every vote counts. >> michael j. has done a lot of good work on the camera and behind it and while overdue, we wish him congratulations. that does it for the beat. i'll see you back here tomorrow at 6:00 p.m. eastern. "hardball" starts now. not my fault. let's play "hardball." good evening. i'm chris matthews back in washington republicans are now a party in panic after a democratic david brought down a gop goliath in alabama. while president trump publicly

congratulate jones in alabama, but privately, the president has said i won alabama and i would have won alabama again. the report goes onto say he faulted his former chief strategist stephen bannon for selling him what one outside advisor described a bill of goodies. it also cited mitch mcconnell. that's a quote. here's what he told reporters yesterday. >> a lot of republicans feel differently. they're very happy with the way it turned out, but i would have -- as the leader of the party i would have liked to have the seat. i want to endorse the people that are running. >> how could that loss affect your agenda? >> i don't think it's going to affect it. i think we're doing a lot. >> inside the west wing jones' upset victory left some of

trump's advisers worried about the mid-term elections and the president's low popularity. meanwhile the website axiose writes that the democrats performance in alabama has republicans rattled. slowly but giving democrats an increasing shot at winning the house and senate in 2018. chairman perez echoed that sentiment earlier today. >> we're leading with our value. we've learned from our mistakes. and we're leading into the 2018 elections. i think we're going to win the senate and the house. >> well, doug jones' victory down in alabama sharpens the republican's already raiser thin majority montana senate. democrats will need just two seats in 2018 now to regain control of the chamber. exposed fishers in the gop that could spell disaster, writing, for republicans competing in the first mid-term elections of a

president that's unpopular was always going to be difficult. but that natural disadvantage is being exacerbated by the conflict between senate republicans and anti-establishment conservatives such as steve bannon. ashley, let's go to this story here. give us this story now in realtime. what is trump denying about the loss this week? >> well, the key thing he's denying is that he has any culpability in the loss. as you mentioned there's a number of people he's blamed, none of which are himself. so he's been frustrated with mitch mcconnell. in the run up to the race he felt mcconnell was too aggressively trying to push out moore. he's frustrated with his former chief strategist, steve bannon. he really only got in this race partially because bannon sort of assured him moore would win, and

the president like tuesday back a winner. that's the one thing he sort of this agree with, this is anyway a referendum on himself. >> is he a guy who's sigh saying we haven't lost while the people around him day to day in the office they don't agree? where does that stand? >> well, the people in the office do make one point that the president is also making, they sort of say, look, this isn't a referendum on him. they say endorsements of any sort or sort of overrated and don't matter that much. but i think among them there is a recognition there is a problem or concern. and i don't want to say a shake-up because that's too strong. but there's some talk they may beefing it up a little bit as they head into the mid-terms. >> has bannon had his pick on this? >> people i talked to both in

bannon's orbit and the president say that they imagine the president's anger will subside and the two -- look, we reported when bannon left the white house the two still talk on the phone. they may not be talking much this week, but we assume those phone calls will continue at some point. >> let's talk about the knives out in politics, and they should be out. somebody got to take the hit. no one's going to take responsibility for this, right? so who's going to get hit for it? >> well, the orphan is going to get hit for this one. because the president, bannon, the house, the senate leadership, all of them have a hand in creating the mess they're in right now. the president did the robo calls. this was his guy. he got out in front. the reality of it is you said that your agenda would be in trouble if this man did not win

this seat. and now you're saying our agenda will be just fine. the majority and others did not want to go down this road. they wanted to play their card with luther strange. had the president and bannon got behind them on that and understood the politics at the end of the day, luther strange -- >> was there a winning path there? could they have backed strange and beaten this guy? >> absolutely. it was evident they could have beaten him, because the number of republicans who walked away from this campaign. there was a whole lot of history when we got to -- >> who was walking away from him down there? >> you make the case. but the red hots weren't the only ones who were voting on tuesday. >> look who he did lose. he loss suburban educated voters, especially women. those are the ones who help give

trump a -- we know that mid-term elections especially in the house are a referendum on the president. >> i don't know if anybody knows the answer to this. i thought it was interesting that -- found a way around vote frg a guy who was really bad news, this guy roy moore and voting for a pro-choice democrat. she found a way just not voting. isn't that an explanation why the rural vote was down? >> so i don't necessarily know exactly why that vote was down. but i do think it proves several things we're concerneding. basically that the president has defied all the rules of political gravity by writing this populous, anti-establishment not political correct weigh in. you can sort of choose anyone and they can do the same thing.

and the truth is you simply can't. you actually have to be a pretty good candidate for a lot of these senate seats, these house seats, these governor races. they are not just going to overlook everything the way voters in many ways did with the president. >> i think being a senator is a big deal and people do set a standard. colorado senator kaori gardener charged with electing republicans to the senate in 2018 said alabama didn't raise any red flags. here he is with the cheer leading. >> i feel very optimistic about 2018. look at our agenda. we're going to pass tax cuts for the american people, creating jobs and opportunity for the american people. if you look at missouri for instance, look at the public pollings available in missouri. so this i am very excited about. but last night i think was about a candidate. it wasn't about an agenda. >> that's a walking flacking

machine. but that may be a hard sell with voters. a recent university poll shows that only 26% of the public approves of the gop tax plan compared to 55% who don't like it. susan, i don't think the republicans are in great shape right now. i can imagine of what happened tuesday night, they can pick up nevada, arizona, may pick up tennessee and not lose anyway. they can win the senate, not just the house. i think they will win the house. >> and if they pick up two seats, they were control. if they can keep the seats holded down. the problem for democrats is they have 26 seats up. ten of them are in states trump carried, five in states trump carried by double digits where democrats ought to have a hard time. that is the challenge for democrats. they need a really strong showing in the senate. not so much in the house. the house looks like it's increasingly within reach.

and that will be a different problem for president trump. >> she may resign after he retires, after getting it back, who knows. but why would somebody, one of these incumbent senators, why would they switch and less th enthusiastic about president trump now? >> that narrative is the reason why the party should be concerned. the hard truth is roy moore is not going to be the only candidate they're going to have to worry about. it's the residual. >> i think the trump act is wearing. i think his sell by date is starting to appear. i think when he went down and did a robo call for this guy, he jumped in this race at the last minute. as ashley said he had a choice,

he chose to jump in, didn't do good. one major sign of trouble is a sign of job approval. "the washington post" further reports that one advisor said trump on wednesday dismissed his poll results in alabama and nation wide-saying they were fake and instead talked about his accomplishments. i don't know what to say. where do we go from here? i mean it seems to me that trump had some magic as a no, a way voters in the suburbs could say no. i'm sick to death of hillary and the establishment democratic party, so i'm going to vote for this brand "x." and now i see these suburbs moving in virginia. i see the suburbs moving in alabama. the suburban vote, which is always the swing vote has swung already against trump. i think people -- somebody told me in israel they don't want to

vote not because they're right wing enough but because it's low brow. i'm beginning to think trump looks low brow. and the middle class person who moved to the suburbs to get ahead in life, think i don't think i'm with trump anymore. just based upon these votes. >> but in new jersey and virginia you see some of the same trends. >> what's the difference? >> i think roy moore is a pretty historically terrible candidate. >> because he preys on the young. i'm asking a serious question. is he cleaner than this guy? >> i don't think it's a question of being cleaner than one or the other. >> he is. >> well, he is. but i'm saying in terms of how voters look at it is the nature of actually preying on women.

>> but to go back to the political effect -- >> wait a minute, you lost me around the turn there. what are you saying? is trump better than roy moore sphthis is serious question here, my friend. >> in terms of what? >> sexual misconduct. >> no, it's both bad. it's a matter of degree. saying you can have any woman you want -- >> he said it on tape. >> but i also think it's what the country is trying to sort outright now, too. >> just to go back to the politics of it -- >> i'm talking about the politics in terms of picking somebody for president again that you made a mistake about the first time. it's very possible people say you know what, i didn't know about all this stuff. >> but that's 2020. we're talking about 2018. what you saw this year are not only reports of the republican coalition depressed, not turning out but democrats, look at the african-american turn out.

it was incredible. >> just thinking the democrats get a program together. their program right now is anti-trump. >> they're going to be running against roy moore in every state of the union next year, so they're going to have to have good candidates. >> running against donald trump. thank you, michael, susan page, thank you ashley as always. coming up donald trump still rejects all the evidence that russia meddled in the 2016 presidential election. "the washington post" reports president trump has never -- to do so that it happened. and if intelligence officials bring up russia, intelligence briefings go off the rails. >> one of the rising stars in alabama politics joins us. the city's youngest mayor in over a century, he joins us to talk about the big win tuesday night pie doug jones and what kind of senator he'll be. and omarosa strikes back. there's a story.

the newly dismissed white house advisor says she wasn't fired and says she observed a lot of things in the white house that med her unhappy and uncomfortable. there's a book being sold. finally let me finish tonight with trump watch, he won't like it. this is "hardball" where the action is.

republican frszman blake fair thaul has dropped his 2018 election bid. it was recently revealed that he used $84,000 in taxpayer money to settle a claim brought by his former communications director. she alleged among other things that pharynthaul had told one of his aides that he was having sexual fantasies about her. her lawsuit claimed he made inappropriate comments intended to gauge whether she was interested in a sexual relationship. he has denied those allegations. "the new york times" also reported this week that

pharynthaul runs a frat house on the hill where explicit conversations are routine and pick up lines are part of a daily life. pharynthaul apologized for running a decidedly unprofessional environment. the congressman was asked if he would resign prior to the 2018 election. we'll be right back. ♪ give ancestrydna, the only dna test that can trace your origins to over 150 ethnic regions- and open up a world of possibilities. ♪ save 30% for the holidays at ancestrydna.com ♪ ♪ work with ai that's been trained by experts in twenty different industries. the ibm cloud. the cloud for business. yours. the cloud for business. i am totally blind.

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welcome back to "hardball." given that former national security advisor michael flynn is now a witness for the prosecution, the russia probe is clearly bearing down on president trump. but the fact is even before this appointment of the special counsel the president consistently rejected the fact that russia waged a campaign to influence the 2016 election. now in a comprehensive report "the washington post" has spoken to 50 current and former u.s. officials who have painted a devastating picture how president trump is willfully ignoring rgsa's attack on our democracy. quote, there is an unspoken

understanding within the national security counsel that to even raise the matter is to acknowledge its validity which the president sees an affront. the president has an aversion to intelligence about russia, according to an official. if you talk about russia, meddling, interference, that takes the presidential daily briefing off the rails. we're also learning today the president spoke to putin today by phone. i'm joined now by the ranking democrat, adam schiff. just supposing trump knew he was doing something wrong, knew he was exposed during the campaign dealing with russian meddling from our side, it's not paranoid for him to worry about getting caught and hating the issue. >> well, that would be, of course, the simplest explanation. either he's just fundamentally insecure and can't stand any question of the legitimacy of his election win or he's concerned russia may expose

something or both. and it looks like putin is playing him like a fiddle. putin's comments right along the trump narrative, we never interfered in u.s. elections, why are they trying to discredit him, those talking points could not have been better written if they came from sarah huckabee sanders. what i found most shocking in the story -- and none of it was surprising -- is the comment that basically they have to write the president's daily brief in a way that doesn't upset the president, like he's a child. this is the commander in chief. this is the leader of the free world supposedly. and they can't tell him things about one of our strongest adversaries, russia, because it might upset him. what does that say about the state of our national security? >> well, it sounds like a third world dictator. "the washington post" details how the president appears to be defending the country that sought to undermine u.s.

sovereignty. trump has wage said his own campaign to discredit the case that russia poses any threat and he's retisted any attempt to hold russia or moskow to account. that's reason for him to truly be scared, isn't it? i think he'll either go to pardon people or more likely go to pardon room right now. >> he's got to be concerned because mueller has told us publicly he has a story to tell. he is now telling that story to bob mueller, flynn is telling that story. and more than that you've got manafort facing very serious charges. and should he ultimately plea and cooperate, that's the campaign manager. and we also see him not being able to get briefed by his briefings without him acting out, that the calls he was making to congress he say trying to shut town the investigation

are gaining traction. you can see that in the hearing where republicans were trying to shutdown mueller. we see that in a very worrying way in our investigation. the house majority is scheduling interviews with key witnesses out-of-state while we're in session so members cannot attend them. >> how does that hurt mueller's investigation? >> well, it hurts our investigation. and i think the strategy is they can't shutdown mueller before they shut us down. otherwise how can they explain congress's continued investigation. i think the game plan is shut us down. rather they're heeding the president's injunction or steve bannon's injunction, you need to bring these investigations to a halt. but we still have dozens of very pertinent witnesses to interview and very relevant documents to obtain. and people who have refused to cooperate need to be subpoenaed. and there's no way they can shut this down if they're serious about getting the truth. >> two questions. does mueller have his tax

returns? >> i don't know the answer. i think the way crow get to the tax returns is not by starting out with them. i think you get them by following the money. and if you learn that, for example, the russians were money laundering through the trump organization or guaranteeing loans for the trump corrosion and you would need thatax returns to determine is that true or is not true, then there's a basis for mueller to get them. >> does he need a court order? >> i don't believe he needs a court order to do that. >> a search warrant. but other question is jared kushner, who i assume knows. he seems to be the next one that would want to turn after you get past flynn. >> well, he has testified now obviously before our committee and before other committees as far as i can tell. and with the flynn plea we know

that he may very well be, just hasn't been confirmed, but it's been reported. he may be one of those senior officials that was in the know about what the russians were in the know how about. and among other questions is that inconsistent with what turns out -- >> i was it was jared and k.t. mcfarlen giving him orders before he went to see kislyak. >> this has been reported. given flynn's central role in the campaign and transition to this day, should he decide to cooperate, then there's no telling. >> get ready for the pardon, congressman. >> i hope not. >> i'm joined now by jill wine banks. jim, i guess this is wide open

jenalist question to you. what do you make of this, a commander in chief won't listen to his intelligence officer. and that's the cia and defense intelligence and all the rest of them. they have always been a the agents of the presidents, his personal information service. how does he serve as commander in chief and head of state without the knowledge of what's going on in the world and belief of that knowledge? >> it's very dangerous for him to be in a position where he isn't getting the full information, where people are afraid to tell him. and it reminds me during watergate when no one was willing to tell president nixon you can't do what you're doing. it's illegal, it's wrong, it's morally corrupt. it's against the law. and here we're in a situation where it's affecting foreign policy around the world. our relationship with our allies is being hurt with his lack of knowledge. so it's a very dangerous thing. and the second thing is it's

also circumstantial evidence about his involvement with russia. why is he so irate about hearing about russia? there has to be some reason, and the only thing i can think of is that it is in someway evidence of his past relationship. and that's the third thing, the danger to democracy if we don't find out how the russians hacked into our systems and interfered with our elections. we must stop it before our next election. >> let me go to john with the same question. it could be he knows it all already. he knows it all. he was part of it. i'm serious. >> yeah, he may think he knows it all, but he certainly doesn't. he may know what he and his people did. we've had presidents who have blown off intelligence before. i mean policy has made in so many ways personal relationships

and political choices and everything that you don't necessarily need to follow the intelligence that's given to you. it doesn't have oo drive your decision making. we used to have a saying in the cia that you can lead a policymaker to intelligence but you can't make him think. and so those people that are giving those daily briefs don't expect him to actually act on that information. but if we're getting to a point we are self-sensoring the information we give to the president because we're worried about his reaction rather than giving him the straight facts, we're in a very difficult place. i lived in a part of the world where they used a to have finlandization where people over time learned what they could do and not do and just started to self-sensor themselves. and if you get to that point where people around the president and around the white house are scared to bring up key issues in an important area for us, then we're in a difficult place. >> something that's confounded me since the beginning of this

campaign by trump -- i didn't vote for the guy, but there's three things i liked about trump. he said he's going to rebuild the country, rebuild the train stations, the air fields, rebuild the country in terms of just transportation. making everything up-to-date in the world. stop starting stupid wars. he started another one over intifada three. he was going to fence and try to end that worsening relationship. if that's behind all this, an attempt to end that worsening relationship, why he hiding it? that's the $64,000 question, we used to say. to jil, why do you think he's attempting to hide it? >> i don't think he's attempting to hide it. i think he's verbalizing it all the time. i y

and yet it is the wrong thing to do where it's interfering with an investigation. you said earlier lawrence, that sometimes the simplest explanation is correct. during watergate my trial partner would always say if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck sometimes it is a duck. ask i think we have to look at it that way, that the simplest explanation may be that something wuss going on between the president and russia that he can tolerate. or it's just his personality, that he's so paranoid he can't stand to admit possibly there was some help from the russians in being elected. >> well, it's not paranoia anymore because people are really coming for him. anyway, thank you jil wine banks. up next roy moore refuses to concede saying the battle wages on in alabama. we're going to talk about tuesday's big win with a rising star in politics. birmingham's young mayor randall

woodfin. and this is "hardball" where the action is. h hey! ♪ that's it? yeah. ♪ everybody two seconds! ♪ "dear sebastian, after careful consideration of your application, it is with great pleasure that we offer our congratulations on your acceptance..." through the tuition assistance program, every day mcdonald's helps more people go to college. it's part of our commitment to being america's best first job. ♪ but can also loweresterol, your body's natural coq10. qunol helps restore this heart-healthy nutrient with 3x better absorption. qunol has the #1 cardiologist recommended form of coq10 qunol, the better coq10.

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i'm melissa raber. here's what's happening. u.n. ambassador nikkei haley with a ballistic missile she says is proof violation of the iran nuclear deal. iran denies those claims. slooup held his annual press conference. the white house says president trump spoke with putin by phone and will release a statement later on tonight. back to "hardball."

welcome back to "hardball." roy moore still isn't considering defeat down in alabama. let's watch him. >> this has been a very close race, and we are awaiting certification by the secretary of state. imorality sweeps over our land. even our political process has been affected with baseless and false allegation which have become more relevant than the true issues which affect our country. the this election was tainted by over $50 million from outside groups who want to retain power in their own corrupt ideology. no longer is this about republican or democrat control. it's truly been said there's not a dimes worth of difference between them. it's about a washington establishment which will not listen to the cries of its citizenry, and the battle rages on. >> in response doug jones said today it's time to move on.

>> i understand the frustration a little bit. it is a close race, but it's time to move on. we feel very confident by the outcome of this race. >> i'm joined now by randall woodfin, 36 years of age. the youngest person to be elected mayor. the dimes worth of difference is george wallace's verbatim. what did you make of that? >> chris, i'm glad to be on. i think it's time to move past what happened tuesday as it relates to a so-called recount. doug jones is the clear winner, and i'm glad he will be the next u.s. senator of alabama. >> i'm looking at about three things that happened in your state, mayor. and one of them was lower than expected rural white turnout, a shift in the suburban white vote and most importantly a huge african-american vote for jones. in fact i think most of his votes were african-american

voters. so tell me what you know about all three. >> well, i will say this about the african-american vote. at a certain we have to look past only entertaining support from african-americans for the get out and vote effort. i think what doug jones did a good job of was persuasion as well. that if you want people to turn out for you you have to be in a space of persuasion and interacting with voters. as it relates to suburban alabama where we saw a lot of what are so-called defiant soccer moms, i believe they have doubters and allegations in place that made them choose someone other than roy moore. and i'm not surprised by the turnout of rural alabama. somewhere between 24 and 25 counties will always be blue and the remaining 40 plus will always be red. in this election was adjust just

a flawed candidate but in moore someone that didn't represent the best of alabama. whether you're in rural, suburban or urban alabama our volters saw doug jones was the clear and best choice. >> let's talk about the democratic sprint in the south. i think there's now two southern democratic senators. there's bill nelson in florida. florida's sort of a southern state, at least the northern part is. and you've got more from alabama, but the rest are republicans. >> i talk about this whole idea of the resistance of donald trump starts with municipal election. but for democrats as far as the far east, what are we doing ipprepping and starting the bench? i think that bench starts that the commission level and working our way up. making sure our candidates are viable, making sure we're messaging in a story standpoint

that we have candidates that our residents can believe in and trump this whole notion of blue and red and democrat and republican. >> it's all good. mayor randall woodfin of birmingham, alabama. up next, omarosa speaking out. she's denying reports that she was sacked, fired. and says she saw things at the white house that made her deeply uncomfortable.

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every critic, every detractor will have to bow down to president trump. it's everyone who's ever doubted donald, who ever disagreed, whoever challenged him. it is the ultimate revenge to become the most powerful man in the universe. >> wow, welcome back to "hardball."

that was omarosa maurigault newman. one of the president's advocates during the candidate. omarosa spent nearly a year as director of the communications office of public liaison focusing on black outreach to the community. according to several media reports the office she ran was barely functional. one source told "the new york times" it was a island of misfit toys. and other source told politico it was quote, a dumpster fireplace to work. newman denied she was fired but acknowledged there was tension. let's watch. >> there were a lot of things that i observed during the last year that i was very unhappy with, that i was very

uncomfortable with, things that i heard, i listened to. >> such as? >> i can't expand on it because i still have to go back and work with these individuals. but i have a story to tell as a seenter staff and assistant to the president, i have seen things that have made me uncomfortable, that have upset me, that has affected me deeply and emotionally and affected my community and my people. and it is a profound story that i know the world will want to hear. >> joined at the "hardball" raund table, jason johnson, politics editor and msnbc political contributor. thank you all. walt disney rather said rather brilliantly it's what you do not what you got. >> it sounds like she's already readying herself for a book deal. you can tell she's already

trying to tee herself up for a big tell all sort of medium. and essentially this is someone who has gotten in places of power. her coworkers really hatred her essentially and really saw her as a polarizing figure. >> what would be less effective in her office as public relliai. i'm being sarcastic. what did it do? >> she was supposed to be working on hbcu. >> how'd that line up? >> my sources told me she really do much of anything. >> did she establish an interplay with the president. >> there was a meeting at the house, but the president was trying to send them letters to come back, but they refused. they didn't see omarosa in

further their views in any shape or form. >> someone said this the other day, but why didn't trump make more of an effort with the black community. but even presidents like reagan that didn't get much of a black vote, didn't make the effort to show up at certain things because they knew it looked bad it you didn't. >> i don't think trump ever care. and getting omarosa to be your black outreach person is an indicator you didn't care. >> she's just show biz. >> she's just show biz. lots of people dbt like her because of the character she played on television. i interviewed several of the black cache members from "the apprentice." they all couldn't stand her. some people are saying i cannot believe i was skipped over by this person whose a long-term democrat. so when you add that up and bad public reputation, you can't pick omarosa if you're actually

trying to do outreach to the african-american people. it's like picking roy moore to do outreach to teachers or the lgbt community. >> there are others who said she didn't want other black people in that office, so she was blocking other black republicans from getting appointment. >> it sounds like he fired her, trump wouldn't see her when she went to appeal her case. >> well, trump as we know as maggie haberman of "the new york times" has schooled us in, does not like to fire people. when it actually comes to firing someone that has been in his mind loyal, he can't take it. >> so why didn't he save her? >> no, no, i think he was talked into it by john kelly according to the best reporting on it. john kelly indicated months ago

she was one of the trouble makers. he probably gave her a list of things she had to do. maybe she kept storming in the office or whatever. she broke the kelly rules and that was a threshold -- >> she was actively sending him articles and back channelling with trump even when kelly said don't do that. that bothered john kelly and when she took it to trump, that bothered trump. >> he didn't want her out there gossiping, and she didn't have a clear job. >> i hate to tell everybody including the president she's out there now and selling a book. up next some scoops we'll be talking about tomorrow. you're watching "hardball."

yesterday morning the "today" show picked my book "bobby kennedy: a raging spirit" as a top book of the year. here's hoda getting the use. >> nonfiction. >> where are we going? >> we're going with "bobby kennedy." >> chris matthews' book. >> yes. i'm fascinated by the kennedys, a lot of people are, i've read everything about the kennedys. he's my favorite though. bobby's my favorite. he embodies i think the ideal itch of that family. he's the best of what that family offered. this is a very interest mat portrait. >> often when you file like, i've read everything about the ken kennedys. do you learn more? >> you do, you see him from the

perspective of the brooding young soul, you really feel like you get to know him intimately. if you like the kennedys this is a great one, chris matthews is a great writer. >> they say i keep them sane every night. this book will raise your spirits. we'll be right back after this. this is a power plant. this is tim barckholtz. that's me! this is something he is researching at exxonmobil: using fuel cells to capture carbon emissions at power plants. this is the potential. reducing co2 emissions by up to 90%... while also producing more power. this could be big. energy lives here.

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♪ ...that you ever need the one and only cadillac escalade. come in for our season's best offers and drive out with the perfect 2017 cadillac escalade for you. get this low mileage lease from around $899 per month. ( ♪ ) we start with tell me something i don't know. >> foreign leaders have seized on president trump's term of "fake news" to crack down on foreign media. talking about russia, venezuela, syria. it's becoming a serious thing around the world. >> priorities usa and senate majority pac are bragging about the fact that they spent $1.5 million specifically focused on black turnout in alabama. it's not just about winning for doug jones, they're trying to encourage everybody else to say the democratic party is serious about minority turn its. >> voting anti could be as strong as voting for obama. >> everyone in the republican establishment is hoping steve

bannon has been killed off by the loss in alabama but he has not. >> is this freddy kruger stuff? >> he has trump's ear and he'll continue to. he's going to play a difficult role for them, complicating the deal on d.r.e.a.m.ers. republican donors believe if trump folds on this and gives amnesty, he will lose the base and that three to five republican senate seats could be in play. that might be a bannonism exaggeration. but he will playing a role and who's going to replace paul ryan as speaker. >> building the future of the republican party on hatred of immigrants. thank you. let me finish with "trump watch." i said he won't like it, you'll know why.

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"trump watch" thursday, december 14th, 2017. five years ago today, 20 children and six adults were shot and killed at sandy hook elementary school up in newtown, connecticut. since then, donald trump has been elected president. his position is that the more people that have guns, the less gun violence there will be. it's a street corner version i suppose of mutually assured destruction. here's what the president said after another mass shooting. >> if some of those wonderful people had guns strapped right here, right to their waist or right to their ankle, this son of a bitch comes out and starts shooting, and one of the people in that room happened to have it and goes boom, boom, you know what this that would have been a

beautiful, beautiful sight, folks. that would have been a beautiful, beautiful sight. >> there's a flaw in that loud argument. it assumes the good guys will be around to outgun the bad guys. that's the trump view how to bring law and order. this would require to have teachers trained in marksman ship, and handling a gun under pressure, being able to act instinctively and instantly when danger appears. then there's the broader question, are we safer in the streets, in stores, in movie theaters, on subways and restaurants and bars, with lots of people around carrying guns? maybe in certain cases that might be true. where the good guy or good woman has been trained. where they at least have passed background checks and are mentally stable enough to be trusted with a gun. but here's the rub. people like trump won't even meet that bare minimum requirement. they don't like background checks. and because they don't, their whole argument that the good guys will be there there to outnumber the bad guys doesn't work because they're not willing to find out who the good guys are, who the law-abiding and

mentally stable people are. mr. president, that defeats your argument. wouldn't it be great to think about gun violence honestly? that's "hardball" for now. thanks for being with us. "all in with chris hayes" starts right now. tonight on "all in" -- >> regulations, oh boy. >> more calls for trump to resign. paul ryan eyes the exits. and a tax bill suddenly in trouble. >> don't worry about it, little marco. >> the shock waves for republican in the wake of alabama. the president's daily briefings structured to avoid upsetting him with russia news. >> russia, this is fake news. the disturbing new reporting from "the washington post." plus the blake farenthold era is over. >> i allowed the stress of the job to manifest in angry outbursts. >> as the fcc guts net neutrality, my interview with the attorney general suing to stop it. when "all in" starts right now.