partisan turnout potential. democrats as a party are highly motivated to come out in all sorts of places. republicans by and large are not. that's why we're seeing these cataclysmic upsets. >> we have a lot to talk about. >> you're not going to let april give her news. >> hold on. stand by, anchor navar oh. this is "cnn tonight." i'm don lemon. it is the top of the hour. just 1:00 a.m. here on the east coast. a little past midnight, and we're live with breaking news tonight. democrat doug jones wins a stunning victory in the senate election in alabama, becoming the state's first democratic senator, senator-elect in more than 20 years, and defeating republican roy moore, an accused child molester who was endorsed by president trump. but moore has yet to concede. so there's a lot to discuss. they've been talking about a possible recount, but the republican party here has spoken -- or has spoken, i should say in alabama.

i want to get to alex marquardt. democrats pulled it off. a remarkable upset tonight in a ruby red state. give us the latest from the jones headquarters. >> reporter: well, don, it was a raucous night here at the headquarters. you can probably hear it in my voice. i've gone hoarse at this point. the party is dying down. people don't want to stop celebrating this extraordinary win by doug jones. i was speaking with the campaign chairman giles perkins just a short time ago. he had a glass of wine in hand. they will very much celebrating this incredible upset as well. now, don, as you know, what normally happens in these situations is you have a victory speech, which we heard from doug jones, then you have a concession speech by the loser. that is often followed by a call from the loser to the winner, congratulating him or her. as you know, that did not happen tonight. so the campaign chairman, giles perkins, told me he is disappointed there has been no contact between the moore and the jones campaigns. he said the proper thing to do would have been for roy moore to call doug jones and to congratulate him.

perkins told me it's a clear win. i hope they wake up in the morning and concede. now, assuming all goes to plan in the coming days and weeks, what will happen is the alabama secretary of state will certify this election at the end of december, and then jones will be sworn into the senate in all likelihood in early january when they are back in session. >> thank you, alex. i appreciate that. i want to get to kaitlan collins nw. she's at roy moore's headquarters in montgomery, alabama. alex mentioned roy moore has not yet made a concession call. any word on when that might come? >> reporter: no, he hasn't. and there's been no word on that yet, don, from any of the moore officials who have gone silent since it was first showing doug jones in the lead. as i reported earlier, the moore campaign had been feeling incredibly confident earlier tonight. but that all changed within a very, very brief period of time. and at this point the moore campaign is hanging on for dear and though the alabama republican party has declared a doug jones victory, multiple

news outlets have declared a doug jones victory, doug jones has given a victory speech, and the president, donald trump, has congratulated him on his win, roy moore is refusing to concede this election. we heard from his campaign chairman, bill ar miss stead, who was citing an alabama law that requires a recount if the margin of victory is within half of a percentage point, even though it was showing doug jones up more than that. moore told his supporters to go home and sleep on it. at this point, it seems like it's a matter of time before he concedes. >> thank you very much. i appreciate that. why did evangelicals support roy moore in spite of the allegations? thank you, mr. mohler. doug jones pulled out the win. what's your reaction to this shocking result? >> well, evangelicals in alabama, don -- and it's good to be with you -- faced another

excruciating situation. at the end of the day, not enough of them turned out to vote for roy moore. that's the big story here. the vacuum created by the fact that so many evangelicals did not turn out as expected and as the pattern would indicate. that's why he lost. that's a stunning story. it's stunning that not one major evangelical leader or pastor in the state of alabama stood with roy moore and supported roy moore publicly once those accusations were made. but even before the accusations were made. we're talking about the republican party learning a very hard lesson here about the limits of republican conservative christian tolerance when it comes to candidates. >> mm-hmm. what message do you think this election sends to both the country as a whole and the evangelical community specifically? >> well, elections have consequences, and one of the saddest consequences for the people of alabama is that they will now have a senator who is avowedly pro-abortion.

that's almost incomprehensible. how could that happen? it's not just they elected a democrat, but they elected a very pro-abortion democrat. that has to be explained by something. i think it's explained only by the fact that an incredible number of evangelical christians said, this is just a bridge too far. we cannot turn out to vote for this candidate. they would not and could not vote for a pro-abortion candidate. they would not and could not, as it turned out, vote for roy moore. and into that vacuum came doug jones winning the election tonight. that sends a massive signal to the national republican party. it sends a signal to evangelical christians around the nation that it's alabama last night in terms of the election. the same kind of situation could show up anywhere. but there is, in the end, no ability to separate characer and public policy or public office as this election presented the challenge to the voters of alabama. this wasn't really even that close, and it's stunning. it's nothing less than stunning.

any way the election came down, i believe, the people of alabama would lose. >> but he still got 80% of the evangelical vote. i mean that's a lot. >> well, he got 80% of what were identified as evangelicals in exit polling. that really doesn't take into consideration the fact that he lost because so many evangelicals didn't show up. therefore, weren't in the exit polling. that's the big story. given the percentage of evangelical voters in alabama, it's virtually inconceivable that a candidate supported by evangelicals could lose. this candidate did, which meant he did not have solid support amongst evangelicals. that's the big story, especially in a state like alabama. >> i want to talk to you -- this is in your podcast today. you noted that despite moore's strong connection to evangelical movement, the evangelical movement, there haven't been a ton of prominent evangelical pastors and leaders speaking out on his behalf. why do you think that was because it seems like speaking out against someone accused of preying on children would have been a slam dunk.

>> well, they did not support him. i mean that's the big story. the big story is what didn't happen. if you look at the 2016 presidential election, look at all the prominent evangelicals who are willing to stand publicly to call for voters to vote for donald trump. notice how that didn't happen in alabama. you didn't have any major pastors. you didn't have any major evangelical leaders, not a single one willing to support roy moore. that was an astounding message. by the way, here's a message. a republican conservative candidate cannot win even in a deeply southern immeasurably red state like alabama without the strong support of evangelical christians. that's a very clear message. >> albert mohler, thank you. i appreciate it. >> good to be with you, don. back now with my political dream team. april, i'm going to get your news in, but i just want to show this because we were talking about it, here we go. right here. this is the cover of the new

york daily news tomorrow, and it says, you know what you and the horse you rode in on. so he probably is rethinking that decision. april ryan, what do you have for us? >> from a high-level republican who texted me during the show, they said tim scott, jc watts and the late jack kemp, republicans are working to ground out the party on issues that most people can respect. they say that there is a civil war brewing inside the party, and they're saying that several meetings are being called tomorrow to prepare. so they're trying to fix this. they're trying to figure out what's going on, how to move forward. they're trying to bring it back in because it's gone too far, to include with the president and to push roy moore, this man -- yeah, he wasn't an acceptable candidate, but every ist pertains to roy moore. >> we heard what the secretary of state said on this air from alabama, saying that, well, they have to check. they want to check the absentee

votes. they want to check the write-in votes. they want to check the military votes, what have you. but the alabama state gop says the race is over. we respect the voting process given to us by our founding fathers. they say it's done. >> the question is how long until governor kay ivey certifies it. the secretary of state was on earlier. as early as december 26th. as late as january 3rd. if you're mitch mcconnell, you want as much time as you can because he's still got luther strange in the senate. but if you're the people of alabama, they have just voted for a new senator, and they feel quite rightly entitled to have that person casting their vote on this tax bill, not somebody appointed. >> i guess it also goes to the point that the civil war is brewing to the fact that the republicans in alabama can't even seem to get on the same page tonight. you've got the alabama republican party saying one thing. you've got the republican candidate saying one thing in alabama. you've got other outside republicans saying another thing. so, you know, there's much to be

said from the democratic side about how we're not necessarily all on the same page. clearly we have to get our house in order. but we are way more organized than the folks should -- they just should have their act together and they don't. i think that's indicative of the issues we're going to see going forward in the next couple of months. >> kirsten, one of the reasons the president felt that he had to support roy moore is probably because of his own allegations, and maybe that would have given him some sort of cover for those allegations. according to one source, steve bannon told president trump if moore lost, democrats would field emboldened to go after the president on sexual harassment issues. what do you think? >> i mean there's no way to really prove that that was the reason that donald trump supported him. i always thought he supported him because he just was more his kind of person. i think the things i would describe as, you know, highly problematic, some of it very racist, homophobic in the extreme is what trump supporters call, you know, me being

politically correct. so he was sort of the anti-politically correct candidate. he was just more trump's style, upsetting the establishment. and, you know, i think with time as the accusations came against him, then i do think trump started to become a sort of kindred spirit, that you're being persecuted the same way i was being persecuted. >> do you think democrats will become more emboldened? >> i think either way they were going to move on this. some are calling on him to resign. that's fine. it's not going to make a difference. much more important, they're calling for hearings. if the president is right and these 16 women are all liars, let's get them under oath. let's clear the president's name. maybe they're telling the truth. so public testimony, if these women are willing to do it -- they've already come forward -- that would be really important. it's what every congressional candidate is going to be asked. are you for hearings? certainly we should have hearings. we should find out the facts. it's going to be a big issue in 2018. >> i think we could also -- if you try to extrapolate what

happened in alabama and how might it play out in the midterms, there's a lot of interesting things to consider. one example would be that, you know, alabama elected donald trump after the "access hollywood" tapes by the way, by like 27 points. so it's not just decency, right? >> when you say that, i think even since then, i think the culture has moved. >> yeah, that's one of the things i was going to say. i think you're totally right. but i also think there's the fact that alabama this time was on the ballot. their reputation specifically. roy moore is accused of things that are a little bit different than donald trump too. but i do think that can the anti-donald trump zeitgeist be weaponized and localized in 435 house races around the country? >> there are -- many of the president's tweets and people

have gotten used to them sort of in the way they're just eye rolls. and then now i think there are some that just make people gasp, like the one today, ana. the president received backlash f for, lightweight senator kirsten gillibrand, a total flunky for chuck schumer and someone who would come to my office begging for campaign contributions not so long ago. and in parentheses, and would do anything for them, is now in the ring fighting against trump. very disloyal to bill and crooked. used. is there any way -- is there anything appropriate about sending that? >> no. it wouldn't be an appropriate tweet from frankly anybody. but, you know, he's the president of the united states. he represents us all. he is the commander in chief. i keep thinking we've got to hold him to a higher standard. >> yes. >> i am not willing to numb myself to these things and let it just be an eye roll and a sigh. he is the president of the united states. the world is watching.

and he continues behaving in this way. frankly, he's not going to change. it's what we've learne in the last year. a lot of people, a lot of republicans thought that he was going to grow into the presidency. he has not changed. look, it's very hard to change a man after he has teeth. but i -- you know, i think there's a donald trump connection that goes far beyond his endorsement and help of roy moore. since the donald trump election in 2016, america is woke in a way that we hadn't seen before. you have seen women who suffered sexual harassment wake up, stand up, speak up. you have seen voters who didn't vote in november of 2016 say, you know what? we really regret that. because we didn't vote, because we sat it out, we ended up with this. and they're coming out and voting. there is a political engagement in america that i think is a direct result of having ended up with a donald trump. >> i sat, and i watched as i was getting ready to come here -- i

watched a briefing, and you were in the briefing room today. >> yes, i was. >> when sarah huckabee sanders says, there's nothing that was inappropriate about that tweet -- there was nothing -- it wasn't a sexual reference in any way. what were you thinking? >> i was in shock. >> what was the reaction in that room? >> i was in shock because i asked her since she said it was a misunderstanding, it was about draining the swamp, and the president had used those words before for male politicians. and it was just basically a reference to draining the swamp. so i said, since it was a misunderstanding, is kirsten gillibrand owed an apology for those words that some thought was a sexual innuendo. and she said something to the effect that, well, if that's what you thought, your mind was in the gutter. i'm like, i was really in shock. >> if you put begging in quotes

and would do anything for them in parentheses -- >> right. it's almost like you're exchanging -- it sounded like he was saying a sexual favor for a campaign contribution. the reason i was shocked, because we know we've heard the president on the "access hollywood" tape, and billy bush said that was him saying grab your meow-yow. i was like -- i'm not going to say the word, but, you know -- oh, honey, i can do it. no. i was in shock. it's not beyond the realm of possibility for that to be what the president was saying. >> i would agree with april. not just that, it's because senator gillibrand was talking about the accusations, the credible accusations of now what 16 different women in relation to the president of the united states. and these accusations are about sexual misconduct, some of them sexual assault. for him to respond with a tweet that absolutely basically

insinuated that she was some kind of prostitute or some woman willing to do anything, anything -- >> sexual favors for. >> sexual favors, but she was -- it was just disgusting. >> here's my experience with that. when on the air, when donald trump, candidate, said to me, megyn kelly had blood coming out of her wherever. and a lot of men were like, i'm not sure they meant that. i don't know. i don't know. and every woman in my life said, that's exactly what he meant. we know it. we've lived through it. every woman has said to me today, that's exactly what he meant, and maybe, you know, you don't want to believe it. but then when you look back, i think people then wanted to think, he couldn't possibly be doing that. we would not -- we would never get to a place in this country where someone running for president of the united states would actually say that a woman has blood coming out of her wherever. but then now, looking back, we -- i'll let you respond. >> yeah. >> go on. >> when you ask a legitimate

question for something that they have said or they have tweeted, they try to make you look crazy because you're asking something logical that just fits together in the perfect puzzle. what you said is what you said. >> let me just say this. >> girl, you're not getting invited to the christmas party next year. >> i wasn't going to go anyway. >> even if you didn't mean it -- let's just give him that. if someone was offended by it, if i offend you, it doesn't matter that i wasn't offended. it means you were offended. i would explain myself and apologize, and i certainly -- >> yes. human decency. >> we'll be back. [vo] quickbooks introduces jeanette

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gentlemen, tonight in this time, in this place, you helped bend that moral arc a little closer to that justice, and you did it. >> dr. king once said that the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice. it bends towards justice. but here's the thing. it does not bend on its own. it bends because each of us in our own ways put our hand on that arc, and we bend it in the direction of justice. >> back now with my political dream team. symone sanders, why do you think doug jones chose those words specifically? >> i think paula alluded to it earlier in that it came full circle that the man who prosecuted the kkk replaced someone -- beat someone who was a segregationist, a self-proclaimed segregationist. now, i also know that people

like to quote dr. king a whole lot. he's not the only person we can quote. i think those words were absolutely accurate in this moment. >> non-melinated? we've gone meow-yow. >> the late night crew. why do you think he -- that was obviously on purpose, correct? >> that was obviously what? >> on purpose. >> sure. >> yeah. >> everything is scripted and strategic and on purpose. >> but it's also significant. let me tell you who found justice. all those women who spoke up. the women who have been speaking up across america, and particularly those women who spoke up in alabama who knew that they were going to get shamed, who knew they were going to get attacked, who knew they were going to have their lives scrutinized and still did it and persisted. today they got justice. you know who else got justice? i don't know if any of you saw it. the video of the father of the lesbian woman who took her own life. and he went yesterday to protest

against roy moore for being soho m -- homophobic. it was justice for his daughter and for him. so, yes, these words were significant and appropriate. >> let's listen to it. >> i was anti-gay myself. i said bad things to my daughter myself, which i regret. but i can't take back what happened to my daughter. but stuff like saying my daughter's a prevert, sure, i'm sure that bothered her. now, you know, judge moore, he didn't call my daughter by name. he said all gay people are preverts, abominations. that's not true. we don't need a person like that representing us in washington. >> i found that to be a very stunning moment, right, ana? i wonder, you know, having -- how do i put this?

obviously being black and hearing the rhetoric from the '60s, being gay, hearing the rhetoric now, people using religion, the church, the bible, scriptures to discriminate against anyone they want to discriminate against, whether it be a woman, a jewish person, a muslim, a gay person, a black person. they can take bible verses and try to twist them into something -- >> manipulate it. >> to manipulate it to go against something, and it's so hypocritical. >> well -- >> is alabama coming around finally, you think, to that? because if you look at the people who they've elected -- the state of george wallace. nothing against alabamians. it's the truth. are they finally coming around when it comes to -- >> i don't know if we can go that far to say they're finally coming around. a lot of people still voted for roy moore, right? so there are still people, i think, unfortunately who hold these beliefs. look, it's a twisted interpretation of the bible. i mean i'd love to go toe to toe

with any of these people on the scripture they're using because there's nothing biblical that backs up the things they're saying. but this video of this man was just so touching because it's so hard to stand up and say that you did something wrong, especially when the consequence of that -- you know, i don't know how much it played into it, but she committed suicide. and to stand up in alabama, where people aren't very open necessarily to gay people, and say, i made a mistake, and it's wrong, and to call out roy moore. so, yeah, i do think that there's justice, and i think that people have latched onto that quote for a lot of different reasons. but i also think people have felt after the trump election, there's this sense of things are out of control and that it's not going to end well. and there's this -- >> can i make one quick point? if you look at the coalition that elected doug jones tonight, absolutely african-americans were important. but he won young people, millennials, overwhelmingly. there's a rising generation of

people, i think even in alabama, who just don't put up with attitudes like the one that roy moore espouses when it comes -- >> it was the -- [ overlapping voices ] >> we have to remember the history of alabama. we have to remember the painful history. i'm talking a race point right now. think about this. we had the tuskegee syphilis study in alabama. we had the montgomery bus boycott in alabama. we had selma, bloody sunday, in alabama. the bombing of the church with the four little girls in alabama. think of that, and think of the mindset and how the arc has changed. this was a big moment. this was a pivotal moment. >> to my point -- and i would like you to respond to this. sometimes people just don't know what they don't know. >> mm-hmm. >> when they say ignorance is bliss. well, it's not bliss. it's terrible. i think this speaks to people who watch news outlets, only the

ones that reaffirm their beliefs, read newspapers, only the ones that reaffirm their believes. the guy that jake had on today, well, you can't be a muslim because you've got to put your hand on the bible and -- it's not true. and he doesn't know that. you don't know what you don't know. so then, ed, what do you say to that -- especially last night, with mrs. moore saying, well, one of my -- you know, one of our attorneys is a jew. she didn't even understand what a blunder that was. >> right. well, when i watched that father talk there, i thought the power of that, to me, captures what the election was about, right? elections are choices, and what this gentleman said was, as to my family, i made a mistake, and i see that in lroy moore, and i don't want you to take ma mistake. i don't look to my politicians, thank goodness, right now, to be

my pastor. i don't look for them to be the people that -- >> but they're learning it from the church and from their pastor. they're learning it from their pastors. yes, they are. >> there's plenty of people that are unpleasant and nasty that are whatever -- you know, on any issue. there's people that are, you know, unpleasant to conservatives, liberals, whatever. so i reject that if they're learning it. but i would say elections are about policies and people. and roy moore lost, and some of his policies lost. it was not -- you all are celebrating a lot here. i enjoy it. have a great night. but the republican party that donald trump won on won a lot of elections and it's governing in a lot of statehouses. but they're doing a lot of policies that people are looking up and relating to. i want to point something else out. paul can tell us as an expert. every president in office, their midterm is a brutal time. >> we're going to talk about that after the break. but i do find -- and i'm just being honest here -- sometimes the most hateful ideologies, the

most hateful people and thinking comes from the church, especially when it has to do with gay people and it has to do with african-americans. listen, and you're saying this had nothing to do with the church and whatever. she said, i fellowship with them. what does that mean? i fellowship. that means we worship in church together. >> with who? >> she said, i fellowship with my jewish attorney. >> no, it doesn't mean -- >> an evangelical christian who led in the british parliament, led the fight against slavery in great britain. it was reverend dr. martin luther king jr. who used the church, and i would say the moral authority of scripture to attack racism. and so i think that when christianity and religion is used for hate, it's a perversion, and a co-opting of something. >> but when it's at its best, it

can be helpful. >> what about love thy neighbor -- >> we'll be right back. i got to go. the ford year-end sales event is in full swing. ( ♪ ) you are going to be a big surprise. (whining) aww, i see a big puppy. i see a b-i-i-g pu-u-ppy. hey greg! that's ford, america's best-selling brand. now get exclusive holiday offers, with 0% financing for 72 months across a full line up. for a limited time, get an additional $1,000 cash back on top of 0% financing for 72 months. get these exclusive offers

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doug jones becoming the first democrat in a generation to win a senate seat in alabama. his victory will narrow the republican majority to just 51-49. cnn's tom foreman has more on the balance of power in the senate. tom? >> reporter: hey, don. take a look at these numbers. they are the ones that really matter. the republicans came in tonight controlling 52 seats in the senate. democrats and their allies, 48. and this will be the new numbers. 51-49. this is a genuine big change here and why donald trump so

much wanted roy moore to win and how he must be so distressed to have doug jones win instead, because that loss of a single vote could make a big difference to his ability to pass any kind of legislation from border control, budgets, entitlements. even if you look at the big tax reform package right now, because if doug jones is seated before the final vote occurs here, a single defection on the republican side could burn this thing to the ground. so what are the odds of that happening? well, we have to look at the calendar. before jones can take the oath, the secretary of state in alabama has to certify the vote. in all likelihood, that's going to happen somewhere around the 27th, 28th, 29th of this month, meaning an actual swearing in probably doesn't happen until january next year. the republicans are trying to pass that big tax plan by the 22nd. that's when they would like to have the whole thing finished. yes, schedules can slide. it's possible the two could collide. but democrats can do nothing to speed up this process.

so it's unlikely doug jones will have a say as republicans try to nail down at least one big legislative win before they have this change in the numbers that could change everything. don? >> all right, tom. thank you very much. appreciate it. back now with my panel. you heard him break down a moment ago. do you think this changes anything for momentum at least with democrats taking -- >>. i think tom's exactly right. i think the republicans are going to try to jam this tax cut through. i tell you, there was nobody at a trump rally, nobody at a roy moore rally holding up a sign saking cut taxes for goldman sach sachs. it's folks in alabama who are going to be, many of them, paying more taxes. in other words, politically, the republicans think if they pass the tax bill, it will help them. but an unpopular tax bill passed by an unpopular congress, signed by an unpopular president is not the way to become popular. it's going to tee them up for a

blue wave in 2018. i mean we've seen this, right? when democrats ran through obamacare, we had a terrible midterm. obamacare much, much more popular. >> there's huge desperation within the republican party to deliver something, to show something for having the white house, the senate, and the house of representatives. i think that what it does is it gives the senate version of the tax bill a lot more leverage. i think the senate -- you know, there's significant differences between the house bill and the senate bill. i don't like them either. i don't like either of them. but i think the senate can now say, mitch mcconnell can now say to paul ryan, listen, paul, you want to get something passed, and paul ryan does, you better go ahead and make sure we get the senate version through because it's what i can pass right now. and i'm not going to be able to do it come january. >> but that tax bill is still fundamentally unpopular, even the senate version. so the narrative then becomes for the 2018 midterms, when republicans were in control of everything, the house, the senate, the white house, and they had a chance to do something, the one thing they

got done were tax breaks for the wealthiest americans and something that hurt the middle class. those are the kind of ads that people are going to run. >> we'll see what the economy does. you know, reagan passes his tax cuts during -- you know, there's a recession, and the economy comes back. it's morning again in america. you know, donald trump is betting on the fact that this is going to have a stimulus effect, that it's a supply-side stimulus, that it's going to create growth and more jobs. >> but the business -- the business folks have been on panel after panel, have been in forum after forum saying, we're not -- >> that's going to be the question. >> the guy on the panel who works for -- [ overlapping voices ] >> the guy on the panel that works for business week -- can i just make a quick economic point? >> i was going to say we're not in a recession. >> the economy is strong, and trump is a historically unpopular president. goldman sachs came out with a note yesterday saying even though they're cutting corporate tax rates 15%, the actual effect is going to be 3%.

there's no reason there's suddenly going to be an upspurt of growth that is going to accrue to trump's benefit, especially not as a result of this tax bill. >> the proof's in the pudding. okay. if supply-siders are right and cutting the corporate tax rate makes us more competitive, if that causes people to start new factories and invest, then the economy is going to be booming and donald trump will be reelected. >> to josh's point, the stock market is booming. joblessness is at a 17-year low, and he just lost an election in alabama. >> that's different than running for re-election. i think that -- look, donald trump doesn't have coattails, and his popularity is not transferrable just like obamacare didn't have coattails. but if donald -- if the economy is doing well, i think you bet on the economy. >> i don't think people believe that. listen, we're not in a recession. the economy is doing well right

now. people are concerned and wondering why are you passing tax cuts when the economy is already doing well. i think donald trump and his administration uses that line, well, the mess that the former president. i often wonder if donald trump had inherited the actual mess from the actual recession of the bush years, what they would be saying because jobs just don't happen overnight. consumer confidence, it's high. people are, you know -- the job market is good. but it was also good under obama. he is riding the momentum of president obama, and i think people realize that. i don't think people are stupid. >> look, i think that every president probably gets too much blame if the economy is bad, too much praise if the economy is good. economies take a long time to turn. that's why donald trump actually needs to do -- if you buy into supply-side economics, you need to do the tax cuts now so that the stimulus kicks in in time for his -- >> or you do the tax cuts now and you screw the economy up, and then you don't get reelected. >> if that happens, then he'll --

>> we'll continue to talk. don't go anywhere. we'll be right back.

all right. we're back now with the political dream team. we were talking about the economy, the tax cuts, and the momentum of the senate. ed, you wanted -- >> we were talking about -- i think they are going to try to jam the tax cut through now. but also you wonder if -- a lot of people think justice kennedy might retire, we may have a supreme court judge next year. certainly they just passed a bunch of judges out of committee. the senate has things they want to do. we'll see if they jam them through in the next ten days. back to the point we were saying, i don't know if trump has coattails, right? i know when trump came out to saint charles, missouri, ten days ago to sell the tax cut, his speech was well received by his base, talking about competitiveness in china and all that. but when you look at that tax bill and the inside of it, i don't know if trump's not on the ballot, not selling it, if republicans are going to pay a big price in '18. >> i think this defeat makes it

imperative for the republicans on the hill to distance themselves from president trump. senator chuck grassley, the republican chairman of the judiciary committee, broke with the president on two of his judicial nominees. i think ed's right. certainly that's what the base voters want the most. here's chuck grassley beginning to crack. after this election, they're going to run from him like the devil runs from holy water. they do not want to be branded with team trump. >> do you agree with that? >> no. >> paul's a democrat, so that's what paul wants to bleeelieve. >> you're saying he has no coattails. virginia and alabama -- >> he wasn't on the ballot. my argument is that also i would say trump needs to get back to his basics. his basics are trade and immigration. >> he campaigned for -- >> first he campaigned for luther strange, who was the choice of the establishment. >> he lost. >> exactly.

i at the time said it was a terrible idea. i should have gone with mo brooks. most of us that were grassroots -- >> still, you're making our point. >> what i'm saying is -- >> or paul's point. >> if republicans want to run on tax cuts, they better message it right because the grassroots doesn't care. what the grassroots cares about is you said at rallies. build the wall. get the nafta deal torn up, and go on those issues. >> let's talk about the momentum of the senate, okay? kirsten, this is for you. cory gardner, who is the chair of the national republican senatorial committee, he weighed in after the jones election and said this. tonight's results are clear. the people of alabama deemed roy moore unfit to serve in the u.s. senate. i hope senator-elect doug jones will do the right thing and truly represent alabama by choosing to vote with the senate republican majority. >> yeah. i mean that's ridiculous. >> is that a joke tweet? >> that's not -- i mean he's a democrat. he was elected, you know, as a democrat. he's going to be a democrat and

most of the people who elected him were democrats. so that's wishful thinking. >> you think he'll moderate himself and ever maybe vote with some republicans? >> i mean i don't know. it depends on if the republicans come up with something that i think is appealing to democrat . i don't think democrats are just opposed in principle. i think it's what they've been coming up with are any programs that democrats feel comfortable getting on board with. i think if they wanted to work with democrats and moderate in some way and find some middle ground, then yeah, certainly. >> i give cory gardner a lot of credit in this. he did not bend his spine. he did not cow to bullying. he did not cow to threats from parts of the republican party. he stood by his conviction. he is the chair of the national senatorial committee. when others change their minds, i mean the rnc and president trump, nothing changed in the three weeks since the first accusations came out and when

they changed their support. cory gardner stood firm. mitch mcconnell stood firm. and, you know, i think you've got to recognize that they stood by the power of their principles. >> cory gardner is the captain of the team that just lost a seat that should have been won. >> when we come back, a skalthing editorial from u.s. toda today attacking president trump.

back now with my political dream team. i want to read from "usa today" putting out a scathing editorial against the president. i'm going to read part of it. it says, with his latest tweet, implying a united states senator would trade sexual favors for campaign cash, president trump has shown he's not fit for the white house. words used about men and women are different. a president, who would all but call senator kirsten jillen brand a whore, is not fit to clean the toilets in the barack obama presidential library, or to shine the shoes of george w. bush. ed? >> i'm not the only one that has

a gutter mouth, right? >> apparently the rest of america. look, this was just ridiculous. it was disgusting, and it should be appalling, shocking, and just sad and disappointing to all of us that "usa today" has to write this, because we're at a point in our politics where the people -- >> "usa today" is not known for putting out editorials like this. >> let me help the blood pressure of everybody get fired up. >> hold on, ed. i want to caution you, i just -- [ overlapping speakers ] >> let me finish my sentence, really. >> just move on. >> when you step into the ring with the big puncher, like gill she did, you're going to get punched. [ overlapping speakers ]

i'm making a factual point. >> why are you going after a woman? >> okay. [ overlapping speakers ] >> can a man say something to you? [ overlapping speakers ] >> be a gentleman. >> go ahead. >> as paul begala said earlier, kirsten made a mistake by calling for a resignation of the president -- >> i didn't say that. by the way -- >> when she did that, she stepped into the ring with the president and the president did what he's done for years now, fight back. >> go ahead, paul. >> to continue ed's met amore of punching, he's a dirty fighter, a low life that doesn't belong

in the white house. and the "usa today" -- >> one of the lessons from what happened in alabama is, you know, the high road was taken by doug jones, and he, i think, exuded exuded decency. and this is a choice that democrats are going to have to make. we even saw kirsten use p profanity -- >> we've got to go. what the president did there was no excuse for it. >> 51% -- >> that's it for us tonight. see you tomorrow. our live coverage continues after this with john vause and isha sesay in los angeles. >> i was going to say, who's up now?

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a gig-speed. a gig-speed network. it's like 20 times faster than what most people have. i'd of said... i'd of said you're dreaming. dreaming! definitely dreaming. then again, dreaming is how i got this far. now more businesses in more places can afford to dream gig. comcast, building america's largest gig-speed network. this is cnn breaking news. >> hello, welcome to our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm isha sesay. >> and i'm john vause live in los angeles where it's just gone 11:00 p.m. here on a remarkable tuesday in u.s. politics. >> a stunning upset in alabama's senate race. democrat doug jones defeated roy moore, the