elected to another term in the senate, and i think mitt romney just needs to hangout in san diego -- >> anybody that knows mitt nominee knows there's no bone in the man. the man wants this world to be better for his 150 grandchildren. >> we are up against the top of the hour, so thank you guys. we'll following a lot of news and let's get right to it. the suggestion that he can't be charged with obstruction of justice is a laughable proposition. >> the president's decision to fire the head of the fbi cannot be considered objection of justice. >> i feel badly for flynn. flynn lied and they destroyed his life. >> the rnc is actually going back to financially supporting roy moore. this is outrageous. >> voters don't want to be told

from washington who to vote for. >> i don't know any of these women. >> announcer: this is "new day" with chris cuomo and alisyn camerota. >> good morning. welcome to i don't eyour "new day." alisyn camerota is off, and the one and only poppy harlow is here. >> the two -- >> yeah, can't wait for that. did donald trump obstruct justice when he fired fbi director, james comey. the president's lawyer is arguing that the president is above the law and cannot obstruct justice. why did the president resist firing f firing flynn for weeks after he learned he lied to the fbi, a

crime. >> and then the rnc overnight opened up the financial spigot for roy moore, and a child molester could be the next senator from alabama, this comes as a woman that says she dated roy moore as a teenager when he was twice her age. she is sharing physical evidence of their relationship, and we will hear from moore's campaign ahead. joe johns joins us from the white house with the top story. >> reporter: you can't overstate the significance of this, it's about rules, facts and law, as the russia investigation appears to be moving one step closer to the oval office, and democrats are saying it's a question of obstruction of justice, and the president's lawyers pushing back but their legal theory apparently still a work in progress. ty cobb downplaying the obstruction of justice defense

put together by trump's personal lawyer. it's an interesting legal issue, and it's not mr. trump's legal strategy. >> not only above the law, but free to interfere with any investigation and act in ways that are an obstruction of justice is unacceptable. >> dowd floating whether this tweet from the president's account could lead to a potential obstruction of justice case. it suggests he knew flynn lied to the president and the fbi before he allegedly urged comey to drop the bureau's investigation into flynn. a source now telling cnn the president was told by white

house counsel in january that flynn misled the fbi about his contracts with the russians, and then received a warning that flynn might be compromised from then acting attorney general, sally yates. >> they were entitled to know the information they were conveying to the american people wasn't true. >> despite the recommendation, the president kept flynn on the job for weeks, and trump caving to public pressure, firing flynn, and insisting he was a good man. the president now defending flynn after he pleaded guilty on friday to lying to the fbi. >> i feel badly for general flynn. hillary clinton lied many times to the fbi and nothing happened to her. flynn lied and they destroyed his life. i think it's a shame. >> flynn's deputy mcfarland also

under scrutiny in her testimony about flynn, and she told the foreign relationship committee in july that he was not aware of any communications between flynn and former russian ambassador, kislyak. unsealed documents on friday showed flynn spoke to a transition official before meeting with kislyak, although mcfarland was not mentioned, cnn confirmed she was the referenced official. >> that was a false representation to the senate. >> and a big win in the courts for the president and the administration, a green light for the president's travel ban to be implemented even as challenges to that policy continue working their way through the courts. >> appreciate it. let's bring in cnn political analyst, joshua green, and associate for real clear politics, a.b. stoddard. what is the take on this defense

from the president's legal team that he can't be guilty of obstruction of justice? >> you heard the senate intel chairman saying he disagrees with that assessment, and i'm not a lawyer, and different experts were weighing in as to whether you could be charged with obstruction in the legal system, and that aside, the fact that we are even talking about this shows that he faces legal exposure, and that alone is bad. we don't know yet whether or not this tweet was real about the president knowing that michael flynn lied to the fbi. with all of these different lies, basically, we need to find out whether or not it was actually only a logan act, a potential logan act violation -- >> the private citizen representing the president of the united states.

>> nobody has been prosecuted for this? would he lie to the fbi over that? something we all knew was on every page of every paper. i don't think we know the full story of when the president knew about michael flynn's discussion with the fbi, and what he might have lied about. until we know what that full transcript shows and what moore could have been happening with kt and michael flynn and trump, i think that he looks like he could be in much more legal peril than it seems on the face of it. >> two questions. what about the fact that the legal team is arguing over legal strategy rather than the facts here, and the fact that the legal team inside the white house is divided on this.

john dowd said that yesterday which caused the hub pwub. >> this is a pattern we have seen, there seems to be disagreement within his own legal team. there was the famous lunch where they were overheard talking by a "new york times" reporter fighting and disagreeing over a legal strategy, and here it doesn't seem to have their ducks in a row about what they want to say publicly about what trump might face, and i think the biggest significance of what dowd said yesterday, you don't come out and make a statement if you don't have some inkling your client is going to be charged with objection of justice. >> it's very unlikely he would be charged with obstruction of justice? why? because there's a good chance that mueller would make it a

political process anyway, and all the questions go away. impeachment is a political debate. it's about whether or not you have the votes, high crime and misdemeanor, it doesn't mean anything. it means what the lawmakers want it to mean in their context of discussion. what we are seeing is all about tactics. question the premise? he's not under investigation. comey said he's not. the facts don't line up on this, and there's no collusion. and then question the standard. he can't be charged with any of this stuff, anyway, he's the president of the united states. and the last one is trump's strongest suit, i would argue, which is a attack the people involved, and that's what will come next, and the question is if we get to that would a president named trump move on robert mueller? >> there's concern among congressional republicans dating back to june he might. >> if he has people telling him, you can do this, he has no right

to be there if you don't want him there? >> that's a discussion republicans have been having all along. what do we do? and it's going to be interested if the goal posts move for them following the passage of tax reform. if that is signed into law and they have gotten through their big threshold moment, how much does this tweet, it seems self incriminating and maybe it was really written by trump and all of these discussions about what flynn might be offering to mueller, does that begin to change the minds of congressional republicans in whose the hands impeachment would lie. he's still speaking to his base and trying to muddy the waters and attack the messenger, but he has to answer to congressional republicans. >> well, the president in his attacks on the fbi this week and substantiated attacks because of

the agent who ran the hillary clinton e-mail investigation and was the top dog on the russia probe until he was let go of it because of his political persuasion, this gives the president ammunition, does it not? >> if you look at the president's zigzagging political strategy on how you deal with mueller and the investigation, and if you go back to may, and you had people like steve bannon still in the white house, and as i wrote in my book, he was ready to throw hey makers at bob mueller, and they started spreading to reporters the idea on mueller's team, they donated to democrats, they were basically trying to impugn mueller, and what we have heard over the past couple of weeks, speaking to people in and around the white house, dowd in particular has been telling the

president, you are not in jeopardy, and probably going to be done by christmas, maybe january, and giving him happy talk to settle him down and keep him from going after mueller. will trump be able to contain himself? i am not sure we know yet. >> we have a little time left. i want to play this piece of sound from one of roy moore's representatives explaining why roy moore is being falsely criticized. can we play that sound? >> if he did date a teenager, he didn't know about it. i can't tell you how many times i have been on a date and asked how old they were, especially firemanif i asked their mama if i could tkaeult them. >> it's wrong to con descend to the people of alabama, what they

accept. that's the behavior. we are seeing republicans move forward moore and not away. is this over morality? >> i knew the day he should be expelled if he gets to the senate they would never expel him, but i was surprised to see them re-engage just because the president endorsed him. this is going to be something they answer to. every republican senate and house and probably all around the country between now and november of 2018. >> in terms of the moore defense, that's the goofiest defense for moore. he was signing their year books. >> they question the legitimacy of the handwriting. >> here's a woman that said here's the card he gave me at my graduation party.

>> the idea of the state of play is, your representative and says i can't tell you how many times i have been on a date and i didn't even know how old the girl was. it's just a very, very interesting play for republicans on that field. >> we're going to have a spokeswoman for the roy moore campai campaign in just a minute. look at the aerials. a fast-moving and deadly wildfire exploiting in california. 27,000 people forced to evacuate. ventura county's fire department said one evacuee died trying to escape. ventura bracing for the worst. powerful santa ana winds, you will hear a lot about that, because they will turbo charge flames and direct them east. 150 structures have been destroyed, 31,000 acres burned.

260,000 customers, no power. >> we will keep a very close eye on this as it develops. meantime, republicans rushing through a major tax overhaul, but are they acting in the interest of the taxpayer or focusing on a big win for the president before the end of the year? can it be true, will big baller be in the house? lavar ball, father of the former ucla basketball player, liangelo ball, and what does he have to say to me today? i will talk to him about it all coming up. p to keurig. wakey! wakey! rise and shine! oh my gosh! how are you? well watch this. i pop that in there. press brew. that's it. so rich. i love it. that's why you should be a keurig man! full-bodied. are you sure you're describing the coffee and not me? you feel better. introducing tommie copper's all new shoulder centric posture shirt.

they're biggest breakthrough yet. advanced engineering promotes healthy posture and relief for achy shoulders and back. visit tommiecopper.com to see the entire line of wearable wellness compression. they have you covered from head to toe. go to tommiecopper.com right now and find out how you can save 25% on your first purchase, plus first shipping. life hurts, feel better. plus first shipping. feel the power of thenew power...smax. ...to fight back theraflu's powerful new formula to defeat 7 cold and flu symptoms... fast. so you can play on. theraflu expressmax. new power.

republicans are moving their tax bills through congress with remarkable speed. a lot of intentionality that should be scrutinized. the senate is set to follow suit this week. are republicans moving too fast on something that affects every american? let's discuss this with somebody who knows the process as well as anybody, mr. cantor. how do you say that, molesis. >> you got it. >> how happy are you that you are not involved in the gop processes right now? >> listen, things happen in life

and you don't realize the reasons for it when it happened and it seems like not a good thing and i am three years out and delighted and energized where i am now, and in the private sector, as you said, at molesis and company. >> just to check a couple boxes, the personal counsel for the president is you can't talk about obstruction of justice, the president is above the law, he can't obstruct justice? >> leaders are elected with the trust placed in by the voters, and obviously i know that president trump and his team made sure that trust is intact, and he's got to be concerned as things unfold that that trust is in place. i trust in our law enforcement

director mueller and the conduct of this investigation. i think the majority of my former colleagues would be in the same place. >> mueller, a man of fine integrity and you trust him. >> absolutely. >> the president is not above the law? >> absolutely not. >> roy moore, does it bother you the party is moving back towards him? >> yeah, aoeug thii think he de lose. i think that when people elect folks to public office they expect their leaders to live to a much higher standard and that's what ought to be maintained. >> quick counter argument is this is about alabama voters and not what you d.c. people think about it and we have no criminal investigation or trial or due process? >> no question it's up to the alabama voters. again, it's what i think, and that's fine, but the alabama voters will decide. i am just -- you asked what i

feel about it. does it bother me? absolutely it bothers me. i think we ought to maintain that moral standard that i believe our party is about. >> taxes. all right, and thank you for fielding those other questions. process matters. when you rush something through that is very important you are asking for trouble. you lived it and criticized it openly and roundly when it came to the aca, but the aca was debated to death comparing that with this big tax bills? >> this is not an unusual process, as you suggest, working its way through congress. this is why i believe paul ryan and steve scalise insisted there be a conference committee between the house and senate and i think members expect that kind of procedure, so to allow further vetting, there are provisions in conflict and

controversial provisions in both, and i think it's a huge win for republicans and the american economy, and i think we are going to see a lot of growth that will continue to result from these policies. >> you don't headline it by saying huge win for the middle class. part of the political problem is the president, at least, and certainly early on said it would be the best tax cut for the middle class we have seen. it's hard to justify on all of the objective analyses that have come out every time we show a graph, the middle class doesn't do as well as the top tier. >> it depends on what your definition of the middle class is. if you are an average family of four in the $50,000 a year range up to $100 or a little over that, you are doing well under the tax bill. they are doubling the standard deduction, which takes a lot of people paying taxes to begin with other than the payroll taxes. i think what you saw in my state

of virginia about a month ago is you saw suburban voters in the upper middle class saying i'm not so sure i like what is going on in washington in general and i am concerned about what that means in this tax bill because there's a lot of people who end up -- will end up paying more at the upper middle and upper ends of income. these voters, at least in the suburbs of the country, have been traditional republican voters. i do think that what this bill will provide to them is more economic growth. hopefully we'll have enough time once the bill passes to see this economy lifted, to see wages and jobs lifted so those suburban voters feel they are going to be able to see a benefit. >> growth is a function of the economic argument we will have all day, and i know at least five sides to it now about what lower taxes means in terms of overall stimulation, and better if it's in the business side, and just to double down on one point, which is over time you

see the middle class that there's a claw back on these, and they get bit harder than those at the top. the provisions in some of the bills will have to be matched up, but what they are doing with tuition balances, and the suburban voters in their 50s that don't make much money and are not rich, they will see premiums go up when the mandate goes away, and those are costs that are being put on the middle class, why if your intention was to help them most of all, which is what the president promised. >> as far as the mandate is concerned, the numbers on that is because a lot of people buying insurance because they have to and not because they want to, and that's, again, the reason why you are seeing the drop in the number of coverage. as far as price is concerned, it has always been a republican position that if we lift the kind of prescriptive measures in

place under the aca, under obamacare, you will see a market that will compete for peoples' business in health insurance and you will bring down price. that was always the problem under the aca, affordability left the equation -- >> it doesn't get better if you take healthy people out of the equation. >> if you lift the prescriptions of the mandated benefits and say let's let people have more skin in the game and give them catastrophic coverage so nobody goes -- >> if you reduce what the companies have to provide, they will provide less, and people will get caught up -- >> but if there's a sensible minimum to allow for catastrophic coverage so nobody has to go bankrupt for paying for health care, that's where we start. on the distribution of wealth and income and the rest, i always have believed if you get an economy that grows there will be more money to go around in terms of helping peoples' wages going up with jobs and

opportunities, and you talk about the provisions that are on the table for being slashed and that's targeted tax expenditures is what they are called to assist those especially in the area of higher education, and how are you going to take away that kind of assist. if you look at the higher education authorization bill recently introduced on the republican side, there's more reform needed in that arena instead of trying to put band-aids on the problems. this is the disconnect going on. there's a lot of problems right now to be dealt with, but let's get the economy going again and that's what the bill is about. >> we'll see, then, if the tax bill gets the economy going again. ahead for us, roy moore getting president trump's full support, and now full funding from the rnc.

how does his campaign feel one week before the high stakes election? his spokeswoman joins us next. stay with us. built for business. the ibm cloud. the cloud for business. yours. the cloud for business. i'm here to talk to you about how at&t gives you more. and so am i. like how when you buy the amazing new iphone 8 you get another one on us. see we give you more phones and more spokespeople. are you guys doing a spokesperson thing right now?

yes. awesome, can i be in it? well, it's kind of like a two-phone deal. so two spokespeople. got it. k. thanks. at&t it's time for more. it's time for more. buy the amazing iphone 8 at at&t and get a second one to gift, on us.

if you spit blood you may have gum problems,s and could be on the journey to much worse. try parodontax toothpaste. it's clinically proven to remove plaque, the main cause of bleeding gums. for healthy gums and strong teeth. leave bleeding gums behind with parodontax toothpaste.

one week from today voters will head to the polls in alabama. this as the rnc has reinstated funding for ray moore's campaign despite the credible allegations against him, and the move follows trump's endorsement of moore yesterday. joining me now is moore's spokeswoman. janet porter. thank you for joining us. >> thank you, and it's great to be with you. congratulations on your unborn child. that's the reason why i came down is to voluntary to speak for moore, because he will stand for those in the womb. >> thank you for the congress legs on our son. the two spoke after the president endorsed roy moore. what can you tell us about that

phone call? >> sure. here's what he had to say. basically he knows judge roy moore as a fighter and denied all the false and baseless allegations and fully supports him. this is why. he said it in his tweet, we need his vote on stopping crime, illegal immigration, border law, military, judges and the second amendment, and that's why we need judge roy moore and he's fully behind him, and not only has the rnc backed him and the governor backed him, leaders like james dobson and dr. ben carson, and governor sarah palin, and we also had a 500 pro life and pro family leaders that just signed on to the letter of support. >> janet, let me ask you -- >> mostly, the people of alabama support him. >> let's talk about the republican tax bill that made it through the senate. if he were to have been a sitting senator at the time, would roy moore have voted for that? >> yes.

>> okay. >> he's for tax cuts and for secure borders and for our second amendment. interesting, his opponent when was asked, he can't deny he wants to take guns and religious freedoms away. >> i want to talk about your candidate. let's go through some of the allegations against him. first, we have heard a woman say at 14 years old she was a victim of child molestation by roy moore. here she is in her words. >> he basically laid out some blankets on the floor of his living room and proceeded to seduce me, i guess, you would say. during the course of that he removed by clothing, he left the room and came back in wearing his white underwear, and he touched me over my clothing, what was left of it.

he tried to get me to touch him as well. >> do you believe her? >> i don't believe her at all, and i will tell you why. not only was she sought after by the "washington post," her mother doesn't believe elements of her story, the element of the phone call that took place in her bedroom, and the mother said there was no phone in her bedroom, and she said her life spiralled out of control after this incident, that's not what her mother said -- >> her mother said there was no phone in the bedroom, which is not the crux of the story, and the washington po"washington po >> hold on. let me just -- the job of a reporter, because i am one s. to follow leads and ask questions, and that's what the "washington post" did.

she was so hesitant to tell her story, she said she would not tell it until other women were willing to go on the record, and she said to savannah guthrie, this has made my life more difficult. >> one of the jobs of journalist is not to take an academy performance at face value -- >> and 30 people corroborated her story. >> no, they did not. we need to make it clear. poppy, we need to make it clear there's a group of nonaccusers, that have not accused the judge of anything illegal, but when we are talking about leigh, they are saying the court records say differently, and she was given -- she willingly gave

custody away to her ex-husband, and later custody was returned. >> leigh is one of eight women. >> let's look at the women, shall we? >> yes, there are four women. i ask the questions here, okay. >> all right. >> there are four women that accused the candidate of sexual assault or abuse. there are four more who have said -- there are four more that said when he was twice their age, he dated them, they dated them when they were teenagers from 16 to 18. are you comfortable with all of that and are you saying that all of these women are lying? >> if people are legal age share a meal together, that's none of my business. i think what matters in the race is let's look at the accusations. let's look at beverly nelson. everybody knows her yearbook is a forgery, including her

attorney on your network would not deny that. >> alisyn camerota pushed her saying will you present this to an independent handwriting expert and she said yes, when roy moore goes forward and is willing to go under oath about this. >> she says when he goes forward before a judiciary senate on the committee, and guess who sits on that committee, al franken, he's supposed to see aboarding to gloria allred whether or not this innocent man should serve -- >> just to be clear, you believe the women who -- did you believe the women that accused al franken -- >> i had no opinion until i

heard franken -- >> why did you have no opinion about those women but you have a clear -- >> i have done what journalist are supposed to do. i looked at the facts and i see, for example, some of these have motivations. for one of the people that spoke out against judge moore, so happened her brother was prosecuted by roy moore. >> who are you talking about? >> i am talking about faye gary that made an accusation -- >> that is not one of the eight women that cnn has vetted their claims. >> tina johnson. >> what about tina johnson? >> she has an axe to grind against the judge because he represented the party, her mother, that said that she was an unfit mother and she had a violent nature and she was an absentee mother, so he represented the party that took away the custody of her 12-year-old son. these are people seeking revenge. like the criminals, like the drug dealer that judge moore sent to jail just happens to

have a brother who is an editor on the "washington post." if we had real journalism we would be asking questions on both sides. >> we do. that's exactly what we do every morning here, and i am glad you are hear to answer them. let's listen to the chief strategist of roy moore, dean young, here's what he said about the accounts of roy moore dating teenage girls. listen. >> if he did date a teenager, he didn't know about it. i can't tell you how many times i have been on a date and asked a girl how old she was, especially after i asked her mama if i could date them. >> generally important if you have a question about age to know whether or not somebody is underage. let's put that aside for a moment. that argument does not hold water, and this is why, 17-year-old, detailed the date she went on roy moore when he was 34, and she shows and there are photographs of the card he

gave her for her graduation, what he wrote when she was graduating from high school, and now your colleague said he didn't know he was dating any teenagers, and you said the same thing to my colleague he didn't know he was dating teenagers. fa factually, yes or no, he did hate and kiss her when he was 34 and she was 17. >> i do no what debby gibson said when she was not campaigning for judge roy's opponent, what she said is judge roy moore gave a gift to her fiance with a congreatulations. when i was engaged, no exboyfriend got -- >> you seem to be saying all of these women are democratic operatives, they all want doug

jones to win. >> well, she -- >> leigh, who said she was molested as a child at 14 by roy moore -- >> whose mother disputes her argument and her case. >> voted for republicans in the past three -- >> what we need to know -- >> your argument is these are people with a political vendetta against roy moore? >> well -- >> my question was just about leigh, going back to the first allegation of these women against judge moore, and this is a woman that repeatedly voted for republican candidates. >> maybe she has and maybe she hasn't. what is lacking is cross-examination and oath taking -- >> i just asked you if roy moore

would go under oath and testify before congress on this, and instead of answering that with yes or no, you talked about al franken leading the committee. >> i don't think he needs to follow the demands of gloria allred -- >> i am asking as an american citizen, would he go under oath and answer questions that the american people deserve answers to? >> what are the questions? looking at the nonaccusers -- >> is he guilty of child molestation? i think no matter what your political persuasion is, those are important questions to be asked. >> may i respond? >> will roy moore, will he be willing to go under oath and testify? >> the place to testify under oath, and of course, anybody who is being brought under trial would do so and the place to testify under oath is in a court of trial, in a -- >> there will be no trial. there will be no trial.

there will be no trial because legally -- >> let me tell you about -- >> because legally that's not possible. you know that. >> here 8 question that should be asked. if you care about child abuse you should be talking about the fact that judge roy moore stands for protection, not only of our second amendment rights so we can protect ourselves against predators, and the rights of babies like your baby, judge jones says you can take the life of that -- >> let's leave my child out of this. let's leave my child out of this. >> it's really the children of alabama that we are talking about and the alabamans understand if we are talking about what is at stake here, we are talking about fake allegations, concocted stories about an innocent man versus the real threat of child abuse not only in the womb but in the locker room. >> i have respect for you and taking the time, but i want to make it clear so everybody

understands, you believe all eight of these women that cnn has vetted their stories are lying, that these are in your words, fake allegations, women that do not know one another -- >> there are only three accused -- may i respond? >> yes or no. >> eight of the people are not acuters -- >> do you believe these women? would you like to name them? >> name them. >> beverly nelson. >> she's the yearbook forger laty. and tina johnson, she was arrested for theft by deception, which, by the way, is what is happening in alabama, they are trying to steal this election by deception. >> hold on, janet. hold on janet. >> we have them on the screen and strict vetting policies that we will even put on that screen here at cnn. these are the women. you just labeled beverly nelson as a -- the only label you gave

her is she's lying about a signature in her yearbook. >> no, she lied about more than that. can i respond? you have to give me a chance to speak, poppy. >> she said she was sexually assaulted in roy moore's car. >> she said she started working there when she was 15, and turns out you have to be 16. the dumpsters were behind the restaurant, but it wasn't. >> does that mean she's a liar? >> the waitresses that worked at the old hickory inn says she is. they should know. >> you believe those waitresses over her? please answer the first question that i asked, which is do you believe any of these women, any of these eight women, do you believe any of them, yes or no. >> beverly's own attorney doesn't believe her. >> please answer my question. do you believe the allegations of any of these eight women, do

you believe any of them, yes or no? >> your premise is wrong, poppy. i have to call you on it. debby gibson, a supporter of his opponent did not accuse him -- >> that's a no, correct? you don't believe any of them? >> those you claim have evidence, the three that made allegations have all been discredited, and what matters is the people of alabama believe the judge who stood for life, liberty and honesty and integrity. >> do you believe any of them? so you are not going to answer the question. >> this is all about the supreme court of the united states. you realize this is a winner take all race, and the one who wins this race is the one that

will decide the supreme court for the next 30 or 40 years. >> there are a lot of really important issues at play and the voters of alabama will decide among those -- >> if we let the lynch media decide -- >> i am asking for a answer. final question to you, roy moore has not been on cnn to answer these questions for himself since february -- >> i can see why. >> he did an interview with chris cuomo who is sitting next to me. why would he not come on and talk to us? >> there's a reason why you have the title of fake news, because you don't investigate the credibility problems, and what has been disputed. i think he has a right to stand with the people of alabama and not be subjected to more and more harassment against people out to get him because there's a senate seat in play that has the supreme court in the balance.

i side, instead of with the lynch mob media, instead of the democrat liberals, instead of the convicted felons that george soros is looking for the vote, i stand for the man that has an impeccable character, and -- >> janet, i appreciate you taking the time this morning answering the questions being with us. we welcome roy moore to join us anytime. thank you very much. >> thank you. >> chris. >> now that was a good interview. >> oh, well, you talked to roy moore two years ago, and i wish he would go on and talk to you. >> there's a lot of misstated propositions and a lot of baggage, and you asked the right questions and the right way, and that was helpful to the audience. >> that's our job. >> you did it very well.

>> we will take a quick break here. i need a rest after that. lavar ball has been listening to the whole thing. he has a fire behind him and looks comfortable. stay awake, lavar, on the west coast. we'll get after this after the break.

basketball dad, lavar ball, no stranger to controversy, often courts it and announcing now he is pulling his son, liangelo, out of the ucla basketball team. this is one month after his son was arrested for shoplifting in china, and he was released, as you remember, and president trump said he spoke to the chinese president and helped get him out and ball didn't buy it and now is unhappy with how the university handled the fallout. lavar ball woke up to be on "new day" this morning. thank you for taking the opportunity. >> cuomo, thank you. what's going on? >> admit you missed me, first.

>> you know i miss you, man. come on, cuomo, you are a wild guy and like your style. >> i like you don't have a shot at saying my name the right way, and i learned to embrace it and it took me a while but you can call me whatever you want. >> cuomo, thank you. >> thanks, that matters to my mother. >> mr. ball, when you had to deal with taking on the president of the united states, what happened after the interview you did on cnn, it was viral and all over the place, and there were all of these opinions. what do you think it meant for you, your business and for your family? >> well, it was just an opinion. like i said, man, 50% of the people don't like it and 50% is going to be like, man, that dude is ungrateful, and that's okay because it's not going to stop

me from doing what i do. >> did you learn anything since then about what the president did to help get your son out of trouble? >> i have not learned anything, and it was just a conversation we had and that was it. i even sent him a pair of shoes. >> you sent the president sneakers? >> three pair, red, white and blue, to show we are patriotic. >> did you get a thank you? >> hey, didn't get a thank you. but i ain't going to stress. >> you don't seem that happy. >> 1600 pennsylvania, the -- >> did you get the right address, you didn't say 1500, did you? >> 1600 pennsylvania. they should be there.

>> did you send them return receipt requested? >> no. >> that was your mistake. >> he knows he got shoes, and behind closed doors i think he got them on his feet, just dancing. you know what song he's singing? >> thank you, thank you. thank you, thank you. >> that's not a song. you made that up and it's not a real song. >> hey, he got a new song, it's just for him. >> you are saying there was no blow back afterwards and it didn't hurt business and didn't change peoples' perceptions of you? >> no, people already got their perception of me. >> do they have it right or wrong? >> well, some people got it right and some people got it wrong. the ones who got it wrong, i don't worry about. the ones that got it right, and rolling with the big baller brand, we are good. >> >> liangelo is a talented young

man, and a lot of assets on the court and why would you pull him off the ucla basketball team? >> because we have the ncaa waiting back and they are waiting two or three months to tell him if he can play or not, and that's his passion, and for them to prolong it and go on and on, it's ridiculous to me. >> are they holding him to a different standard than the other players? my understanding is this is what they are doing with all the players, not justly liangelo. >> what happened to him, it has been long enough punishment. >> says who? >> these coaches is making a grip of money. we have to be mindful, now, they could be under this, too, on the fact that they got a hold of a little accountability. >> that's fine. they are there to over see the

kids, as big and as strong as they are, they are still kids. >> exactly. >> they stole several things, and that's a crime. >> i don't think it should be that deadly to them, where, over there in china they dropped the charges. >> lucky for you. >> i think the boys learned their lesson. i am always lucky, so that's okay. but they learned their lesson and now it's a harsher treatment over here. >> when we look at what the ncaa comes down on -- >> nobody is perfect. >> hold on, lavar, when we look at what the ncaa takes action on and ucla takes action on, these kinds of charges get taken seriously, and kids get kicked off teams for less. >> yeah, and china already forgave the boys and they returned it. why are we still manhandling them as far as keeping them from sports and taking meal passes, and taking stuff where they can't practice in the facility? >> because they broke the law. >> you already sent the message.

they already apologized. they already did all of that. what are we holding on to? to make a point for what? they are forgiven over there, so what is the big deal? i think they had enough. to just prolong it, the brand we are not sitting back and letting determine if my boy is going to play basketball, and we have another route and going to have other opportunities to invest in. >> you think it's -- >> if my boy wanted to be the smartest boy in the room, but to be the world's greatest basketball player, it's not rocket scientist, you got the talent or you don't. we are not going to sit back. >> what message are you sending to liangelo about what matters in his life? what about his education? >> if a person is going to hold

you back, don't sit back and don't do nothing. go full steam ahead -- >> you have to pay the price when you make a mistake in life. >> we paid our price. you pay your price. you guys aren't going to sit back and let the whole season go by and don't let him play anyway. i will not sit back and wait for a person to say, you know, i think we will let you play because you did a pretty good job of making a point to make these three guys sit back, you guys are the people we are going to make an example so everybody can say wow. ucla is not going to bring my boy down. they are not going to say ucla made his future. no, we will go a different route. these coaches make a lot of money. >> i know they make a lot of money. that's not the point. >> there's no accountability to them. >> they didn't steal the stuff.

>> they got guidance. chaperon. you tell me you just take them over there and let them loose? don't let them out, and keep everybody in the room, and then what, nothing? when something happens, say you are the coach, and they did enough and let's go and let's let them play and we're good. they admitted they made a mistake and apologized, but you shouldn't hang them on the cross this long for that. that's not only embarrassing -- a kid that wants to play basketball all their life and you take that away from them, that's worse than jail. come on, man. they know it did, and it's up in their head. that's enough punishment for enough, because they know they let their families down and stuff like that. why should we as parents and adults keep jumping on them? it's not like we all went through life without making