captioning sponsored by cbs >> dickerson: today on "face the nation." president trump controversial decision to recognize jerusalem as the capital of israel sparks violent protests in the middle east. plus, forced resignations over sexual misconduct rattle congress as work begins to clean up a messy tax bill in the rush to get it to the president's desk by christmas. in the arab world today concern for american citizens' safety overseas as criticism from u.s. allies over administration's plan to move the u.s. embassy from tel aviv to jerusalem, to further deteriorate the role of u.s. around the world. we'll talk to nikki haley, back at home members of congress push three of their colleagues accused of sexual misconduct

out. but with two days unphysical the senate special election in alabama will accused child molester roy moore be in? >> i did not date underage wom women. i did not molest anyone. so these allegations are false. >> dickerson: democrats are hoping doug jones can turn out the african american vote. and attacking moore's character. >> think about it. has roy moore ever looked you in the eye told you the truth? >> s. dickerson: senate republicans still refuse to support moore but the president is all in. campaigning near alabama and recording a robo call on moore's behalf. >> so get out and vote for roy moore. >> dickerson: we'll talk to susan collins and the number two democrat in the senate, illinois' richard durbin about the politics of sexual misconduct in congress and efforts to clean up a sprawling tax bill that has spark more

questions than answers. we'll also have plenty of analysis both foreign and domestic on all the news this week, just ahead on "face the nation." good morning, welcome to "face the nation" i'm john dickerson. we want to begin with a look at the reaction of the president's decision on jerusalem, cbs news correspondent seth doane reports. >> this is the entrance to the old city of jerusalem damascus, has historically been a flash point for violence, it is calm today but additional security is in place. and there is a worrying development this morning, unrest is pushing beyond israel's borders. lebanon today, security forces fired tear gas and used water cannons to push back pro palestinian protesters in front of the u.s. embassy. those demonstrators threw objects and lit fires to register their anger over president trump's recognition of jerusalem as the capital of israel. the cairo there was serious

diplomatic blow back at emergency meeting of arab league foreign ministers who criticized mr. trump's decision saying, it threatens to push the region to the edge of the abyss of violence, chaos and bloodshed. after days of clashes, protests continue while funerals for some of those killed in gads a revealed a dangerous mix of anger and grief. israel's military announced today it destroyed what it called a significant terrorist tunnel, in the past hamas used tunnels to move weapons, supplies and to carry out surprise attacks. today the military wing made an ominous statement saying that the next few days would prove to the world what a mistake the u.s. decision had been and warned not to underestimate the will of the palestinian resistant. >> s. dickerson: we turn to u.n. ambassador nikki haley, she joins froes new york, welcome, madam a ambassador. you've seen the violence in

response to the u.s. desticks on embassy, there's a lot of tension in the middle east with all that's going on and all that the u.s. has to deal with there, why was this a priority and in america's national interest to make this move right now? >> good morning, job. first of all this is a move the american have asked for for 22 years. and six months ago the senate overwhelmingly again asked for the embassy to be moved. i think you have to look at the fact that every presidential candidate, republican or democrat has always said that jerusalem is the capital of and president trump had the courage to do that. what this does is basically do what we do in almost every other country, which s put the embassy in the capital city and jerusalem is where the prime ministers the president is, the parliament, the supreme court, it makes sense for our embassy to be there. >> dickerson: given all that's happening in the world why is it a priority to do this right now and why is it worth paying the

price of the increased violence? >> because it's the right thing to do. it is absolutely the right thing to do and for the last 22 years, everyone around every president has said, just wait, just wait. and president trump is not going to wait any more. >> dickerson: explain why it's the right thing to do? >> it's the right thing to do because it's just reality. jerusalem is the capital of israel. they have said that, when american people say they want something, it is -- it's their will that we're supposed to follow. >> dickerson: in this case, the u.s. is -- critics believe changing its role, it's stepping in more forcibly on the side of israel that sends signal that is not going to make things better. so, explain how we get from this move to a better outcome and whether thisment -- all this violence isn't going to delay a better outcome? >> first of all, i think that when you recognize the truth, when both parties recognize reality, peace comes.

and that's just the true reality of the situation. we're living in the reality that jerusalem is the capital of israel but if you notice when the president spoke, he made it very clear, he didn't talk about boundaries, didn't talk about borders, didn't get into any of that. because the final status of jerusalem is between the palestinians and israelis. it's not for the americans to decide. so we are doing what we do in every other country, israel should be no different. then we're going to continue to support the peace process. you know, courage breeds leadership, you so a courageous move by the president. of course, any time you have to use courage, any time you have to go against the status quo you're going to have people saying the sky is falling. but the sky is not falling. if anything, what we're going to see is, both sides are going to come to the table, they're going to decide what they think jerusalem should look like and going to support that process. >> dickerson: of course people -- rebuttal would be aggressive moves in the middle east have caused united states a

lot in blood and treasure. on a negotiating standpoint, one of the criticism the president gave up a bargaining chip. another views the president is now giving israelis something and now he can ask something from them in return. which of those two do you subscribe to? >> neither one is right. the president took jerusalem off the table. that's what he did. that is something that we have always -- people have said use that as bargaining chip, let's be clear the last 22 years that was a bargaining chip it got us no where closer to peace. he took it off the table. jerusalem is the capital of the israel. take that off the table. say both sides to come together, you decide how you want to split it up. you decide if you're going to create boundaries or borders and let them decide. they're going to be naysayers, john, that say you shouldn't do this, but they also thought, they also question the president when he first decided to strike for chemical weapons in syria, that was true leadership.

they said the same thing when we started to push north korea and push sanction, is that was true leadership. this again will go down in history to show he made the move that got the two parties to come to the table. it's okay for naysayers but we know at the end of the day this is the right thing to do. >> dickerson: let me ask you about north korea. lindsey graham said the u.s. should start moving civilians out of south koria what is your response toe that? >> i think we're watching north korea very carefully. if you look at the last ballistic missile launch, it had advanced quite a bit compared to the missile before. and it's a concern. what we will tell saw north korea is is the biggest threat we have right now. but we're not going to let that stop us, we're going to continue to be forceful. we're going to continue to off the international community join us as they have. and we're going to make sure that we do everything we can to denuclearize north korea. >> dickerson: there is a cultural shift, you saw three members of congress kicked out

of congress because of sexual behavior, misdeeds, you were the first woman senator of south carolina, what do you think of this cultural moment that's happening? >> you know, i am incredibly proud of the women who have come forward. i'm proud of their strength, i'm proud of their courage and i think that the idea that this is happening, i think it will start to bring a -- not just in politics but we've seen in hollywood, in every industry, the time has come. >> dickerson: of course you were the governor of south carolina given that consciousness how do you think people should assess the accusers of the president? >> the same thing, women who accuse anyone should be heard. they should be heard, they should be dealt with. i think we heard from them prior to the election and i think any woman who has felt violated or felt mistreated in any way, they have every right to speak up. >> dickerson: did the election mean that's a settled issue? you. know that's for the people to decide. i know that he was elected, but,

women should always feel comfortable coming forward we should all be willing to listen to them. >> dickerson: ambassador, nikki hayley, thanks for being with us. >> thanks, john. dickerson: turn now to maine republican senator susan collins we have important tax business to get to but i want to stay with this question of the revolution going on in the way that sexual assault is being dealt with. this week the republican national committee supported roy moore. you do not support him, you say you believe his accusers, your colleague republican wrote this. i believe the women and rnc previously did, too, what's changed? or is the party just indifferent? you're a republican, what do you think about the rnc supporting roy moore? >> i'm disappointed that the rnc has resumed the support of roy moore. i think that is a mistake. i would point out that i do not support mr. moore even prior to these allegations of sexual

misconduct because i was concerned about his anti-muslim comments, his anti-lgbt comments, most important of all he's been removed twice from the alabama supreme court for failure to follow lawful judicial order. >> dickerson: you also with the news about al franken you called for him to resign, are you closer to your to the democratic party than the republican party? >> i think republicans care just as much as democrats about sexual misconduct and sexual harassment. there's a new awakening in our country that this is pervasive, whether we're talking about hollywood or wall street or the media or capitol hill. and that's why i'm joining a bipartisan group of senators who are trying to look at our own procedures on capitol hill to assure that allegations of

sexual misconduct involving members or staff are dealt with seriously. >> dickerson: last question on this before taxes, on the question of procedures, senate might have decision to make with roy moore if he's elected. here is something time trying to work with. with the president there were accusations, they were adjudicated in the election, the white house says, so the voters knew about them and they voted for him now he's president. why wouldn't that same standard apply to roy moore. the voters know what has been alleged if he gets elected what business does senate have the -- >> i think that's the tough question. if the allegations are known prior to the election, which they weren't in the case of al franken, for example, then we have a very tough decision to make. about whether it's our role as senators to overturn the will of the people. i think it's a different situation if the allegations are not known or if they occur while

the person is sitting in the senate. >> dickerson: let me go on to taxes. you voted for the senate tax cut bill but you seem to be having qualms, questions, about this conference. where are you on things now? >> always wait until the final version of the bill to brought before us before i make a final decision on whether or not to support it. there are major differences between the house and senate bill and i don't know where the bill is going to come out. i also obviously care very much about amendments that i was successful in getting in the bill that particularly helped middle income families. and i'm also concerned about agreements that i have. >> dickerson: let me ask you about two. one on medicare, an agreement from leader mcconnell and paul ryan that there would not be these automatic medicare cuts afterwards. paul ryan seemed to suggest he wasn't party to that agreement, what is -- where do things stand on that agreement? >> i have written correspondence that memorializes the agreement

that the cut that could go into effect will not go into effect. i would point out that that has been weighed 16 times, never been implemented. but i don't want seniors to have the anxiety of wondering whether the tax bill somehow is going to trigger a cut in medicare. i'm absolutely confident, i have it in writing. a statement by both mitch mcconnell and speaker ryan. >> dickerson: let me ask you about seniors and seniors in maine, the other thing you got commitment on as i understand sit that there would be legislation that would come up before the end of the year dealing with these cost-sharing payments. there's piece of legislation sponsored by alex dander and murray, what is happening with that, not house republicans are being told that's not going to be part of anything before the end of the year which means without those payments, premiums are going up for maine seniors. >> i've had allotted of conversations, not only with my

colleagues in the senate but with my colleagues from the house side and with the white house, i've talked to the president three times about this issue, and once again i have no reason to believe that that commitment will not be kept. after all, who wants to see health insurance premiums become more unaffordable than they already are for individuals who are buying insurance in the individual market. and our two bills, one that i have with bill nelson and tall ex wander murray bill will is downward pressure on premiums to make it more affordable. >> dickerson: there is one critique that have, your legislation helped the condition before this tax bill which has removal of that individual mandate, these fixes won't be enough for those people who will see higher premium increases. >> we have brand new study that just came out last week that reads that consulting firm that

says it will more than offset the repeal of the individual mandate. keep in mind that the individual mandate falls disproportionately on middle and low income. 80% of those are paid by families who make less than $50,000 a year. >> dickerson: all right. senator, i'm afraid we'll have to leave it there. thank you so much nor being with us. >> thank you, john. dickerson: we'll be back in one minute to hear from the one minute to hear from the number two democrat in the senate, richard durbin. that's why entire teams train together in simulators, to know exactly what to do before they have to do it. because safety is never being satisfied. and always working to be better. [ click ] [ keyboard clacking ] [ clacking continues ]

good questions lead to good answers. our advisors can help you find both. talk to one today and see why we're bullish on the future. yours. talk to one today and see why we're bullish on the future. bp is taking safety glasses to a whole new level. using augmented reality so engineers in the field can share data and get expert backup in the blink of an eye. because safety is never being satisfied and always working to be better. >> dickerson: joining us now is senate democratic whip, richard durbin in springfield, illinois, welcome, senator. pick up on something that senator collins said about the choice that senators may face if roy moore is elected in alabama. and the question is, what business does senate have in overturning the will of the people of alabama if he's elected, senator collins says that's a tough decision, what is your sense ever it? >> well, john, i can tell you this. first, decision is to be made by voters of alabama on tuesday and

i hope that they will do the right thing in terms of defining their standards and values when it comes to people representing them in washington. but we have heard from republican senators first who have suggested that if roy moore ends up being elected to the senate, he would face close scrutiny, investigation, even removal from the senate once he arrives. i agree with senator collins, it's a complicated issue, but i will tell think we face the reality this past week. i have known al franken hover 20 years, he is my friend, he was on the floor of the senate announcing his resignation, i sat just a few feet away from him. said the worst day in his political life. it was a somber feeling, it was a reality that i hope voters of alabama appreciate that reality when they make their decision on tuesday. >> dickerson: let me ask you about political critique of the democratic party's pressure on al franken that led to his resignation. a piece that says, morality is no longer its own reward. what we get in exchange nor being good and morally right is

now nothing. the argument that democrats have standard that leads franken to go and republicans are going to -- committee supporting moore, president supporting moore that democrats are on the high road but politically bad road to be on. >> i could just tell you your interview with susan collins demonstrates that's not true. there are republicans who feel very strongly about this issue have said so. if more do then we can establish a national standard not a partisan standard. when it comes to the future of relationships with women. this to me from susan collins' comments gives me hope that alabama voters will do the right thing and also see both parties coming to the same conclusion on this issue. >> dickerson: final question on this, senator, there's a criticism that al franken was pressured not because of the specific facts but democrats wanted to look good in comparison to republicans, what is your response? >> i can tell you, it was a

painful process, because of our personal friendships and relationships with al and his family. there was no political calculation in here. it was just a painful moment when we made a decision, moved forward and democratic side. i hope republicans will face that reality as well. >> dickerson: on taxes, senator, what can democrats do, this is moving into the conference committee and republicans have the vote to pass it, what are democrats going to do? >> well, it did pass the senate. there was only one republican senator, bob corker who voted no. susan collins made it clear she's still waiting before she makes a final decision. i think others are in the same position. jeff flake, for example, of arizona, made it clear that bringing up this issue about daca and dreamers is critical to his vote when it comes to tax. so, i can't assume where the republicans will end but they have an awful lot to accomplish in a very short period of time. >> dickerson: you mentioned daca, let's just go up on the side road there on that. number of your democratic

supporters, colleagues would like you the democrat to basically make funding of the government to keep the government running would like you to make it contingent on doing something about daca, will you? >> i can tell think, we don't want to see the government shut down. we want to move forward bipartisan fashion to solve our problems. we believe that daca is central. the president is the one who made this issue september the 5th he eliminated the daca program and put in doubt the future of over 780,000 people in america. and we want to get this done and accomplished. 4 republicans in the house came out last week and said, do it before the end of the year. senate republicans have said the same thing, lisa murkowski tweeted that her christmas wish, greatest christmas wish to see this done, daca and dreamer issue resolved this calendar year. it is within the power of the republicans to get this done and to put together a package that

we can pass. we want to stand by them, work with them and get that done. >> dickerson: nothing focuses like a deadline, though, using the deadline of the funding as leverage, both of this and also the children's health insurance, nine million children that still yet to be dealt with, you at one point said i'm not prepared to go home for holidays until we get our work done. that suggests a little bit of use of this funding as a deadline, but are you really going to go that far? >> well, i feel very strongly. there are many important issues, daca to me personally, dream act a very personal, means an awful lot. when we're talking about funding our government, providing the resources and the programs that middle income families use across america, dealing with the opioid crisis, making certain that we take care of our veterans, making certain that we have the money for biomedical research, these are part of the conversation and part of the dialogue as we close down this budget, it is up to republicans

to make a decision about what we will do. i think we can get this done right. >> dickerson: final question, senator, you're on the judiciary committee, there have been questions raised about inspectors, people working for the special counsel, one of women sent disparaging text about the president then another went to hillary clinton's victory party and also praised blocking the president's travel ban. what is -- how big of a deal do you think this is that the questions are being raised? >> let me say at the out celt i have the highest confidence in bob mueller, i also have confidence that if he has any questions about motives or conduct of the staff he will tact on it decisively and professionally. he is moving forward on this investigation, i trust him. if there's something that went wrong in terms. staffing, i trust him to take care of it. >> dickerson: that's it. we're out of time. thanks so much for being with thanks so much for being with us, we'll be right back in a moment. stay with us. ush high commission investment products, fisher investments avoids them.

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>> dickerson: some of our stations are leaving us now but we've got lot for "face the nation" coming up, plenty of analysis on news here and abroad. stay with us.

>> dickerson: welcome back to "face the nation" for closer look at some of the major issues we're facing abroad we turn to kori schake who is distinguished fellow at the hoover institution at stanford university. her new book is "safe passage: transition from british to american" michael elan lone senior fellow and director of research at the brookings institution is here and he of course is in washington. let me start with you, i tried to get the u.n. ambassador to get sense of why now on jerusalem. why now? >> it's not clear why now. i think the white house is hoping that it will push the peace process forward by -- as nikki haley said taking jerusalem off the table. i think that is unlikely to prove true. i think it's going to make that

peace process a lot more complicated because it doesn't look like they -- doesn't look like they have anything to offer palestinians. it's surprising that other countries in the region care less, in part because they need more cooperation from israel now than before. >> dickerson: michael, what is your people see the violence, how should they see this? big deal, should they be nervous? >> i'm glad that you asked that way because i think it's a medium deal. it's not the end of the world. president trump didn't say that east jerusalem could never be the capital or palestine, didn't make any other such declaration that were out of what we all expect in any kind of final peace agreement. the peace process, kori is righted, that this is not helpful to the peace process it wasn't exactly going any place anyway. i think there are bigger questions about what kind of leverage can we create with both parties. perhaps we need to think harder about that. built i don't see this as more than what my colleague called

unforced error, it's not tragic, probably mistake, probably complicates the atmosphere i'm not sure it really changes the terms of any potential peace deal or really impedes any negotiation it was having any momentum to begin with. >> dickerson: let's talk about place where unforced error could lead to tragedy:is north korea. what is happening right now, americans hear, perilous then issue goes away, how should people think about this? >> i am more concerned about it now. i think what i hear out of the white house parallels pretty closely what the bush administration sounded like in 2003 in the run up to the iraq war. that leadership of north korea is fundamentally erratic and untrustworthy, that retaliation is not a strategy. they're not thinking through quite carefully enough. for example, what asia will look like geopolitically if the united states engages in a

preventive war that australians, japanese, south koriians don't want and might not participate in. >> dickerson: kori, this president said that lead up to the iraq war and greatest blubber in american history. parallels to that, that should make people nerve. >> i this would probably 10:00 0 times more lethal for allied forces than the iraq war. we have to keep that in mind. let's shay north koreans can only detonate a few nuclear. we have couple hundred thousand americans in seoul. leave aside the issues of families of american servicemen should come home, lot of civilians live there doing business. if we were to have a car in korea the estimates are one nuclear explosion over that could kill two or three times a little the nagasaki bomb. anything that leads us towards higher proppability of nuclear war i think is probably a huge mistake. but there is, i don't want to be to scary there is one potential interpretation of what is going

on that is a little more hopeful that the trump administration really doesn't have particular interest at the end of the day in launching a preventive war but by creating the sense that they're impatient trying to persuade china to turn the economic screws more forcefully get us in better bargaining position. i'm not comfort wobble that this because i don't know if what i said is trues the alternative is true we could be in for horrible war. worst since world war ii. >> i heard administration is painting themselves into a corner with the rhetoric, rebound if it is just intended to make the chinese more cooperative. they have actually they are saying that the sand is slipping through the hour glass, we might have to act soon and the military option is the only option if this doesn't work. and that actually i think not only creates a red line that attaches a ticking clock to it. >> the question, too, i agree 100% with kori, what are the military options under consideration. all our preventive war is the

extreme, there's also one idea that ash carter and bill perry two, former secretaries of the defense of democratic party wrote about ten years ago, they're not necessarily articulating it now, but 11 years ago they suggested that we shoot down north korean icbm launch before either gets off the launch pad or out of the atmosphere, just deny north korea the ability to learn more about its missile programs. that's the kind -- very dangerous idea, too, because you don't know what north korea will do in response, that's the sort of idea that may be in play here. >> dickerson: let me step back here for a second ask you all both a question about larger build up of forces. there is in the congress request for even more money than the president has asked for for his defense budget. what do you think will happen with that and do we need all this money? >> i'm skeptical that the congress is actually going to pass an appropriations bill that will give the defense department the $700 billion that authorizes congress have asked for. it looks to me much more likely

that we will see series of continuing resolutions. we're already a third of the way into the fiscal year. i'm really skeptical both because of the way the president's budget teed this up so congress will be adding hundred billion dollars over what the president requested. but i'm also skeptical that they can get deals on the other thing like daca, like the spending distinction between domestic and national security. looks to me like this is likely to drag on. that's actually terrible for the defense department, continuing resolutions present them starting new programs, prevents managerial latitude that dod needs to use the money well. rather than add more money, i would instead give dod the latitude to do a lot more programmatic management. i think that would help them a lot more. >> dickerson: your thoughts?

>> we're at a point here in december, two and a half months into the new fiscal year we don't know if the defense budget is going to be $600 bill ton for this year or $700 billion that's a huge gap. that's roughly the range of play. donald trump is in between in his request, i'm sort of in green myself, the congress under sen to mccain have proceed positivessed $700 billion, anything north of 600 billion exceeds the cold war average when you adjust for inflation. i do think we need a bit more money. but i think we need really is clarity and decision, because you can't do proper training, maintenance, can't enter into long-term contracts or do good custodianship when you're this far into the year you don't know what your budget will be. >> dickerson: that's it for both of you. thank you so much. we'll be right back to discuss political news of the week with our political panel. ♪ ♪

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ok! plus motorcycle, boat and rv insurance! geico's got you covered! like a blanket! houston? you seeing this? geico. expect great savings and a whole lot more. >> dickerson: we turn now to our political panel. molly ball is national political correspondent for "time" magazine. their person of the year was the silence breakers and the me too movement. lanhee chen from the hoover institution and policy advisor to the romney and rubio presidential campaign. also joined by cbs news white house and senior foreign affairs correspondent margaret 'brennan and ed o'keefe. margaret, start with you on this question of jerusalem. what do you make of the decision and timing of it? >> well, this appears to have

been a significant foreign policy and national security decision made primarily for domestic political reason by the president of the united states. he succeeded in touching probably the most sensitive nerve in one of the most intractable conflicts in history and this is going to make for a complicated visit for vice president pence who has to head to israel and egypt within just a week or so. what the president appears to be doing, with all due respect to the ambassador, doesn't do the thing she said. it doesn't move the embassy. keeping the embassy in tel aviv it doesn't for the moment decide the fate of jerusalem if you listen to the national security team who says, actually, we're still up for negotiation on the final status. in fact if you ask u.s. diplomats where the city of jerusalem is located they still won't tell you it's located in israel. it appears to be the sleight of hand that allows the president

to say he achieved the campaign objective without necessarily changing things, any new embassy will take four years or more to fill. >> dickerson: move back to domestic issues. molly, let's to go alabama here, got senate race willing going to come to conclusion next week, where do you think things stand? >> i do not think we know. there seems to be shift in the conventional wisdom toward roy moore, you hear a lot of predictions that he is going to prevail having -- because the beginning of the accusations against him are now several weeks in the rear view mirror lot of alabamaians have had to sort 6 process that. but we have still seen polls that are quite equivocal, in such a red state that is pretty remarkable. what i have heard from my sources on the ground and he'll be in alabama in just a few hours, is that voters are pretty powerfully conflicted.

these are voters who generally want to favor the republicans, all other things being equal, but you have to remember that roy moore even among republicans is a very polarizing figure. there's a lot of alabamaians who see him as an embarrassment to the state. or just as not the sort of person, particularly considering these charges, that they want representing them. so, whether that is enough to put that democrat over the top in a state like alabama is very difficult to tell. >> dickerson: let me ask you about the reaction to the rnc supporting roy moore this week, the president supporting roy moore, there some was talk about and coverage i'm through with the party because they're supporting him. that can get over towards that, hard to know what the level of real outrage, obviously ben sasse said what he said, senator collins was disappointed. how big a deal is this outside of alabama for the republican party where it is now? >> i think that it is a

developing big deal if that makes sense. as we go into 2018 this is not the last time we're going to see some version of this move. in other words, going to continue to see this conflict between different parts of the republican party and, yes, puts alabama in really concerning fashion, a guy like roy moore really flawed. but you'll have contested primaries in states like arizona maybe even nevada next year. that battlefield is just being played outright now. just stepping on to this battlefield. i think to the ex then we're seeing this in alabama now, what we're seeing is a microcosm of the kinds ever battles we'll see through 2018. republicans like myself is very concerning because what you're seeing is a fundamental split and fracture in the party that we known existed for some time now is being played out in very public way and being played out in elections that really do matter and have policy consequences for the last two years of president trump's administration, at least for his first term. >> dickerson: policy

implications, president trump was arguing for basically saying, whatever you may believe i want republican in the seat. >> it worked for him. in the last few weeks of the presidential campaign he was running around saying republicans you may not like me but i'm going to appoint conservative supreme court justices and other conservatives to the court, it worked. one in five voters showed up. the supreme court was their top tern. moore making the same exact argument that may work for him. what i find interesting what will be very curious to track in the next few weeksf he wins, how quickly does that ethics investigation begin. how long does it end up taking what do they do if it brings forward information that suggests conduct unbecoming of that senator. susan collins seems to suggest today that would be difficult thing to do to expel him. but the fact that there could be a secretive ethics investigation underway will just hang over the republican party on capitol hill over the course of most of the

year most likely. even talking to a colleague who takes photographs he says, i suspect going to avoid getting in the elevator because they don't want to be associated with him at all. >> those are related to the allegations that he denies, sexual misconduct, he doesn't deny having say that homosexual activity should be illegal. that muslims shouldn't be allowed to serve in the united states congress. there are things that are being set up here that not only highlight divisions you talk about within the republican party some would say the fight for the soul and identity but also position the democrats here, that's what so interesting with al franken resignation to come was that the democrats seem to be positioning themselves around that identity of this is what we are not. >> we are not going to play this role. >> dickerson: i want to get to franken as you say res ignition, still don't know the end date. go back to something you said mitt romney who you used to work for took the position of tall

other republicans basically said, there's no reason to support roy moore it's a stain on the party. then steve bannon came back at him from -- what did you make of that back and forth, does it have any lasting impact and is it mitt romney sort of emerging here as something in the republican party, put a name on it. >> he sort of the sensible conscious of the republican party in a lot of ways. only reason anybody cares about what steve bannon has to say to the extent that people think he is a proxy to the president. to the extent that people think that steve bannon expressing a point of view that the president holds it's relevant. otherwise he's just a political pundit out there with another opinion. the question really will be to what extent the president carries through this argument, if there is a senate campaign to be having in utah for governor romney, for example, to what extent is the president going to go out there prosecute some argument against mitt romney or try to find somebody to run against him. that's only way it becomes relevant. otherwise, it's all just a bunch of blather.

it's very concerning blather because what bannon said was completely beyond the pale, but governor romney putting out a point of view that needs to be articulated in the senate and in the congress beyond the 2018 elections. >> dickerson: just so people aren't confused steve bannon said that governor romney ducked service in vietnam, he was a missionary in france, which is a strange thing to say given that his president trump had many deferments from the vietnam war. momly, switch to you on the question of al franken you wrote about him, he really didn't want to leave the senate. >> he didn't. he saw the speech that he gave it took a lot of pressure to get him to resign and what you saw was, more than half of the democratic caucus had to come out publicly, it wasn't enough -- we knew there was pressure from behind the scenes on senator franken he resisted that fresh that you are was why his colleagues were forcedded to come out publicly all the way up to the democratic leader chuck

schumer then finally very grudgingly franken got threw on the floor and said, he believed it was ironic that he was resigning given the allegations against president trump and against roy moore, this is a sort of what about-ism argument the kind that we hear trump. why it fair that you're percent computing me look what crooked hillaryd same kind of argument. not only did he not apologize for his alleged misconduct he took pains to clarify that he hadn't actually admitted to anything. and he cast doubt on some of his accusers. but he did exceed to this pressure, there is a lot of resentment and disagreement in democratic circles about whether this was the right thing to do. lot of democrats talking about where they're setting the standard and whether it's fair, minnesota democrats, very sad to lose franken the national party sad to lose someone who is probably the biggest fundraising draw for democratic candidates

across the country. and now you have a situation where given that minnesota was quite close in 2016, whoever the governor appoints to fill this seat is going to have to run again in 2018, that could possibly be a tough race. >> dickerson: we'll pause that there. we'll be back in a moment with more on al franken and taxes, stay with us.

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we are here for you. this holiday season, choose help. call 844 reach nj or visit reachnj.gov. >> dickerson: we're back with our political panel. ed, senator durbin said there was no political calculation in the al franken decision, do you buy that? >> no. not at all. it was a total political calculation. we know that the week before he resigned he was already facing pressure from his colleagues who were asked to hold off. and that the morning that the final allegation surfaced they all got together by e-mail and text and phone calls said, this sit, we got to do this. the party wants to make democrats want to make a competency and professionalism argument in november. believing that that is the way they can take back the house and the senate. they got to purge all these guys in order to do that because you can't sit there and have alleged bad actors in your party if you're trying to suggested that you would run the government

better. more broadly, i think viewers deserve to know this. it's no secret for those of us who cover congress that we have all, one way or another, been contacted by lawmakers or aides in recent days, privately asking what else do you have, who is next. they are terrified of this story line. they know the consequences of it now could lead to much bigger problems for their party, maybe for piece of legislation they're working on, maybe the chance of the party holding together through the election. but members in both parties, aides in both parties are very concerned that more is to come. i think it's safe to say more is to come. we don't know who, carefully reported, but it shows that you they are so scared now because they realize so quickly people are disappearing. think about it. you saw guy served more than 50 years kicked down. we saw parties top fundraisers kicked outed. a social conservative warrior, trent franks 'hid to reseib sign about his behavior.

we've never seen this purge since the civil war. >> dickerson: switch to taxes here. that is big thing that's happening, president wants it done by christmas. what do you make of his salesman ship of the tax cut bill relative to health care. because the tax cut bill according to the poll and gallup has only 29% support in the country. that is a president whose key skill is marketer but that's not very popular for that legislation. >> he's marketing something that seems to be different than what the product he's selling. the message from the president even just on twitter his constant focus on stock market appears to be that he sees stocks and corporate as proxy for success of this bill, ultimately his end goal. even though on campaign trail, when he goes out to sell this he's talking about benefit to the middle class and working class who helped support him. it's not clear that these pieces at this point add up to a benefit for those people. at this point, though, to say that this would be a boost to corporations undoubtedly it

would to take corporate tax rate from 5 down to 20%. you're not legislating how corporations spend those profits, right? you're not necessarily forcing income growth. you're not making that worker take home more pay as a result. you can't possibly force that. you also can't force broader employment. so, this gamble of how this will ultimately pay off to the broader economic benefit of the country is something that the president seems to be focusing on, whether you call it trickle down economics more something else. >> dickerson: lanhee, what did you make of senator rubio, should look at 1977 speech by president reagan or not president then governor reagan where he said the republican party has to worry about having a country club big business image. >> yeah, i think there's a point that he's making. senator rubio and senator lee had an amend tomorrow the tax bill that would have made the child tax credit fully refundable which would have been a huge boon to lower middle class and lower income families. unfortunately that was voted down by the senate.

i think that point of view, though, suggests that what we're seeing in the tax bill now to republicans, this is more of a feature not a bug, right, that they're actually looking at lowering the corporate tax rate. somebody republicans, mainstream have talked about now for years if not decades. this street relatively conventional tax bill. the difficulty is selling it how do you translate corporate tax cut into what it means for the average middle class worker. there is a strong argument to be made, this will boost growth and booth wages into the pockets of middle class taxpayers. that's not the argument. that is a middle class tax cut, a little bit of dismissal that have to get straight, it won't inhibit them from getting it through to the president's desk. >> dickerson: do you agree also do democrats have any opportunity here to take advantage of this tax process? >> if you believe democrats that they are extremely excited about the political opportunity afforded by this tax bill, it's similar to what happened with health care, republicans were between a rock and hard place.

they wanted to keep a campaign promise particularly to their own base that republican primary voters who they told were going to repeal obamacare and reform the tax system. but the bill itself was broadly unpopular and really is not clear whether what was worse for them politically, passing the bill or not passing the bill given how disliked it is, so -- what do you hear officer republicans they feel they have to do this because they think it's a good idea to cut taxes. and also because their base will be so disspirit understand they don't get anything done this year. 3 >> dickerson: we'll be right back. we don't just help power the american dream. we're part of it.

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♪ . ♪ the chevy sunday coffee on cbs. good morning, happy sunday fun day, and welcome to chevy sunday kickoff. i am don bell. we're coming to you live from the la coliseum, where? just over four hours, the ten and two eagles will take on the nine and three rams. there are so many playoff implications from this game alone. there's a lot to explain. but the easiest thing to really rap your mind around is that the birds can win the nfc east with a w