by gun it could curb it and that's a step in the right direction. the news continues now with my colleague ayman mohyeldin. i am ayman mohyeldin at msnbc world headquarters here in new york. and president trump on cleanup duty overseas trying to clarify remarks that certainly made it seem like he believes vladimir putin over his own intelligence agencies when it comes to election meddling. we'll break that down. roy moore remains the republican candidate for an alabama senate seat, even after accusations of inappropriate conduct with a 14-year-old girl when he was in his 30s. could he survive this scandal? and breaking developments in the middle east. a mystery that has engulfed two american allies and has once again led to mixed messages from the president and his secretary of state. more on that story in just a bit. but we begin with the president overseas. in the middle of his asia trip, trump forced to clarify remarks he made after a meeting with

vladimir putin when he initially said that he believed putin's denials of any meddling in the u.s. election. now, that position seemed to put the commander in chief at odds with his own intelligence agencies who have said unequivocally that russia did meddle in u.s. elections. here's the president's explanation. >> i'm surprised that there's any conflict on this of the what i said there is that i believe he believes that and that's very important for somebody to believe. i believe that he feels that he and russia did not meddle in the election. as to whether i believe it or not, i'm with our agencies, especially as currently constituted with their leadership. i believe in our intel agencies. >> so a little bit of a shifting position there, but the explanation as you can imagine did not satisfy everyone. take a listen. >> what is the president waiting to see before he acknowledges what our intelligence agencies and most people in both political parties acknowledge. there was a definite attempt by russia to influence this election. >> he believes him. while he does not believe the intelligence agencies of the

united states of america is beyond absurd. >> putin is a former kgb agent. this is not a guy you can trust or a guy you can really have any confidence in. it's ridiculous! so hopefully -- i mean i'm glad he walked it back, jake. that was a distinguish thi-- go thing that he did that but i was flabbergasted when i read the earlier accounts. >> i want to break down the story and some of the key questions it has raised. what does the remarks say about president trump's relationship with vladimir putin. how does the repeated undermining of u.s. intelligence agencies impact the president's relationship with those specific agencies. and could a good relationship with russia actually help solve the north korea issue and other issues including syria and iran as the president has suggested. for that let's bring in our panel. david ignatius, kurt burdella and joan walsh. joan, let's begin with the

president here. obviously he has put himself in this position where he's trying to walk back these comments, even members of his own republican party say what are you doing here? what is going on? how in the world can you take the world of a former kgb agent or spy against the word of your own intelligence agency here? >> i think we have this pattern where he says these kind of crazy things and he says them with a lot of passion. and he really lays out kind of rationale. like he -- you know, we need to have a better relationship. he gets angry when anyone brings it up. he's hurt. we need a better relationship. we are going to have one. it's so great that we have one. and, you know, criticizing hillary clinton and barack obama, blah, blah, blah. and then you get a little cleanup on aisle putin where he says something. it's rational, it's what his agencies and folks have told him to say, but it doesn't seem particularly like he believes it. >> let me play devil's advocate for a moment and take the

president for his word. are you seeing that the u.s. relationship with russia has led to any marked improvements on the international stage that you can say as a result of his relationship with vladimir putin? they have only met twice, both on the sidelines of these global conferences, five minutes, maybe a few minutes in each setting. but he comes out of it saying, hey, we're going to solve these issues. >> we've got it all solved. i haven't seen much tangible. i would defer to our other guests who might know more. >> david, let me ask you this. in his initial remarks on russian meddling, the president had some strong words, calling john brennan and former director of national security, james clapper, political hacks. you know both of these gentlemen very well. they responded this morning. take a listen. >> putin is committed to undermining our system, our democracy, and our whole process. and to try to paint it in any other way is, i think,

astounding and in fact poses a peril to this country. >> it's still puzzling as to why mr. trump does not acknowledge that and embrace it and also push back hard against mr. putin. i feel very honored to be associated with jim clapper and jim comey in the same category. considering the source of the criticism, i consider that criticism a badge of honor. >> david, you know these two men very well. they're certainly respected career intelligence and national security figures. how do you think it impacts his relationship with the intelligence agencies that the rank and file intelligence officers when they hear the president of the united states go after former officials at that level calling them political hacks? >> they have to be shocked and we all should be shocked. clapper and brennan are career intelligence officers. between them they have more than 80 years of service to the united states working in intelligence. to call them political hacks is just the kind of thing you could never imagine a president

saying. it's completely inappropriate. what the workforce will think, though, they'll come into work tomorrow and i'm sure they'll do their jobs. >> and let me ask you the same question i asked joan. from somebody who travels as much as you, can you look at some area or someplace on the map where the president says a good working relationship with vladimir putin would yield results? and can you say that it has gotten better in the year that president trump has been in office as a result of that relationship? >> there's no question that the relationship between russia and the u.s. is so bad that it's potentially dangerous. the u.s. and russia are working together in syria to deconflict, to decide who goes where. the russians would love to deepen that cooperation and they'd love a path back from isolation that they have been living in since they invaded ukraine. and i think that over time the u.s. and russia have to work together more closely. what worries me is that trump,

so needy for success and foreign policy and needing to deliver on his north korea red line is deciding to work with putin without getting anything for it. i don't understand what he's getting in return for welcoming russia back into the club of responsible nations. that's what troubles me more than the question of just accepting putin's denial of meddling. of course he denies it, what do you think. >> we've often thought of china as being the major conduit for any solution to north korea. surprisingly, though, president trump invoked russia as a possible partner in the solution of north korea and there's no doubt that it has some power at the united nations with security council resolutions and vetoing them. but at the end of the day can russia actually play a positive role in solving the north korean standoff that we have right now? >> if that's directed to me -- >> yeah, david. >> the russians can help. i think what we should see here

is that trump's hope that china could deliver sufficient leverage to bring north korea to the table doesn't seem to be working out, so he's going for extra help and turning to putin. that's how i read it. and, you know, again, this is a problem with saying you're going to deliver something. if you don't, then you really -- then you're in a much different and more dangerous sphere. but i think that's why he's turning to putin now. >> kurt, let me ask you a little bit about the politics of this in terms of how it's playing out here domestically. john mccain releasing a statement saying in part vladimir putin does not have america's interests at heart. to believe otherwise is not only naive but also places our national security at risk. so why don't we hear more republicans this critical about something like this? >> well, i think part of this is we need to view everything that donald trump says about his relationship with putin and with russia should be viewed through the lens of what's going on here with the probe of robert mueller looking into the activities of russia, the election and the trump campaign.

i think that a lot of lawmakers when they think about that, they take a step back and allow that process to move forward. as we've seen in the last couple of weeks, that process is moving forward. indictments are being handed down, arrests are being made, progress is being made. i think when donald trump talks about that close relationship he wants to russia, it's to provide a rationale for everything that happened before this point of why those happened in the first place. he's trying to protect himself politically from the mueller investigation. >> joan, i think you heard the president's language about putin saying not wanting to insult him, that was going to be beneficial for him. obviously his own republican party as we heard from kurt not wanting to tackle it. is the president emboldened by the fact that his own party has been silenced on this issue? you're only hearing from people perhaps like a john mccain -- >> corker, also stepping aside. >> exactly. how do you break this down? >> i think he is emboldened by the fact that nobody is really

taking this seriously or very few republicans are taking this seriously. very few republicans are saying, wait, this is a country that yes, we need some cooperation but they are not our ally, they are an adversary. when he sounds like a -- so concerned about putin's feelings, it sounds awful, it sounds like something has gone on. and so, you know, we all kind of have that feeling. >> and the dynamic may change after the midterm elections when some republicans feel that they can venture out on their own and not be beholden -- >> and democrats might have more power. >> i'll ask all of you to stay with us because we have more to talk about throughout the course of this hour. some top national republicans, though, calling for roy moore to step aside after allegations of sexual misconduct, but not everyone is abandoning ship. we'll get the story from a political story on the ground covering that race and who made it into "saturday night live's" crosshairs. >> all right. if everyone thinks i did it, i'll marry her. >> no, roy.

no, roy. i want you to consider stepping aside. don't think of it as ending your campaign, think of it as going to conversion therapy to turn yourself into someone who's no longer a candidate. >> come on, sir, do we have to do it this way? can't you call the boss? >> oh, sorry, i'm not going to call vladimir putin about this. n with the pole, and i had to make a claim and all that? is that whole thing still dragging on? no, i took some pics with the app and... filed a claim, but... you know how they send you money to cover repairs and... they took forever to pay you, right? no, i got paid right away, but... at the very end of it all, my agent... wouldn't even call you back, right? no, she called to see if i was happy. but if i wasn't happy with my claim experience for any reason, they'd give me my money back, no questions asked. can you believe that? no. the claim satisfaction guarantee, only from allstate. switching to allstate is worth it. copdso to breathe better,athe. i go with anoro. ♪go your own way copd tries to say, "go this way."

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welcome back, everyone. alabama senate candidate roy moore continues to fend off allegations first reported by "the washington post" that he pursued relationships with teenage girls when he was in his early 30s. but the damage has already been done. the republican senate campaign arm says it will no longer fund raise for moore and many republicans continue to distance themselves from the senate candidate. >> the accusations have more credibility than the denial. i think it would be best if roy would just step aside. >> i just think it's inappropriate. and i would just really would like it if he stepped aside. >> certainly the allegations are

very, very strong. the denial was not as strong as the allegations. i think if the allegations are true, there's no doubt that he should step aside. >> now, despite this, many of his supporters say they will continue to stand by him. >> at this point there is no proof, the timing is just so suspicious right before, and he's had 40 years when all of this could have come to light and it still, you know, just a few days before a special election. >> joining me now is paul gattis, kurt bardella and joan wal walsh. paul, let me begin with you if i can. on friday and saturday roy moore indicated that he had information on his accusers that would, quote, cast doubt on "the washington post" story. any indication whatsoever of when that information will be released, what it might even be? >> well, as far as the timeline of when the information may be

released, the sooner the better, because this story is obviously turning into a tsunami and it's threatening to take down roy moore's campaign. as far as what it might be, one of the accusers once performed sign language at an event where hillary clinton was speaking. i suspect there will probably be efforts to link one or more of the accusers to democrats because that's going to resonate with people in republican heavy alabama. but really roy moore has kept that close to the vest and we don't really know what he's going to be saying to try to clear himself. >> interesting connection there. let me ask you this, paul. i know some national republicans did pull their support from roy moore including utah senator mike lee, steve danes, but break it down a little bit for us on a local level. are you seeing any cracks in his written support within the state? >> not within the state, no.

the people in alabama really have been very quiet. the leaders have been very quiet. the alabama gop has not said anything whatsoever on the record. the six republicans in the house of representatives from alabama, they have endorsed roy moore. they have all largely been quiet. the lone exception is mo brooks. he has said he is standing by roy moore. but really people in alabama in the republican party, it seems like they're trying to hunker down and ride out the storm with roy moore. >> joan, so given that moore is still seen as a favorite to win that seat, i think a lot of people are saying if the democrats can't make any headway given the scandal that has embroiled roy moore in, what does that say about the democratic brand in the state of alabama. >> well, it's tough for the democrats in alabama. but we've seen some closing of the gap in the polls. there's even a poll today that

shows democrat doug jones a bit ahead. i'm not even sure i believe that. it's hard to believe that he would take the lead at this point. but i think this is going to get worse for roy moore. i mean over the weekend, we had a deputy district attorney who worked in the same courthouse with him tell cnn we saw him dating younger girls. he went to high school sports games and the big shopping mall here to pick them up and we all thought it was weird. >> let me ask you as a political analyst for a moment, when you look at this conversation about sexual harassment that has taken place across the country, entertainment, media, business. >> everything. >> once these accusations come out, very little is often said against the accusers. more and more the accusers are being believed given how much evidence is emerging against some of these individuals. why is it in the world of politics we see political figures when they are accused of sexual harassment, like roy moore and what have you, why are we seeing them somehow try to discredit these women that were

not necessarily seeing in other fields. >> that's interesting, although if you follow our former colleague, ronan farrow's reporting on harvey weinstein, he was trying to discredit these women. he had spies, he had people intimidating them, so i don't think it's only politics but i would agree it seems more prevalent in politics. the reason i think these women are hard to discredit, first of all, that "washington post" story had 30 sources and all four women were on the record. that's very unusual. and also the woman who said she was 14 when this happened, she has -- she's admitted to three marriages, a couple bankruptcies. she's admitted i didn't come out sooner because i've had a hard life. which might be because of this early child molestation. but i'm not saying he can't discredit her, but she's already come clean with i'm not a perfect person but this happened. >> i wonder if it raises questions about double standards in the national debate about political figures being accused of sexual harassment and other figures as well. kurt, let me ask you, before

this story even came out, moore's camp went to breitbart, your former employer, to try to get a prebuttal article out there and steve bannon doubled down on his support for moore. take a listen. >> this is about destroying roy moore. and you know why they want to destroy roy moore? they want to destroy anybody that will step up and speak in your behalf. you know what our response is? bring it. bring it. you have not seen anything yet. you think we're going to back down one inch? you are dead wrong, folks. paul singer, write this down. you and these republican scumbags, and that's what you are, you operatives, and here's the good news, folks, we know your names and more importantly, folks, we know your clients. >> so a lot at stake for bannon because bannon's brand very much invested in this. how much is he on the line for supporting moore and how could he be hurt, bannon be hurt by a roy moore implosion?

>> well, i'll tell you, if roy moore loses this race in december, the blame will be put at steve bannon's feet for supporting roy moore in the first place, by putting his entire organization behind moore, for dispatching reporters to discredit those who accused roy of sexual misconduct. it's all in for bannon, so he has everything to lose right now and very little to gain. even if roy somehow wins, he'll be damaged goods. he is not going to be embraced by people in the united states senate. he's not going to be embraced by mitch mcconnell or any of the other republican senators in the republican conference. so for bannon, this is a -- i think an untenable situation where he feels he has no choice but to double down on it. he can't walk away from him. anyone who knows anything about steve bannon knows he doesn't retreat ever. no matter how bad it gets, he never walks away. that's what the entire breitbart brand has been about. >> kurt, what are the chances that president trump weighs in and encourages people to write

in luther strange, the candidate he backed in alabama, against roy moore in the final weeks? >> i think that it would take more to come out, which is entirely possible. it would take more to come out to concretely at least in the donald trump/breitbart paradigm to prove that this happened or show more accusers, more a pattern of behavior, that would give the ammunition for trump to say, okay, roy moore has got to go. we've got to get behind luther strange. >> paul, you are on the ground in alabama. talk to us about how brand bannon resonates with folks. what are the chances folks would listen to president trump over bannon if president trump decides to revert back to the candidate he was supporting and call for people to write in luther strange? >> well, president trump is probably as popular in alabama as he is anywhere in any state in the country. with that being said, his endorsement of luther strange did absolutely nothing to help luther strange. roy moore was ahead in the polls before trump endorsed strange. roy moore remained ahead and roy

moore beat him by ten points in the runoff. trump came to alabama to campaign for luther strange about four days before the runoff. and it did no good for luther strange. it was almost as if trump knew he was backing a losing candidate when he came. so as popular as trump is in alabama, his voice hasn't mattered in this senate race. >> joan, there's been talk if roy moore gets elected the senate may not even choose to seat him. what is the likelihood of that? i just want to play this sound bite from pat toomey who addressed this issue on "meet the press" today. >> he does win, should the united states senate seat roy moore? >> yeah, we'll have to -- we'll wrestle with that if and when the time comes. there's a lot that has to happen before that, chuck. >> so you're not ruling out the idea that you wouldn't want to have him seated as a senator? >> look, i suspect we'll learn more between now and then, chuck, and i'm not going to

project what we should be doing under that hypothetical. >> so obviously it's a hypothetical situation, but given the fact that republicans have such a slim majority in the senate, they need every vote on big issues like tax reform, are you likely to see that if roy moore wins, the republicans will kind of brush this under the carpet and seat him or do you think there could be an insurgency of sorts to say, no, we don't want him in our midst? >> first of all, i'm not sure they can refuse to seat him but they can kick him out. i think this is one of those moments of conscience that we saw around donald trump too. are you going to embrace trump, and they did. but there are a lot of people in the party right now who are saying, okay, donald trump was a big -- was a problem, we did that. but this is pedophilia. this is molesting -- if the worst allegation is true of the 14-year-old, this is molesting a young girl. we can't afford to associate our brand with this. so i think that there would be a big battle in the senate and there would be a significant number of senators who if they

had the power would not seat him. if they didn't have the power would possibly move to eject him. it's not like it was, i don't think, with donald trump. they have learned -- some, some have learned their lesson. >> remember after the trump "access hollywood" tapes came out and obviously a lot of republicans -- >> walked away. >> only to fall back in line as the elections heated up. >> that's possible here too. >> possible. paul and joan, thank you very much. kurt, i'm going to ask you to stick with me. we've got more to talk about. new developments in a middle east mystery. the lebanese prime minister is speaking for the first time since his sudden resignation. is he being held against his will in saudi arabia? and new information that claims that fired national security advisor michael flynn was involved in a plot to kidnap someone from the united states and deliver him to turkey. sounds like a spy movie. ♪ ♪

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quell speculation that he was actually being held in saudi arabia against his own will saying he's free to leave the country if he wanted to and plans to return to lebanon very soon. but many back home aren't quite buying it. they say he was placed under house arrest by the saudis in an effort to unravel the coalition he formed with hezbollah. all of this uncertainty pledging lebanon into a political crisis as you can imagine. there's a lot to unpack, including the mixed messages coming out from both president trump and his secretary of state on the issue of saudi arabia as well as lebanon. i want to bring in my panel, nbc contributor rebecca collard, and david ignatius is back with us. rebecca, let me begin with you and ask you about the interview just conducted in saudi arabia. he said he's a free man. he's allowed to go back. he may be going back not in a matter of days but very soon.

you're on the ground there in lebanon. what is the reaction you're hearing from how all of this is playing out. are the lebanese politicians you're speaking to, officials there, are they buying that he is a free man, allowed to leave whenever he wants? >> well, of course from the beginning the rumors on the street here in beirut were that he was not a free man. not only was he not a free man and not able to leave saudi arabia but also that this resignation was in fact forced by saudi arabia, that he didn't want to resign as prime minister of lebanon and this resignation was in fact the result of saudi pressure. now, this speech today i think in some ways was welcomed. there was some small celebrations here we heard on the street, cars honking horns, happy that he said that he's going to return home because since he resigned in saudi arabia, there has been mounting calls for him to return to lebanon. not just from his supporters and his political party, but from across the political spectrum. people saying that he needs to return to lebanon.

so i think in many ways this speech was welcome. as you mentioned, i think there's still a lot of skepticism, even after his appearance today about why he's resigned and why he hasn't returned. >> and it's raised some interesting questions, rebecca, because of the fact that he said he's actually willing to come back to lebanon and not necessarily resign if hezbollah actually, i guess, modifies its positions, changes its positions, but it's highly unlikely they're going to do that on conflicts like syria and their support and their backing that they're receiving from iran. >> well, exactly. and i think one of the things about this speech today is that maybe not quite -- there wasn't quite contradictions in his interview but i think the things that he was asking for from hezbollah weren't exactly clear. we didn't make clear statements like we want them to withdraw from syria or we want them to do specific things. it was more about kind of more vague things that he wanted that would allow him to remain as prime minister. so i think as we're moving forward, it's really going to be

interesting in the next few days to watch, whether or not, first of all, he does return to lebanon and then at that point what happens with the political process here, whether he will enter into negotiations with hezbollah, with other parties, and whether the president of lebanon will actually accept his resignation as prime minister. so these are going to be very interesting things to watch in the coming week. >> jamal, i want to ask you really quickly about the point that rebecca brought up and that is the confrontation that saudi arabia seems to be escalating with iran in places like yemen. we heard the saudi foreign minister this week tell cnbc that the missile fired from yemen into saudi arabia was considered an act of war by iran. take a listen to this sound bite from the saudi foreign minister. >> we believe that the missile that landed in riyadh is of a similar make and we hold iran responsible for this. they're the ones who provided the missiles in violation of the

u.n. security council resolution. we believe that this could be considered an act of war. >> so an act of war being considered here by the saudi arabian government. what is the saudi arabian kingdom, what are they trying to do right now in terms of all of these open confrontations, if you will, that they are opening against iran, whether in syria, with lebanon or with iran in yemen? >> i think saudi arabia has very legitimate reason to be complaining of iran and hezbollah link in syria and in yemen. the missile i think was a game-changer. maybe it expedite the decision to intensify a confrontation with hezbollah. it was a very close call. it almost hit riyadh's airport

and it was reported that at least six missiles were needed to bring it down. as the foreign minister said, they are the fingerprints of the iranians and hezbollah. it was a new technology that was introduced to iran. so saudi arabia has reasons to tamp down hezbollah in lebanon but i think we are doing it the wrong way with policies that could fire back on us. the best thing for saudi arabia is to let hariri fly back to lebanon like tomorrow to do two things. to salvage the dynasty. >> let me ask you about the diplomacy contradictions that we're hearing really from president trump and from rex tillerson. they both have had mixed messages coming out about what saudi arabia is doing internally with this anti-corruption purge.

we have the tweets there of president trump saying that he has great confidence in king salman and the crown prince and they know exactly what they are doing. but earlier this week rex tillerson actually had a very different tone when he was asked about how saudi arabia is going about this. he said my own view is that it does raise some concerns until we see more clearly how these particular individuals are, the princes and billionaires that are being detained with in saudi arabia, are actually dealt with. is this another example of double-speak coming out of washington as we've seen in north korea as well? >> yes is the simple answer. there's a clear breach between the president and the secretary of state, at least in terms of tone about saudi arabia and the policies of salman, the 32-year-old crown prince. nbs, as he's called, is very much a person in trump's image. he wants to overturn past policies.

he's a kind of elitist populist at the same time. he's a prince but he's trying to speak for the average saudi. and he's very much challenging the status quo. rex tillerson is worried that the crown prince is impulsive, that he is putting saudi arabia and the region at risk and he's trying to slow things down. to bring this back to hariri, it's very good news if he's on his way back to lebanon. the lebanese will be relieved. it's a sign the saudis are pulling back from in effect blowing up lebanon and forcing hezbollah into a confrontation al position. if the saudis let him go back and begin to kind of get lebanon on a more stable track, good. that's good news. >> and it's a question we'll be following in the coming days if he does go back. unfortunately, we've run out of

time. thank you all very much for joining us this sunday afternoon. and the plot thickens once again. were michael flynn and his son offered millions to kidnap a muslim cleric and get shipped overae seas to turkey? and we're heard the phrase "if true" a lot referring to roy moore and sexual misconduct. so how do you determine the truth in a 40-year-old she said/he said case? stay with us. or your digestion... so why wouldn't you take something for the most important part of you... your brain. with an ingredient originally found in jellyfish, prevagen is now the number one selling brain health supplement in drug stores nationwide. prevagen. the name to remember. i'm ginnwith chantix.smoking it takes a lot of planning to be a smoker. it's like when am i gonna be able to sneak out of here

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welcome back, everyone. time now for the global checkup, a look at stories making headlines elsewhere around the world and we begin with breaking news out of the iran/iraq border. at least 61 people are dead and 300 injured after a 7.3 magnitude earthquake struck the border with that country. now to barcelona where hundreds of thousands of cat lawn independent supporters took to the streets demanding the release of jailed separatists and the leader who fled to

belgium before being charged by spanish authorities. in london, a revolt against prime minister theresa may is under way. according to the sunday "times" 40 members of parliament from may's conservative party have agreed to sign a letter of no confidence against the prime minister. although her job is not in immediate jeopardy this comes as she inavigating the departure from the european union. another leader feeling the heat in israel where state police believe there is enough evidence to charge benjamin netanyahu with bribery. finally in dhichina, the singles day celebration has earned $25 billion for alibaba. the date for singles day 11/11 because it resembles a loan person. and an update on an international story being watched very closely here in the u.s. by robert mueller.

the turkish government denying that it tried to use unlawful means to extradite fethullah gulen who is here in america. this comes after reports this week that fired trump national security advisor michael flynn met with the turks about a plan to help kidnap gulen and get him out of the country in exchange for millions of dollars in secret payments. flynn's lawyer vehemently denied those accusations. i know it sounds kind of like a spy movie. joining me now, renato mariatti. as i was saying, this sounds a bit crazy and is made crazier by the fact that at the time of the alleged meeting it was post election and we knew that trump's choice for national security advisor was going to be michael flynn. so how big of a problem are the turkish connections for flynn and his son? this is something that seems to be dogging them for the past several months. >> well, i mean this could be a

huge problem for mr. flynn and his son. we already knew before this nbc news had reported that mueller had enough evidence to charge flynn and his son and was preparing to do so. so, you know, at that point if i'm flynn's lawyer or the lawyer for his son, i would already be very concerned because even if the charges are just something that is a little less sexy, that's not as explosive or as exciting, like, for example, failing to register as a foreign agent, that's still a felony. it's a federal crime. and then if they're convicted of that, or any federal crime, then the judge can consider anything about their character, any sort of evidence that mr. mueller and his team puts before them. so what this news reporting -- this reporting by nbc news has said is that mueller has been questioning, asking questions about this meeting and about this potential deal with the turkish government. and whatever e-mails he has,

whatever information, whatever interviews he has, he can present that to the judge and the judge can consider it. so if this is my client, i would be denying it as well because it's very serious stuff. >> and we know the issue about the foreign agent registration act was something he brought against paul manafort. we know that nbc news, they have reported that mueller has enough evidence to indict flynn, although he wasn't done so yet. why the delay? as a federal prosecutor, do you think that there's any deal that's being kind of worked right now on the table, so to speak? >> not necessarily. what a prosecutor generally does is you try to get as much evidence as possible before you bring charges. you want to make sure that everything is included, that you've charged everything that you're able to, that you have your witnesses lined up. he may be preparing, for example, deals with other people, whether they're going to be charged or not. for example, others that worked at flynn's lobbying firm. so there are a number of reasons. i would not assume flynn is

cooperating. although if they do not believe that a pardon is forthcoming, i would cooperate if i was mr. flynn, given what we know. let's switch gears for a moment because i want to ask you really quickly about your take on one part of the roy moore saga in alabama. the refrain from a lot of republicans has been if this is true, if this is true moore should step down. nobody is coming out and saying they actually believe it. but this case is never going to trial. i mean it's obviously well past any statute of limitations. as a prosecutor, what are things you're looking for to judge the credibility of one side or another in this he said/she said 40 years ago? >> great question. first of all, obviously the number of witnesses does matter. there's four women who are on the record against mr. moore. i think 30 total sources that "the washington post" had. the detail with which they have in their accounts, whether or not their accounts are corroborated. we have been hearing more

accounts, for example, from one of moore's colleagues, a former prosecutor saying that it was common knowledge that he would date teenage girls. so other things that would corroborate their account. but ultimately the standard of proof that we have in a criminal trial is just that, it's for a criminal trial, beyond a reasonable doubt. and what voters in alabama have to make a decision about is whether or not based upon the evidence they do see, whether this is the sort of person that they want to have as their next senator. >> and we'll find out when they go to the polls. thank you very much for joining us with that perspective. >> thank you. mass shootings in america and how our gun laws size up with the rest of the world. what we said versus what the world says about our gun crisis, next.

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where we take a look at how the international media deals with stories that are making headlines here in the u.s. tonight, america's gun crisis. today marks the one-week anniversary of yet another mass shooting here in the u.s. last sunday devin patrick kelley walked into patrick kelly walked into a church and killed 26 people including children. the condolences came quickly from all across the globe. british prime minister theresa may sent thoughts and prayers and shinzo abe sent in condolences. and enrique pena nieto offered thoughts and prayers. president trump also speaking out calling the massacre a problem with mental health. >> we have a lot of mental health problems in our country as do other countries. but this isn't a guns situation. >> global news outlets not on the same page as trump.

here is piers morgan sounds off, criticizing his good friend. >> how can that not be a gun situation, mr. trump? a man with a gunshot 26 people and wounded 20 others. including a number of children. how is this not a gun situation? he doesn't have a gun, he doesn't kill people with a gun. this is not rocket science. >> now, uk's globe and mail blaming the gun culture, and an editorial reads it is down right depressing to watch americans being gunned down and not even the most gruesome killing seems to prompt change. the host of spin room asked if the epidemic of mass shootings is a new normal. >> i want to hear your take on this, is the u.s. destined to live like this forever? or is the political gridlock on gun control that bad? >> the anyists called on -- the economists called out the double standard, gun rights advocates

typically call for a policy moratorium after any mass shooting. and in new zealand herald they offered up it own reason for why the texas church shooting isn't labeled terrorism. and over in australia, there seems to be something like relief in gun loving texas that the sutherland springs slaughter was a domestic situation. and we want to dig deeper into the issue right now and for that i'm joined by louis beckett, guns reporter for the guardian and former breitbart spokes, who rejoins the conversation. you're one of the reporters of a guardian story that kind of looked at really how four different countries i believe it was the uk, japan, germany and australia how each one of them approaches the issue of gun control and the debate in the respective countries and if anything, what should we be doing here in the united states that's different? what is it that we should be doing different compared to what you saw with those four

different countries? >> i mean, after every mass shooting some will look to australia to say that australia did serious gun control after the port arthur massacre and they haven't had a serious mass shooting since. but we have to remember that we aren't prepared to doing what australia did. the equivalent would be melting down 90 million military style weapons -- in fact it would be billions of dollars and no one is proposing anything close to that. we say australia but we're not willing to do what australia it. >> why do you think we're not willing to do that? is it so much to do with the gun culture or the nature of politics? why was australia able to do it? >> australia had strong conservative leadership there and that was a very important part of it. they did have a lot of push back. but it's not a very american thing to confiscate the weapons and melt down. they're central to the idea of freedom. >> in germany, this issue is kind of interesting. germany has one of the -- relatively highest gun owners p ownership -- i guess rates for any developed country but is

there any resistance to what the germans are doing. before you buy a gun you have to undergo psychiatric evaluation. you have to undergo a demonstration that you are capable of and worthy of actually holding a gun in a mental sense since the president here has talked about it as a mental health issue. >> that's opposite from our principles here in america that you have a right to own a gun and the government has to prove you're unfit to have one. democrats and republicans thinks that those who have mental health illness shouldn't have a gun. but if you cure it all -- serious mental illness it would reduce violence by 4%. >> i saw that 4% of gun violence is attributed to mental health in the u.s. as part of gun laws a lot of other countries actually have a national gun registry. is that something you could ever see happening here in the united states, with gun right supporters allow for us to keep

track of weapons and who owns them? >> i wish the answer were yes. but i don't think that's the answer. >> why is that a problem? we register our cars, why would it be a problem to register our guns in a national database? >> it shouldn't be, but even after the las vegas mass shooting the worse in history we haven't seen any movement to get rid of bump stocks. the low hanging fruit, we need to do something about they can't get that done. i can't see for the life of me the political will and the courage being in place for policymakers to go as far as the national religion industry. even if it would save lives. >> yeah. imagine if it -- even if we had tracked all the guns he had owned if that would have prevent it. the nra a big reason for why politicians don't stand up to the gun lobby. at least that's the general consensus here. why do you think no one has taken on the nra and said, you know what, i'm going -- we don't know if they would fail or not

if their political careers if they stood up to the gun lobby, do we? >> we don't. i think at the end of the day the answer is they're cowards. there's a real lack of courage politically, it's the same lack of courage that's allowed donald trump and the steve bannon to highlight the republican party a party standing by an alleged child molester. the lack of courage is alarming but again it bleeds over to other issues. if they're not going to stand up to trump, not going to defend women, they won't stand up for innocents being slaughtered -- >> special after sandy hook. what will it take to change the culture here like we saw in the uk after their experience with mass shooting? >> i think the culture is changing and the culture is changing towards guns and gun rights being more powerful. you don't want gun laws to be -- if you want gun laws to be more like europe, you should think of

reciprocity. so new york city tourists could be allowed to carry guns on the new york subway. >> incredible. thank you very much for joining us. join me back here next sunday to break down the major stories of the week. you can reach out to me on social media as always. be sure to join kasie hunt at 7:00 p.m., but first it's "meet the press." i did my ancestrydna and i couldn't wait to get my pie chart. the most shocking result was that i'm 26% native american. i had no idea. just to know this is what i'm made of, this is where my ancestors came from. and i absolutely want to know more about my native american heritage. it's opened up a whole new world for me. discover the story only your dna can tell. order your kit now at ancestrydna.com. whether it's connecting one of or bringing wifi to 65,000 fans. campuses. businesses count on communication, and communication counts on centurylink.

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this sunday a new political landscape. republicans suffer a one-two punch. first democrats sweep elections across the country including two governor's races. >> was it a referendum on donald trump? >> i do believe so. >> and fuelling democratic hopes for winning back congress next year. >> our republican friends better look out. those bombshell claims about alabama's republican senate candidate roy moore. >> shocking allegations of sexual misconduct against senate republican roy moore. unnerving republicans in washington.