engines of the economy along the pacific rim, the modern country of vietnam. that is our broadcast for tonight. thank you for being here with us. good night from nbc news headquarters in new york. if you have been following this remarkable story today broken by "the washington post" about alabama republican senate candidate roy moore, we've got something important to add to that disturbing news broken today by "the washington post." namely, we've got the person in alabama who i think is the best equipped person in that state to tell us what is likely to happen here in light of this remarkable news, whether roy moore will be pushed out of the race because of these reports, whether he might still win that senate race, despite this news, if these reports don't push him out of the race. we've got that discussion coming up in just a couple of minutes. if you care about that news today, and it's a big deal for the united states senate, it's a big deal in its own right, you

will want to stick around for a few minutes to hear that interview. i promise you. we've also got some news tonight about a new pin in the map for the robert mueller investigation. we've also got some very surprising new poll numbers to report. it's been a long time since we had poll numbers on this show. when you get to these tonight, you will know why these are on the air tonight. like i said, there's lots going on in the news. i want to start somewhere different. in 2008 at the end of the george w. bush years, democrats knew they had a pretty good chance to win the white house that year if they played their cards right. lots of democrats ran. and a burch of them did well. senator joe biden made a good run for it for a while but he didn't make it too far into the calendar year. senator john edwards made a run for it and he did great for a long while. ultimately john edwards did not make it to the finish line. didn't seem like a particularly momentous thing at the time but a couple years later when we learned about john edwards

secret second family he'd been hiding the whole time he was on the campaign trail when he was running back in 2008, then it seemed like a propitious thing that he didn't end up going the distance. the two candidates that went the distance all the way to the bitter end of course were barack obama and hillary clinton. you just saw bernie sanders speaking with chris hayes last hour on this network. you think the bernie sanders/hillary clinton primary was a long drawn out affair in 2016. that was nothing compared to clinton/obama in 2008. clinton/obama was a closer race and went on longer into the primary season. given how thing turned out, it's sort of easy to forget, but the extended knife edge acrimony of that long, long, very hard-fought primary between clinton and obama, that made it a really big deal when as

president-elect obama asked hillary clinton to join his cabinet as secretary of state. it was a big deal that he asked her. it was a big deal when she said yes. it was a big deal in terms of their personal and political ability to bury the hatchet and to start working together after what they had been through. it was also a big deal in terms of the state department. because after that 2008 race, after having been first lady, after having been senator, after having almost been the democratic nominee in 2008, hillary clinton after that race really was the most famous woman in the world. she still is now for different reasons all these years later. but putting the most famous democrat in the world not named barack obama, the most famous american politician of all i'd say, the most recognizable woman in the world, putting her at the state department for the first term of the obama administration, that was a huge

investment, a huge spotlight on the importance of the state department. the importance of american diplomacy in the world. the importance of that kind of power. and aside from convincing hillary clinton, this political rock star, to go to the state department, the other politically important high profile cabinet decision that obama made was to keep on the defense secretary who had been appointed in the later years of the george w. bush administration, bob gates. now, barack obama ran for president as much against george w. bush as against anything. and even though john mccain seemed like a fine republican candidate, honestly the country was so well and truly over george w. bush and dick cheney, any republican candidate was going to have a hard time after that. cheney in particular left office with so much antipathy against him he could have floated home to wyoming without an airplane,

just riding the thermals of the billowing repugnance the american people had for him when he finally left office. chris christie is leaving office with a 14% approval rating in new jersey. vice president dick cheney would have killed or died for numbers that good. his numbers were even worse than that when he was finishing his time as vice president. but despite that, despite the way that bush and cheney were going out, this new democratic president kept on one of the bush cheney cabinet members. kept on bob gates. and that had really strong political resonance because of how unlikely it seemed in the abstract. because of what it meant for the politics of the moment. but it also had the effect of making bob gates also kind of a rock star in the obama cabinet. right? and that was a rock star cabinet. it also included hillary clinton. but it was an interesting thing. once they were both sworn in, these two incredibly high profile politically -- bob gates

and hillary clinton did what was basically a traveling road show all over the country. they made joint appearances where he as secretary of defense and she as secretary of state, they made this joint pitch that we should stop counting on the military for everything. and we should instead build up the state department. more resources. more staff. more prestige. we should recognize as a country that actually it's the state department that needs to do most heavy lifting in terms of america's role in the world, in particular, in managing contradicts with other countries, because not all conflicts are managed by firing weapons. they had this great line in these joint appearances that they made about how the military has more people in military bans than the state department has foreign service officers serving overseas. they had this whole show. they had this pitch.

they used that to do what they could just to try to boost diplomacy, to boost support for the state department specifically to boost support and recognition for the foreign service. and i don't know that you can attribute it to any one thing like that, but i'm sure that helped. and by the end of the obama administration, by 2016, applications by young ambitious americans to join the foreign service, to join the important foreign service of the united states, those applications were through the roof. the state department accepted a class of 366 new foreign service officers. 366. 17,000 people applied to take the foreign service exam to try to get one of those jobs. that's how prestigious it was. and we know those numbers because the head of the american

foreign service association bragged last year about those numbers. bragged about there being 17,000 applicants to take the foreign service exam. this year, one year later, less than half that many people are applying to take the foreign service exam. and they're apparently only taking 100 foreign service officers. the head of the foreign service association is ambassador barbara stevenson and this isn't getting a ton of attention, but i think this is really important. she has just posted what i see as a distress call. this is being published in the foreign service journal next month and it details what she calls, quote, the mounting threats to our institution and to the global leadership that depends on us. quote, there is no denying that our leadership ranks, she means in the foreign service, are being depleted at a dizzying speed. the foreign service officer core at state has lost 60% of its career ambassadors since january.

ranks of career ministers, three star general equivalents are down from 33 to 19. the ranks of our two-star general equivalents have fallen to 369 and still falling. were the u.s. military to face such a decapitation of its leadership ranks, i would expect a public outcry. like the military the foreign service recruits officers at entry level and grows them into seasoned leaders over decades. the talent being shown the door right now is not our top talent, but it's talent that cannot be replicated overnight. the rapid loss of so many senior officers has an effect on the capacity of the united states to shape world events. now, we have heard over the course of the trump administration, we've heard about the state department being

hollowed out under secretary of state rex tillerson. for example, it's reported now that there are 74 top positions at the state department, top positions that aren't just vacate -- vacant, there's no nominee to fill them. and maybe there won't be. what's new here from ambassador stephenson is this veteran state department career official laying out what's going on, laying out these details that she knows of what's going on but then doing this. this is the headline that she put on this distress signal that he has just sent out. time to ask why. and that's a really important leap here. i mean, if you think about it, ideologically we know why the trump administration is eviscerating the epa. ideologically we know why the trump administration is emptying out the education department. ideologically we know why they put a guy like ben carson in charge of housing and urban development where he hired eric trump's wedding planner to run that whole part of the

government in the north eastern united states. if you don't believe in protecting health and safety or protecting the environment or helping the poor or ensuring safe housing, if you don't believe in any of those things, wobble "o" then sure, trump administration is going to do whatever they can to dismantle, discredit, even corrupt the agencies who are tasked with doing that work. they're burning them down because they don't think they should exist. at least we knew they were going to do that. what's the ideological interest? what's the republican, even trumpian interest behind eliminating the ability of the united states to project power around the world? and to get our way with other countries? and to uphold our standing among nations? who ideologically wants that? rex tillerson was a surprise

choice for secretary of state. he had never met donald trump before the election. he was ceo of exxon. as such he had been this strategic wild card in american diplomacy. when the u.s. led the world in putting sanctions on russia for invading ukraine, rex tillerson exxon became a very interesting wild card in terms of whether or not america was going to be able to punish russia and get its will. when we put those sanctions on russia, trirlgs did know rex tillerson rex tillerson had just done the largest oil deal in the history of the world with russian president vladimir putin and state run energy companies. through those negotiations and through making that gigantic deal, rex tillerson was thought to have become personally closer to vladimir putin than any other private citizen in the united states. he closed that oil deal at putin's personal home in sochi.

rexton was awarded russia's highest civilian honor which was given to him personally, pinned on him personally by president putin. but then down came the american government's sanctions against russia. which shut down that gigantic half trillion dollar deal. and soon thereafter, rex tillerson found himself leaving exxon and he became the new secretary of state. for a president who been elected we now know with substantial illegal russian government help in a campaign that would later be found to have had multiple officials at multiple levels engaging in repeated secret communications and meetings with the russian government. and once trump was elected, for some reason he picked this guy he didn't know from adam. he picked rex for the state department. why is that? and how is that working out since? with 74 top positions left vacant. with the ranks of the foreign service equivalent of two star and three star generals falling off a cliff.

that irreplaceable top leadership. people just being cut off and pushed out. with a new class of foreign service officers being cut by more than two-thirds. here's how ambassador barbara stephenson ends her distress call that she just published. the one that's titled time to ask why. she says as the shape and extent of staffing cuts become clearer i believe we must shine a light on these disturbing trends and ask why. and to what end. why such a focus on slashing staffing at state? why such a focus on decapitating leadership? nine in ten americans favor a strong global leadership role for our great country. we know from personal experience that leadership is unthinkable without a strong professional foreign service deployed around the world, protecting and defending america's people, interest and values. where then does the impetus come from to weaken the american foreign service? where is the mandate to pull the

foreign service team from the field and forfeit the game to our adversaries? time to ask why. sincerely, ambassador barbara stephenson. we asked her to come talk with us last night. she said no. we asked her to talk with us tonight. she said no. i think she wants to let this speak for itself. although ambassador stephenson, if you're watching, love to have you. time to ask why seems like the right title, though. it seems like it's time to stop being agog at what's happening there and start asking who wants this? when the president travels abroad, our state department is supposed to be at its peak power, making sure the presidential trip abroad doesn't do anything to undermine america's standing or contradict our stated policies or undercut our leadership. when the president goes abroad the president has to look good because the president represents this country and stands for us

on other countries' turf. nobody likes to talk about it, but the state department helps manage important foreign trips in part to make sure the president of the united states does not embarrass himself abroad and thereby embarrass and reduce the standing of our country. the president today was in china. the president's past remarks and therefore his known positions on china are clear. they're hostile, confrontational, bellicose. >> china is upset because of the way donald trump is talking about trade with china. they're ripping us off, folks. it's time. i'm so happy they're upset. we can't continue to allow china to rape our country. that's what they're doing. it's the greatest theft in the history of the world. >> china is raping our country. that is the president's on the record position. i'm glad they're upset. yeah, they're upset with me. i'm glad they are because i'm the only that will tell them the

truth. they're raping our country. that's the president's stated position. in china this week with the opportunity to say that, with the opportunity to confront china on the basis of that public position, president trump instead choked. folded. i don't know. but what he did caused an audible gasp in the room. >> you are a very special man. my feeling toward you is an incredibly warm one. as we said, there's great chemistry. i think we're going to do tremendous things for both china and for the united states. but, but i don't blame china. [ applause ] >> the room is, like, you don't blame china? i thought we're the rapists. the room reacts like that because the president of the united states said in the united states that china is our enemy, that he's happy to upset them, that china is raping us.

it's the greatest theft in the history of the world. then to the face of the chinese president, he tells him how great he is. he tells him how he has nothing but warm feelings for him. he tells him there is nothing to blame china for at all. you know, even if you're 100% agnostic, no matter what you think our relationship should be with china, that u-ie that slinking away from his own past statements, that sort of visible gutlessness on foreign soil earns gasps and laughter from a room of chinese diplomats, that's an embarrassing act of deference and basic suck up for the united states of america in the person of the president of the united states. i should also tell you the president did not take questions from reporters. the white house explained that the chinese government insisted that they didn't want reporters to be able to ask questions.

now, all previous modern american presidents have stood on principle on visits to china when china has said no questions from reporters, previous american presidents have forced any object. any surface.

if you've got a life you gotta swiffer

czech if you know anybody who lives in the great state of alabama, now is your turn to be kind to them. if you live in alabama and you're watching this show right now, first of all, hey, you guys, i know you're out there, nice to see you. i also want you in alabama to know that i am here by declaring national be kind to an alabamian day. because my god, what your politicians have been putting you through. and i realize that the people of alabama have a role in choosing their own politicians, but i am

not in the mood to blame the victim on a day like today. two years ago in alabama the person who realistically in the most powerful politician in the state. the way their state government is set up, the most powerful politician in real terms is the speaker of the house. two years ago the sitting speaker of the house in alabama was charged with 23 felony corruption counts. that seemed like a crisis at the time because he is indicted on those 23 counts two weeks before election day. and he was up for reelection. and that speaker of the house decided that he would not drop out of the race. and our first clue that something had shifted off its axis in alabama republican politics was when the guy who had just been indicted on 23 felony corruption charges not only didn't drop out of the race, he won. he won his race for reelection by a lot. and then his fellow republicans in the state legislature elected him again to be their leader. to be their speaker despite the fact that he was currently under indictment on 23 felony

corruption counts. that did not bother them. it only became truly inconvenient for them when he was sentenced last summer to four years in prison. it took that as a crowbar to get him out of the top job. it turns out that was just the start. the year after their house speaker was indicted and then reelected and then reinstalled in leadership before being sent to prison, the year after that in 2016, alabama's other most powerful political figure, the state's governor, he ended up in what i have to say was an unexpected type of scandal for him. >> on august 5th, chief lewis came into my office and played me parts of an audio recording in which governor bentley and rebecca mason were participating in an inappropriate sexual conversation. >> right after the alabama speaker of the house scandal, there was the alabama governor

scandal which started with that whistle blowing employee that he listened in on behavior of a nude nature. that whistle blower and his evidence set off a hard push from alabama reporters to figure out what was going on while the governor steadfastly denied everything. >> governor, there's a portion of that recording in which you are heard saying i like to walk up behind you and touch you and put my hand on your breast. how would you say that if you were not involved? >> well, what i'm saying is there was no sexual activity. >> have you entertained the idea of stepping down? >> no, i have not. >> thank you. so the whistle blower talking about there being a tape. we've got reporters talking about and quoting from the tape. ultimately we're all going to hear the tape, right? this is the point where i have to interject to say if you are watching with a kid right now, depending on how you handle

issues, you may want to hit pause or hit mute for the next 35 seconds or so. this is not the worst thing in the world, but in order to understand what happened na n alabama over the last couple of years, you sort of have to hear this and it's a little -- this was the next thing that happened in alabama politics in the spring of 2016. >> you'd kiss me. i love that. you know i do love that. that when you know what, when i stand behind you and i put my arms around you and i put my hands on your breasts and i put my head on your [inaudible] and just pull you in real close, i love that too. putting my hands under you. that did you in?

oh babe, i know, i'm thinking about that right now so i better quit. you were thinking about it? yeah, i could tell you were thinking about it last night. hey, i love you. i love touching you. i do. hey, i do. i do love putting my hands [inaudible] and pulling you in real tight. i do. i do. but by the way, let me tell you what we're going to have to do. we're going to have to start locking the door. if we're going to do what we did the other day, we're going to have to start locking the door. you know what it is. i know. he came this morning before i had my clothes on. he just got to see my boxer shorts.

no. hey, hey, you've seen those. >> hey, hey, hey, you've seen those, state office worker. we've all seen much more than we ever wanted to of alabama governor robert bentley, at least in our mind's eye. because that tape became public in the spring of 2016. and despite the scandal swirling around him because of that, despite those tapes, ended up becoming very public about his relationship with one of his top staffers who was being paid by some dark money private organization even though she worked in the governor's office. the governor insisted there's nothing sexual going on whatsoever there. and he refused to go. the tapes came out in march, 2016. the governor insisted there was nothing going on whatsoever. he stayed in office for more than a year after that. and i said at the top of the segment that it's be kind to alabamian day. this is why.

the sex scandal thing with the governor, the relationship with the top staffer being paid off the books, that scandal leads to impeachment proceedings against the governor in 2016. those proceedings get stopped, though. they get stopped because the attorney general of the state steps in and basically tells the legislature hey, back off, stop with this impeachment proceeding, i understand what this is about, this is a law enforcement matter and as the top law enforcement official i will take this over. i will handle this in the attorney general's office. sounds bad for the governor, right? no. that was great news for the governor because the attorney general never actually investigated anything. totally let it go. so he blocked the impeachment proceedings and then did nothing out of his own office. so the governor stayed. that attorney general who did that was named luther strange. and when it came time for all of america to be blessed by one of alabama's finest, jeff sessions as our attorney general of the united states, and the sex tape

governor needed to appoint somebody to sit in jeff sessions seat in the united states senate, he looked around and decided to appoint luther strange, the attorney general who had made sure that the governor would not get impeached for his sex scandal. it was very tidy. so the top legislative official is indicted for two dozen felonies. the top executive branch official is involved in a blistering sex scandal. he then appoints to the top the guy who saved him from being impeached and meanwhile the top official in the judicial branch of the government for the second time gets thrown off the bench. and removed from the court for violating judicial ethics. and god bless you, alabama. time comes for luther strange to face the voters and finally get formally elected to the senate seat that he's been appointed to by the sex scandal governor. and wouldn't you know it, luther strange loses that senate seat.

he gets voted out in favor of the chief justice who just got kicked off the bench for judicial misconduct. and now today that disgraced exchief justice in alabama is the republican party's official nominee for senate in the state of alabama for a general election next month. and that exchief judge, roy moore, has just been accused of child molestation. since he has been running for senate, roy moore has enjoyed shocking people around the country and even his potential republican senate colleagues with his patented brand of roy moore far right provocative neoconfederate politics. but that's on purpose. that's his brand. less to his liking is his controversy over his apparent fake charity which he's used to pay himself and his family hundreds of thousands of dollars while doing nothing that appears to be charity work, but it did turn out to be truly impressive

means of avoiding taxation. but that charity scandal is nothing compared to this 3,000 word block buster in "the washington post" today. they interviewed 30 sources including four women who say they were teenagers as young as 14 when roy moore, then a man in his 30s, made aggressive sexual advances to them. roy moore denies the charges. alabama republicans now have to decide if they will stand with roy moore. or if this headline might be too much even for alabama republicans. even given what alabama has been through just over the last couple of years. anybody who bets on what's going to happen here with this, i can tell you already, they're too confident by half given what's happened in alabama over the last couple years. but we are going to speak with one of the best political reporters in alabama live next. he actually broke a lot of the salacious news that

has broken over the last couple years. if anybody knows how this is going to work out in alabama and how this is going to work out for the united states senate, it is him. and that's next. when you have a cold... stuff happens. shut down cold symptoms fast with maximum strength alka seltzer plus liquid gels. only have a sore throat? get long-lasting relief for up to 6 hours with new alka seltzer plus sore throat relief. it's ok that everybody ignores me when i drive. it's fine, 'cause i get a safe driving bonus check every six months i'm accident-free. and i don't share it with mom. right, mom? right. safe driving bonus checks, only from allstate. switching to allstate is worth it. bounty is more absorbent,mom" per roll so the roll can last 50% longer than the leading ordinary brand.

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when the alabama speaker of the house was indicted on 23 counts two weeks before election day, reporter john archibald warned us that indictment or no indictment, that house speaker was probably going to get reelected. john archibald was right about that. however improbable it seemed, he was right. when alabama's governor wandered into one of the weirdest sex scandals, i asked whether or not the governor would have to resign because of that and he cautioned that ultimately in the end the governor would probably have to resign but it would at least take a while. john archibald was right about that too. when luther strange was appointed to the u.s. senate, i

got on tv from my comfortable perch in new york and said, oh, now that luther strange has been appointed to that senate seat, he could have that seat for life. he was absolutely wrong about that. john archibald came on this show and told me that luther exchange would not be elected. i was totally wrong. john archibald was totally right. now "the washington post" has broken a stomach-churning story about the man who alabama republicans have chose tone stand for that seat in the u.s. senate. you see the headline there. woman says roy moore initiated sexual encounter with her she was 14 and he was 32. there's back pain chorus of republican senators saying if this is true roy moore should step down and step out of the race. whether it's true, well, "the washington post" reporting on this appears to be quite solid in saying that. i mean, not only that they've got 30 sources and four named women, i also mean specifically that they don't yet know of -- we don't yet know of any credible basis for roy moore's

denials tonight that he had anything to do with this behavior given that the behavior is described in detail by source whose have put their names to the allegations and the allegations have been corroborated by this reporting. but you know what? if you wanted me to take a guess as to what's going to happen now that this story has broken and roy moore is denying it and the senate race is next month, there was a time in my life when i might have predicted what would happen, but i have grown and i have learned at times like this to shut up and to ask john archibald. joining us now is john archibald. columnist for al.com. it's nice to have you with us. i expect you to humble me. >> thank you rachel. after listening to your recap, i'm glad i don't cover politics in a normal state. >> we need to count on you to understand how these things are going to go. first, i have to ask you when this post story came out, was this a shock in alabama?

is this the sort of story that other people have chased over the years? is this brand-new news? >> it is brand-new. i had heard almost nothing about this ever over the course of covering roy moore for two decades. i heard a whisper about a week ago of something about it, but there were no facts associated with it. it reminds me of the first time i heard of robert bentley having that affair. it just seemed too far fetched to believe. as more and more comes out, we learn the more we don't know. >> roy moore is not just denying the allegations in "the washington post" report. he's being very aggressive on it. he's fundraising on "the washington post" report tonight which is amazing. but he said these allegations are completely false. they're a desperate political attack by the national democrat party and "the washington post." are there any holes being poked in "the washington post" reporting? obviously he's objecting, but has anybody raised any serious factual issues or credibility issues with what they've reported?

>> the only one -- the only issue of fact i've heard disputed is there's a point where he's said to be buying wine for a young girl in the late '70s, early '80s which is being alleged would have been a dry county at that time, which i have not yet had a chance to find out when they voted to sell alcohol. so that is being debated. but that is the crux of it. >> that would have been part of the power of that allegation is that this young woman would have been not of a legal drinking age at the time that she alleges roy moore was buying her wine. what do you think is going to happen? do you think that roy moore will drop out of the race? do you think there will be anybody who has the power to take him out of the race? >> roy moore will absolutely not drop out of the race. he can't be removed from the ballot. he would have to go on his own volition and that will not happen.

the election itself, you know, it may give doug jones a little more of a chance, but based on republican reaction today, i kind of doubt that that's going to happen. it may actually invigorate roy moore's base and he may win by a bigger margin. >> why would this invigorate his base? >> because all i've heard today is how this is a democratic plot or even worse in alabama, a mitch mcconnell plot to discredit roy moore because he's afraid of what roy moore might bring. the most disturbing parts of this are a lot of republicans who aren't just saying we can't know, who aren't just saying it was a long time ago and we haven't seen evidence, but who are actually saying it does not matter. typically these are law and order bible thumping republicans like the state auditor who said nothing illegal or immoral happened here. apparently he did not read the

same story we did. a 32-year-old prosecutor assaulting a 14-year-old girl would be illegal and immoral in most alabamians minds if you removed politics. >> john archibald, really appreciate your time tonight. i have a feeling this will not be the last time we talk about this. thank you for being here. >> thank you. >> much more ahead tonight. stay with us. dad: molly, can you please take out the trash? (sigh) ( ♪ )

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when's the last time you heard me do poll numbers on this show for anything? i mean, it's two days after election day. even that special senate race, the roy moore/doug jones senate race in alabama isn't for a month. any polling done on that race before the roy moore child molestation report ran in "the washington post," any polling that had previously been done before the report would have to be thrown out the window and be redone. were about reports that the real national news right now? that's next. when i received the diagnosis, i knew, whatever it takes, wherever i have to go...i'm beating this. breast cancer treatment is continuing to evolve. ctca is definitely on the cusp of those changes.

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27%. pollsters this is summer asked americans how concerned they were about reports that the trump campaign had had contact with suspected russian operatives and pollsters got sort of an underwhelming number for the number of americans very concerned about that. only 27% of americans said they were very concerned. so, again, that was this summer. when republicans said their constituents didn't care, maybe that was true. but a lot has happened since that cnn poll was taken in mid july.

the trump campaign manager indicted on multiple felony counts and is wearing an ankle bracelet while out on $10 million bond. the trump campaign manager's deputy is out on $5 million bond and also wearing an ankle bracelet, also been indicted on multiple felony counts. a trump foreign policy adviser pled guilty to lying to the fbi about his russia contacts and included them offering dirt on hillary clinton and thousands of stolen e-mails. all that stuff and more has happened since this poll last asked the american people whether or not this thing being investigated by robert mueller seems like a big deal. only 27% were very concerned about that earlier this summer. well, now we've had the indictments and all. pollsters went back with the same question. the same question. how concerned are you about reports that people associated with donald trump's campaign had contact with suspected russian operatives during last year's campaign? how concerned are you? in july, very concerned, 27%. as of last week, after those arrests and the indictments and

the guilty plea, very concerned went from 27% to 44%. also, 44% say russia's attempt to interfere in our election is itself a major problem. on top of that, additional 22% of americans say it's not just a major problem, it's full-on crisis. so ask americans about russian influence on the election as described by u.s. intelligence, 66% of americans, two thirds of americans, say it's either a major problem or a crisis. now, in terms of the president himself, poll also asked do you think that donald trump knew during last year's campaign anyone associated with the campaign had contact with suspected russian operatives or do you think he did not know this? here's the result. a clear majority says, yeah, trump knew. 59% of americans say, yes, the president knew that people associated with his campaign were having contact with russian

operatives despite the fact that the president denies knowing that. with all the other things going on in the mueller investigation, the congressional investigations, the indictments, the guilty plea, all of the other elements of this scandal and this crime being pursued, politically, the republican strategy for defending the republican president in the midst of this biggest presidential scandal of all time, the republican strategy to try to hurry up, hurry the stuff up to its conclusion. really rushing the congressional investigations now. they're trying to pressure the mueller investigation to end as quickly as possible. right? they want things wrapped up on capitol hill. they're try to either discredit or pressure or maybe defund robert mueller. they're calling the whole thing a witch hunt. it's a nothing burger. and, by the way, nobody cares. nobody cares. that's how they're trying to deal with it politically. but that is not how americans feel. and with that kind of response from american voters,

republicans politically are not going to be able to win this just by saying this is no big deal and nobody cares. however, you feel about this story your fellow americans care about it a great deal.

a last story tonight is not so much a story as a public service announcement. public service announcement. do you know where your teeth are? right this minute. not like -- like, do you know

where they are? because it's two days since election day and i think this is going to be an essential part of winding up the election coverage for 2017 because i'm really not comfortable leaving this part of the election coverage unsettled. quote, if you voted in portland, maine, and looking for your teeth, read this. the portland press herald reporting tonight that false teeth were discovered by an election clerk left behind in a voting booth on tuesday. quote, the choppers are now -- [ laughter ] sorry. quote, the choppers are now in a plastic bag in the city clerk's office at city hall waiting to be reunited with the owner of the appliance. first of all, doesn't that make you want to be a city clerk? second of all, public service announcement, if you cast your vote and your dentures in portland, maine, on tuesday night, don't despair.

the clerk has them. at city hall. that does it for us tonight. now it's time for "the last word with lawrence o'donnell." good evening, lawrence. >> good evening, rachel. it sounds like a small town america story but portland, maine, is not that small of a town. >> it was that small of a town we'd all know who lost their teeth. >> that's exactly right. i'm spending half my day looking for stuff now. looking for my keys, my phone, always looking for my phone. not yet looking for the teeth. but i know that day is coming, rachel. >> your staff loves you which i flow. i know they love you and if you tried to get on the tv without finding your teeth first they would tell you. >> guess who finds my phone all the time? the last word staff and right in front of me or in one of my pockets and always know where to look. >> i know the feeling. we are equally old. thank you, lawrence. >> thank you, rachel. well, today, donald trump and steve bannon's candidate for