think we agree on this point. >> go ahead, david, i agreed with what you were saying earlier. >> david gergen, you think he may -- you're answering the affirmative on that? >> i'm answering the affirmative. i think we may persuade himself of things, as david axelrod said, that aren't true. but he persuades himself and states it categorically in various ways, that it does come across as being authentic, even though it's sort of like an alternative set of facts that other people don't share. >> but we should, anderson -- he's also blazed a trail for others. we see roy moore down in alabama, even as late as tonight, once again denying all of these charges from all of these women. and he's seen the path blazed by the president, because even though the president acknowledged his language back in the summer, he never acknowledged the acts themselves. and as david said, he threatened to sue these women. he never did sue the women who made the allegations. so, you know, in the midst of this really big moment in our culture about how men treat women, you know, the president is very much thrust back in

david gergen and former obama senior adviser, david axelrod. >> how concerned are you the president of the united states seems to be operating in a different reality when it comes to any number of topics? >> yeah, i am concerned, anderson, because i sat next to the oval office for a couple of years. i saw the kinds of issues that come across that devsk. if the person who sits there is delusional, that poses all kinds of very, very frightening scenarios. when you read particularly the things that he's saying in private, the denial of his own comments that were on tape, the rehashing of the discredited birther theory, going back to the votes in the election and the notion that he actually won the popular vote, these are delusional comments. it is very, very unsettling to think that the president of the united states would harbor them. >> david gergen, they're saying this is no different that all his words shape his own myths? >> it's such nonsense. listen, i don't think we know for certain. there could be other reasons behind this. this could be totally a diversion so we're not talking a

david gergen? >> oh, i'm sorry. i didn't understand. listen, what about the other two women? there are now six women who have come out here. come on, guys. you know, this is a question of class and being a gentleman. he ought to recognize, as so many people tried to tell him, that this is really hurting his party. its hurting his president and he can say, look, i didn't do this but for the sake of my friends and my party i'm stepping out of this. there's a simple way to solve this. >> we should look at what roy moore's job was today. his job today was to make the case to conservatives and people in alabama that he had an explanation. he did not. instead he chose to question the handwriting in the year book. he chose to threaten more lawsuits against reporters and he sent have anything else. he had to come up with an explanation, and all he has is more bluster. he dient do his job today. >> we've got to take a break. we'll talk to ed and everybody else. we'll continue this discussion. also the growing calls from republican senators for moore to step down. it's time for the sle

>> that's a point. >> david gergen and david axelrod, thank you. quick reminder david axelrod's guest on the ax files this weekend is -- hanks. is this just unusual i want to bring in the panel. is this just unusual presidential behavior or is this something to be concerned about? >> i mean, it's obviously something to be concerned about, but i don't know that it's any crazier than insisting that barack obama wasn't born in the united states. if you go back to his conspiracy theories, this is something he's done for a long time. >> which is something he's said to do, relitigate -- >> i think this is -- he has long had a sort of distorted reality. i think this idea that he sees things differently, that he can kind of change what happened. i don't know, i think this is kind of consistent with what he's been, and it seems a little extreme because he's the president of the united states and it's so dangerous it seems worse. but it does seem consistent with the person who was running for president, to me. >> kirsten, i think he's backsliding. he did com

presidents david gergen and christina. david, i want to start with you on the lavar ball issue. can you tell us about the time that ronald reagan or gerled ford the morning before thanksgiving engaged in a playground name calling brawl with the father of a college basketball player. >> i can't remember the day before thanksgiving or after thanksgiving or any other day in the presidencies which the president had a brawl like this. it is, you know, he just can't put it down. it's another, yet another look into his character and the narcissism that's there. he would be so much more into the country if just put this stuff down. psychologically he doesn't have the capacity to let it go. let the trivial go and focus on the big things. we are on the verge of a major tax reform in this country. where is he talking about that? what is he trying to do to educate us and to understand what is in this bill? >> that's a really good point. it's not just, christine will some will say this is trump being trump and accept him for who he is and he's not like anyone else. that may be true. what is

joining us now, david gergen. alice stewart, who also is a republican strategy, and symone sanders, who was bernie sanders's press secretary in 2016. thank you all for being here. david, the headline this morning on axios called it a tsunami. this was a wave. was it a tsunami? >> i think it comes about as close as you get to a tsunami in politics. yes, it was a wave and it overwhelm eed everything else. and it has changed the story line already. i think it sends a clear message, a thunderous message, if you like, to the republicans. they need a serious course correction in washington. that means the president's behavior, a lot of things he says, the crazy things he says and that sort of thing. but they also need to revisit health care and get deeper into the numbers that david chalian was pointing out. it was an important issue, but which way does it cut? do people want to keep obamacare or not? but i would tell you the democrats shouldn't be too complacent. what we saw was a loss last night for trumpism without tr

. >> i want to bring in cnn's senior political analyst, david gergen. sir, thanks for joining us. you've served as an advisor to four presidents, both republicans and democrats, and we're really seeing a division within the republican party here. many, including senator mike lee of utah, outright rescinding their endorsements of roy moore. others using this caveat that the white house has used, saying if these allegations are true, he should step down. what do you make of that? >> well, i make of it that there are great tensions within the republican party. i don't think this is just a moderate versus conservative split. mike lee is a strong conservative saying he should step down. mitt romney has already said that too. you know, he ought to step down without further investigations. i think the danger the republican party is running is that this whole idea of having -- if these allegations are true, for many people it's seen as a dodge, as a way not really to remove the pressure from him to give him a free pass, and that could damage the republican party. boris, it's worth pointin

. >> dana bash, david gergen, scott jennings. what happens now? is defiant, he won't step aside. can he be replaced by republicans? >> alabama republican party can remove him from being a candidate. can't be removed from the ballot at this point. absentee ballots have gone out and that is set in stone. if the alabama republican party decides to remove him, if anybody checks box for him, wouldn't be counted. it's really unclear if that's going to happen. particularly because roy moore is so incredibly defiant. you have to remember, you mentioned and showed that awkward moment of the senate majority leader being asked about this. roy moore told by mitch mcconnell or anybody else in washington we don't want to you come here if this is true means nothing. they didn't want him to come in the first place. controversial, as just saying, even after he won the republican primary. him being defiant is par for the course no matter what allegations. >> call came with the caveat, if it's true. allegations were 35 to 40 years ago, likely their word against his.

david gergen, let me start with you. >> does this change anything? ? >> well, my first reaction in reading this story was exactly what pompeo later said. what kind of organization this was that donald trump jr. was dancing with. i think this shows the skeleton of some kind of conspiracy. he's agreeing to play with them. at no point does he rebuff them or want to take part in their activities. it's just the opposite. david, let me start with one here wikileaks telling john jr. they have just released campaign e-mails. . they message him to say, this has just come out. and in that, he asks donald trump jr. to tweet the link to searchable clinton stories. there's many stories the press are missing. very little pickup by the dishonest media. incredible information provided by wikileaks. you have donald trump jr. getting this information, and donald trump himself sends that out. could that be a coincidence? >> no. i think we're seeing a pattern that includes conversations with the president. there's word coming in through donald jr., goes up the chain to th

now, david gergen, former adviser to four presidents.curity analyst and richard painter. thank you so much. ju this man is a legal u.s. resident. what would it mean if the president's adviser was part of a plot to remove anyone like that from the country? >> well it depend on the specifics of what flynn's behavior might have been and when it occurred. beforehand, he would have been national security adviser, he would be guilty of kidnapping, to pay to get someone out of the country. but "the wall street journal" story, it's unclear whether what they were talking about was an extradition or some influence that flynn would have used as national security adviser because remember, he's already been picked as national security adviser so once he's in, this would be a priority. on that point, i have to say flynn is his own worst enemy because on the day of the inauguration, of all the issues that the national security adviser has to deal with, he decided to write an editorial on this issue? of all the issues this country is confronting, making