republican roy moore faces democrat doug jones. is it a fight for the soul of the republican party? >> it's here! this is an important time in alabama's history, and we feel very confident of where we are and how this is going to turn out. judge moore has been consistently wrong about the -- [ cheers and applause ] >> i want to make america great again with president trump. i want america good, but she can't be good until we go back to god. battle for 'bama. both sides bringing out the big guns in a last attempt to win out the voters in a race that could politically change the

senate. >> judge moore is a good man. judge moore is a righteous man. they tried to destroy judge moore like i told you they would. >> i urge everybody to get out, call all your friends. at some point we got to stop looking like i had yodiots to t nation. and taking it to the top. more than 50 women lawmakers demand an investigation into sexual misconduct accusations against president trump. as the president hits back at his top critic in the senate, calling her a lightweight and total flunkie. >> it was a sexist smear attempting to silence my voice. i will not be silenced on this issue, neither will the women who stood up to the president yesterday. and good day, erv veryone.

i'm andrey mach he wia mitchell election that has led to the explosion of sexual misconduct allegations well beyond alabama and roy moore. today president trump under fire with his own past with a precedented twitter attack against senator justice hillenbrand. president trump today tweeting his support for roy moore and slamming doug jones as a pulpit of republican leadership. chuck todd, nbc news political director, moderator of "meet the press" and "mtp daily." and editor of "the daily beast." first to you, gabe gutierrez. set the stage for us in alabama. you've got roy moore, doug jones, the horseback riding. i don't know where to start.

take ta way. >> reporter: hi there, andrea. good afternoon. certainly an incredible race we've been following for the last several weeks. we are actually right now expecting doug jones any moment now at this location at bethel baptist church here in birmingham, trying to rally african-american supporters. this is a huge issue for doug jones, the issue of turnout. already this morning in polling places we spoke with a couple republican voters, white suburban republicans, and that it will be necessary for doug jones to -- i'm going to send it back to you. i understand the president is coming out. >> the president is about to sign the defense authorization bill. let's go to the white house right now. >> thank you all for being here as we prepare to sign something that is extremely important, the national defense authorization act. we're signing it into law. this historic legislation demonstrates our unwavering commitment to our men and women in uniform, the greatest

fighting force in the history of the world, and we're making it a lot better than even that. before we begin, i want to address the terrorist attack that took place yesterday in new york city and to praise the first responders, local police and federal law enforcement for their quick action. they did an incredible job. there have now been two terrorist attacks in new york city in recent weeks carried out by foreign nationals here on green cards. the first attacker came through the visa lottery, and the second through chain migration. we're going to end both of them. the lottery system and chain migration, we're going to end them. fast. congress must get involved immediately and they are involved immediately, and i can tell you we have tremendous support. they will be ended. these attacks underscore the dangers we face from around the

globe. the national defense authorization act could not come at a more opportune or important time. this legislation represents a momentous step toward rebuilding our military and securing the future for our children. i applaud the work of the members of both parties who came together to pass the national defense authorization act, which passed with overwhelming bipartisan support, something that sounds very nice to my ears. i especially want to thank chairman thornberry, who is here with us today, for his tireless efforts. thank you. fantastic job. in recent years, our military has undergone a series of deep budget cuts that have severely impacted our readiness, shrunk our capabilities and placed substantial burdens on our war fighters, and great war fighters they are. history teaches us that when you

weaken your defenses, you invite aggression. the best way to prevent conflict of any kind is to be prepared and really be prepared. only when the good are strong will peace prevail. today with the signing of this defense bill, we accelerate the process of fully restoring america's military might. i also want to thank senator john mccain for the work he's done on this bill. he has fought very, very hard to make it just the way he wants it and that we all want it. this legislation will enhance our readiness, expand and modernize our forces and help provide our service members with the tools they need to fight and to win. we will fight and win, but hopefully with this we won't have to fight because people will not be wanting to fight

with us. it authorizes funding for our continued campaign to obliterate isis. as you know, we've won in syria, we've won in iraq, but they spread to other areas, and we're getting them as fast as they spread. we've had more success with isis in the last eight months than the entire previous administration has had during its entire term. it approves missile defense capabilities as we continue our campaign to create maximum pressure on the vile dictatorship in north korea. we're working very diligently on that, building up forces. we'll see how it all turns out. it's a very bad situation, a situation that should have been handled long ago by other

administrations. it upgrades our combat vehicles, allows for the purchase of new joint fighter aircraft and paves the way for new virginia class submarines, the finest in the world. finally the defense bill defends the greatest weapons of all, its warriors. they increase the size of our american armed forces for the first time in seven years, and it provides the military servicemembers with the largest pay increase in eight years. now congress must finish the job by eliminating the defense sequester and passing a clean appropriations bill. i think it's going to happen. we need our military. it's got to be perfecto. at this time of grave global threats, i urge democrats in congress to drop their shutdown threats and descend clean funding and a clean funding bill

to my desk that fully funds our great military. protecting our country should always be a bipartisan issue just like today's legislation. we must work across party lines to give our heroic troops the equipment, resources and support that they have earned a thousand times over. together we will send a clear message to our allies and a firm warning to our enemies and adversaries. america is strong, proud, determined and ready, and i might add, when we're completed, and it won't be that long, we will be stronger than ever before. by a lot. so thank you to all of our friends in congress, and we do appreciate the bipartisan support, and we appreciate your hard work on this historic defense authorization. and thank you most of all to our brave warriors for standing

watch over our country, our families and our freedom. brand new beautiful equipment is on its way, the best you've ever had by far. we make the best in the world, and you're going to have it. god bless you. god bless our military, and god bless america. thank you very much. >> the president showing how big the bill is. this is the defense authorization bill, and despite his concerns about the size of the military budget, the military budget still dominating everything else on capitol hill other than entitlements, and we're going to see if he takes any questions as he's in this twitter world with kirsten gillenbrand who is a member of the armed services committee.

notably you see congressman thornberry and the other republicans there. i'm not seeing, but i may not be witnessing everyone in the room, whether there are any democrats there. the president was just ducking a question about kirsten gillenbrand, which brings us back to the alabama race and all that we've been discussing. gabe gutierrez, i rudely interrupted you to go to the white house. do you want to pick that up and then bring in ron hilliard on the other side of this equation? gabe right now is chasing after doug jones. bring us up to date on the horseback ride to the polls today. >> reporter: well, andrea, roy moore rode on horseback to go vote there along with his wife kayla moore. he rode the horse named sassy, we've been informed. this is from his hometown of gassy where he will give a

speech of some sort. if roy moore in fact wins this race, he would have effectively won it without having much of a robust campaign at all. they've had little in the form of canvassing and phone banking compared to his democratic opponent doug jones, but this is also a candidate who has gone missing the last week. before he had a rally last night with the likes of steve bannon in a very rural southern part of this state. i talked to a senior campaign official for roy moore last night, and i asked them, andrea, this is an unorthodox way to run a campaign, especially one shown to be so tight in the polls. he compared it to a football game. he said, we're comfortable where we stand and we're essentially running out the clock in the fourth quarter. we don't need to put our candidate out in front of the press. he called it, quote, dangerous to subject the candidate to further questions that could put him on more rocky ground with voters. they believe the numbers have stabilized in recent weeks since

the allegations came out. it's interesting, they even suggested the other campaign, being doug jones, was throwing long passes at the end of the game. i guess that is in reference to the other candidate, the democrat, going to the likes of selma and montgomery and huntsville, running a much more orthodox campaign, which to note two years ago donald trump did win this state with almost a 200 margin over hillary clinton. they talked to amanda adams who told me she hasn't voted for a democrat in more than 20 years. today she will consider writing in a candidate. whether there is enough for adams, andrea, is the next question in the next 24 hours. >> chuck todd, you are in alabama. you're taking the temperature down there, and you certainly know football analogies, but i want to ask you about this.

kayla moore was the other rider on horseback today. she was dodging questions that her husband was racial or anti-semitic. this is how she dealt with it last night. >> fake news will tell you we don't care for jews. i just want to set the record straight while they're here. [ cheers and applause ] >> one of our attorneys is a jew. >> chuck, words do not suffice. >> andrea, i thought i would just make note of the fact that she read that from prepared remarks. i find it that much mo more appalling that that was something -- oh, let me think how to word this.

yes, i have written it down exactly the way i want to word this. i'll just leave it at that. it was from prepared remarks. >> is this steve bannon against charles barkley? how does the race war go? >> this is part of this fight for the soul of what the republican party is. the republican party, looking backwards or going forward here. i would look at it as it's as if we're seeing another version of marco rubio versus donald trump, right? whose version of what the republican party should be in the next 10 years. is the republican party going to follow? steve bannon has been on a much different path than many other republicans in this party. donald trump sort of took advantage of that opportunity. he saw this opportunity there, and that's what this is about here, the bigger picture. this is why, ironically, a roy moore victory is a much bigger story for the future of the republican party than a roy moore loss. a roy moore loss is a bullet dodged for the republican party

long term. a roy moore victory means this fight for the soul of the party is being won by trump and bannon and being lost by the likes of, say, the marco rubios of the world. >> indeed. and, chuck, vaughn hilliayard h just pointed out the lack of reporters that would ask question. but in regard to the allegations of teenagers, the one teenage girl is millie moore. let me play that for you. >> what do you think are the characteristics of a really good senator? >> the constitution. not trying to get elected again and trying to stay in office for 30 or 40 years and building an empire. you're there to serve the people. >> i know this segment has the feel, sam stein, of something out of the onion, but this really is -- this is the

coverage of alabama -- >> between the jewish attorney and the 12-year-old girl interview -- >> it is sort of some weird onion, except it's just not funny. >> it's kind of sad. >> can i jump a little to chuck's point. i think chuck does nail it. you have to go back before these allegations took place because roy moore as a candidate before he was an accused child molester also was, in many ways, the the antithesis of the slavery era. he said a muslim shouldn't serve in congress. i think something that is being lost in the charges of his molestation is just the vision he would have brought to the senate even absent those things. if he does win, i think chuck is absolutely right, this is a

huge, huge problem for the republican party. i would defer on the idea that if he loses, it's a bullet dodged. i think if he loses, what you'll see is a lot of people who have been wanting to go really hard at the bannon wing of the party for running these insurgent candidates. i think you'll see them really take a victory lap, but not just that, really proactively make the case that they can't do this again, that steve bannon's judgments are not right and they need to run different, more establishment candidates. >> i want to bring in all of you, laura payne joining us, who was a trump delegate to the republican convention and has been wrestling with what she's going to do. i know you haven't voted yet, laura, but we've been talking the last couple weeks about what your decision will be. yesterday you weren't sure. have you made up your mind? >> i have. this morning. >> what are you going to do? >> unfortunately, i'm going to

write in a candidate, a republican. but i just don't think i can vote for roy moore, and i really hate that, because it's like an internal conflict because i've always been a party person, and i know that it takes away from -- you know, it helps the democrat. and i don't believe in doug jones' more liberal policies, so it really kind of hurts to do it. >> and your strong feelings against roy moore would not persuade you to vote for doug jones, so when you talk about his liberal policies, is it the abortion issue that is the real cutting edge issue for you? other issues? because he was a tough prosecutor contrary to what the president said. >> and i think he's probably going to be tough on crime, from what i understand. that's not really my issue. my issue is more obamacare and

repealing that or replacing it or doing more than they've been able to do, especially in the senate. that's why it's such a struggle to not vote for roy moore, because doug jones is probably not going to vote for trump's policies. so that's what is so tough here, because i really want to go with the trump agenda, and i voted for trump for the economy and for better health care plans that are affordable. but these allegations surfaced and it concerned me because i felt like a lot of the women are credible and, you know, especially the 14 i-year-old. that's disturbing. we don't know if he's guilty or innocent, i understand that, but i mean to me it shows that there could be a trend with abuse of power because of what he did on

the supreme court as well, because he didn't uphold the law as he was elected to do. he stood for his principles, which i'm fine with that, and some of the same principles i share, but i don't think that's the way to do it. i don't think you use your office to make that stand unless you can change and make a difference. if you can change and make a difference, sure. but if there's nothing that's going to come about it and you end up getting suspended and not able to fulfill your seat, it's just a way of our vote and it's a waste of taxpayer dollars, and it's just a waste of the office. so i was going to overlook some of that to vote for him as the republican nominee, but when the allegations surfaced, it made me really think about what these women said and what he's done in the past, and i'm just concerned that this may be a person that thinks he's above the law. i hate to say it, because i've got a lot of friends that really

believe in him and his character and the good that he's done, as it stands so far. but i just have to disagree with them respectfully on this and we each have a vote cast and that's the way i'm going to cast it, is to write in. >> that represents one vote but it may not reflect a lot of pollsters. this has become impossible to predict. >> i talked to a lot of voters who were very similar to this woman here, and that same thing. the decision wasn't between jones or moore anymore, the decision was whether to vote for moore or not vote for moore, whether to show up and write in. i suspect many people who are not going to vote for moore or jones, not many people unless they just care about not missing an election, will show up and do a write-in. i think that's why it's been so

difficult. you don't know who is going to come to the polls. there may be people who normally vote in each election saying, i just can't do it on this one, because of what the woman just said to you, that it's about the agenda nationally. do you want to be complicit in that? that to me was always about -- the final weekend was about whether these chunk of republican voters who can't stomach moore were going to go to the polls or not. >> chuck, before i let you go, your take on the president versus kirsten gillenbrand. elijah cummings now saying the president owes her an apology and to take down his tweet. is this typical twitter or are we getting in dangerous

territory here between the president and democrats? >> we know the president is hypersensitive about these accusations, about his own past misconduct and the allegations against him about past misconduct. he's lashing out at anybody coming after him. i will make note, it is interesting to me that he went after senator gillenbrand calling on him to resign. she wasn't the first senator to do that, she just happens to be the first woman senator to do that. >> it was jeff merkley who was the first. >> merkley did it on my show. i didn't see him go after jeff merkley. i'm guessing there are a lot of people in the white house that wish he hadn't tweeted about this, but i do think the president is rattled by these allegations. he doesn't like to see these accusers showing up, and i don't think he appreciates right now how big this moment is. this is much bigger than clinton

v. trump 2016. >> exactly. chuck todd, thank you, gabe gutierrez, sam stein, laura payne and mr. hillyard. thank you, all. more than 50 congressional women members are calling for sexual misconduct allegations against the president. senator maisie hirono says this. >> he is a sexual predator and liar. the only thing that will stop him from attacking us because nobody is safe, is his resignation. >> congresswoman jackie speiers has been leading this charge. i want to show you a little tape we got in of roy moore today.

>> mr. moore, do you regret what you said about the jewish lawyer? >> i'm talking about the allegations. we're done with that. get back to the issues in this state. >> senator cory gardner said as soon as you get to the senate, he wants you expelled. what would you do? >> we'll take it up when we get to the senate. i think they should go out and vote. we have a tremendous turnout. the nation is watching this. we have international people from overseas, different nations here today. this is a very important day for our country, our state and for the future. >> are you prepared to face an ethics committee? >> we can take those problems up when we get to the senate when we win. >> judge, what do you say to

those who accuse you -- mrs. moore, what's the last month been like for you? >> well, you saw it. judge moore, kayla moore -- former judge, i should say, because he was twice taken down by the people of alabama, speaking of alabama voters, for what he did as a supreme court justice there. jackie speiers, sorry for that. >> that's all right. >> let's talk about election day and the calls for the president to now face allegations into his past. he would certainly argue that the. he would say it was all done in 2016 and can be dealt with. >> voters, if it was all done this year, would not elect donald trump as president of the united states. this is not a blip on a screen. this is a consequential movement

that women are standing up and saying loudly and clearly, we will not be treated as property, we are not going to allow for sexual harassment in the workplace, and i think the conduct that is unbefitting the president of the united states is something that we have the right to look at. >> the trump tweet against senator gillenbrand today was, quote, lightweight senator kirsten gillibrand, a total flunky for chuck schumer and someone who would come to my office begging for campaign contributions not so long ago and would do anything for them, is now in the ring fighting against trump. very disloyal to bill and crooked-used! should he take down that tweet? >> definitely he should take down that tweet, but he know he doesn't listen to counsel whatsoever. it's a cancer growing in the presidency that should be

alarming to all of us. no human being should talk to another human being in those terms in that manner, and the fact he's talking to twitter, he will do anything that is expedient to him at the moment. that is not the way to run a country and that is not what i believe the american people are looking for in a leader. >> elizabeth warren has responded with another tweet. she writes, are you really trying to bully, intimidate and slut-shame senator gillibrand? do you know who you're picking a fight with? good luck with that, donald trump. nevertheless, she persisted. the fight is on. the president is not taking on senator sanders, senator merkley or any of the men who have called on him to be investigated. he's gone right for the women. >> well, he has shown a

predilection for mysogeny in the past. the way he treats women, the way he talked about women on "access hollywood" suggests that he sees them as just toys, and those who he can play with and even torment, and i think that it's going to have a significant impact on his presidency, and kwonk i don't think he knows the thin ice he's operating under right now. >> i should just point out that peter king, obviously a republican from long island, new york, has also written that -- he's spoken out against this saying he had a good relationship with senator gillibrand. i think you'll begin to see bipartisan concern about this kind of rhetoric on twitter against a sitting u.s. senator. >> he has to be muzzled on

twitter. he doesn't realize what he's doing to foreign powers. he is embarrassing the country, and we all need to be speaking up about behavior that is unbefitting the president of the united states. >> jackie speier, thank you for taking time for us today. i really appreciate it. roy moore's wife make a last attempt to win over african-americans in alabama. did she push them farther away? you're watching msnbc.

ok, so with the award-winning geico mobile app, our customers have 24/7 access, digital id cards, they can even pay their bill- (beep) bill has joined the call. hey bill, we're just- phone: hi guys, bill here. do we have julia on the line too? 'k, well we'll just- phone: hey sorry. i had you muted. well yea let's just- phone: so what i was thinking- ok well we'll- phone: yeah- let's just go ahead- phone: oh alright- the award-winning geico app. download it today. but on the inside, i feel like chronic, widespread pain. fibromyalgia may be invisible to others, but my pain is real. fibromyalgia is thought to be caused by overactive nerves. lyrica is believed to calm these nerves.

i'm glad my doctor prescribed lyrica. for some, lyrica delivers effective relief for moderate to even severe fibromyalgia pain. and improves function. lyrica may cause serious allergic reactions, suicidal thoughts or actions. tell your doctor right away if you have these, new or worse depression, unusual changes in mood or behavior, swelling, trouble breathing, rash, hives, blisters, muscle pain with fever, tired feeling, or blurry vision. common side effects: dizziness, sleepiness, weight gain, swelling of hands, legs and feet. don't drink alcohol while taking lyrica. don't drive or use machinery until you know how lyrica affects you. those who've had a drug or alcohol problem may be more likely to misuse lyrica. with less pain, i can do more with my family. talk to your doctor today. see if lyrica can help.

welcome back. roy moore's wife kayla moore trying to defend her husband from accusations of anti-semitism and racism may have unwittingly made it a lot worse. >> fake news would also have you think that my husband doesn't support the black community. yet my husband appointed the very first black marshal to the alabama supreme court. we have many friends that are black and we also fellowship with them in our church and in our home. fake news would tell you we don't care for jews.

one of our attorneys is a jew. >> joining me now is joe lockett, alabama radio host and a republican. joe, thank you so much for being with us today. where do you think this race stands as you talk to voters and as your listeners call in? >> thanks for having me on the show. right now what we're looking at is when i listen to my listeners right now when they're calling in to the show, right now doug jones hasn't done a good job on the ground. voters aren't really into doug jones, so if doug jones doesn't take birmingham, alabama or huntsville, there is a good chance that roy moore may take the selection. >> and that really speaks to how he's reached out to the african-american community and how he's reached out to republicans who might be potential crossover voters. what is the impact of someone, for instance, like condoleezza

rice, an alabama native? i know from talking to her for years and in her book, she talked about how her father became republican because of the segregation stance of jim crow in alabama, and how she actually knew one of the children who was killed in the birmingham bombing in 1963. so for her to come out and say, i encourage you to take a stand for our core principles and for what is right, these critical times require us to come togeth together, but we must insist our representatives are deeply respectful of the values we hold dear. she didn't come out and say vote for doug jones, but that's what she's saying. >> when i read that, andrea, what i thought about was we do have to vote our values. i see there is a small push. any time anybody, a wife or anybody, gets on tv and says, i

have a black friend, that offe d offends me. if i haven't seen you in my schools with my kids, don't tell me what you have. my question to you is what have you done in our community? i think it's a day and a dollar short to try to claim this now. >> another thing that was really quite alarm to going tie lo ini people last week is that roy moore said back in september when he talked about making america great again. when asked what was so great about america back in the days of segregation and the rest, he said, i think it was great at the time when families were united. even though we had slavery, they cared for one another. it just seemed like a clueless defense of slavery. >> exactly. again, when you make statements like that and you come back and have your wife say the things she said on national tv, it's a disgrace to our community. even though i'm a republican,

and even though i would love to vote for roy moore, and i know a lot of people would, at this point in time we have to vote our values. is it more important for us to vote about the political parties or do the right thing for what's right for the people, andrea? >> so what are you going to do in terms of your vote? >> you know something? right now, andrea, i'm still up in the air, but i know i'm not voting for doug jones at this time right now. i don't know if i'm going to write in anyone for roy moore. i'll know in a couple hours when i go vote. >> all right. stay tuned. we'll be listening. thanks for being with us, joe lockett. coming up, doubling up. why president trump's legal team says a second special counsel should be appointed. that's next in our inside scoop. stay with us on "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc.

talk to your doctor, and call 844-214-2424.

replace the full value of your totaled new car. the guy says, "you picked the wrong insurance plan." no, i picked the wrong insurance company. with new car replacement™, we'll replace the full value of your car plus depreciation. liberty mutual insurance. ♪ ♪ i can do more to lower my a1c. because my body can still make its own insulin. and i take trulicity once a week to activate my body to release it, like it's supposed to. trulicity is not insulin. it comes in a once-weekly, truly easy-to-use pen. the pen where you don't have to see or handle a needle. and it works 24/7. trulicity is a once-weekly injectable medicine to improve blood sugar in adults with type 2 diabetes when used with diet and exercise. it should not be the first medicine to treat diabetes, or for people with type 1 diabetes or diabetic ketoacidosis. do not take trulicity if you have a personal or family history of medullary thyroid cancer, if you have multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2,

or if you're allergic to trulicity. stop trulicity and call your doctor right away if you have a lump or swelling in your neck, severe stomach pain, or symptoms like itching, rash, or trouble breathing. serious side effects may include pancreatitis. taking trulicity with a sulfonylurea or insulin increases your risk for low blood sugar. common side effects include nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, decreased appetite, and indigestion. some side effects can lead to dehydration, which may worsen kidney problems. to help lower my a1c i choose trulicity to activate my within. ask your doctor if once-weekly trulicity is right for you. ♪ ♪

the president's legal team is now calling for a second special counsel to investigate the justice department and the fbi in an escalating feud over the russian investigation. let's get the inside scoop from our all-women panel. nbc's national political reporter carol lee and ruth marcus, editor of the national post, and national correspondent of the "washington post." welcome, all. carol, first of all, a special legal counsel. this is because there are conflicts of interest. >> it's unclear, but the

president's legal team, his lawyer says this is not about robert mueller, but he's very much trying to thread the needle here, and he's walking right up to the line in terms of calling for this separate special counsel. we know that there are those in the president's orbit who want him to be tougher, his legal team to be tougher on the investigation, and there's been efforts to try to distract from the russia investigation, and this seems like just another way in which they're trying to do that. it's unclear how much republican support they're going to get from that. already we've seen senator orren hatch saying it's not necessary, but they're trying, in part to keep the president sort of calm as this picks up speed. >> of course, it's hard enough to keep separate lanes between the special investigations and the mueller investigation. what if you had the justice department supervising in whether or not jeff sessions would have to recuse himself from this one also as a campaign

official if this one is also into hillary clinton, the uranium investigation going back forever, as well as alleged conflicts of interest. ruth, can you drill down on the potential of conflicts of interest? is that serious if a senior justice department official is married to someone who worked for fusion gpx which helped produce the dossier? where does it all end? >> so trying to unpack it a little bit, let's remember that when mueller was first named as special counsel, people like newt gingrich, people who are now using quite astonishing words like corrupt to describe him, lauded him as the perfect choice. now, mueller hired a number of people to work for him who turn out to be hillary clinton donors and democratic donors. and, you know, take us back -- we'll take ourselves back to the ken starr days when there was a lot -- ken starr, the independent counsel who

investigated bill and hillary clinton and eventually whitewater, and when he was named there was a lot of curfuffle because he hired a lot of political allies and the clintons did not create bias on his part. they never called for a special counsel to investigate the independent counsel. that sounds a little wild to me. there is a little sauce for the gander here. i think these calls for special counsel are crazy. going back and reopening hillary clinton investigations also seems completely not necessary to me. at the same time, i wonder if bob mueller would have been wiser if he had a more eclectic and bipartisan group of prosecutors on his staff just to insulate himself. >> of course, we don't know who all the people are on his staff and how widespread that is. >> what we do know suggests a democratic tilt. if you look at the array of

elite lawyers from elite law schools, they tend to be democratic givers. the fear in the justice department is that officials are able to separate their personal points of view from the prosecutorial decisions that they make. >> of course, there's always been the assumption by the clinton people that the new york fbi was a hotbed of rudy giuliani accolites who had been there for years and years and were against her. the president clearly not happy about any of this, and nbc has been talking to people in the white house, getting pushback against an ap story saying the president was really angry with nikki haley for what she said on "face the nation" on sunday saying the women who accused the president, their voices needed to be heard. what our sources are telling us in the white house is that's not the case, that, in fact, he

called nikki haley on sunday and told her she did a good job. that's coming from white house officials. >> yeah, i mean, looking at what hailey -- haley said, it isn't particularly necessary except that she's separating herself from the straight party line. she's done that before and she's seen her way to criticize the president more directly than she did on sunday. still, it is remarkable that -- we don't actually know the answer on this, right? we do not know whether what she said was her own -- taking her own direction, preserving potential political capital for herself in the future, simply expressing her own opinion and feeling free to do so, or whether, you know, now that having said any of the above, she's, you know, somehow in the dock at the white house. we don't really know where that stands. i think it is clear that she

tries when she can to carve out some separate ground for herself. and being in new york and a little bit out of the fray helps her do that. >> also she really has been a hawk in many ways on iran, on north korea, supporting the president's policies, and at odds with rex tillerson. >> we've seen her be able -- sometimes she'll be a little tougher than you hear the white house being early on, particularly on russia. most of the times when she has challenged the president from new york, she's doing it on policy. she also, during charlottesville, had a comment where she conveyed her views to the president about how he responded and let him know where she stood. this gets into a different space that's more personal, and we all know that if the president takes anything to heart, it's things that are personal. so it's hard to imagine he wasn't a little bit upset, at

least the way her remarks have been covered. >> i think it was the kocoverag at least, as you point out. thank you, carol, ruth, ann. an update on the new york subway against 27-year-old ullah, an immigrant from bangladesh. he told investigators that he had been radicalized online and pledged allegiance to isis. posting on facebook, quote, trump, you failed to protect your nation. (burke) at farmers, we've seen almost everything

so we know how to cover almost anything. even a swing set standoff. and we covered it, july first, twenty-fifteen. talk to farmers. we know a thing or two because we've seen a thing or two. ♪ we are farmers. bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪

your body was made for better things than rheumatiod arthritis. before you and your rheumatologist move to another treatment, ask if xeljanz xr is right for you. xeljanz xr is a once-daily pill for adults with moderate to severe ra for whom methotrexate did not work well. it can reduce pain, swelling and further joint damage, even without methotrexate. xeljanz xr can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal infections, lymphoma and other cancers have happened. don't start xeljanz xr if you have an infection. tears in the stomach or intestines, low blood cell counts and higher liver tests and cholesterol levels have happened. your doctor should perform blood tests before you start and while taking xeljanz xr, and monitor certain liver tests. tell your doctor if you were in a region where fungal infections are common and if you have had tb, hepatitis b or c, or are prone to infections. xeljanz xr can reduce the symptoms of ra, even without methotrexate. ask your rheumatologist about xeljanz xr.

there's a special place in hell -- [ audience cheering ] -- for republicans who should know better. you know what they're doing. you know what they're doing. they're trying to shut up president trump and judge moore. they're trying to shut you up. >> former white house chief strategist steve bannon last night in alabama channeling ivanka trump before a crowd of roy moore supporters. that is of course what the president's daughter had said. joining me now is sara fagan, former senior aide to president george w. bush and former white house political director. and kathleen parker, syndicated "washington post" columnist. welcome both. sara, that was a direct challenge to ivanka trump, pretty, pretty brave? >> you know, steve bannon seems

to have no fear about his place in trump's heart. because going after the president's daughter is not ever a smart thing to do. but it -- more importantly, you know, he has this grandiose view of his role in the republican party and his takeover of the republican party -- >> yes, what has he ever delivered? >> exactly, when has he ever won? he basically said anybody who has worked in a former administration who now does not work for trump has a special place in hell. and, you know, it's a pretty bold statement. >> although tonight could be a major victory for him if he, with the president joining in fairly late in this. >> could be. you know, bannon though, what we're watching though is steve bannon having a great time, because he's always been sort of behind the camera literally in the case of the documentary he's made in the past. but now he is in front of the camera and just i think he doesn't want to put the microphone down. he doesn't have a great track

record.candidates he supported e not done well. will just be a whole nother set of circumstances. >> that's a good point, he's in love with his celebrity and that very rarely ends well for people. >> i wonder whether alabama is changing when you talk to people who have had experiences in their own lives. vaugh hillyard interviewed nathan mathess who is the father of a young woman who committed suicide over her gay identity and the way she was treated. this is what nathan mathis had to say. >> i was anti-gay myself. i said bad things to my daughter myself. which i regret. but i can't take back what happened to my daughter. but stuff like saying my daughter's a pervert, i'm sure that bothered her.

now, you know, judge moore not just said my daughter, he didn't call my daughter by name, he said all gay people are perverts, abominations. that's not true. we don't need a person like that representing us in washington. that's why i'm here. >> he was protesting, kathleen, against roy moore at a roy moore event. and interviewed by our vaugh hillyard. that's a deeply moving expression. >> that was heartbreaking. it was so real and -- >> raw, right? >> raw, yes. this man has obviously suffered for his own positions and been completely changed by the circumstances of his own life. it's so sad. but how effective. i hope people heard it. >> what chuck todd was talking about as we discussed at the top of the show, is this a battle for the heart and soul of the republican party, at least for the next election cycle? >> yes, i think it's one tenet of that. party has so many challenges. both parties do.

but the republicans, this is just one vestige of it in my mind. and republicans are in a lose-lose situation, you know, if roy moore wins, we lose. if he loses, we lose. and, you know, there's just nothing good that's going to come out of his election. and, you know, we'll see if he wins tonight. the polling's been all over the board. but, you know, i say that the republican party's better off if he loses. >> and, kathleen, have democrats taken on a stance that might reflect smart politics right now, capital punishment against al franken, whether or not proportional, you know, others are asking questions about what the rules of the game are, but they don't know that the next senator that might be affected, democratic senator, might come from a state with a republican governor. they might lose seats over this. they don't know what's going to happen in the next year before the midterms. >> it's true. it was risky, i think. very risky. i think the reason al franken

had to go was so that we could now -- they could now come out and say we insist that president trump be subjected to the same scrutiny. and you couldn't have done that as long as franken was in place. >> when was farenthold going to? the outrage in the piece in "the new york times" today, we don't discussed yet, but just insane. >> i think most of these folks are going to end up going because ultimately the pressure just becomes so great. the roomer in washington is of course there's a major news organization getting ready to put out that there are dozens of members of congress, both parties, who have these allegations, and there's a rot in both parties. there's a rot in the system. it's just going to get worse before there's a chance that things sort of get back to normal i think. >> and statehouses around the country, the legislative house, branches. we're going to have to leave it there for now. but this time tomorrow we'll know.

thank you so much, sara, it's good to see you, kathleen. that does it for this edition of andrea mitchell reports. craig melvin is up next. happy election day. >> happy election, my friend, good to see you. craig melvin at nbc headquarters in new york on a busy tuesday. a sexist smear. senator gillibrand firing back at the president, after president trump calls her a flunky who would do anything for campaign contributions. senator elizabeth warren backing up her colleague, taking it a step further even, accusing the president of trying to slut shame. also, judgment day. right now, polls are open in the alabama senate race. we're live on the ground with reporters and analysis. also, what the campaigns are watching for. the big names called in to win over voters. and a horse named sassy. on the offensive, president trump's lawyers want a new special counsel. why they think it's time to turn the spotlight on the fbi. we start with president trump. and