>> that's it for us this morning. morning joe starts right now. when they put marco on to refute president obama's speech, do you remember that catastrophe? and he's like this, and we will, ha, ha, i need water, help me, help. and he's, this is on live televisio television. it's rubio. japanese companies have announced investments in the united states worth more than $8 billion, 17,000 jobs. thank you. they don't have water. that's okay. what? >> no, it's okay.

japanese manufacturers, toyota and mazda, in china, we also announced $250 billion if trade investment deals that will create jobs in the united states. >> a second time? >> no. what's worse is that wasn't even trump water. did you see that? >> oh. >> it wasn't trump water. clearly parched president touts success in asia, so far no payoff on his promise for a big announcement and didn't he like mock marco rubio? >> he just did, yeah. >> we'll break down yesterday's non-event with chris hill on the international policy side of things and take a look at that water moment. that was so awkward on so many levels. plus, new accusers come forward against roy moore while the white house still won't say whether the senate candidate

should step aside and where is their advocate for women in the white house? where is he or she? i thought there was one. didn't you? i'm so confused. where are women in the white house on this? we'll go live to alabama on the latest in this story. and the republican's struggle to sell their tax plan and a key republican senator announced his opposition to the bill. all while the treasury signature and his wife posts this picture among many others, leather gloves, leather outfit $1 bills, well done hair. she looks great, too. good morning, everyone, it's thursday, november 16th. what is going on? was that the treasury signature and his wife at the mint and -- i think it looked like a bicker

moment for her. she must like money a lot. i understand she loves diamonds and i guess she loves $1 bills as well. at some point you need to be embarrassed of yourself for being this shallow. i just, i can't even. maybe it was a joke and i'm missing the joke. i could be the only one. no one here is laughing. what's going on? >> what's the deal with leather opera gloves? >> maybe because money is dirty at times with some of these people and she shouldn't be touching it. joe is an assignment. things will go off the rails at three minutes past the hour. we have the former communications director for ted cruz's campaign and political contributor rick tyler. "new york times" reporter jeremy peters, msnbc's steve kornacki and white house reporter for "usa today" heidi pryzbilla and

from world news america catty kay. let's gen with the latest allegations against senate candidate roy more the alabama republican party met last night. you would think this would be the moment. but they did not take up the issue. in fact, it never left the conversation phase. then sean hannity who gave moore 24 hours to explain himself before pulling his support back down after moore wrote the fox news host an open letter. meanwhile, allegations against the alabama senate roy moore continue to mount. two more women, tina johnson said she was 28-years-old when moore groped her in his office. kelly harrison says she was 17-years-old when she turned down an overciao you are in 1982

trigonometry. a few -- later she says she asked again -- he asked again,

she relented. after going to a movie with him finally, she tells the "washington post" they were in his car chatting. quote, i just explained to him that my dad's a minister, and you know, i just can't sneak around, that's wrong. nbc news hats not independently verified these allegations and moore denied past allegations of sexual misconduct. the moore campaign has called claims politically motivated. it is fighting back with allegations of the only woman to

accuse him of sexual assault. focusing on the story involving his alleged signature and the 1977 high school year book. >> the allegations that have come out, i hope you understand, it takes time to work through this, we don't have a $20 million budget as a campaign. it takes time. we want to be correct. we demand that you immediately release the year book to a neutral custodian so that our expert, you can send your expert as well few like to, so our expert can look at it. not a copy on the internet the actual document so we can see the lettering, the inning on the page, the indentations and we can see how old is that inning? is it 40-years-old or a week old. release the year book so we can determine is it genuine or is it a fraud? >> my god. >> so, that's the attorney for roy moore talking about the 60 in the year back that we discussed over the last couple of days. but the specific defense and the

broad defense of judge moore comes in that "washington post" article about gina richardson, a high school student working at series's, saying judge moore hit on her, she refused to give him her phone number. he called her school and called her out of clachlts they say, if you are a liberal and hate judge more, they hate you. they say the only reason and motive for anybody to come out and make them public now is to destroy his campaign. they say it's a political farce. he's down in the polls. the latest poll has him down ten, 12 points. is he done, he going to survive it. how do you read it? >> they are watching the polls close in alabama. what else would explain why it's taken so long for the state party to do what the national party is doing umm here in washington, which is saying that this man has no place here in the senate. look. this is not just one woman who's

come forward, one independent story, what we're seeing now is a similar pattern to what we saw if previous instances, like with harvey weinstein, bill cosby, one woman comes forward. it gives women the courage to come forward. it starts to paint a narrative where you have not just the women but the entire community in this case where you had people saying he was showing up at the mall and they're flagging him. so i think at some point the leadership there in alabama, the governor, they are paying attention to these polls and they are the only ones who have the power. not the national party, to call another election. i think within it becomes clear to them that the results of this, of not taking some type of action would, by default, mean that the democrat wins, because even here, you are splitting the ticket and even if you disregard these polls, the democrat would still have a better chance of winning.

>> and the moore campaign is asking the public and voters and everyone to disbelieve a growing list of accusers now, as you say, it's like bill cosby or harvey weinstein, we see, how many women will you believe this has happened? two, five, ten, 50, 100 as it did for some of these guys? as for the impact, nbc news obtained a new poll from the national republican senatorial committee that shows support plummeting. the numbers show democrat doug jones with a 12-point lead over roy moore. moore was leading by nine points before the allegations, that's a 21-point swing, moore is tanking down 16 points since these allegations were made public. the nrsc is not sharing the entire poll or the name of the firm that conducted it. >> it's hard to know. >> the committee's chairman cory gardner has already called on moore to be expelled from the race should he win the december

12th special election. last night, moore tweeted to senate majority leader mitch mcconnell who has called for him to quote bring it on. meanwhile, president trump still has not addressed the moore situation. senator lindsay frame says he's the head of the party, quote, it will probably be good if he said something. so yesterday, he did not. >> thank you very much. thank you. thank you, all . >> so the comment previously from sarah sanders intoospeakin the president was if all these things were proven to be true, he should get out of the race. there was a pre face, we don't believe accusers, without everyday, we don't believe them with fact. what is this doing to the party right now? what are the long-term impacts to the party, if judge moore is, in fact, elected, which he's slipping in the polls, if he

becomes a member of the united states senate, what does that mean? >> it's a branding issue. because everybody in 2018 will say they elected a child molester. >> it will be the party that didn't elect the rape guy but decided for the sexual perv that goes after children guy. >> i think it's worth repeating. the republican party had a moment last year during the presidential primary when the ""access hollywood"" tape came out. they had a chance to make a moral decision about the president. this is why. here we are. roy moore is in the exact same position as donald trump was. he doesn't, he won't say anything about it because he doesn't have the moral standing to say anything about it. he know she's vulnerable this and we will be talking about his accusers. >> it's a part of a trend we are seeing seeping inside the white house, judicial nominees and peel running for office, people

unfit and morally, completely off balance. i mean there is nobody around the president in the inner circle who had some point totally unequipped for the job or morally impacted. have taken a strange oath. this is really frightening and a trend that could last for years, especially if this guy is elected. you are covering jeremy peters, the bannon angle. what is his role in this? >> he is not backing down, contrary to a couple reports that suggested he was somehow softening his support for roy moore. >> that is not the case i am told very reliably. look. it's in steve bannon's interest that roy moore wins. then it's more likely that mitch mcconnell and senate republicans move to expel him. >> that will give bannon and these conservative insurgents the civil war within the gop that they are hoping for. if they have that, there is a

move to expel a duly elected senator, then the debate shifts and it becomes less about defending somebody who is accused of sexually predator behavior and overturning the will of the people. this is something that even reasonable middle moderate of the roads conservatives are concerned about. you saw susan collins say that she doesn't think expulsion should be considered at all there think of the argument reported by jeremy steve bannon is making, it's worth it for him to continue to support now accused time and time and time again of preying on teenage girls as a 30, 32-year-old man to create a civil war in the party. what cost, at what price to you get your civil war? >> well, it's a civil war that's already been raging. i think as rick said in a lot of ways you got roy moore leaning on voters 13 months ago had the

""access hollywood"" tape, that came on women stepping forward and alleging misconduct on donald trump's part and the donald trump and folks around him saying don't believe it. the republican voters down there and across the country, 46-and-a-half%, 46.1% apparently didn't think it was worth turning on trump in the election. i would put a caution about this poll that shows moore falling 12 points behind. i think it's a huge grain of salt. there are a lot of polls out there it comes from a group with vested interest, trying to drop him out of the race t. other polls i see roy moore still ahead in the race. it's a state where a democrat hasn't come within 20 points since 2002 and so i look at the average of the polls. they still say roy moore is leading. i think it's possible he loses. i think it's possible he collapses. i would not look at this poll out there right now.

>> when has the senatorial committee put out a poll so dramatically against their own candidate, amazing. roy moore, his daughter did address it, although it took a while to get a statement out of her, about a week, i believes of attempted tries by multiple outlets. she stopped short, well short of calling him to step aside. nearly a week after the story broke, avan ka trump tells the associated press quote -- . >> so ivanka was one point positioned as a women's voice,

almost a year ago today, ivanka trump says she will still fight for women's issues. i met with her a few times before and after president trump won the election and she wanted to make her spire platform about women's issues. she was going to be the advocate for women in the white house. i met with her, even though i was not happy about trump winning. i thought i'd like to make sure, do whatever i can just as much as i contributed in the obama administration to speaking out about equal pay and other things. i met with ivanka, even brought someone to her that i thought it would be helpful on women's issues, she hired her and this is what we've got. she's traveling around the world, catty kay, modeling her fashion designs and talking weekly about tax reform which you would think there would be other experts in the white house that could work on that policy so she can work on women's

advocacy, sexual harassment and people like her father and others incredibly insulting to women, what has happened? she was supposed to be the voice for women. what is her position exactly? >> i would say she's had one big achievement recently on women's issue, that's expanding the child tax credit for $1,000 to $2,000 for the next ten years, she's advocating that was something she spoke to republicans about, having dinners in washington. but few look on the counterside the fact that it took so long for this statement to come out and she calls on roy moore to step down, that's pretty poor when it comes to defense of women and children, that we are talking about. she has not been a strong advocate in order to oppose some of the things this administration have done, which have rolled back women's rights, not just here in the united states but around the world. one of the first things the president did was to cut off

american funding for ngos, non-profits, advise women on abortion. they have rolled back provisions that would help us determine whether we were getting equal pay. she has not managed to stop that. she gave a mealy mouthed defense why that has gone ahead. you can count the ledger of the things she has failed to stop this white house from doing that set back women's process. it's quite a bit longer than the one thing she is saying at the moment she managed to achieve. although that tax cut would be good for middle class families. >> we'll jump back at it later. >> let's dive down to montgomery, alabama. we find vaughan hillier. he has been covering the moore race down there. what's the latest there, the reaction to the latest accusations. we talked ability some of it from the moore campaign and the position they're if right now. >> reporter: exactly.

roy moore has no public events on the schedule we are aware of. we did track him down last night in auburn, alabama at a private fundraiser, to take note, he is currently being outspent on television and radio air waves in alabama by an 11-1 margin by doug jones. this is feeling like a senate race, a campaign to delegitimize these women, these accusers and legitimize the decency that is roy moore. this is a candidate who has called the women in the media part of this quote forces office evil. he is two nights ago, he told a roomful of yoourkts they expect to be persecuted in his own life. i had a conversation with jerry moore, he compared him to jesus christ t. fact that the campaign is trying to legitimize roy moore and us in this world campaign. yesterday the attorney there that you saw earlier talking about the yearbook, he said he has been in the presence of roy

moore, more than 10,000 ladies over the course of his life and has never seen such actions. there was a press release late last night in which they had the testament of 12 different women who claim to know roy moore. one of those was kayla moore, the wife of roy moore. the other i want to read you is a woman of a native of gasden. quote, i worked at the bar-b-que for ten years in my 20s. mr. moore and his wife were nothing but friendly and respectful. lastly, the ought attorney for roy moore appeared on a show on msnbc yesterday and gave an interesting testament as to a trend to i guess, we'll pla i the sound and programs you guys can make better sense of it. >> why would he need permission from any of these girl's mothers if they weren't underage? >> sure. that's a good question.

culturally speaking, i'm going say differences looked up the background there, while that's awesome you have got such a diverse background, it's cool to read through that. >> what do obvious backgrounds have to do with dating a 14-year-old? >> i'm not finished with the context of it. >> please answer, what is elly's background have to do with dating children 14-year-old girls. >> sure. and in other countries, there is arrangement through parents for what we would refer to as central marriage. >> elly is from canada. >> i understand it. she has spent time in other countries. >> so have i. >> it's not a bad thing. >> reporter: >> what the what? >> reporter: an attorney for roy moore. >> go ahead. >> reporter: i was going to tell you that was the attorney for roy poor. >> yeah, thanks. i got i. i got it. i could have guessed. i mean, what the -- i don't even

know what to say about that. >> i want to know which country has the cultural norm of asking the mother for permission, i don't know of this culture, what was he trying to -- >> think of the implication, he looked at the way she looks and said. >> he looked up the background, knowing she is canadian. >> you provincialbably i assume connections to places where children are dated by adults. that was one bigoted part of it. the other part is his defense was dating teenagers, he got lost in that thing. >> as depressing as it is, willie, as soon as this story broke, i started hearing similar defenses from people in alabama politics supportive of roy moore, they tried to defend it on a cultural basis. >> that shows you the lengths

people will go, because they believe roy moore is on their side. it appears that roy moore is willing to go down as a martyr. he will probably like that at this point. >> we will have to go to break. there is so much more to talk about. still ahead on morning joe, today the house tackled tax reform. it's facing blowback in the senate. which republican senator is throwing cold water on his own party's plan. congressman adam schiff and tom cole join the conversation. plus an exclusive live interview with senator warren. you are watching morning joe. we'll be right back. it's a lot easier to make decisions when you know what comes next. if you move your old 401(k) to a fidelity ira, we make sure you're in the loop at every step from the moment you decide to move your money to the instant your new retirement account is funded. ♪ oh and at fidelity, you'll see

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>> so far there is no progress. most of the delegation will vote no we believe there will be a severe impact where we represent

the property tax and state level income is high so much of that would be lost. >> tax reform and reduction is something that i'm very much in favor of and has a great deal of appeal for most americans. i believe that if we start getting into health care issues with the individual mandate that we send a very mixed message. >> i wouldn't vote for this senate version. bottom line. there is a real problem here. i'm assuming we will get to it, yes. i think it's a solvable problem. but we need a dedication to solve it. >> oh, someone that makes sense. the house is set to vote on a republican plan to cut taxes by more than $1.4 trillion. as president trump and republican leaders push to get a plan over the finish line before year's end, there is real opposition against it. heidi, where does that opposition begin and end?

>> there was already opposition before members of congress and the gop leadership decided to throw this obamacare mandate repeal wrench in. so here what have you done is you've locked in no democrat support and that's before you even get to some of the wild card, susan collins, john mccain, who helped hold up the obamacare before. now are you also inviting the ire of groups like the ama, the american medical association is strapping on the armor. mika, here's what's going on, i met with senator bob casey of pennsylvania, democrat. that i are livid. he came in waving an article from a gop member of congress who said and explained usually why they're doing this he said, if we don't do this, the donors are saying they will never take our phone calls again and i think that explains, for example, why they're doing this obamacare gambit to try and make

that corporate tax cut real, so that, basically, the individual rate reductions would expire but the corporate tax rate, they can go back to their donors and say, we're giving you something tangible. we would make this permanent. but in terms of the politics of it, look where the tax bill was before they decided to embark on the gambit. a lot of people already view it as being for the rich, being for businesses. >> profile and courage once again, willie geist. >> jeremy, what's your reporting on this? >> heidi is exactly right. it's donor driven. you go out into congressional town halls, you talk to voters. tax cuts are not open their mind. obamacare repeal is, getting a job that pays well is. to the extent that tax cuts can help that along, sure, people want the idea. or they like this idea of a tax cut theoretically. but there is not something people are banging down the door

for. it's entirely donor drinks up against that kind of pressure with a deadline on the end of the year, it's hard to envision a scenario that could create sloppier public policy. >> that's reflected in the lemslation, the proposed legislation that it's donor driven and it benefits big companies. >> i said for months, lose the public argument. when the public is behind something, congress is not behind this i think the tax bill, look, it's in some kens e sense it's marginal. i think making tax cuts permanent for business is an important thing. businesses need to plan. right? so making it permanent is an important thing. they can't get there on the individual because the math doesn't add up. but there isn't really a communication strategy to make this thing pass, which is why the numbers are so low. then you have a president woes numbers are low, therefore, it's easy for the democrats frankly to pick it apart. that's what they've done. it's not likely to pass. >> the other risk here, i think it is turning us into a fight

they already lost a couple times. it's a fight over health care, over obamacare, the idea of attacking this repeal of the individual mandate the polling on that, few isolate the mandate the mandate is unpopular so their retically, you put that in there, it's a popular thing to do. the problem is it becomes a broader fight of obamacare. we already had. we saw the republicans had trouble corralling in the senate. it becomes an issue, with that mandate issue, mccain, do you loads him? do you lose murkowski? you lost johnson, few pull a mandate out to keep those guys on board, do you lose the rand palms? the same dynamics that suffering health care over the summer could impair a list. >> i don't understand that argument. i understand about repealing obamacare. but the mandate is unpopular, i think if obamacare is so popular, everybody will stand on there. >> i think the reason was this, i think what sunk public opinion

on health care, it was the staff out there about millions of people, potentially tens of millions losing their health insurance. >> how is that going to help if you pull the mandates? >> if the costs go up, they have to get out by choice. that's certainly a part of it. you rule the mandate, we know they have to by choice t. question is, if the costs are projected to go up the system starts to collapse. they don't have the mandate, people are forced out. >> they say all these, cbo says all these people will drop out. >> that was the other argument we had this summer. >> even if they don't opt in and pay the fine are people that make less than $50,000. what i'm interested is, why does dynamics scoring work here and not on the tax plan? every government will say if you cut taxes there is no evidence

the economy will grow, they want static. somehow with a mandate, dynamic scoring, few don't have a mandate, everybody should drop out. nobody would drop out. >> policy ping pong with rick tyler and steve kornacki. that's hot. whew. still ahead. >> i expected to lose. >> president trump teased a major announcement, once he got back from his asia trip, my god, this will be some incredible foreign policy development. america will lead once again, no that is not what we got yesterday. what we got was more like a country club pitch. we'll take a look at what he said and what wasn't said next on morning joe.

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i'd also like to thank president trump and the united states government for the help that they've provided as well. i'm grateful to be back home and i'll never make a mistake like this again. >> that's liangelo ball, one of the three ucla basketball players involved in a shop lifting incident in china last

week, thanking the president for his involvement in the release. before the news conference, president trump released, quote -- and he tweeted just again -- zplmpblt . >> did he just eat a fortune cookie when he made that? >> it sounds like cookie fortune wisdom. joining us now, dean from the u.s. en-- secretary of state for east asia christopher hill, ambassador, good to have you here. what would go into the release of those basketball players, diplomatically? who would be involved? how would it happen? >> when you do have a major visit there, that is the time to do it. frankly, i think the president did it right.

he spoke to president xi privately about it. he saiding look, they're kids, et cetera, maybe talked about his own problems as a youth, who knows. anyway, i think xi jinping did the right thing. it's easy to release three kids from jail than to deal with north korea. in yeah. >> good job by the president helping to get them out of there. let's talk about north korea, the president is now back home from asia, north korea, of course, was a great focus while he was there, did the united states make any progress after his 12-day trip? >> it's hard to say whether we moved the needle or not. the chinese are sending the head of the political department of the communist chinese party to north korea. but they have been at real pains to say, hey, this is normal stuff. this is what we do after big meetings. so, i don't think we've really moved the needle at this point. the question is, the chinese are obviously worried about this they're not sure what to do. they're split. their national security state is not so happy about putting

pressure on north korea. we are by no means there. >> catty. >> what would be the one thing you would want to see from china that would make you think there has been a c change in beijing and they were going to try and resolve the north korean crisis? >> i'd keep an eye on the border and those sanctions will be aciduously followed. the chinese have talked about sanctions in the past. they haven't followed up. yet, there are signs they are doing that, if they're going to do it, we're going to see it in the next couple of months, we will see that trade atrophy and this could cause a huge problem for the north koreans. so i'd look for follow-up on the sanctions issue and i'd look for some rhetorical follow-up as well, so far, there has been very little of that. >> heidi. >> how does this end if china doesn't take those steps?

because we seem to have drawn a bit of a red line here in terms of north korea producing a nuclear weapon. they seem, quite frankly, close to be doing that. >> there is no question north koreans are close to. that at the same time the president made this his number one issue. he has said, i'm going to do this with xi jinping. i will make sure he knows i'm his best friend in the release of those three ucla basketball players. he puts xi jinping right in the middle of. that so i think he's really doubled down on this relationship that he thinks he has. he has also clearly puntd on trade issues and decided this is number one. i think it's the right approach with china to emphasize, we will do the together. we will not outsource it to you. we will work those together. i can tell you if we don't have china on board, we're not going anywhere on this north korea policy. so this is the north korea

policy. >> christopher hill, always good to have you on the show, thank you for your insight. >> thank you. coming up, richard cord ray is stepping down from the agency she built, senator elizabeth warren joins us this morning. morning joe is coming right back. accused of obstructing justice to theat the fbinuclear war, and of violating the constitution

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. >> the president gave his first speech from the white house. the theme of which was putting perk first. >> japanese companies have announced investments in the united states worth more than $8 billion, 17,000 jobs. thank you. they don't have water, that's okay. what? >> no, it's okay.

oh. japanese manufacturers -- >> who drinks water like that? the president of the united states. >> and senator rubio tweeted yesterday, similar, but needs work on his form. has to be done in one single motion and eyes should never leave the camera. but not bad for his first time. that pretty funny. joe wondered if trump never opened a bought ol of water before. that's a good point. although he sells trump water. he probably has never drank trump water. right? >> steve kornacki makes an important point as well, the fiji water boughtle is a square shape, it's more difficult. >> you got to have really big hands to be able to hold a bottle of water. >> oh god, no. >> that was tough. >> this is like -- >> i know.

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all right. final thoughts for the hour from steve and heidi. steve first. go. >> today may be the day that we hear from the jury in federal court in new jersey in the corruption trial of bob menendez. they said the judge the other

day said they're deadlock. he said go back and deliberate more. so we're waiting. >> policy ping-pong to heidi, go. >> this mandate repeal that republicans have put into this bill is exactly the gift that democrats wanted, mika, as soon as the obamacare repeal debate went down democrats started running an ad that said, quote, never stop. because they wanted to make this argument that republicans will keep coming back at obamacare. and they think that health care is the top winning issue for them going into the midterm. so this is a christmas gift, but it is a gift to the democrats. >> yeah. again, we'll see what they do with it. speaking of democrats, coming up, senator elizabeth warren joins us for an exclusive live interview. plus, the top democrat on the house intelligence committee adam schiff. and republican congressman tom cole to give their take on the tax reform bill which suddenly is in jeopardy now that a key republican has announced his opposition to the bill. "morning joe" is coming right back. ♪

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everywhere we went our foreign hosts greeted the american delegation, myself included, with incredible warmth, hospitality and most importantly respect. and this great respect showed very well our country is further evidence that america's renewed confidence and standing in the world has never been stronger than it is right now. this is exactly what the world saw. a strong, proud and confident america. i explain to all of the world leaders and across asia how well the united states is doing. >> so that was his big announcement that we were all waiting for. did y'all hear it? welcome back to "morning joe." it is thursday november 16th. that was it. joe's on assignment this

morning. we're trying to behave here. with us we have republican campaign strategist and msnbc political contributor rick tyler. "new york times" reporter jeremy peters, columnist for "the wall street journal" and political contributor for nbc news and msnbc peggy noonan is with us. >> good morning. >> washington anchor for bbc world news america catty cay and political reporter for "the washington post" and moderator of "washington week" on pbs, robert costa. good to have you all onboard this morning. that big announcement was kind of a nothing burger, i guess. so let's move on. we'll begin this hour with the latest on the republican senate candidate roy moore. the only group with the power to force him out of the race, the alabama republican party, met last night but did not take up the issue. in fact, it never left the conversation phase. then sean hannity who are had given more than 24 hours to explain himself before pulling his support, backed down after moore wrote the fox news host an

open letter. meanwhile, allegations against roy moore continue to mount. al.com is out with stories from two more women, tina johnson says she was 28 years old in 1991 when moore groped her in his law office. kelly harrison thorp says she was 17 years old when she turned down an overture from moore in 1982. >> the "new york times" and "the washington post" also out with front page stories from women who accused moore of going after teenage girls at the gadsden mall, gena richardson on the right side in this picture says it was just before or after her 18th birthday when she had her first encounter with roy moore. she was a senior in high school working at sears in 1977. after declining moore's request for her phone number, he then called her school. she says she was pulled from math class to the principal's office where moore asked her out again over the phone in her school saying, quote, i said

hello, richardson recalls and the male on the other line said, gena, this is roy moore, i was like, what? he said what are you doing, i said i'm in trig class. >> as trig no, ma'onometry. >> after going to a movie, she tells "the washington post," they were sitting in his car chatting and, quote, i just explained to him that my dad's a minister and, you know, i can't sneak around because that's wrong. she thanked him and started to, quote, get out, and he pulled me in and he kissed me, it was a man kiss, like really deep tongue. like very forceful tongue. it was a surprise. i'd never been kissed like that. she told him, quote, i've got to go because my curfew is now. >> okay. nbc news has not independently verified this allegations. and moore has denied past allegations of sexual misconduct. the moore campaign has called the claims politically motivated and is also fiegghting back at

allegations from the only woman to accuse him of sexual assault, focusing on the part of the story involving his alleged signature in the woman's 1977 high school yearbook. >> the allegations that have come out, i hope you understand, it takes time to work through this. we don't have a $20 million budget as a campaign. it takes time. and we want to be correct. we demand that you immediately release the yearbook to a neutral custodian so that our expert -- you can send your expert as well if you'd like to so that our expert can look at it. not a copy on the internet. the actual document so that we can see the lettering, we can see the ink on the page, we can see the indentations and we can see how old is that ink. is it 40 years old? or is it a week old? release the yearbook so that we can determine is it genuine or is it a fraud. >> okay. couple of things, peggy, i want to talk to you about ivanka

trump's late lame statement about roy moore. but first, here's another attorney being interviewed by stephanie ruhl and aly velshi. peggy, i'm going to need you to help me understand what happened here. >> roy moore's attorney. >> take a look. >> why would he need permission from any of these girls' mothers -- >> if they're not under age? >> if they're not under age? >> that's a good question. culturally speaking obviously there's differences looked up, aly's background there, wow, that's awesome that you have got such a diverse background. that's really cool to read through that. but point is this -- >> what is aly's background have to do with dating a 14-year-old? >> i'm not finished with the context of it. >> well, please answer. what does aly velshi's background have to do with dating 14-year-old children, underage girls. >> in other countries there's arrangements through parents -- >> aly's from canada. >> i understand that. >> aly's from canada.

>> now aly's also spent time in other countries. >> so have i. >> it's not a bad thing. >> i don't know where you're going with this. >> peggy, what happened? and does the republican party need this at this point? >> oh, my goodness, no. i think what we witnessed is one of the great lines of tv coverage of the year 2017. >> yeah. >> aly's from canada. >> i love it. >> that was such a quiet factual rebuke. when you look at the roy moore thing you've got two things. you've got numbers. you've got numbers that keep increasing of those who bring charges. and you've got a pattern. you've got a pattern towards the young. it is all -- it's hard for me to

understand those who don't see the truth in the charges. and it's been hard from day one. when you read that seriously soberly meticulously reported "the washington post" piece about the original four women, it seems to me i was thinking this morning on the way here, resolution of this whole thing, i think, is in the hands of the women of alabama. republicans, conservatives, they're looking at this thing, they're judging their own experience and their own way of understanding life and the things they've been through. the men, republicans and conservatives in alabama have been busy. they're kind of lost. they're saying things like, jesus and st. joseph and the virgin mary had an age discrepancy and therefore there's a comparison between roy moore and the 14-year-old girl. they're lost. they're going crazy.

they're caught in politics and what they're caught in the wm republican and conservative women, i think, of alabama, are going to have to stand up and say, you know what, no more. stop this. we can do better than this. >> if you don't believe the women now numbering more than ten, just read the level of detail in "the washington post" story, they talk about the gadsden mall and sears department store having to hide young women who worked at sears in the stock room when roy moore showed up because they knew what he was there to do. and the stories are corroborated in realtime by friends, by gena richardson and others, by their mother who is they told in realtime and just didn't make public because roy moore was powerful and they were shamed and all the things we know are true in stories like this. >> yeah. >> so for you to disbelieve all of this takes a level of, boy, i don't know, protecting the tribe. >> yeah. >> protecting roy moore at a cost of these young girls being preyed upon by an older man. >> nobody is denying it.

including the lawyer. they're denying the sexual assault of a 14-year-old. but the lawyer's chief defense is not -- >> right. >> he's a yearbook truther now. >> it's all culture. and this is acceptable in the south. and roy wasn't doing anything different anybody else was doing in the 1970s and therefore it's okay. >> jeremy. >> well, to peggy's point, i think you could have videotape of roy moore stalking the mall and it still wouldn't matter to a certain subset of these voters. because roy moore has made himself the messiah. he will be a martyr to die -- >> i'm worried about that. >> and the persecution, it's such a powerful emotion for certain voters. donald trump tapped after that. they're coming after me. they've rigged the system. they're going to steal this election from you. that's exactly what roy moore is telling these voetders and there are a lot who believe it. >> i haven't heard this in the past week of coverage, there are serious political issues at play here. moore's supporters are

conservative. many of them are serious conservatives. they wish for conservative policy. i get that. >> yeah. >> however, there are better conservatives in alabama to take his place. it's not as if he's the only one conservatives have. it's not as if you have to lose everything on this man placing your money on this guy. >> no. and the joke about the party, bob costa, was which candidate win, was it the rape candidate? that was a couple years ago, but my god, we're lowering the bar here. i mean, the party's already blown up by president trump. and now they can't even find someone to run for office who doesn't seem to have all the tenants of a sexual predator, so where's the opposition research on the republican party here, where's the research on their own candidates, what is going on? >> there's a lot of bewilderment about that, mika. and peggy's point how there are

other alabama republicans, that's true. but for the republican party in alabama this election is coming up on december 12th. and right behind me on capitol hill they're trying to come up with any idea, any possibility of getting judge moore off the ballot. >> yeah. >> but they don't have any options. what they're looking at right now is a candidate who's not going to remove himself from the ballot. they're trying to convince governor ivy down there, republican, maybe if senator strange resigns they could call another special election but not sure of the legality of that. they're not sure if they can get any kind of candidate to write-in and compete with him. so they're looking at a political, chaotic moment here where on december 12th judge moore even though he's slipping in the polls could still well win this race. >> and although it's counterintuitive, mika, judge moore used this now as a no lose proposition. if he wins he's a united states senator. >> right. >> if he loses, he didn't bow to the pressure from the d.c. establishment and from what he would call the liberal media for him to get out. he goes out of this race a martyr. so he's going to stay in.

he's not going anywhere. it's a question of whether he can survive and be elected. >> given all the questions for the republican party these days, it will be really interesting to talk to elizabeth warren in just about 45 minutes about exactly the opportunity for democrats here and whether or not they can jump on it in the right way. yesterday the president ignored questions about roy moore, but his daughter did address it. although she stopped well short of calling on the candidate to step aside. nearly a week after the story broke and after many attempts by reporters to get a comment from ivanka trump who came to washington to be an advocate for women according to her own words tells the associated press, quote, there's a special place in hell for people who prey on children. i have yet to see a valid explanation. and i have no reason to doubt the victims' accounts. the quote is nearly identical to that white house staffer mark

short told chuck todd on sunday's "meet the press." so she didn't say anything beyond that. and nothing about roy moore perhaps stepping down. what's going on, peggy noonan? i was hopeful that perhaps her presence in the white house would in some way, shape or form give a voice to women in situations like this. >> well, actually, i thought her statement to the ap on roy moore was strong and strongly suggested her opposition to support for him. i wondered first if she was speaking in frustration. hey, white house, hey, dad, don't you get this? >> right. >> i also wondered if she was trying to lead her father in a certain direction. but i experienced it as stronger. look, those who prey on children, there's a place in hell for them. that's pretty strong words, i thought. >> right. >> maybe the issue of where she

stands vis-a-vis of women in the white house in general is a different question. >> and one that you feel she has been successful at? >> you know, i have felt she's spent the first nine months wanting to be a voice for women. i think as she has put it, going to a lot of international very fancy events with people like angela merkel and speaking about international issues with regard to women, when i think it would be wiser for her and maybe more effective to be in america and saying, hi, american women, i understand you got some issues. can we work together? let's talk about this. i have not found her to be not talking about women. but she's miss global extract fashion level when she ought to be, pardon me, down on the ground in america, she ought to be in camden, new jersey. she ought to be where the people who voted for her father are.

>> in all fairness she has been traveling to places like maine and doing different forums. >> she does. >> but on kind of a higher level. i remember catty kay meeting with her and telling her you need to roll up your sleeves and get out there and meet women, meet women trying to get loans from banks, meet female entrepreneurs struggling to get their businesses off the ground. and one of her ideas was to develop something a little bit like the 10,000 small business program that deena powell so successfully ran. and all those ideas were great, but it just hasn't turned out that way. it's almost like she's gotten bogged down by other things. >> by glamour. >> as peggy says. >> and she accomplishes glamour everywhere she goes. her record is certainly mixed. if she manages to get this child tax credit extended by $1,000 or $2,000 tharks will actually help middle class families, it will help working moms and kids as well. but there have been a raft of

things that have happened in the past nine months almost gone under the radar in this white house that have seriously rolled back womens rights, whether it's access to health care, whether it's access to contraception, access to advice even about abortions, not necessarily abortions themselves around the world. and they've been seen as really -- and issues of equal pay and how we measure equal pay. and ivanka hasn't managed to stop this white house from doing those things. she may have wanted to but her power is clearly limited. and i agree with you, i think she needs to stop meeting necessarily fancy dinner parties in washington, which is what she's been doing a lot of, and actually go around the country and take on one signature issue and try and push ahead with that. i mean, look, we have so much sexual harassment stories at the moment, the roy moore case is a classic case where she could have come out, i think, earlier and more forcefully and more clearly. if she believes these women, which is what she's saying, he has to go. then i think that would have been the statement we needed to hear from her.

i have no doubt to think these victims are lying, therefore he has to go. >> yeah. >> it seemed to me that the president -- that ivanka was acting as a proxy for the president. >> and she is. she was just in new jersey by the way, for the record, doing the tax credit -- >> so she got permission from the white house. the white house said, look, we need you to say something. the other thing that's interesting is sean hannity. >> uh-huh. >> because sean hannity is very close to the president. and sean hannity was trying to distance himself 24 hours ago from roy moore, but he brought his audience to a place where they're not going to let him go back. and sean hannity's not going to get ahead of his audience. >> bob costa, i can't believe we're reporting on an ultimatum given by sean hannity, but it actually plays in this case. >> the moral compass of the republican party. >> the moral compass of the republican party, what is going on? bob costa. >> sean hannity is a confidant of president trump. >> yeah. >> my sources say he talks to the president perhaps daily, at least multiple times a week.

president often watches his show then confides with the host about the state of american politics and what we saw from hannity yesterday is a bit of a tea leaf in the sense hannity said on twitter and on his program the people of alabama should decide. and i think it reveals in trump's inner circle, the president's inner circle there's a reluctance to weigh-in with a strong hand and say roy moore get out of the race or we're going to have a write-in candidate and back x candidate to write-in. this white house is so in the state of belief that this base is everything for them regardless of all the mess that happened on capitol hill, they need those 30% to 40% of republican vote who are are with them regardless of what happens. and those voters start in alabama. that was the state where his campaign caught fire in 2015. that's why the president, i'm told, is not really weighing in with a -- in a big way. >> bob, what's the level of fear in that building behind you on capitol hill that judge roy moore will be elected to the united states senate? we showed that one poll that

perhaps is an outlier as ste kornacki pointed out, what's the fear that roy moore will survive this, be elected and that the senator sitting there as republicans on capitol hill painted with the brush as the party of roy moore? >> the fear is mounting day by day, willie. and it's because if judge moore wins this race, you already have the majority leader of the united states senate saying he is totally against roy moore, republican, and there's talk even of not seating roy moore if he wins that seat even though it would be tough legally perhaps to do that. what they're facing now is a 2018 midterm election where someone with all these accusations around him is going to be a burden on the entire party and on president trump's agenda as they try to move it through. yet they don't really have options, willie, about what to do next. >> all right. robert costa, thank you very much. and still ahead on "morning joe," we'll speak exclusively with senator elizabeth warren.

plus, congressman tom cole on his party's plan for tax reform. and later, president trump knows a lot about water. >> mitt got up and he really shouldn't have done it, it wasn't becoming, honestly, and he talked about the water company. well, there's the water company. i mean, we sell water. and we have water and it's a very successful -- you know, it's a private little water company and they supply the water for all my places. >> so with that level of expertise, how does this happen? well, i mean, if you can't get your hand around the bottle of water and you need two, maybe -- i don't know. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. diabetes can be a daily struggle,

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sonchts far there's been no progress. i would say most of the new york delegation is going to vote no. we believe we'll have a severe impact on new york, especially the down state area that we respect where the property taxes

and state income tax level is high. and so much of that would be lost. >> tax reform and reduction is something that i'm very much in favor of and has a great deal of appeal for most americans. i believe that if we start getting into health care issues with the individual mandate that we send a very mixed message. >> i wouldn't vote for this senate version. bottom line. there's a real problem here. i'm assuming we'll be able to get to it, yes. i think this is a very solvable problem, but we need a dedication to solve it. >> the thing republicans want most on capitol hill, tax reform is already facing some pushback from members of their own party. joining us now as member of the house appropriations and budget committees republican congressman tom cole of oklahoma. congressman, always good to see you, sir. i trust you feel you've got the votes to get this through at least the house today. i want to ask you about that

inclusion of the repeal of the individual mandate from obamacare. is that something you could support as a tax -- to a tax reform bill? >> it certainly is something i could support, but number of our members would have problems with it on the house. look, we're moving through the normal legislative process. this is actually a senate proposal as you know. >> right. >> so we'll see what they actually come up with and whether they put it in the bill and we'll go to conference and work it out. but we're not going to lose a lot of votes over that particular issue in my view. again, when the senate comes to its conclusion, we'll sit down and negotiate with them and get a final bill across both chambers and on to the president's desk. >> one of the hangups as you know well for some members like peter king that we heard there is the elimination of the state and local tax deduction. where are you on that, congressman? >> well, look, i think we've made a reasonable compromise in the house bill. look, i respect peter king as much as any member we have, and i respect all members who are fighting for their constituents. but at the end of the day, you know, personally, if you make $250,000 in oklahoma city or

$250,000 in new york city you ought to be paying the same amount of federal taxes. now, again, the tax code is skewed to the advantage of people in high tax states. that's fair enough. people need to look after their constituents. i think we've tried to accommodate that in the house bill. i think we'll be able to sustain that accommodation in a final bill. >> jeremy peters. >> congressman, good morning. the repeal of the individual mandate has become something of a kink in the hose here. i wonder, a, what is your position on whether or not the house should approve that provision of the senate's plan? and, b, if you don't, do you understand why some of your constituents would believe you to be -- not you personally, but the republican party to be insincere in its dedication to repealing and replacing obamacare? >> well, first of all, as you say right now it's not in the house bill. i wouldn't favor putting it in at the last minute here. as a matter of fact, that's clearly not going to happen. we had opportunities to do it. chose not to do it.

so we'll see if it makes it into the senate plan. and then we'll sit down and negotiate and see what makes sense. you've got to get the bill across the floor and both chambers to get it to the president. i think this is a negotiable item. personally i don't have any problem including it. i mean, making people buy a product that they don't want to buy and then fining them if they don't, and most of those fines mostly fall on people that make less than $50,000 a year, i find that pretty repugnant use of government power. but, again, other people have a different view, fair enough. this is a tax bill. and i think these kind of things are pretty easily negotiated out in the end. >> peggy noonan. >> congressman, peggy noonan here. i am wondering what your response was and your response is to senator ron johnson's critique last night in which he said, look, on the corporate side this bill seems to give much better treatment to big corporations than to smaller

businesses. that's not acceptable. that's not what republicans ought to be standing for. how do you respond? >> well, first of all, i have a lot of respect for ron johnson. i think he raises a very important point. now, the bill overall lowers taxes for businesses large and small, by and large. but big corporations come out a little bit better f. they can find a better solution in the senate, i'm open to that. i've certainly applaud senator johnson for staking out his position but at the end of the day, look, with all due respect to my friends in the senate, they sort of fumbled on the 1 yard line on health care. i don't think they'll do it again. i don't think they can afford to do it again. so my guess is they'll come to some sort of compromise over there. then our team and the house, their team in the senate will sit down and compromise again. we'll come out, i think, with a better product at the end. there's certainly things in the senate bill actually i like better than in the house bill. so we'll find a middle ground and get it to the president's desk and i think he'll have an opportunity to sign the biggest tax reform since the era when

you were working with ronald reagan. this is a big deal for us. >> rick tyler. >> congressman, rick tyler, good morning. >> good morning, rick. >> congressman, obviously you're a very skilled communicator and large scale tax reform is going to take public support. what do you think accounts for the lack of public support for this tax bill that we're trying to get through congress? it wouldn't be easier if the american people were much more behind it and how will you change that? >> well, i think first of all we'll change it because i think the impact of the bill, it's what we're banking on, will be obvious and will be profound and hopefully will set in fairly quickly. so, you know, that's what we think will happen. in terms of why there's not support now, look, i think we live in a highly polarized age. i think democrats are pretty skillful communicators. i think anything associated with republican or trump right now really pretty much reflects where that brand is. i don't think it's a serious look at what the tax bill actually does for individual americans or business. so, again, fair enough.

people are allowed to hold their opinions and people they trust are telling them it's a bad bill, but at the end of the day i think the bill will prevail in the house. and the senate. and i think the president will sign into law and go from there. i think it will do good things for the american people. >> peggy. >> yeah, congressman, i'm worried -- i'm wondering if there's a sort of when you look at the numbers for support on the tax bill and you see they're not so great among americans, i just wonder if americans at this point trust congress enough to create -- >> i don't know that i trust congress enough. >> all right. well, but trust enough to create a big multipart many moving pieces comprehensive bill. americans at this point, i think, think you know what that's where they hide the mischief. that's where they hide the donor serving. that's where they hide the nonsense that doesn't make anything any better. first of all, do you agree with this -- with my sense of how people might feel about congress

and these big bills? but second of all, why didn't you guys go simpler? don't do a big comprehensive huge thing. pass one little discreet simple tax bill. pass it. then come forward with another. >> well, first of all, i think these -- if you really want to reform the code, doing it incrementally is extremely difficult to do and very time consuming. i think you've got to move bold and hope that you're right. i think we are. and that hope over time the american people will trust it. in terms of, you know, the i think deeper question you're asking, do people trust the political system in general not just congress, no, they don't. they didn't when president obama was here. it's not like obamacare was done incrementally. it was one big bill that they thought would work. >> that's true. >> it didn't work for them politically. and we're actually in the sense making the same sort of gamble now. it's a big bill. it's a profound change. it's a generational change. we think it's the right thing for the country. you know, we'll see.

and i don't have any problem with anybody on either side of the debate. it's actually been a pretty good debate in congress on both sides. people have different points of view, but at the end of the day i think we'll win the debate here. i think ultimately the bill will make a difference for the american people. if it does, then we'll be successful in the long term politically. >> so, congressman tom cole, thank you very much. and a follow-up to our conversation i'm hearing from a couple of my sources in the white house, one guy pointing out that ivanka got her way on the expanded child care tax credit and that she has been working on it for months. i don't know. i mean, i still kind of am concerned about the entire way that she presents herself as it pertains to women as a whole and what we wanted and what she promised. but for the record there's a couple of articles out there that are citing her work on this piece of legislation. coming up, we'll talk to one of congressman cole's colleagues on the opposite side of the aisle, congressman adam schiff, ranking

democrat on the house intelligence committee and working to reject efforts to dismiss that infamous dossier on trump and russia. "morning joe" will be right back.

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last night i returned from a historic 12-day trip to asia. we began our trip in hawaii frchlt hawaii we traveled to japan, a crucial u.s. ally and partner in the region. from japan we traveled to another key american ally in asia, the republic of korea. from south korea, melania and i traveled to china whereas in japan and south korea we were greatly honored with the splendor of our reception. they don't have water, that's okay. from china i flew to city in vietnam to attend a leaders meeting for apec. finally i visited the philippines where i visited with numerous world leaders. everywhere we went i reaffirm our vision for cooperation between proud, independent and sovereign countries. >> all right.

that was president trump's big announcement. i feel like we should probably put the breaking news banner up, shouldn't we? what happened there? absolutely nothing. >> it's amazing because this is the symbolism over substance argument we heard all in the obama administration. >> yeah. >> this whole speech was about symbolism over substance. if you throw out the red carpet and throw me a big parade and i'll call it a great success, but he didn't come back really with any measurable achievements. >> and i'm getting pushback from the white house that says before the break about ivanka trump's efforts to expand the child care tax credit and i'm pointing it out, but i'm not feeling it. i mean, like you've said in the breaks, i'll have you say it on the air, peggy, it's like she was fighting really hard for, who wouldn't want it? >> exactly. >> it's a branding thing. >> it was a very popular issue especially among republicans who want to stand very firmly for we want to help you as you bring up families in a stressful,

economically stressful environment. i don't think that was a heavy lift. look, i don't want to pick on her -- >> oh, i'm not -- >> i think she does her best. and i think she's glamorous and she puts forward a sense of american glamour. that having been said, maybe less glam, more mom. less international and far away and abstract and beautifully hip and targeted micro loans in india and more in america where people have problems and she could reinforce her father's message by being there focusing there and making that her big thing. >> i don't think you're picking on her. i think we actually have avoided the subject because we're uncomfortable talking about a woman in this way. and you know what, we should treat women equally. they should get equal pay. they should get treated equally at work. and when criticism is due, they should be criticized equally. so all we're doing is asking questions about somebody who works in the white house. for her dad.

jeremy. >> and speaking of equal treatment, so should allegations of sexual misconduct be treated equally? are we not supposed to believe the allegations against her father but we are supposed to believe the allegations against roy moore given her statement on that yesterday? >> i don't know. it's very confusing. katty kay. >> yeah, it is very confusing. you know, i think the whole roy moore story has revealed something that is even more alarming perhaps than these allegations. it's also revealed just how tribal we've become because some of the responses from some of the republicans down there i saw last night one republican state senator has said actually it's the women who've accused roy moore who should be prosecuted. i'm trying to remember how the argument went because it was just so absurd. they should be prosecuted because if they're telling the truth, they have left a sexual predator out there on the loose for the last 40 years. so it's they are the ones who should be somehow tried and punished, not roy moore.

i mean, the degree to which they are circling the wagons. we will stick with our own opinions based on nothing more than the fact that this guy's part of our tribe and that this is a -- has now become a tribal issue is just staggering. i think it's the most extreme case we've had during the trump administration of people hunkering down into their corners and refusing to give any quarter to any other side because god forbid you should actually end up electing a democrat over somebody who as one of them has said i would have elected him even found to be a pedophile, i'd elect him over a democrat. >> it is why we need a strong, passionate, authentic voice of a woman from high up inside the white house. we don't have time for this. we really don't. at this moment in time with everything that's coming out, we need strong women at every level of power. and we're just not seeing it. and ha is why we have some of the problems we have starting with the president of the united states himself. up next, the ranking member of

the house select committee on intelligence congressman adam schiff is our guest. and at the top of the hour we'll talk live exclusively with senator elizabeth warren.

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i paused it. bam, family time. so how is everyone? find your awesome with xfinity xfi and change the way you wifi. joining us now from washington, the ranking member of the house select committee on intelligence democratic congressman adam schiff of california. great to have you on the show this morning. >> thanks. great to be with you. >> katty kay has the first question. katty. >> yes, mr. schiff, i don't know if you saw it this week the british prime minister took the occasion to really slam president putin on the issue of interference in western elections and it was a marked contrast to the kinds of things that president trump said when he was in asia where he basically gave the benefit of the doubt to vladimir putin. and i was wondering whether you felt that the president's comments to moscow in any way hamper or undermine your work on the investigation? >> well, they certainly do.

and more importantly they undermine our ability to protect ourselves against the next russian interference because probably the most important thing we can do is not necessarily hardening our computer systems at the democratic party, the republican party, but rather forming a national consensus that we will reject foreign intervention. if the president of the united states can't even acknowledge what his intelligence agencies are telling him or continues to cast doubt on it or claim this is all a hoax, it doesn't help the country prepare for when the russians might very well do this again. and the russians have not let up. we see the social media campaign continuing. we see their interference in other countries around the world continuing. so, yes, i think it certainly hurts our investigation in the sense it gives more momentum to the critics, the steve bannons of the world to go after and try to shut us down. but more importantly it prevents us from taking the steps we need to protect ourselves going forward. >> congressman, it's willie

geist. as katty alluded to, the president basically abroad slammed the former heads of fbi, cia and heads of intelligence, vladimir putin told me he didn't do it, how many times can you ask a guy the same question? can you just recap because you are so on the inside of this investigation of such access to this information, what exactly the conclusion of the intelligence community was about whether or not russia meddled in this election? >> well, the consensus of the intelligence agencies was that this was a campaign orchestrated from the very top, that is it came from vladimir putin, it was an effort to sow discord during our election and also to help trump and to more significantly hurt hillary clinton. and outlined the reasons for that and some of the evidence of that. of course since that report came out in january, those conclusions have been reinforced by a lot of new information in evidence. and probably the biggest category in the public domain is the social media campaign that the russians did in addition to

the hacking and dumping operation. because we see vividly now in that social media campaign that they were trying to accomplish those three objectives that the intelligence community laid out. that is the ads were designed to sow discord in the united states and deepen our divisions. but the ads were also designed to attack hillary clinton and in cases to boost donald trump. so we've had a lot of confirmation of the findings of the intelligence community. and to call these, you know, career public servants a bunch of hacks while you're effectively saying, you know, it's insulting for me to even question my russian adversary is a terrible disservice to the country. >> and the president said that the entire story of russia's influence on the campaign is fake news made up by democrats who wanted to explain away election that they should have won but lost to donald trump. would there be any incentive for the intelligence agencies to come up with the consensus you just laid out pretty clearly to act in a partisan matter? in other words, to have something out for donald trump.

>> no. of course not. and, you know, for those of us that have worked, you know, with these intelligence and law enforcement heads, you know, the idea for example that jim clapper, this career public servant going all the way back to vietnam who doesn't have a partisan bone in his body would somehow decide to have it in for donald trump is just absurd on its face. and i think when the president calls them hacks among the professionals in the intelligence community it just further lowers him in their estimation. of course it lowers him in the estimation of people around the world who work with our intelligence agencies and have worked with these men and know the caliber of their work. so more than anything else he hurts himself, but he also hurts the country. >> all right. congressman adam schiff, thank you so much for being on the show this morning. >> thanks, congressman. a new poll from quinnipiac university shows record high

support for stricter gun laws. it was conducted after the recent mass shootings in las vegas and texas. and before the most recent mass shooting in california this week. look at this. 95% of voters in the u.s. now say they support mandatory background checks for all gun purchases. but let's break it down by party. 95% of republicans, 98% of democrats, 96% of independents of that overall 95% support background checks for all gun buyers. additionally, 65% are in favor of a full nationwide ban on the sale of assault weapons. another all-time high for this poll. and 91% believe anyone convicted of a violent crime should be barred from buying a gun. those numbers come as a senate bipartisan backed bill on gun control is expected to be announced today.

the plan crafted by republican senator john cornin and democrat murphy, according to description of the bill obtained by nbc news the plan would incentivize states to strengthen the criminal and mental health history needed to bar unfit purr chasers from buying a gun. in exchange the plan would create plans that with hold political bonuses for federal agencies that do not meet standards. >> so rick, you see some bipartisan ship. of course the southerland springs horror took place in his stale. the man that carried out that shooting, you had a convention and didn't alert the fbi of

that. is this -- you know, we don't want to criticize progress in some ways but is this almost symbolic change? >> perhaps. look, we have a national speed limit through the government sort of says you have to keep -- and the states enforce them. we don't have a federal government enforcing speed limits. you're saying let the states handle this. at the same time what are the laws that would have prevented -- in other words there wasn't law in las vegas. he shouldn't have had it but he was able to purchase them. in california he had two other firearms that didn't belong to him. he also illegally possessed those guns. i want to know what the solution is. in other words you the second amendment. there is a way to amend the second amendment. it is long and hard but we can't

pretend there isn't a second amendment. i want to know what law within the second amendment are we going to pass that is going stop these thing sns. >> better reporting from all levels of government is extremely important and very good. you know, we are all getting so used to these shootings that the california shooting this week i don't think ever rose to number one story of the moment. four people killed, i think five in the end. but the one thing that all of them have in common is that you look at the past year's shootings. the shooters are all crazy. they are all -- i mean one of them was -- had beaten a child, tortured animals. they were just nuts. something is wrong that those around them and those who have privy to them in a bureaucratic way are not getting the word out

this person shouldn't have a gun. i don't know exactly how that happens but these people so obviously never should have been allowed to have a firearm. look at how they get them. >> i'm sorry but a well run database -- >> that's like step one. >> we do have handgun background checks. we don't have long rifle background checks. >> given the political obstacles it's hard to imagine the very least getting done. >> my god. we'll continue to conversation. alabama republicans had a chance to dump roy moore. they had that chance last night, but they didn't even vote on it instead deciding to standby him as alligations continue to mount. we'll have the latest. plus, senator elizabeth warren far live exclusive

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welcome back to morning joe. we have republican political strategist rick tyler. new york times reporter jeremy peters. columnist for nbc news and msnbc peggy nunan. we will be joined by senator elizabeth warren.

there is a lot to talk about with her. house republicans are pushing tax reform. will they succeed where health care failed? plus the roy moore scandal shakes up the balance of power on capitol hill. we'll ask how democrats are dealing with it on the heels of scathing analysis of last year's elections and she'll weigh in on the treasury secretary o's phot on. the millionaire's wonder of the $1 bill and his wife there. this is just -- did they post this? i need the background. >> it was an open press event. they showed off for the cameras. >> there was a wonderful twitter thing. >> it went crazy on twitter. >> it put little sentences under the picture. one was darling, this would make a great place mat.

>> it would need to be thousand dollars bills though. >> nothing appalls me. >> people -- >> never seen $1 bills before. >> it was like they want to show the world how powerful they are by holding the money in the mint. >> when you obscurity from the top it can leave you dizzy and you can become goofy and make goofy mistakes. at a certain point the world points it out to you and you stop it. this lady made a mistake when she lets everybody knows she dresses very well. she just made another mistake. maybe she won't make another one. >> you're very nice. thank you! his signatures are on that dollar. >> it kind of makes it worse. >> it's not about you. >> sign the dollar, walk away,

okay? the head of consumer protection bureau has announced he is stepping down at the end of the month. all big stories this morning. we have the perfect guest to discuss them with, elizabeth warren joining us from massachusetts. great to see you. good morning. >> good morning. >> where to begin? >> i know. >> i want to ask you about the stepping down of richard because you actually build that bureau. >> yeah. >> and this was so in line with everything you done with your life, everything you studied in school, your interest in bankruptcy and the financial system and how middle class americans were getting screwed over, excuse melany language, t and time again. this was your baby and president obama zd you to build something to protect the american home buyer. what is your step?

do you think the position will be refilled? how big of a set back is this? >> so it was exactly seven years ago this week that i picked up the phone and called richard. i was in his empty office with this charge trying to get this new agency up and on its feet. i called and said would you come to cwashington and help make ths happen? i think the original idea is it would be temporary. god bless him. he came. he set up the whole enforcement division and then the president asked him to be the one to set up the agency. in that seven years that little consumer agency that just was built out of nothing has forced the biggest banks in this country to return more than $12 billion directly to families they cheated and handled more than a million complaints.

you should go to their complaint hot line. it's amazing. they enforced against banks that have broken the law. remember wells fargo? they were in there forcing wells fargo to stop opening fake accounts. i am deeply grateful. the word is they are not going to refit. looking at for example i don't know the white house council on women and girls and other things that have been set up to protect people and level the playing field. are we going to have that in this bureau anymore? >> i see this as a test for president trump. he ran saying over and over and over i'm here for the little guy, the forgotten man.

i'm the one person that wlo can stand up to wall street. that's the whole job of the consumer financial -- that's it. that is their job description top to bottom. they have benefitted in doing it. if president trump wants to put his money where his mouth is he'll put somebody that that job who has a proven track record of the ability to stand up to wall street and to get out there and fight on behalf of american families. so at this point the president can choose, is he going to be on the side of wall street or on the side of american families? >> let's talk about the opportunity for the democratic party moving forward. it seems like at this point the potential for someone to step up and lead is being handed to the democrats on a silver platter. i guess looking back first, do you think that the system within the dnc, that the construct of the democratic party was rigged?

can you explain your comments? what do you think went wrong? >> look, there were problems at the dnc, not in the state elections but at the dnc. >> yeah. >> and now tom perez has admitted this much and said he is committed to changing the rules so that the idea of a thumb ton scales never ever happens again. democrats i think are really united. democrats are moving forward. look what happened last tuesday. it was a great day for democrats. it was a great day for america all across this country. people won from every part of the democratic party and democrats showed up. they said we understand that these elections are important and we are going to be there and that's what it's going to take. >> so a lot of people argued there was a place for you in the democratic field. why didn't you run?

if you know, look, it's not about looking backwards. for me it's all about where we go right now. and the difference between the parties, the democratic party and the republican party, good grief, they could not be bigger. that's because what the republicans have made so clear during this past year. one party in america thinks it's just fine to knock 25 million people off of coverage. one party in america thinks healthcare is a basic human right. republicans are at it again. one party in america thinks it is just great to get a trillion and a half dollars in permanent tax breaks to giant co corporations. raise taxes on some middle class families long-term and raise taxes on all middle class families. you know, the health care

debate, this is about basic values. and republicans are proving again and again their basic values is make america work better and better for a thinner and thinner slice at the top. just kick dirt in everybody else's face. i think that's what democrats see. i think that's what people across the country see and i think there's why there is so much energy, take back this country. >> thank you. it's good to see you this morning. >> hi. >> one of the criticisms among democrats is there wasn't a clear message and prap that is failure is what put donald trump in the whouchlite house. i suspect we won't get you to declare your candidacy for 2020. but what is the message? what do you say to the voters that left the democratic voters

and left the party to vote for donald trump this full-titime a? how do you get them back? >> i want to say i am running for the senate in 2018 for reelection. it is not about presidential elections. i want to make this point. we have fights right in front of us. look what's about to happen today. the house is about to vote on a tax package that if that thing goes through it could break the back of working people collectively across this country. i mean you talk about you say we have a problem with too much wealth and power right at the top and the republicans do a tax flan says let's double down on that. let's put more wealth at the top and less strength and wealth for the rest of america. i think the going forward point is captured in that tax debate and in the health care debate. it's who does this government

work for? is this a government that just works for those who can hire armys of lobbyists and lawyers and have a bunch of experts that are always always always coming to the point of view that oh, yes, we should help the rich and powerful and some how it will work out great for the rest of america or are we a delay genuinely believes that government is there to make sure everybody has got a level playing field, everybody has an opportunity to get in the game and do their best. that's what i think this is ultimately about. right now this fight in washington, i think this is what it will be about. >> and that vote has not been backed up. it was the crux of the message that he slammed hedge fund messengers. i will bring back the manufacturing jobs.

those are the states where he won and flipped the election. sanders made the same argument. how do you convince those people you are the better party to do that? >> donald trump has. >> he has put one wall zreet big shot in after another in all of the kplik positions to do what? do make this economy work better and better for the richest thinnest slice in america. i look at this as talk the cheap. look what donald trump has actually done. >> we were showing steve and his

wife and his $1 bills at the mint. >> you can't make this stuff up. think about that. it is another example of people who are disconducted. who thinks you put on your long leather gloves and hold a sheet of money? who thinks you blast forward that people in america say that will raise my taxes and oppose it by 2-1. who thinks you go forward on a health care plan that's going to knock the latest version is they will knock 13 million people off health care rolling it straight into the tax plan plus raise health insurance rates for millions of people across this country. the disconnect is staggering. >> i think you're in sync on

that picture. good morning. >> good morning. >> you are so colorful. tell me how you're seeing the democratic party. do you see it as some observers do, as a party increasingly between a rising left progressive half and a perhaps more moderate old clintonian half. you're united right now by donald trump. th long-term it won't be enough. are you a party increasingly divi divided? do you ever worry that the

progressive or left side will ev overplay its hand? >> the way i see it is the real energy right now is right down at the grass roots. it's folks who many of them have never been engaged directly in politics before. they showed up. some did, some didn't. it's the people who are saying right now, wait a minute, this is urgent. i need to get involved. look what happened. donald trump gets inaugurated. the very next day the largest march in the history of the world and it wasn't organized by some fancy leaders at the top. it was grass roots up. women who put this together and then the thing grew. a lot of cynics sat around and said yeah, yeah, will they be around next week?

the answer is uh-huh. will that be around next week, you better believe it. that's exactly what has happened. that whole health care debate that took place from january through finally beating back the republicans that were trying to take away health care from 25 million americans, that debate changed america. and the way it changed america is it gave voice to millions of people across this country who e-mailed and who texted and who showed up for rallies, who came to washington, who went to their senators offices, who held up pictures of their nanas in nursing homes relying on medicaid. it made the grass roots forceful and stronger. you know, this is the thing

about getting active right now in politics. it's not like a baettery. after a while it will be drained out. it's like a muscle. the more people get out there and fight the stronger they get. that's where i see the strength right now of the democratic party. >> jeremy peters. >> who is the leader of the democratic party right now? >> the grass roots. >> you can get in front of it and call it a parade or stand aside and be left behind. >> i mean it, somebody behind you or somebody that will lead the party to electoral victory. >> say me. >> look, right now we are fighting our fights. we are out there on tax -- this tax fight where they have an unpopular tax bill together with an unpopular health care roll back and said you thought this

was bad for the middle class by raising your taxes. it's even worse because you're also going to see your insurance premiums go up. we are in this fight. it is an intense fight. we need to fight this fight right now. >> we'll soon be in the electoral politics but not today. >> but to jeremy's point it is an issue. would you argue that it is an issue that the democratic party needs inspirational leaders and i mean why wouldn't you say that you're one of them? >> look, there are a lot of them out there fighting, but my point is that we really need people in this fight on the taxes right now. look, let me say it this way. it is an important point. last november i was one of those people. it suddenly hit me.

ult m ultimately we were able to stop it not because we had anymore votes but enough people had med their voices heard that a very partisan issue became an american issue and three senators listened to people across this country and voted no. we have to have people in this debate on taxes right now. we can't just sit here and say i want to speculate about what's going to happen. we need people in this fight

right now. if the republicans pass this horrible tax bill with a healthcare repeal added in this is really devastating for working fewor working families. it is devastating for people who are out there paycheck to paycheck trying to make it and receive just a double punch from the republicans. we have got to be intensely in this fight right now. that's what i want to see. we can talk about other issues later. we have to have people in today's fight today. >> before you go i'm curious, roy moore, if he wins, what happens? >> i don't know.

let's let them make that you are decision first on what will happen. these charges -- these charges are really awful. >> they are. >> yeah. >> we'll be following this and the overall issue on every level. i want to have you back and hear more about that. senator elizabeth warren. still ahead basketball players released from detention

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that is one of the ucla basketball players while they were in china last week thanks the president for his involvement in their release from china. before yesterday's news conference president trump tweeted do you think the three ucla basketball players were l say thank you president trump? this morning after hearing the thanks he wrote to the basketball players i say you're welcome. go out and give a big thank you to president who made your release possible and have a

great life. be careful. there are many pitfalls on the long and winding road of life. leaving them with a little wisdom but employeeing them there are more thanks to be given out. any comments anyone? >> i think one thing is these basketball players represented their school and state and united states. they are reduced to common thieves. but where is the i'm sorry? he said he would pt n't do it a. they 18-year-old kids. >> i'm glad they are home and safe. >> thank god he stdid. the author featured prominently in the next guest's new project. we'll talk to explosive new book on russia, donald trump and the 2016 election. keep it right here on morning joe.

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awetting the decline of democracy. she out with a book, donald trump's attack on democracy. also with ugs foreign correspondent. what are the arlgts at this point? you could see the connection between trump's campaign and russia. what are the arguments? are there any? >> we have kind of crossed the line and i have been in touch with his friends. he thinks it's between 70 and 90% accurate. >> remind us what's in it.

>> the allegations of sex, money and that donald trump is compromised and has leverage over him. >> and your reporting shows there is ak cure si in there? >> yeah. you have to go backwards to the cold war, to russia and to donald trump's first trip to moscow in 1987. i was the moscow correspondent. it is clear to me the method didn't go away. they came back and donald trump was something he was very interested in. >> frankly we couldn't have pulled this off. we couldn't have done this.

i guess the question for a lot of people is maybe carter page but did it go to the top? so when you use the word collusion are you talking about that itself? >> i was too stupid to collude. in other words we might have done it but we are too incompetent. the problem is that kind of assertion is falling apart the more we know. we had a long period of the trump team saying nothing to see here and then we learn of these secret meetings including most recently the kind of sensational

stuff. >> as you look at this through a micro scope. if you look at this that this president has taken time and time again even on former presidents, lies, we could go through a list that would take us hours, what do you make about some of the appointments and lack there of but also hiring people that are totally inappropriate for the jobs? does that play into it as well? like bringing in people that are so unqualified and in a way -- i can't think of the right word, suck ups to president trump.

so i have a chapter called take your kids to workday. a year ago trump tweeted there was a fake news sorry that he was asking for security clearances. two senior white house advisers are advising him they are not qualified. not filling people, all of these are precursors to democratic norms. the attack by violating democratic norms. behind the iron curtain and post soviet states. we have him calling the enemy of the people which are words you hear. ethics violations. nepotism. you have divide and rule tactics

these are things you expect the see in places that are authoritarian, not in the united states. >> let's suppose you're on the right track and you're seeing things correctly. two things, what do you imagine as you think about this mr. putin would want in an immediate sort of way or long-term way from the american president. two, is there any parallel in american political history with this sort of story of oh, my gosh, an american president may be way too close to the leader of an adversarial nation that is also not fully democratic so say the least? >> i might take one. i think what putinwants is for

america to dump sanctions. it hasn't happened. it has ballooned. it is impossible. >> to dump economic sanctions that have been imposed in the past five years or so? >> yeah. since 2014. he sees it as a plot and ultimately to kick him out of power. >> is that all he wants? >> no. he actually wants chaos in this country. he wants the kind of devisions here to be facing worse, to be consumed the arguing and shouting and so on. >> he is getting it. >> he is probably pretty happy about where things are. russia can do what he thinks. >> it is not just at home. it is also cheerleading. imagine him saying the same type of harsh rhetoric who he basically boasted about his great relationship and endorsed his drug world.

he bragged about murdering people personally, throwing people out of helicopters. he said i want you to come to the white house. this is where rulers around the world are delighted. so the attack on democracy is not just on american democracy but also on global democracy. >> this is real and it's headed in the wrong direction. and do you all think we are going to be okay? >> there are areas i have in the book for 2020. i hi it's the most common, the most likely. one is the forerunner where we have trump 2.0 come in. we t final is the trump vaccine where he inoculates by showing weaknesses. >> okay. thank you. we posted the excerpt from your

group. thank you. his new book is donald trump's attack on democracy. >> thank you. >> fascinating. up next we go live to the white house. i have the president's trip today to capitol hill. will he make it easier or harder for the gop to pass tax reform? that's next on morning joe. [ keyboard clacking ] [ click ] [ keyboard clacking ]

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joining us now is the president pushing to -- what is he hoping to do out there? >> hey there. this is basically going to be like a pep rally. the president is going to make the case that this is a once in a generation chance to pass tax reform. you're right. paul ryan feels like he has the 217 vote to get this over the finish line. the question is does the president stay on mess aage or

does he get knocked off? remember, that's where the somehow down is really going to take place. they added that provision which calls for repealing the obamacare individual mandate and that is making the senate bill very complicated and controversial. you have republicans who are skeptical of this. susan collins says you shouldn't be combining tax reform with health care. john johnson is the first to say he is not going to vote for it. you john mccain indicating he is leading against it. that is where the potential pitfalls lie. it is a critical test for president trump but also for -- in terms of messages this could be a chance for the president to weigh in. he will get questions about that when he is on capitol hill

today. he has yet to weigh in and of course what happens in that race is going to be critical for the president's agenda. if that seat winds up going it could imparol the rest of the gop agenda. >> yeah. we have heard not yet from the president himself. ahead we'll talk more about what's at stake here, our political round table expands a bit when morning joe comes back. it can detect a threat using ai, and respond 60 times faster. it lets you know where your data lives, down to the very server. it keeps your insights from prying eyes, so they're used by no one else but you. it. is. the cloud. the ibm cloud. the cloud that's designed for your data. ai ready. secure to the core. the ibm cloud is the cloud for business. yours.

accused of obstructing justice to theat the fbinuclear war, and of violating the constitution by taking money from foreign governments and threatening to shut down news organizations that report the truth. if that isn't a case for impeaching and removing a dangerous president, then what has our government become? i'm tom steyer, and like you, i'm a citizen who knows it's up to us to do something. it's why i'm funding this effort to raise our voices together and demand that elected officials take a stand on impeachment. a republican congress once impeached a president for far less. yet today people in congress and his own administration know that this president is a clear and present danger who's mentally unstable and armed with nuclear weapons.

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all right. joining us now board member for american center action fund. christie is back on the show with us. good to have you both on board. you guys look at the 25 best inventions of 2017 which is really cool. i do want to talk to you about the legislation that is being discussed right now and health care. this part that's been added in, do you think it weighs down the possibility that the president will get anything done? >> so the argument goes two ways. on the one hand they failed -- the republicans failed to make any progress in rolls back obamacare. why would you have that battle again on an entirely separate set of legislations? it is very important for the

party tax reform. the argument four is that the one piece that's being inserted into tax reform to help pay for tax cuts is rolling back the individual mandate that requires everybody to have insurance. it is very unpopular. it is popular in the republican party. it makes it look like a genius plague. >> you have a piece on dignity, death and america's crisis in elder care. you have two pieces. >> yes, so the reason the health care debate is so important right now is 76 million boomers are heading into retirement and end of life care, that's one fifth of the american population swaps a system that was designed for a system that was designed

80 years ago. the system is not prepared to handle it. some entrepreneural developments on the health industry side are coming into play and helping but there are also a lot of abuses taking place. we have a deep investigative package looking at the way that nursing homes, hospice and long-term care are posing a threat to boomers as they age. >> we certainly don't talk about it enough as someone who recently lost a parent and we have a lot in common here, hospice and really good care for end of life can make or break a family. >> yes. >> in our case it made a family. it was incredible. i want to write about it at some point because it is so deeply personal. it is something we do not talk about enough at all and look at closely. >> yeah.

and that problem is only going grow as baby boomers enter late stages of their life and by the way, funding social security and medicare and all of those things play into that as well. >> and i think the reser shows virtually everyone and asked if they want to provide direction in terms of end of life care and do not resuscitate and how people choose to die have the same view of what they would hope for. my father passed at home surrounded by people he loved not in main. >> right. >> but the system does not default to that. the system defaults to keeping people in hospitals and spending a lot of effort keeping them alife. >> exactly. >> that neither the individuals or families actually want. >> yes. >> and we express condolences. you are a business leader and a

progressive. i'm interested in your take on this tax plan. it has been described as a give away. what's your and the middle class? >> i think we have different segments. i am, as you say, a business person. i am a strong believer that jobs are created by businesses both small and large. i don't know anyone who knows anything about the tax system who doesn't think it needs to be reformed. but reform is not the same as cut, cut, cut. so if we're going to rationalize the tax system in a way that makes companies based heard more competitive and bring money back, then that also means we have to do things like in my view end carried interest. i mean, there are elements not in this tax plan clearly because they are favorites of influential donors that if you were honestly reforming it in order to grow the economy would

be there. and i think that the inability to focus on the income inequality through better tax planning is a real flaw. so you eliminate the estate tax. which really makes no sense. you could just raise the level of the estates that are not taxed by some number. and yet you're not willing to increase taxes on the wealthiest. so you wind up with a plan where the middle class is going to be hurt both by the health care element of it and not likely helped by the tax reform. >> jeremy. >> so this tax cut bill is likely to pass the house today without a single democratic vote. the democrats cannot just continue to be party of no. so what is the democratic message? what should it be with regard to reforming the tax code? as you point out, which is in dire need of some type of change. >> i think the hope on many of these big issues is that enough moderate republicans will work

with the democrats in the direction that bipartisan commissions have suggested is the right direction for some time. president obama was in favor of reducing the corporate rate. these are not, in my view, insurmountably complex issues. they are seemingly insurmountable in the political arena, not intellectually. so i think democrats are very willing to reform the tax code. i think that would include a lower corporate tax rate, if it goes hand-in-hand with making sure that the investments that are being made are being made in ways that are going to be job creating. >> peggy. >> massimo, if i could, i wanted to get you in here. tell me how republicans and democrats right now on the hill are dealing with each other with regard to this specific

republican tax reform bill. are they talking quietly to each other? are they not talking at all? are the democrats feeling they haven't been inclouded in the process? are the republicans feeling we're kind of king of the hill, we can get this through? what's going on there? >> so it's a very important question because the process here is not normal. in the past, senator baucus and representative camp, democrat and the republican, worked in months and months of negotiations to produce a bipartisan tax reform package that would work. in this case, the republican package has dropped on senate side with less than 12 hours for people to consider it. there was a heated exchange in the markup yesterday. and the finance committee about what was in the tax bill and what wasn't. the democrats were scrambling to try and figure out what was there and there were many

complaints that there was being rammed through as part of an accelerated agenda. the answer to your question is this is not the normal way to make law, especially very consequential law, and it is very much symptomatic of the way that washington is working now unfortunately. it's not the typical functional way you could make law. >> "time" magazine, masimo calibrisi, thank you very much. it's the 25 best inventions of 2017. we're back with more in just two minutes. s to brew your cup. s to brew your cup. let's go to sumatra. where's sumatra? good question. this is win. and that's win's goat, adi. the coffee here is amazing. because the volcanic soil is amazing. making the coffee erupt with flavor. so we give farmers like win more plants. to grow more delicious coffee. that erupts with even more flavor. which helps provide for win's family. and adi the goat's family too. because his kids eat a lot.

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because when you know where you stand, things are just clearer. ♪ just remember what i said about a little bit o' soul ♪ why would he need permission from any of these girl's mothers if they're not under age? >> sure, that's a good question. culturally speak, i would say there's differences. i looked up ali's background there. that's awesome you have got such a diverse background, it's really cool to read through that -- >> what does ali's background have to do with dating a 14-year-old? >> i'm not finished with the context of it -- >> well, please answer, what does ali velshi's background have to do with dating under -- children, 14-year-old girls? >> sure, in other countries, there's arrangement through parents for what we would -- >> ali's from canada -- >> consensual marriage so -- >> ali's from canada -- >> i understand that, and ali's

also spent time in other countries -- >> i don't know where you're going with this, trent. >> oh, oh, my god. it's so bad. i don't even -- what was he talking about? so we usually do final thoughts. i'm going right to the next show. stephanie ruhle join us right now. i need to ask about that exchange. peggy noonan definitely termed the term of the morning, ali's from canada. what the what? what was he talking about? >> it was stunning. we couldn't even believe it was happening. and the people who you have to feel the worst for here, my partner al yi velshi, the good people of alabama. when you're roy moore and the attorney representing him, not even throwing out a dog whistle but straight-up racism, it's playing into every office stereotype. imagine if i signed off to that guy and said enjoy kissing your

sister and taking your cousin to the prom honky tonk, that's awful. >> no, i kind of thought it seemed like blatant racism and weird kind of visual profiling? what the heck? i mean, and ali's face? i think he was actually in shock. >> i think he was too. >> but what does this say? for the people of alabama, this is the guy representing roy moore who may become a u.s. senator. that just right there should be disqualifiable. >> here's the good thing, whether it's disqualifiable or not, it's shining a light. it's exposing it. so maybe the people of alabama have been complacent or they've been quiet. but maybe this will give them an opportunity to say we're going to stand up. because this isn't who we are. it's not who our children are. it's not what we want the future to be. the statement like that, ali, he read his background, he read his bio. maybe he looked at his brown skin. that is stunning. it's offensive. frankly, mika, it's flat-out

stupid. >> yes, it was pretty stupid. i'll give you ten seconds to get ready for your show. stephanie, thank you very much. willie, it's -- that's like blooper reel stuff except it's not funny because it really happened. >> it's not that hard. the guy said he did some research. go to ali's wikipedia page. you'll find a few things. he's muslim. born in kenya. grew up in canada. based on that, that guy went on the air and made assumptions with who ali's is and said you can have some sympathy for roy moore. >> ali's from canada. stephanie ruhle picks up the coverage. >> good morning. again, i'm stephanie ruhle. we're talking about roy, again standing by their man. the alabama gop coming out in support of roy moore while republicans in capitol hill are looking for other options. >> i'm not going to write myself in, i wouldn't do that, but i will be writing in a distinguished republican, okay. >> four more women come forward with