great sunday to you. thanks for sticking around with us here at msnbc. we're at the world headquarters in new york city. i'm richard lui, and just about 3:00 p.m. on the east coast, 2:00 p.m. in alabama. polls are going to open, if you counted here, in about 41 hours from now. voters there finally will elect their next u.s. senator, republican roy moore or democrat doug jones. he's expected to campaign in birmingham any minute alongside new jersey senator cory booker and alabama congresswoman terry sewell. it's one of several events across the state that jones supporters will be holding today. moore has been out of sight this sunday, although we are hearing from him in an interview with the voice of alabama politics. we'll play some of that interview for you in just a little bit. but alabamans are also hearing from president trump, who recorded a robocall for moore this weekend. we've got the final campaign

push covered from every angle from montgomery, alabama, all the way to washington. let's start in birmingham, alabama, nbc's vaughn hilliard, who's been on the ground for weeks covering this race for us. and every time we turn on the camera there with you, vaughn, you're in a different place and you've learned something new. what is the doug jones campaign doing today? i understand earlier they were definitely focusing on african-american voters. >> reporter: yeah, richard, i think you just noted, we're in a different place every day, every hour, it seems like, right? and most of those places that we've been have been with doug jones, because there's really been only one candidate to cover in this race, and that's the democrat, doug jones in this race, who suddenly sees himself a viable opportunity come tuesday to win this race. where roy moore has been? he hasn't been seen out in the public since tuesday. usually the weekend before election day, it's the get out the vote effort with phone banks, candidates going from huntsville like doug jones did.

we were with him in selma, montgomery, birmingham, they had concerts in huntsville. and here today we'll be seeing doug jones any moment at his birmingham field office, where they'll be sending out people to do just that, phone banking and canvassing. he visited three birmingham churches here today. i should note, though, that roy moore still has a decent chance to win this race. on tuesday, we did see him this morning, on a very friendly media outlet that did play, though, on local television stations here in the area, where he addressed the allegations made against him by those nine women just 48 hours out. let's play a sound bite from what he said this morning. >> in moral values, they're attacking me in that area. i understand that, but it's also part of a scheme of political parties today and political candidates in both parties, quite frankly, to degrade your opponent, to take him down so that you appear to go up. >> reporter: this is a candidate you just heard him there, he

called it a scheme. he's called this a conspiracy, right, propagating the idea that the women behind these allegations are part of, you know, an effort by the washington establishment, he said, by liberals, by all these different entities to come forward, and it's been part of his campaign strategy in this race, it's us against the world. it is similar to what we saw two months ago when he said everybody from the outside, mitch mcconnell, outside money, $30 million were spent against him in that runoff two months ago in which he bested luther strange, his fellow republican, by ten percentage points, and it's an effort he's deploying in this race, is that everybody is out to get him, essentially, because they don't want his ideals, his conservative christian values out in washington, d.c. richard? >> nbc's vaughn hilliard in birmingham, alabama. thank you so much, vaughn. with us now, chairman of mowry consulting group in montgomery, alabama, david mowry. former deputy assistant to the president during the clinton administration, matt bennett, former senior trump campaign

adviser michael r rou beano and contributor to national politics that got that exclusive interview with roy moore, beth clayton. beth, we were talking with your editor in chief, and bill was saying this vote's baked, that what we're seeing right now in these last couple of days may not move the needle much. do you believe that's the case? >> i think there are a lot of people who have their heels dug in for one side or the other, but i think there are a lot of people who are still watching both of these candidates and watching the way they behave and watching the pattern and practice of their behavior over the past few years, and they're still looking at this wondering, can they stomach roy moore in the senate for the next few years, or is it worth casting a vote for a democrat, maybe crossing parties? so, i think there's still a lot of votes up in the air, and i think that, i know the democrats are going to play until the buzzer sounds, and i guess roy moore's going to keep hiding until the last vote's counted. >> well, he's going to come out tomorrow, right? from what we understand, he'll be out on the campaign trail. at least that's what we're

hearing. david, this outside -- antioutside-in, outsiders coming into the state of alabama, trying to be part of this election process, and it's been said that, no, that's not what alabamans want. but now in the final days, we're getting lots of outsiders. does it help one side more than the other? does it hurt one side more than the other? >> you know, i think that it probably, bannon and those types of guys coming down here probably helps moore more than say a cory booker or somebody who, let's face it, is a national democrat. it's harder to say, hey, look, i'm a different kind of democrat, you know, i share your alabama values when you're bringing in national people that don't really share, you know, alabama values, or that's how alabama perceives it. i want to say one thing, too, about moore and not being on the campaign trail. it's freezing down here, all right? people don't like the cold, but he's on tv. you know what geo tv stands for? get on television, and i see roy moore on every ten seconds when

i'm watching tv, during the army/navy game, all that type of stuff. so, i think that's overblown, personally. >> overblown that he is not on the road because he's on tv and you see all of the advertisements is what you're saying? >> correct. yeah, i hear the radio ads, i see the facebook ads, i see all the other stuff. i saw bill britt's thing this morning, ten friends e-mailed it to me. and yeah, i mean, people don't necessarily generate go-to, big public events for things like this, unless it's something big, like the jason isbal thing was probably big. i would go see him. whether that would influence my vote or not, i don't know. >> michael roubino, will you agree with the point that he will still be on tv, they will play sound bites from the previous interviews, the one from bill britt and beth's organization there, that if in effect, that he hasn't been out there talking on microphones, publicly, that may not hurt him in the snend. >> i couldn't agree more. and the fact of the matter is, president donald trump went down and rallied in pensacola,

florida, and people want to vote for the trump agenda. jones does not represent anything that an alabama voter would want. and obviously, roy moore is not a perfect candidate, but he's far better and he's going to stand with president trump in the senate, and that's something that the alabama voters are going to ultimately vote for on tuesday. >> you know, one of the things that we're watching, talking about the democrats and cory booker and deval patrick, as we play a little bit about what cory booker was saying on the campaign trail yesterday, and we'll get more later here today, matt. the question to you on this, matt, is if cory booker, does he work to get out the african-american vote? does he work to get out the millennials? but does he not work to get the other swing vote segments that here doug jones does need? >> that's a good question, and i think he probably does help in this crucial segment of the alabama electorate. it's 25% of the population of alabama is african-american, and my guess is, to the extent that surrogates help or hurt at all, he probably helps a little bit. but i think to call roy moore not the perfect candidate is about as staggering an

understatement as you can get. and remember, it isn't just about the pedophilia and the sexual assault. before all of those allegations came out, he was a horrible candidate. he has been removed from the alabama supreme court twice by the u.s. supreme court, meaning if he raises his right hand and swears to preserve, protect and defend the constitution, he cannot be believed. so, he is a horrendous candidate for the state of alabama or for the united states any way you slice it. >> beth, reflect on that, and tell me what you're seeing locally. you're part of one of those organizations that is putting out the stories on politics in the state. is that true that despite him not being out in the public, as we have noted so far, that effectively, everyday voters are seeing a good match on both sides? >> you know, yeah, i think there's still going to be that segment on both sides, like we talked about, who's going to dig their heels in either way. but you know, i think the biggest thing here that we're seeing is people want government they feel like they can touch and they can feel connected to,

and that's where doug jones being out on the campaign trail actually talking to voters does make a difference. and i know he's been on tv for months now and he's getting now earned and paid media going in. but you know, to his point about roy moore being an imperfect candidate, yes, he is removed from the supreme court of alabama twice for defying federal court orders. now he's got nine women coming out against him making either illegal or inappropriate allegations, and it's staggering the number of allegations and of claims and of facts that can come out about roy moore, and alabama voters, some of them are still willing to double down because he claims to be a christian, and that's not the christianity that most of us learned here in sunday school. >> 15 seconds to you, david. also our local alabamian there. >> yeah. you know, i think that the point is that the cake is probably baked. i don't think anybody's paying attention, but i think it's 50/50. we'll see what happens tuesday. >> 50/50. we're hearing that a lot. thank you all four, david

mowery, mike bennett, michael roubino, beth clayton. >> thank you. next, the russia probe and a gop war on justice. republicans attack robert mueller and the fbi as the russia probe hits closer to home for the president. one top democrat says it's a way to undermine those responsible for holding donald trump and his team accountable. copd makes it hard to breathe. so to breathe better, i go with anoro. ♪go your own way copd tries to say, "go this way." i say, "i'll go my own way" with anoro. ♪go your own way once-daily anoro contains two medicines called bronchodilators, that work together to significantly improve lung function all day and all night. anoro is not for asthma . it contains a type of medicine that increases risk of death in people with asthma. the risk is unknown in copd. anoro won't replace rescue inhalers for sudden symptoms and should not be used more than once a day. tell your doctor if you have

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did bob mueller recruit people to his probe that had a

bias against the president? >> you are taking an fbi department that was weakened by mueller's time. >> we do not know the magnitude of this insider biased on mr. mueller's team. >> if he kicked everybody off mueller's team who was anti-trump, i don't think there'd be anybody left. >> just a few shots taken at the fbi and special counsel robert mueller on thursday as gop lawmakers grilled fbi head christopher wray during an oversight hearing. republicans used that occasion to rally behind the president, accusing the fbi and mueller of having an anti-trump bias and deliberately mishandling the russia probe and hillary clinton e-mail investigation. let's bring in charlie savage, "the new york times" national security and legal reporter, also an msnbc contributor, naora hock, former white house senior director and former senior adviser for the state department, and jennifer rogers, a former assistant u.s. attorney. charlie, tell us more about what happened during that

interaction. many republican lawmakers here questioning, and it seemed like they're softening the ground here for potentially something there of robert mueller and his team. what more did you hear from that? >> so, we've seen a grow iing swell on the right of an attempt to discredit, delegitimize the mueller investigation. mueller as a person, really starting this summer when you had people like newt gingrich, who had initially praised him as above the fray and non-partisan and an impeccable reputation, starting to say, wait a minute, this whole thing is a witch hunt following president trump's lead, and right-wing media outlets like fox news in particular have been really systematically turning up the volume on that kind of critique. and now i think what we're seeing is in that hearing that you referenced at the beginning of this segment is that rank and file republican members of

congress have picked up on that theme and have decided to throw their lot in with the attack on the justice department and independence of a fact-finding criminal investigation run by this former republican-appointed fbi director. and what you said about preparing the ground for something i think is exactly the right question to be asking. it looks like the battlefield is being prepared here, but we don't know for what and they probably don't know for what yet either. could it be president trump firing mueller? could it be mueller delivering a report to congress that has some kind of damaging information? obviously, the effort is to make it so that the republican base sees this as just more politics and will go along with whatever happens. >> charlie, any sense that this is being coordinated by anybody or this is just one following another? >> you know, i and some colleagues have been watching this happen and have been asking that question among ourselves. it's the kind of thing where does it need to be coordinated, or do people who are on sort of team trump, whether it's in congress or on fox news, just sort of see the need for it as

mueller indicts more people and gets closer and closer to the top? whether it's coordinated or not, though, the effect is the same. jennifer, so, as we watch these criticisms of robert mueller and his team, and you've heard some of the accounts here, that if you took out all of those in his team that support the democrats or hillary clinton, he would not have a team. at least that's what's being said. what do you make of what you've been hearing? >> well, i think it's completely outrageous. i mean, there have been attacks on all sorts of institutions that are critical to our democracy, but this to me is a bridge too far. i mean, saying that your own justice department and your own fbi are somehow against you and can't be trusted and are in tatters, i mean, this is really unprecedented, in part because these are his people. he put them in there. he chose the a.g., the deputy a.g., they choose mueller and the fbi are his law enforcement authorities. so, to attack them is i think

really just beyond the pale. and also, of course, this is one of the kind of most important institutions. it's supposed to be a check on a president with unfettered power. this is the federal law enforcement mechanism. these are the folks who are supposed to see if there is criminality in other parts of the executive branch and acting on it. so, him doing this is nost step towards he has no check on his power and there's nothing he can't do, and that should be unacceptable to all of us. >> i'm going to allude to what dana milbank wrote in an op ed, the title reading, "the gop's all-out assault on justice." in that piece, saying that it's a possibility that these attacks will influence the russia probe. might that be true, nayera? >> well, it is part of a broader pattern of behavior of seeing that this president undermines the institutions of democracy. that includes the first amendment, freedom of speech, when it comes to working with

media. and that also now includes law enforcement, anybody that could potentially be a check on his own power. this is exactly the type of behavior that putin has exhibited in his own country in russia, so there is a commonality, a pattern here that actually goes beyond just donald trump and the russia connection. this is the pattern of autocr y autocracy, of dictators around the world, where they make it about themselves, that they are the only person you can trust, and you cannot trust the institutions. it's a very dangerous interpretation of being a law-and-order president, because he has now made it that donald trump is the one who will be enforcing laws and interpreting laws, not the checks and balances we have in our democratic system. >> jennifer, is this a softening of the ground for a potential removal of robert mueller? >> i think it might be. i mean, you know, it's either a distraction, which this white house has been big on as well -- you know, don't look over there, look over here -- or it is kind of setting the groundwork for

trying to remove mueller. i mean, if they can get people not to really care, oh, yeah, that guy's dirty, that guy's corrupt, that guy has conflicts of interest, which, by the way, is ridiculous, because there are legal definitions for conflicts of interest that you can look up, and nothing that's come out to date is anywhere close to that, but if he can get the public thinking that and then he removes him, everyone just kind of shrugs and says, yeah, well, that guy was dirty anyway. so, that very well may be what's happening here, which is really disturbing. >> nayyera? >> absolutely. this is, again, part of a pattern of behavior, and donald trump is not interested in doing anything by the traditional book or by maintaining the system. it is going to be all about protecting himself, despite the fact that what they are accusing fbi officials of doing are things his own family have done, right? ivanka trump, his son-in-law, jared, they have all supported the clintons in the past and made donations to democrats. it's the irony here that in discussing the justice department and fbi as having no

integrity, they haven't looked in the mirror lately. >> nayyera haq, jennifer rodgers, busy, busy week on the russia question as well, and now the mueller team. and charlie savage, thanks for your reporting and giving us the detail on what's happening on the story. appreciate all three of you. next, the alabama senate race and the latest numbers. i just got my cashback match,

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and if me driving a that truck means that somebody gets to go home safer, then i'll drive it every day of the week. together, we're building a better california. the battle for the alabama senate seat vacated by attorney general jeff sessions has garnered national attention. we've been talking about it right here. on tuesday, voters will finish that debate. they're going to head to the polls to select a winner between controversial gop candidate roy moore and democratic nominee doug jones. either way here, the election is sure to have nationwide impact. nbc news national political correspondent steve kornacki is at the big board to break it all down for us. >> all right, richard. well, battle of the control of the u.s. senate, democrats got bad and good news this week. it's an interesting and volatile situation. right now, bottom line, republicans have 52, democrats, add in the two independents who are with them, they've got 48 now. a couple months ago, looking ahead to 2018, folks said

democrats getting from 48 to a majority is basically impossible. why? well, let me show you. these are the seats that democrats are defending next year. we're going to take minnesota. you see the outline there. let's consider that a little separately. but take minnesota out, and what do you have here? you've got ten democratic senate seats in states that all voted for donald trump in 2016. trump states, democratic senators up for re-election in 2018. so you see, that's why this challenge is so steep for democrats next year trying to get the senate. they've got to defend all these trump state seats. you lose one, you lose two, you lose three, that 48 drops down to 47, 46, 45, gets very tough to find a way to get to a majority. so democrats already had that challenge. now, they've gotten some good news in some of these states, they've got some tough challenges, but that was already a steep challenge for them. then you add in this, minnesota this week, al franken resigns, now there's a special election next year in 2018. not a trump state. hillary clinton did win this, but it was almost a trump state. the margin here in minnesota

last year, 1 1/2 points. that's how much hillary clinton won by. so for democrats, that's why it's bad news this week when you look to 2018. they're already defending ten trump seats, and then minnesota, they've got a special election, a volatile, unpredictable election in a state trump almost won, so it's another risk for democrats, another potential loss for democrats. so, that's the bad news for democrats. that challenge got a little more challenging this week. the good news for democrats, though, is this. the options they have, the possibilities they have to increase their number. they actually went up this week. let me show you what's going on here. these are states where republicans are probably going to be on defense in 2018. notice a lot less red than there was blue on the last map. that's how it works. the seats up for 2018, the republican seats tend to be in very red states, probably not going to be competitive. but this is this coming week, alabama special election. roy moore, know he's in big trouble there. he could lose on tuesday. if roy moore loses, right there, make-up for democrats, that 48

would become 49. they'd be two seats away from a majority. remember, 50/50, tie goes to the republicans. they have pence, the vice president. then for democrats, what else do they have? arizona. this is a state that hillary clinton almost won. margin was three points. jeff flake, incumbent republican senator is not running next year. winnable for democrats. they may not win it, but they could win it. nevada, dean heller, incumbent there, he is a possibility of him losing in the republican primary. this is a clinton state, by the way. hillary clinton won this one, so this is winnable for democrats next year, potentially. each one of these could be a gain. and then the news this week that got democrats excited, it was in tennessee. the former governor there, phil bredesen, he announced he's going to run for senate next year, popular former democratic governor. did well in the state. it's an open seat, bob corker isn't running again. so, suddenly, tennessee, it'd be a bit of a reach for democrats, but if they got the dream candidate -- if you ask them who that candidate is, they have that candidate next year.

so, for democrats, they have more defense to play because of franken but another opportunity to play offense this week. what would they need to win the senate next year? got to defend all these seats, tall order, but if they could, basically you pick off three of these four, democrats would have that majority. so, that's where things stand there, richard. >> always great to have you. steve kornacki with that breakdown for us. coming up, the unconventional coalition that democrat doug jones now needs if he wants to win in alabama on tuesday. why it needs to include a good number of roy moore defectors. (vo) more "doing chores for mom" per roll more "doing chores for dad" per roll more "earning something you love" per roll bounty is more absorbent, so the roll can last 50% longer than the leading ordinary brand. so you get more "life" per roll. bounty the quicker picker upper.

two days from now, voters in alabama will decide on their next u.s. senator. democrat doug jones is doing a final push to mobilize african-american and millennials, two key groups that could secure his victory come tuesday. while black voters there make up 25% of the electorate, they represent an even larger portion of alabama's democratic base. jones, along with other high-profile, black lawmakers, like congressman john lewis and senator cory booker, who's at an event right now, and has been at a number there of get out the vote events today in reliable democratic areas like montgomery, selma and birmingham, but has the jones campaign does enough to energize the coalition and get the turnout needed? joining us, political reporter jonathan allen, civil rights attorney tamara miller and ap white house reporter ken thomas. jonathan, as you look at, again,

that coalition, and we've been talking about that for the last couple of months here, looking at this race, one of which, one important part of it is the african-american vote. i mentioned millennials as well, but there's also women, too. and our reporting is not quite there yet when it comes to black voters. why is our reporting saying that, jonathan? >> i think that's right, richard. i mean, you've got a situation here where the roy moore base, the white evangelical conservatives that have been behind him for a long time, everyone knows they're going to show up because this has been framed as a race between good and evil. they see roy moore as someone of integrity in their circles who lost his job as alabama supreme court justice twice by standing by his principles against same-sex marriage and in favor of the ten commandments statue there, and the question is, what is the force on the democratic side that is going to equal that sort of cat chrissic, apocalyptic view of this race,

of the good versus evil? i'm not sure that it's there yet. we'll find out on election day, these x-factors of what will the african-american turnout be like, what will the number of republican crossover votes be like, and how many republicans will undervote, that is, show up to the polls to vote for everything but the senate race because they just can't bring themselves to pull the lever for roy moore. >> tamara, what's your view on the importance of the african-american vote in alabama, number one? and number two, why doug jones hasn't, despite his work in the past for the community, not resonating today, not getting them out to vote? is this just an apathy that is consistent with the 2016 election, where we saw african-american voters drop in number of support compared to barack obama? >> well, the vote of the african-american community and all persons should be focused on the issues here, which is, is the person who's running fit for that job? and certainly, allegations of sexual assault of a minor, abuse

of a minor, simply can't be ignored by any of the elector e electorate. >> we're looking at live pictures on the side here. i believe that's cory booker on the right, doug jones in the middle. yes, that is cory booker. he was out campaigning yesterday and today, and the question here, ken thomas, is as we get, if you will, those northeastern politicos coming in to speak on behalf of their candidates, does it work? we also, of course, saw donald trump record a robocall to be used in the next 24 hours or so. let's listen to cory booker really quickly and then i'm going to get your reaction here. >> all right! well, listen, listen, doug said it right, this is not about him. it really is not. i've come to love this man, respect this man. i've watched him from afar. i've been up real close with him for the last two days running around this incredible state, but he is absolutely right. when you're standing with about 48 hours left before one of the

most consequential elections in our nation, in my lifetime it's not about just the candidate, it's about the people. and what i know from years of coming down to this great state, from years -- in fact, just this year, was here months ago running around to tallasee and mobile and seeing the goodness and the decency of folks. america runs vibrant and real and strong here. the best of who we are is here. this is the united states of america, proud state! [ cheers and applause ] >> okay, there we have cory booker, opening remarks. ken thomas, and he said it, of the times that he has come down to alabama, and we are alluding to him being from the northeast, being a key northeastern progressive, does it matter that he's validating at this moment doug jones for these voters? >> it's helpful for jones.

you know, these races tend to be won on the margin, so for jones to have someone come down, validate him, like a cory booker, deval patrick, a john lewis, that might help spur some voters out on tuesday. you know, it seems like cory was also trying to maybe evoke some of the civil rights past in alabama and place this race in the context of something larger. but to the extent that you can get some voters out, it can be helpful. >> there was today one of the major media, major news organizations there in alabama came out and said, you know when you look at senator shelby today saying, you know what, you've got to look at the alternative, and the alternative is to do the write-in candidate. that's what he's saying. and given his history there since the 1980s there in the senate, he has a lot of pull for a lot of folks there. and the question is, will that

translate then to the important move not for doug jones, but at least away from roy moore, jonathan allen? >> i certainly think senator shelby's got a big voice that's heard across alabama, folks who know him as a democrat and as a republican. over the years, remember he switched way back in 1994. so, i think that message has gotten out. you've seen doug jones use it in his ads. it certainly is something that's reflected in the media here broadly, and it will be interesting to see. it's a low-risk proposition for senator shelby, who just won re-election himself. wouldn't be back on the ballot until he's about 88, 89 years old, so, i think it matters. i think he's giving cover to those who would not vote for roy moore, who are republicans. >> it's interesting, tamara, if you look at the endorsement of the action of shelby coming from al.com, one of those major

papers in alabama -- and i'll just read a part of what they said in their recommendation. "if you are or love a woman, this election is for you. if you are looking for a job, if you run a business, if you worry about the future of your children, this election is for you." that's a high order for doug jones. >> well, i agree. and when we're electing and looking at who should be holding public office, the character of the person who's being considered should be looked at in all aspects. and here we have a lot of troubling allegations, certainly, of the women who have been coming forward to report long ago, allegations of sex abuse, and certainly disturbing improprieties with young women, less than half of his age, you have to wonder, who is this man? and so, please, it's important for the democracy to speak. it's time for people to speak with their votes. >> we'll see in the next 40

hours or so as they begin to make their way there. john allen, tamara miller and ken thomas, thank you. >> thank you. up next, the dominos continue to fall in congress as a wave of sexual harassment allegations have forced three congressmen out just this week. and now more women than ever are taking their shot at a seat on capitol hill. we've got the details. whoooo.

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i guess you could say that al franken is on santa's naughty list this year. >> and what about roy moore? which list is he on? >> it's not really a list. it's more of a registry. >> is president trump on the naughty list? >> well, you know, santa tries to stay out of political matters. our president may have said or done a few naughty things. >> 19 accusers, google it. >> okay, can we not? >> the elf. that was "saturday night live" tackling the uncomfortably long list of men who have been accused of sexual assault or sexual harassment. as of now, at least six political figures have been accused of sexual misconduct since october, leading to numerous house ethics investigations and now three resignations just this last week.

and according to rutgers university center for women in american politics, more women are planning to run for congress than ever before. so far, there are 369 potential candidates running for a house seat and 41 potential candidates running for a senate seat, marking 2018 as a, well, shall we say a big year for women candidates. joining us now is teronna burke-vox, media correspondent liz plank and why not founder jamir burley. glad to have you all here. it's working? >> it's working, yeah. >> when you see that number, 369, i mean, if we're following the numbers here, all-time highs so far in terms of women wanting to run for political office nationally. >> yeah. i mean, i talk about how movements are build all the time, right? they're built over time. they're not built overnight. so, donald trump made those comments a year ago, and since that time, we've seen the women's march happen, the me too

movement explode and now the expansion of women running for office. it's all a trajectory leading to where we are now. >> how are we getting to this gender-woke movement, liz. because it's really amazing. i have another number to throw out here, and this is coming from emily's list president stephanie shurok, tell the "times" that more than 22,000 women have reached out about running since trump's election, compared to just 1,000 in the ten months before the election. talk about gender woke, right? >> right. so, that means that in 2016, for every -- or in 2017, for every one woman that was interested in running for office a year ago, there are now 24 women who are inquiring and thinking about doing. so, women spent most of 2016 asking themselves, why him. and now they're saying why not me. and they're really letting their haters sort of motivate them. we've seen amazing, really delicious victories by a transwoman in virginia who beat the guy who wrote the transbathroom bill.

>> that's right. >> we saw in new jersey a republican legislator who made the joke about the women's march, saying are women going to be home in time to cook me my dinner, and he lost to a woman who ran after he made that statement. >> and talk about virginia mayor, clearly, when i did interview that winner, i was told it was because the issues. >> yeah. >> not because of being the "t" in lgbtq, but just issues and getting stuff done, but certainly interesting to see based on that very dynamic. so, is this because we're now living in a millennial age? not about millennials, but a millennial age, where this is not going to be allowed to happen? if we look back into the arab spring, this sort of swell from the foundation moving forward, that now we have hit this big pillar of gender? >> no, i would agree. i think we have an internal moment of consciousness, where people are no longer sitting back at home and being fearful of telling their truth. but i think one thing i will caution with all of these women running, we forgot that there

are more than 500,000 elected offices around the country. less than 25% of them are led by women. it's important that as we have women who decide to run that we also have the diversity of thought and experiences. so we need not just women running, we also need transwomen, we need african-american women, we need asian women and hispanic women who are running to allow us to think a little bit differently about how we show up and be more inclusive in our policies and practices. >> senator kirsten gillibrand from the state of new york tweeted this, talking here clearly about the dynamics that we're seeing, saying that accusations against moore are disgusting and president trump has admitted on tape how he treats women. his campaigning for moore isn't leadership. it's shameful. we are in a moment of reckoning and the silence from the republicans is deafening. it is long past time for them to join democrats in holding members of their own party accountable." so, as we look at this right now, terana, the rncs, they're back in it for more.

what does it say? is it all republicans? >> no, it's not all republicans. obviously, we're seeing this across party lines, but i do think it makes a statement that the republican party has gone to back somebody like roy moore. this is not a partisan issue. this is not a moment to be partisan. these people claim they care about our country and care about the people in our country. they should care about the children and the young women that moore targeted at young ages, like some of the things that have been said have been really, really deplorable for people who claim to be a moral authority on these things. >> the concern i think for those in the #metoo movement or those who understand the dynamics is, if moore winds, they say, oh, we came forward, the nine women in the case of roy moore, and then there are, of course, those who have allegations against the president and other cases itself. is that going to be the outcome? >> right. i mean, well, it remains to be seen, but the republican party needs to take a stand, or else the democrats are going to continue owning this issue, and it's going to end up hurting,

you know, the republicans in 2018. even speaking about donald trump, 95% of the attorney picks, basically, have been with men, and 80% of his nominees have been white men in his cabinet. so one party is electing transwomen, black women, women of color, women of all kinds of different sort of perspectives, and one party is putting more white men in positions of power and sending that message to women who are going to be voting and who are a majority of voters, you know, in elections. >> i think what's scary about what's happening, particularly with the republican party, is that it's -- i'm fearful that what's happening with women coming out saying that they've been sexually assaulted, sexually abused, raped, is that it's going to be -- >> on both sides. >> on both sides. what's going to happen is that is going to be very similar to police shootings, it's not enough for politicians to say this is an important issue or to call out the facts.

if there isn't something legally that happens to punish these individuals from having it happen again, we're sending a horrible message to women around the world, not just in this country, that you can be charged with sexual assault, you can commit a crime, you can admit to it and still reach the highest level of power in this country, and that's horrible. >> previous studies have shown, at least, that why we don't see more women in congress is because there's many dynamics, one of which is asking for money. and then maybe not being able to provide that promise based on that donation, and that's one of those dynamics. is it changing in terms of what the expectation is from what women want in politics here, tarana? >> is what changes? >> what women will get and what they want out of politics, running for office. >> yeah, i think women are running on issues. they're not running just because, like vote for me just because i'm a woman. i think women have done astute things just like men have done. they know the issues. they understand that platform and they're able to deliver

based on whatever their platform is. >> do we see more men in congress here supporting these issues, these very bills? kirsten gillibrand has certainly been holding the flag here. >> yeah, absolutely, and we need men to speak up. we can't just -- you know, it's great to have three women talk about this and talk about all of the accusations and allegations around sexual assault, but it would be great to see men own this issue as well. and you know, we are in this movement. i mean, what's so great about the #metoo movement, is obviously all the voices of the women coming forward means also the accountability that we're putting on men to also speak up. >> 15 seconds. are men woke? >> not enough. i need men to start standing up and speaking on behalf of women, not just because they have a daughter or a mother, but to say this is how we treat all humans. >> exactly. >> great energy. thank you all for coming today. an important topic. coming up for you, an msnbc special look at the life of joe biden. is it too soon to count out the former vice president for the oval office? that preview when we come back.

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tonight at 9:00 p.m. eastern, msnbc's "headliners" take a look at the life and career of joe biden, and whether he wants to add the title president to his achievements. >> do you think you could go to your grave never having ran for president? >> oh, man, you're tough. >> are you going to run for president? >> are you going to run? >> is there no scenario in which you could see yourself getting into this race? >> not going to run? >> i'm not going to run for

president. >> i don't know. >> the answer is, there's a lot at stake and i might. >> you look like you're running for president. are you? >> it's a question joe biden has been asked for decades. >> all the time, particularly now. everyone, the second they say, hi, valerie, is joe going to run? [ chanting "usa" ] >> thank you. >> with donald trump's electoral victory over hillary clinton in 2016, speculation about a biden 2020 run has only intensifies. >> do i regret not being president? yes. i thought there was a need to bring the country together. >> he'd be a formidable opponent. he's got a good standing with the american people, i think. people like joe biden. >> i can't think of anyone with more experience, both in the senate, in the white house, and as a citizen than joe biden. >> i would never count joe biden out. this man is the energizer bunny. he just does not quit. >> that's tonight, 9:00 p.m. eastern. up next, my colleague, yasmin

vossoughian. and yasmin, he definitely brings the energy all the time. >> he certainly does. you hear andrea mitchell there, never counting joe biden out. >> never. >> it's interesting to see a young joe biden there, takes you back. thank you, richard. let's keep rolling. i'm yasmin vossoughian. too close to call. the countdown begins. less than 48 hours until polls open in alabama. roy moore finally speaks out today. what he's saying about the allegations as the president goes all in. and the reckoning. franken out, farnhrenthold stil in. and should the president answer his accusers? and prosecuting the prosecutors, the push to discredit bob mueller and his investigation. can they withstand the onslaught? >> are you comfortable that the leader of your party is all out for roy moore? >> within the party, there will be disagreements. obviously we're seeing one now. >> how should people assess the accusers of the president? >> the same thing, is women who accuseny