vote. you folks in alabama still need to fill that seat, even though there's a temporary replacement, could judge moore come back and

run in whatever the next election might be? >> well, certainly, i don't see anything that would disqualify him legally from being able to do that. i do find that scenario highly unlikely. but the rules of the senate would actually govern the sitting of a new member and the governance of the senate overall would term that individual's ability to serve. >> mr. secretary, i really appreciate your being here to clear up some discrepancies. >> michael, thank you for having me as your guest this morning. >> now to former alabama gop chair marty connors. mr. connors, the latest poll from fox news shows that judge moore is now behind his democratic opponent doug jones by eight points. does that comport with your gut feel from the ground? >> not even closely. as a matter of fact, i wouldn't trust any poll right now. >> really. okay. >> i'm is not impressed. first of all, i think the samples include way too many

democrats. if any poll -- i just don't any polls right now. the ground is totally fluid. >> so, i was wondering if perhaps the polling data might reflect a reverse bradley effect, if you follow me here. that if a pollster calls a home in alabama, maybe the person is for judge moore. maybe half of the vote is evangelical christian. >> right, right. >> but you're not going to tell some stranger on the phone because it is suddenly so out of step to say i'm for judge -- so you lie. >> well, i saw that first hand when i was going door to door in the northern neighborhoods of cincinnati, ohio. people who were voting for trump -- this was the sale weekend, by the way, the video came out. people who were voting for trump didn't really want to say it for multiple reasons. i guess some of it they don't want somebody showing up at their door. they don't know what's going to happen next. they don't want to get labeled. right now, you can get labeled for these kind of things and people don't like that.

so, that's why i don't trust any polling whatsoever right now. >> is it fair to say that the moore folks from outside alabama tell alabama what they should do, they're probably benefits from judge moore. mitch mcconnell paul ryan, whomever it might be, what side, it doesn't matter, but you're going to bristle, i think i'd bristle at outsiders telling me how to vote in pennsylvania? >> well, that's pretty much true across the south and western states in general. i mean, just let us choose our own. and we really don't need to adjudicate this in "the washington post" or cnn. i understand you have to do your job. and you're doing a good job. but this is for alabama to decide. and ultimately, we think that the people, and not the media is the best jury. >> people forget, and correct me if i'm wrong, that judge moore, when running successfully in that 2012 race for chief justice only won by four points. he's never been rock solid.

is that true? >> that's thougnot true either because it goes to your turnout models. he also enjoyed -- what was it -- obama was running, was it? yeah. >> yeah, right. so -- >> so, you had tremendous african-american turnout, where you will have it this time, but i don't know that you'll have the same money on the ground this time as the obama machine did. >> if judge moore should be successful, this was a problem for the national gop in so far as in 2018, every democrat will link their opponent to judge roy moore. he will essentially become the running mate for every democrat running anywhere. >> i would agree with that. and i don't know that it will work, though. i mean, keep in mind, the conservatives and rural voters, traditional voters and evangelicals are not limited to the state lines in the state of alabama. >> okay. so, you're there, you've got the

credentials. where's this thing headed? >> well, i'll tell you the reason i don't know exactly where it's headed, i'll tell what you the strategy is. let's just take the whole irk of the accusers aside and just talk about the horse race. i think from a democratic perspective what they're trying to do is create enough confusion where they suppress, let's say, suburban republican voters, in other words, i'm just not going to vote. and that's, i think, what they're hoping to do. that's the part i cannot predict. so, if you wanted to do a real poll, i would try to get maybe a focus group looking at republican voters about this issue. and the question is, will some of them stay home. >> but i understand you're giving me a political answer, but you don't expect it -- >> no sew. >> for voters to keep out of their mind all of that investigative reporting from the "post" whatever the source is a broken clock is right twice a day, got got to look at all of

the details in the details, right? you and say something's here? >> well, that's true. this is also, before it was a breaking story it's not like there's an actual piece of hard evidence. and some of the evidence already has been proven questionable, as you pull back the skin of the onion. but, no, i'm not giving you a political answer. i'm giving you an honest political science answer. and the question is what will suburban voters do, republican, will they vote for the continuation of tax reform or removal of obamacare? will they vote for continuation of a conserve supreme court or will they sit at home? and that's the question i've yet to come up with an answer for. >> yeah, my hunch is perhaps they should. but none of those things are going to matter as much as the allegations that have been leveled against them. you can have the final word. >> i would think just the opposite, i think a lot of people are going to go to the polls and say i don't like this,

i'm confused about this but i haven't made a conclusion. therefore, i'm going to vote to maintain control of the senate and a conservative supreme court. remember, kennedy could be up for appointment, replacement here, very, very soon. >> i know. it just seems kind of odd, though that we should be -- well, for a different day. i was going to say casting a ballot for a candidate who's under attack based on all of these allegations because we want him to make a determination as to who should be on the supreme court of the united states. there's something not right there? >> no, didn't say that we would have him make that decision. we would say it would be a republican and conservative majority make that decision, as opposed to a guaranteed liberal majority. >> marty connors, thanks for being here. >> thank you. >> let's see what you're saying on my twitter and facebook pages. what do you have, kathryn? franken making a bad joke isn't the same as moore trapping a teenager in his car. carrie, to naomi wolf's point

it's an unlawful act if in fact he forced himself upon her. i understanded distinction. i think they need to all be dealt with consistency. i'm not saying they're all the same in their factual assertions, but they need to be looked at at the same way and not through a partisan lens. god has forgiven judge moore and he will forgive those who vote for him. grackle, i wish i could see your face as you're typing that, are you serious? still to come, the white house issued articles of impeachment but they don't have the votes but impeachment post public proponent it putting millions of his own into a national ad campaign. tom steyer is here. and the pentagon paid for a vaginoplasty. i'll talk to the doctor who

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undergoing an operation make national headlines? when that active duty service member is having gender confirmation surgery and it's paid for by the pentagon on donald trump's watch. remember, back in july and via a tweet, president trump announced he was reinstating a ban on transgender individuals from serving in the u.s. military. the president's ban caused my next guest to say right here on my program, that if the government wouldn't provide for transsoldiers she would. dr. christine mcginn, a former u.s. navy flight surgeon who herself is transgender offered to perform gender confirmation surgery on u.s. military for free. this week as he prepared to form her 30 related surgery since her pledge. her patient got a surprise. the pentagon said it would shoulder part of the cost. this is the first time ever the government would have paid for a vaginoplasty. dr. christine mcginn is back

with us. dr. mcginn, how surprised were you when you heard that news? >> i was pretty shocked actually. so was the patient, very shocked. however, i think it just goes to show you that the actual people that are day to day running the military want to support their troops. this was an effort put forth by the commanders locally to take care of their own troops. and it's gathered a lot of momentum. so it's very exciting. >> the statement that was released by the pentagon, in fact, let's put it up on the screen. i want people to see what the pentagon said when announcing this. this afternoon, an active duty military member received a sex reassignment surgery. military hospitals do not have the surgical expertise to perform this type of surgery. therefore, it was conducted in a private hospital. because this service member had already begone a sex reassignment course of treatment says the statement, and the treating doctor deemed this surgery medically necessary, a waiver was approved by the

director of the defense health agency. et cetera, et cetera. why was this medically necessary? you are the treating doctor presumably who deemed it medically necessary? explain that. >> well, it makes it sound like i'm the one that is acting on my own, but this is really -- this is an established protocol. you know, i can't think of one medical organization in the united states that doesn't agree with that statement. that transgender care is medically necessary. and, you know, when someone signs up to fight and die for our country, we provide them with health care. you know, health care. and this is just another form of health care. it's not like somebody's getting -- the military's not paying for a tattoo or a hair style. this is health care. just like the military pays for the gi bill. or a va loan. you know, there are things that come as benefits with fighting for your country. and we need to take care of our troops.

>> when i had this discussion and broke the news that you had shared with me on radio, there were more than one caller who had the mind-set of saying i'm for getting rid of the ban that president trump seeks to reinstate. but why should american taxpayers pay for a vaginoplasty? and maybe you just anticipated that question. but what is your answer to that? >> it's pretty simple. it's health care. you know, we can't pick and choose what we are going to provide for our military members based on political controversies. you know, this is medicine. and there's science and there's facts. it doesn't take long to go -- i know this is hard for people to wrap their head around, but it's not just me acting like a rogue physician. this is what is established by the community of professionals in this country. and around the world, frankly. 18 other countries have had

transgender service members in their military. some countries for 40 years. and it hasn't been such a political football as it is in this country. like i said earlier, there isn't one medical organization that is legitimate that doesn't agree with that statement. that transgender health care is considered a medically necessary benefit. which i think people get sick of hearing those words but in plain english, it's a legitimate condition that is improved, based on evidence, through the treatment protocols that we use. >> dr. mcginn, when the president announced the ban via twitter, i want to put up on the screen one of the successive tweets that he put up and draw attention to his words. he said that it was due to tremendous medical costs, the victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical

costs. what is your response to him saying there's an enormous cost associated with welcoming transgenders is personnel? >> well, you know, i made this offer back in august because i knew that was an inflated statement. and it might be based on ignorance. but since i'm in the field, i wanted to shed some light on it. and, you know, just -- i offered on international television that we would be doing surgery for free for these folks. and since -- and in two months, we've had 17 requests, that's all. so, for the entire united states military, 17 people are requesting surgery. we've performed three and we plan on doing several month in the next coming months. in the costs, even if the military paid for all 17 of those patients, the military, it's $100,000. when you compare that to all. other things like the viagra program in the military or trips

to mar-a-lago, it's a minute amount of money. and if you want to talk about the plightability, and take all of those 17 patients and see how many lost days of work, it would be 17 for all of the patients. we want this surgery that's an active duty military now for $100,000 and 500 lost days of work. compare that with the tweet -- >> dr. mcginn, thank you for coming back and closing the loop on this story. >> yeah, you're welcome. people need to hear it. still to come, this week a half dozen house democrats introduced articles of impeachment against president trump. as of now, they don't have the votes but billionaire tom steyer has been putting his money behind impeachment movement? will he help sway public

opinion? or will he embolden the president's supporters? he joins me next.

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impeachment ads. i recently spoke with mr. steyer. mr. steyer, let us talk article 4 section 2, treason, bribery and other procedures. which do you think apply? >> well, michael, i think there's know question the president has on instructed justice in his firing of the head of the fbi which he said he did because he persisted in the russian investigation. and i think that he has broken the emoluments clause virtually on a daily basis. and i think that his public request for the justice department to do a criminal investigation of his political opponents is also a steer abuse clear abuse of power. and in effect, what the constitution says about impeachment is that the president cannot be allowed to

violate his trust with the american people and his -- the spirit of his office. and he's clearly done that. >> i guess, my question is one of, we need to make sure, when we talk about impeachment that we're dealing with the on the tiff, not the subjective, because you set a precedent, right. if you're reliant only on conjecture. in your case, it could be a democrat who's the next president. and if republican have an anti-paththy towards that person, they could say we see grounds of impeachment where they can't really be proven. >> well, i have a couple things to say about that, one is, he has committed these infractions, committed these acts in public. we don't need to go through the tapes of his phone calls or tapes of e-mails because he's done it right in front of our eyes and he's admitted. and the second thing i say is this, this president has committed -- has put us in

unprecedented danger. so is this not a matter of policy or dislike of his health care, or his taxes. or anything like that. this is a president who is a clear and present danger to the american people. i think everybody in washington, d.c., including members of his party recognizes that. i think members of his administration absolutely recognize that. and in fact, we're seeing, senate republicans, trying to take away his ability to unilaterally use nuclear weapons base th because they know it's true. >> in the ad you say he's brought us to the brink of nuclear war. bringing us to the brink of war that's not treason or bribery, some would argue it's a situation he inherited from

president da sevpredecessors wh doesn't do anything about kim jong-un? >> you're onconflating the two. one is that is he meeting the impeachment, i referred to the emo emoluments clause and the impeachment. the second thing you said, well, people could use this as a precedent. i said actually, what he's doing, not in terms of meeting the standard which he clearly has met, but in tellers of the urgency for acting on this, his behavior, the danger that he's presenting to the american people and to our democracy is unprecedented. and i see, one, do you meet the criteria, and second, it's so urgent that we act on it because he's presenting unpres sunprece safety and danger to our

democracy. >> might you be helping him, might you be helping him in so far as the trump base sees your ads, can't help but the whole country sees your ads and they interpret your ads as the legitimate turnover of election that we just had and they then become emboldened in their support of donald trump? >> i think what we're trying to do is not to be smart. not to make political calculations about which segment of the population would this appeal to. which segment of the population would this annoy, but instead, we're trying to do something very different from that, michael. we're trying to do the right thing. and we're trying to do the moral thing. because we think it's important. and we are not trying to figure out how the gain is going to going to play out because partly, we don't think it can. we're really just focused on the

idea that this is a danger to the health and safety of americans. and we're trying to give the american people the ability to speak up in their own defense. and say, we really are scared by this man. we are extremely unhappy about his behavior. and we need to get rid of him. >> quick final question. fox won't run your ad. why did you spend the money there to begin with? >> well, i wasn't one of the people figuring out the ad strategy. but i talked to them, of course. so, let me say this, we placed that ad in media channels all over the country. hitting all different kinds of viewers. and fox has a very particular kind of viewer. and i think that the people who were placing the ad wanted to make sure that those people saw the ad. got access to the information. and they knew there was a chance the president would see the ad on "fox & friends" and they felt

like he should get a chance to see this ad. so he understands that the american people are speaking out against him directly. >> tom steyer, thank you so much. >> michael, thank you for having me. still to come -- your best and worst tweets and facebook comments like this one. tom steyer rocks even if impeachment isn't accomplished trump's danger to our country is now a topic of discussion. discuss, discuss. carol, i don't think he can meet the burden under the constitution in terms of the elements of impeachment. that's why i asked the questions that i did. we'll come back in a sec. the #1 doctor recommended probiotic brand. also in kids chewables.

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remember, if you ever miss this program, you can catch us anytime on cnngo online, and through your connected devices and apps. please follow me on twitter and facebook. here's some of what has come in during the course of this hour. al franken and roy moore, apples and oranges, both frui fruits @smerconish. no comment. next. it's remarkable that in a regular blue collar job an employee would be dismissed in a heartbeat if several women came forward with these accusations but if you're a politician, like trump for example, it appears the same rules don't apply. wendy, it does seem the higher you rise in some workplace or socioeconomic ladder the more protection you seem to be afforded. and that's not right. i'm troubled by the fact that monies would be paid for

shenanigans on capitol hill. next. i would rather we pay for the surgery than pay for sexual harassment settlements in congress. tim keaney, i am with you. i think dr. mcginn makes a point that, look, it's health care. maybe not the health care that some of us envision. smerconish can't stand to watch 30 seconds of any show on cnn. but i'm very impressed with your show today. i will continue to watch. can't we all just get along. have a very nice thanksgiving week. make sure you come back on saturday. we'll be here as always. thanks for that. (avo) if you've been struggling with belly pain and constipation, and you're overwhelmed by everything you've tried-- all those laxatives, daily probiotics,

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jared kushner told congressional investigators that he did not communicate with wikileaks. >> i think jared kushner is in trouble. >> this house of cards is coming down. >> is ambassador kislyak in the room. any russians? anybody been to russia? [ laughter ] >> hello, it's saturday. we've been waiting for you, good morning to you, i'm christi paul. >> i'm victor blackwell. "cnn newsroom" starts right now. we're starting with an investigation into the trump administration and two members of the family. >> the president's sornl and senior adviser jardz kushner is facing allegations that he lied under oath. kushner said he never