mitch mcconnell said this guy was going to destroy the party. and if, if there's a republican left who doesn't think mitch mcconnell's right, i don't know who that could be. >> i mean, steve bannon wanted to, as he has always done, wanted to stick it to mitch mcconnell and the republican party. that's what this was all about. i mean, look, steve bannon is a blow hard. the only thing he's ever won was clearly last year with donald trump, and he didn't even run that campaign. he was not the campaign manager, but he came in there with his toxic brand and tried to prove that he was something that he's not, which is i guess a deal maker or a deliverer or a real strategist. and right, what we saw is the emperor has no clothes, not that i want to see that, but it is indeed what is happening with steve bannon. >> we're going to have to take a break here. there's a pretty shocking exit poll result about president trump's approval rating in alabama, which we're going to have when we come back. we're going to have much more ahead about doug jones' stunning

but this also puts a loot t of pause in mitch mcconnell. many were expecting roy moore to win. now they have to take a step back, are we really going to be able to pass this tax bill that the majority of americans believe is bad for them. this gives breath into immigration reform so they can perhaps pass some piece even the d.r.e.a.m.ers. it makes sure that the democrats have more leverage and the republicans have to stay put. and if i were the president, he must be incredibly concerned about what the senate is going to look like by the end of 2018. and if i were members of the senate that are running, that supported roy moore, like ted cruz, when he was asked whether or not roy moore should be seated, and he said sure, why not, those are going to come back and hurt him in a texas primary. the fact today that the texas democratic party said they were going to contest every single seat is a demonstration that not only does the democratic party believe there is a wind in their sails but more importantly that the american people are paying att

it looks like, again, we keep coming back to the question about mitch mcconnell. we talked about this for a year. legislative master failed to ma health care bill and put all of the eggs into that basket, that's how he would solve the problem and that now seems to have gone away and feels a little bit like -- i'm sure he has tricks up his sleeve. i'm not any more convinced that mitch mcconnell always has a trick up his sleeve. maybe tomorrow will be chaos. >> you can take the tricks away. if you say it's impossible for mitch mcconnell to move on the corporate tax rate, he's willing to move anything on the bill. if he can't, then there is nothing he can do. i want to go to bruce on one thing about the joint tax committee report. it is actually a very optimistic report in my reading, bruce, about what the economic, the positive economic impact would be of the tax cuts that almost one full percentage point of growth. i want to identify for the audience, when an economic model does this, it has to make some assumptions and really micro economic assumptions about you,

mitch mcconnell did not backtrack at all. there's going to be an election in alabama. they tried everything they could do get the governor of lem alabama to move this election. today mcconnell vuz very clear, said what he said from the beginning, i suspect if roy moore gets to washington there's going to be an investigation in the senate ethics committee. if there a silver lining, these women are never going to get a court hearing in alabama, but they might get to tell their story under oath to the senate ethics committee. >> do you really think that's going to happen? >> yes, i do. >> everybody's saying once we gets to washington, that's it. republicans won't do anything about it. >> mitch mcconnell said -- i suspect he's going to have a problem with the ethics committee. they're investigating al franken already. >> cory gardner, and i'll say, if he wins, i'll go ahead and unseat him. clear message this guy does not belong in the senate. >> he has said he doesn't belong in the senate. >> follow that through with a commitment to action. if he wins he will support not on

you got comments from mitch mcconnell. a little difficult to interpret. if roy moore wins this next week, does the republican party treat him as an incumbent senator? he won the voters of alabama chose him. they faced the allegations down and this is what they concluded or does the republican party say we're going to try to make a stand here? >> it clearly is an open question. look, mitch mcconnell has been very strong on this. he said he should drop out. that much of the party has said he should drop out. you showed the check from jeff flake. i mean, people do not support him outside of the president and the rnc. there's not widespread support. but in our system of democracy, you just can't push somebody aside. there is a procedure in the senate, they could take -- after he's elected -- i suspect a lot of it will be how he handled his election. >> that's sort of the question. the cynical read on what mcconnell has been doing, look, you wanted him out of the race. we had a replacement candidate. now he's looking at maybe we'll kick it to the ethics commit

mitch mcconnell is not a popular man.going out there in districts to rally the troops for republican voters. >> he's not on the campaign 2018 circuit? >> no. he's in demand for raising funds and running the senate and doing things the senate that majority leader does. but there's a real question on what the republican party looks like. they will be targeted with roy moore all throughout 2018 and donald trump to an extent as well. is that the way the party looks? is it going to be about culture war trolling, being anti-immigration, being super tough on crime and the way that jeff sessions is, sort of in the 1980s view, is that what republicans look like, hating trade deals? this is new for the republican party. so they need to work out the civil war. it won't end in 2018 either. >> when you have that, when you have the steve bannons of the world fighting, caitlynn, when you have democrats doing well fund-raising right now, do mitch mcconnell and paul ryan have to get on the same page? if you watch the victory lap they did

senator mitch mcconnell is supposed to speak soon. connell: we prepare ad chart. there it is for you. the dow down as many as 350 points intraday with all the breaking news flynn related out of washington. trish: fought its way almost all the way back. connell: where we were, a lot of major gains for the week. good to be with you, again. i'm connell mcshane in for david asman. melissa: i'm melissa francis. this is "after the bell." here is what more we're covering during this totally insane hour ahead. the big washington bombshell, former national security advisor michael flynn pleading guilty lying to fbi. this as speculation builds other shoes may drop. abc reporting that flynn may testify against the president. senate majority leader mitch mcconnell says there are enough votes to pass tax reform when the senate finally votes. what did they put in the bill to get holdouts to change their mind to get to yes and what are they taking out? we'll cover this and more. among our guest this is hour, steve forbes, former defense attorney gregg jarrett, texas attorney gen

most responsible for accomplishments on the guess particular side it's not donald trump it's mitch mcconnell the senate majority leader who held with the exception of one issue health care, republicans together on every single aspect of what president tried to accomplish. tax cuts were passed because mcconnell held his conference together. all of the 12 circuit judges, a record for any first year of any american president because mitch mcconnell held his conference together. and he got 49 votes on health care, closer than anyone probably could have under those similar circumstances. so mitch mcconnell put the bow on this year and quite properly so. the president signed, without mcconnell who for very first time this last week the president actually praised on twitter because it has finally gotten through to him through many people inside and outside the white house, mr. president, forget what steve bannon says you can't get anything without mitch mcconnell. >> dickerson: stay can with congress you heard mike pence talk about infrastructure, welfare reform, given what major laid out also fact

when he ran and ted cruz when he ran and i think their jobs should not be to try to protect mitch mcconnell's but try to protect the republican majority. i think that's the conundrum that, you know, mcconnell and others face. i mean they campaign hard against kelli ward who pushed jeff flake out in arizona. what's wrong with trying to invite candidates to become elected officials who want to pass through the trump agenda and coalition agenda. that's the conundrum they face. if they're not going to accept the will of the voters around the country there will be a disconnect between senate leadership and the rest of the country. >> so, i think, kate, there is a difference between accepting the will of the voters and a senate republicans making a conscious decision not to embrace roy moore if he wins. i think it's an important distinction because it's an attempt for the republicans to try to save themselves. looks as though the establishment from the president down to the rnc and local republican party -- >> i think -- >> has embraced -- >> i think we're watching -- listen in. >> sorry. thank you

here's what bannon said about the senate. >> mitch mcconnell from day one, and this is what you've goto understand with flake and romney and mcconnell and the whole crowd, this is the scam. they don't mind giving up a seat to a democrat. you know why? they don't mind being the minority party. they don't mind being out of power. they don't. because here's the joke. they can make as much money on the way down as they made on the way up. right? they would just -- as long as they can control the apparatus, donald trump won in wisconsin and brought ron johnson across the finish line, he won in pennsylvania and brought toomey across the finish line, won in missouri and brought blunt across the finish line. he won in north carolina and brought burr across the finish line. mitch, you owe your job to donald j. trump. >> i'm back now with the panel. it's interesting, phil. the president by finally endorsing roy moore, it seems like giving coverage to the rnc to reverse themselves and other republicans. >> again, to the point that was made earlier, this isn't a huge surprise. president trump, the

i am so proud of paul ryan and mitch mcconnell. the chairman of the house ways and means committee and the other members, and the people on the finance committee, this was a landmark day and i can say that if we can keep going, we will get this country going like it has never been going before. i am grateful to be standing here with these rate leaders. -- these great leaders. i am grateful for the once they have had around the country. this is the greatest country in the world, are non--- bar none. we don't want to slip and it won't. as long as we have a congress like this are every member really cares and they care for the right reasons. god bless the united states of america. [applause] >> so many of us have been working on this issue for a long time and as a warmer chairman of the house ways and means committee, i have to tell you how so many men and women here have not for this moment. i want to echo what kevin brady said. i want to thank all of the staff for their hard work. i want to thank george from our staff who came to he

i'm sure senator leader mitch mcconnell was relieved to see susan collins come out.orted she went ahead and announced her support for the plan because both president trump and mitch mcconnell promised her votes on two different bills that would stabilize the obamacare markets. with their support for the bill as well as that from marco rubio and mike lee, this certainly puts the tax plan on more stable footing heading into this evenings's vote. >> it's hard to imagine almost a year, full year into president trump's time in office, this is going to be his first major legislative win, but is this really going to be a win for mitch mcconnell or will passing this tax reform be somewhat of a liability going into 2018 because the bill according to several polls is highly unpopular with the public. >> i think both president trump and mitch mcconnell are certainly hoping that members of the republican base look at this tax reform bill and say not only is it going to provide them with relief, and hopefully raise their incomes. it will also create jobs as they say, but this is

paul ryan, mitch mcconnell, thank you very much. orrin hatch, the chairman, made a beautiful speech the other day in front of the white house. absolutely brilliant, beautiful speech and we appreciate it and i appreciated it. hard working. kevin brady, i don't think he slept for months. it's almost like that's all he is it was this. mike enzi, senator enzi. diane black. rob portman. the group of rob portman, rob worked so hard, so knowledgeable on the subject. pat toomey, likewise, tim scott, likewise. john thune. these people worked so hard. i don't know if they're given the proper credit. the whole senate when i say the senate, unfortunately, the republicans in the senate, democrats don't like tax cuts. they want to raise your taxes. they don't want to lower your taxes. they want to raise your taxes and they want to spend money foolishly on things that we don't need in many cases. so we're cutting taxes, we're taking care of our military, and we're taking care of people and we're really doing the job. these folks have been so fanta

liz: we a way waiting senate majority leader mitch mcconnell. he is going to take to the senate floor momentarily. he could possibly give more clarity on the status of the tax bill this will have major impact on your wallet. we'll bring that it you live when it happens. >>> remember when president obama told russian officials after the election he would have more flexibility dealing with russia? my next guest making the case that michael flynn is no more guilty than our last president. he is attorney curt slicter. don't go away. ♪ [lance] monica, it is absolute chaos out here! gale force winds, accumulations up to 8 inches... ...don't know if you can hear me, but [monica] what's he doing? [lance] can we get a shot of this cold front, right here. winter has arrived. whooo! hahaha [vo] progress is an unstoppable force. brace yourself for the season of audi sales event. audi will cover your first month's lease payment on select models during the season of audi sales event. right in the heart of the was in his financial crisis, and saw his portfolio

molly: mitch mcconnell saying he wants to reach across the aisle in the new year in order to get somedone in 2018, especially since republicans only have that razor-thin majority in the senate. >> there's not much you can do on a partisan basis in the senate at 52-48 or at 51-49. [laughter] which will be the number for us next year. i don't think most of our democratic colleagues want to do nothing, and there are areas, i think, where we can get bipartisan agreement. molly: joining me now is alan smith, senior political reporter for business insider. thanks for joining me. >> thank you so much for having me on to. molly: we are going to look ahead at 2018. you just heard there mitch mcconnell talking about the potential for what he would like to get done, reaching across the aisle. and he talked about that very slim margin. could it be a more bipartisan year, essentially because the gop has no choice this. >> absolutely. look, the gop sort of exhausted all of the straight party line stuff it could do in 2017 whether it was by 52-51 vote majority, working on health care, tax reform or

this is a legacy item for mitch mcconnell and more immediately a political imperative. >> this was theonnell shepherded through a federal appeals court judge breaking the old record by three for first year of a presidency. in addition to the neil gorsuch confirmation, the most productive appointments to the federal bench in my memory, in my lifetime. no one has done that much this fast than mitch mcconnell. big laurel wreath. all those 1 hyundai denigrations of donald trump's first year out the window, right? >> look, i think tax reform is the linchpin. suddenly trump's first year looks very differently. >> it goes from desert to oasis. >>> still ahead, what we are reading that could help you with a christmas gift in two weeks. remember how the economic crash was supposed to be a wake up call for our government? people all across the country lost their savings, their pensions and their jobs. i'm tom steyer and it turned out that the system that had benefited people like me who are well off, was, in fact, stacked against everyone else. it's why i left my investment firm and resolved to

mitch mcconnell, paul ryan, the senate and the house, coming in to line with the president.could we imagine such a thing? unity and power full already -- powerful already in prospect seems to be the result? >> i think this is what we're seeing under leadership of president, republicans -- we always stand for putting more money in hands of american people. letting them spend it themselves, and companies decide how best to invest in hiring american workers. and so we're seeing that in action. have you that under leader ship of senator mcconnell, and speaker ryan. then, to president's desk, a great christmas for american families when president signs this in to law. lou: it is you talk about republican orthodoxy, that is actually, i think, been sort of exploded here. we are looking at a president who single-handedly brought back business to the country. who is jawboning those who take jobs away who driving relentlessly against legislation, we have never seen any republican president including ronald reagan, attack over regulation with the effect everiness and energy of this pre

our hope is mitch mcconnell will do the right thing. our hope is mitch mcconnell ball here with a side. help us. it is our hope michener, will realize what the tax bill, will be a dramatic, dramatic death knell for the republican party and 28 team. it is a loser. it is a loser the way it was written. it is a loser because it helps the wealthy and the special power in a separate poll shows the american people know it. so, i'm a republican colleague should stop before it too late and work with us on a bipartisan bill. not everyone will agree with the bipartisan bill. but we can get one done and if they benefit the country and the middle class, probably incidentally benefit the republican party, but they are making huge mistakes. and that is learning from them is they, republicans are barreling ahead in doubling down on process, policy, politics. pausing on this tax bill and going back to the drawing board is the right thing for republicans to do. i hope for the sake of this country they will look at the alabama election, hit the pause but

i think in a way mitch mcconnell is a loser. he will get a lot of blame from the conservatives and surgeons for this because he pushed luther strange. yes to thread the needle with 51 votes instead of 52. it will be tough. but let's look, steve bannon has lost, steve bannon brought roy more income a pushed roy moore and roy moore stumbled. he managed to lose alabama. another big loser are people who like the second amendment, people who don't like abortion, people who don't like amnesty. conservative voters have lost an important voice. this is not a good night. we got another one coming up in the year! >> shannon: [laughs] it's never over. as you all know and as the president tweeted tonight, it never ends because there is always another election. richard, walk us through your winners and losers with jones being the winner tonight. >> with jones the winter, i will add to my list. i think black voters were a big winner because they once again showed up for the democratic party in a major way. the other one is "the washington pos

mitch mcconnell. craig: heading into 2018 there is a better chance of republicans hanging onto the u.s. senate control. democrats have a decent shot to take over the house. mitch mcconnell has been the republican leader for many years. he had a rough year when they lost the obamacare vote. wins cure all ills. we are heading into the christmas holiday with that in the books and they get to take a victory lap and very well deserved. scarlet: craig gordon, thank you so much. storchup, jerry talks about the state of retail into 2018. interestingbe an conversation. this is bloomberg. ♪ is bloomberg. ♪ scarlet: it has been a year of advance for amazon and bad news for traditional retailers. well the same hold in 2018? storch spoke with bloomberg earlier this morning to discuss. jerry: amazon was a pioneering what you see in the stock price is forward-looking because they are not making money today. it is a belief that the 20% compound andill they will keep gobbling up more of the retail market. walmart was

i think in a way mitch mcconnell is a loser. he will get a lot of blame from the conservatives insurgents for this because he pushed luther strange. he has to thread the needle with 51 votes instead of 52. so it will be tough. but let's look, steve bannon has lost, steve bannon brought roy moore in, pushed roy moore and roy moore stumbled. he managed to lose alabama.. still trying to wrap my head about that. another big loser are people who like the second amendment, people who don't like abortion, people who don't like amnesty. conservative voters have lost an important voice. this is not a good night. we got another one coming up in a year!ig >> shannon: [laughs] it's never over. as you all know and as the president tweeted tonight, it never ends because there is always another election. richard, walk us through your winners and losers with jones being the winner tonight. >> with jones the winner, i will add to my list. i think black voters were a big winner because they once again showed up for the democratic party in a major

if you are mitch mcconnell, or allies of mitch mcconnell, you will say i told you so. we said luther strange should be the senator from alabama. luther strange would probably have gotten 60% or 70% of the vote last night. if you are steve bannon come you're saying why didn't roy moore?ack he didn't support our candidate. that is why he lost. host: the washington examiner said you could of gone with brooks and had a better chance that way. , there were some indications there were a lot of votes in -- write in northern alabama, brooks' districkt. t. it would not surprise me if a lot of people in huntsville voted for brooks as a write in. host: talking about the results election.ght's alabama, republican line. caller: i would like to make one comment. when our government is big enough to give us everything we want, it will be big enough to need.way everything we that is what happened to a lot of third world countries. a big government and the people of the country suffer. host: how does that relate the last night? caller: it is part of government control. the government w

i think in a way mitch mcconnell is a loser. he will get a lot of blame from the conservatives and surgeons for this because he pushed luther strange. yes to thread the needle with 51 votes instead of 52. it will be tough. but let's look, steve bannon has lost, steve bannon brought roy more income a pushed roy moore and roy moore stumbled. he managed to lose alabama. another big loser are people who like the second amendment, people who don't like abortion, people who don't like amnesty. conservative voters have lost an important voice. this is not a good night. we got another one coming up in the year! >> shannon: [laughs] it's never over. as you all know and as the president tweeted tonight, it never ends because there is always another election. richard, walk us through your winners and losers with jones being the winner tonight. >> with jones the winter, i will add to my list. i think black voters were a big winner because they once again showed up for the democratic party in a major way. the other one is "the washington pos

paul ryan, mitch mcconnell, think you very much. orrin hatch, the chairman, made a beautiful speech the other day in front of the white house, and absolutely brilliant and beautiful speech. i appreciated it. hard-working. kevin brady, i don't think he slept for months. that's all he did was this. black, robdiane portman, rob worked so hard. pat toomey likewise could tim . tim scott likewise. john thin likewise. these people worked so hard and i will think they are given the proper credit. when i say the whole senate, unfortunately the republicans in the senate, democrats don't like tax cuts. they want to raise your taxes. they don't want to lower your taxes. they want to raise your taxes and they want to spend money foolishly on things that we don't need in many cases. we are cutting taxes. we are taking care of her military -- our military and we are taking care of people. we are really doing a job on jobs. these folks have been so fantastic that i had to call them out and plenty of others, believe me. republicans in the house and

a far cry from what we're hearing from mitch mcconnell compared to that.abama this is final? if roy moore is there, voted in next week, he's there, the senator through 2020? >> yes. i think that's it. and all of that talk about expulsion, all of people in alabama oh, they're take care of it up there. they're saying alabama will be the jury in this and if alabama jurors decide that he is worthy of the seat, they won't pursue it further. i would say when he's in, he's in. >> look at this from the standpoint of democrats of doug jones, look to get even a competitive senate race in alabama, takes extraordinary circumstances for a democrat. it is at least competitive right now. what is the democrats' boast home last week of this campaign if they still pull it off somehow? >> they've got to stay motivated. which they are. i've never seen the democratic party this -- this excited about a race in a long time, but what he really has to do is, if he's going to really make it a race, motivate black voters to come out and vote, and that has been his weak spot. fairly

efforts in the senate to keep a majority and advance an agenda, and these two men, mitch mcconnell and steve bannon are the arch types in both sides of the republican party and it's a civil war that has been going on for a long time and when you hear the rhetoric that steve bannon offers as a rally like the one last night, that's what is driving that wedge even deeper. >> you have to think it resinates with some when you look at the latest poll numbers, they show 12% approval rating for congress, and 80% disapproval for congress, and that's much worse than the president. mike pence, his team maintaining he was in the dark on all the flynn stuff even though the court documents show that multiple people on the transition team that pence was running had more knowledge about flynn allegedly, so is this good for pence, protectively, illegally, is this bad because the guy running the transition, the vice president, was completely in the dark? >> one of the things that is a hallmark of the transition team, it was chaos and unprofessionalism. that's probably the lesser of the two things that p

he's going more in mitch mcconnell's direction. bannon has not let go of those ideas and believes he can push them and by defeating candidates like the ones mitch mcconnell endorses, ultimately they didn't even battle within the party. >> remember this. 1.5% race, credible flawed candidate, he still did fairly well. when you think about roy moore -- would be any candidate's opposition dream not only was he quoted as saying it, but there was videotape of him saying it. you really want to kill a candidate in his own words, just rolling his own words back to him. and so you had that. and then you had the sexual misconduct. remember, the last statewide election that roy moore ran in, he only won by 52%. >> one thing to address your point about boot strapping a lot of issues that bannon brought into this race, what this race ultimate ultimately came down was the believability of women that accused him of sexual misconduct. that is a problem for a president who is face his own accusations of sexual misconduct. forget about the president'

our hope is that mitch mcconnell will do the right thing.t mitch mcconnell will hear what the voters in the suburbs of alabama said. help us. it's our hope that mitch mcconnell will realize proceeding with this tax bill will be a dramatic, dramatic death nail for the republican party in 2018. >> the white house is down one former reality television star this morning. white house saying omarosa resigned her job as director of communications for the office of public liaison to pursue other opportunities, but a senior administration official confirms to nbc news omarosa was forced out. white house chief of staff john kelly was the one who made the decision. >> she even said to general kelly, does the president know. he said yes, he signed off on it. she said i want a call donald. and he said this is not like going to the principal's office. it's done. she decides from my sources to go to the white house to the residence. go to the residence of the white house where again, she does not have walk in privileges anymore. general kelly was called. a

so let's make sure we give credit to cory gardener and mit rommy and mitch mcconnell and many others who did treat him as toxic. but i do agree that the problems run very deep in this party. the movement, you know, eric haufner said every movement eventually becomes a business and finally a racket. and among too many interest groups it's become about money. >> the point on moore to me and you referenced this as mona did, even before the allegations this is person twice removed from the supreme court in the state of alabama by republicans. the other republican justices who sit on that body who say this guy is lawless and unfit. even before "the washington post" story, my feel is if you vote for roy moore, you'll vote for anyone. >> it is the problem. and it's basically if you have an "r" after your name, and in the case of roy moore he won the nomination, became the only republican allowed to be on the ballot with the votes of 8% of the population of the state. so that's part of our political system that allows people like that to ascend and become the only nominee of their party that

the pressure on senator mitch mcconnell to deliver fax reform

i think in a way mitch mcconnell is a loser. he will get a lot of blame from the conservatives insurgents for this because he pushed luther strange. he has to thread the needle with 51 votes instead of 52. it will be tough. but let's look, steve bannon has lost, steve bannon brought roy moore in, pushed roy moore and roy moore stumbled. he managed to lose alabama. another big loser are people who like the second amendment, people who don't like abortion, people who don't like amnesty. conservative voters have lost an important voice. this is not a good night. we got another one coming up in a year! >> shannon: [laughs]no it's never over. as you all know andea as the president tweeted tonight, it never ends because there is always another election.s richard, walk us through your winners and losers with jones being the winner tonight. >> with jones the winner, i will add to my list. i think black voters were a big winner because they once again showed up for the democratic party in a major way. the other one is "the washington pos

mitch, how about you start? [applause] sen. mcconnell: well let me just say, mr.dent, you made the case for the tax bill. this has been a year of -- ofvery accomplishment extraordinary accomplishment for the trump administration. [applause] sen. mcconnell: mr. president, thanks to your nominees, we have put 12 circuit court judges in place, the most since the circuit court system was established in 1891. you hold the record. [applause] sen. mcconnell: you have ended the overregulation of the american economy and that, coupled with what we did last night, and what the house finished this morning means america is going to start growing again. thank you, mr. president, for all you are doing. [applause] speaker ryan: first of all, what this represents is a promise that each and every one of us made to the american people. it is a promise that has been kept today. [applause] speaker ryan: something this big, generational, so profound could not have been done without exquisite presidential leadership. mr. president, thank you for getting us over the finish line. thank y

now we're seeing a full-fledged endorsement by the president, mitch mcconnell equivocate and silence from cory gardner and others regarding the roy moore situation. i would say republicans this morning woke up and i was one of them that woke up feeling disappointment. outrage for several weeks but disappointment that this is now the face of the party. donald trump endorsing roy moore. there are those like ed who cheered this endorsement that think it's the right thing. this is a family conversation within the party. i will say where i probably agree with ed, is if the people of alabama having all this information do popularly elect roy moore, he should be seated. now should he be subject to an ethics investigation? probably so. but we don't want a precedent where the united states senate determines whether or not to accept a popular vote of a senator from a state in the united states. >> let me play just because this has been a big part of the conversation right now, let me play what we're talking about in terms of a change over the weekend. mitch mcconnell, speaking on the weekend t

senator mitch mcconnell is supposed to speak soon. connell: we prepare ad chart.t is for you. the dow down as many as 350 points intraday with all the breaking news flynn related out of washington. trish: fought its way almost all the way back. connell: where we were, a lot of major gains for the week. good to be with you, again. i'm connell mcshane in for david asman. melissa: i'm melissa francis. this is "after the bell." here is what more we're covering during this totally insane hour ahead. the big washington bombshell,

you want to wage war with mitch mcconnell, wage war with mitch mcconnell, but don't blame him when yourandidate loses. it's sort of ridiculous. those two guys, mcconnell and ryan, knew if roy moore won this race, it would be a pyrrhic victory. democrats were in a no-lose situation here. they were either going to win the seat, or lose the seat and make every republican senator who is up, every republican challenger, every house member was going to be called a member of the party of predation, roy moore was going to be the poster child for the republican party in 2018. for mitch mcconnell and paul ryan, they've dodged that bullet, and almost certainly trump was wrong when he argued that roy moore would be a reliable vote for the republican agenda, or certainly the trump agenda. mcconnell doesn't have to deal with a wild card in the senate who he can't control. he doesn't have to deal with the ethics process of trying to get him out of the senate because of his alleged predation. and on top of that, he avoids the political albatross that moore would have been in 2018. so i see those guys -

he got high praise from mitch mcconnell, high praise from paul ryan.wasn't too happy about steve bannon. take a look at this. >> do you blame steve bannon for doug jones being elected in alabama? >> let me just say this. the political genius on display throwing away a seat in the reddest state in america is hard to ignore. >> you know, we could talk about people leaving the administration, but, bob, does anybody ever really leave? it's not like cory lewandowski is gone and never heard from again or stoeve bannon's influence has waned? >> and steve bannon still talks to the president. this is due to the frustration, the anger of the mcconnell camp in the republican party, the bannon wing of the republican part. what's interesting about the majority leader's comments is he goes after bannon from alabama. yet president trump himself also supported roy moore in alabama and campaigned in that effort, went down to pensacola, florida, at least, and endorsed roy moore in different ways. yet mcconnell directs his ire at bannon. that's because bannon is a threat

mitch mcconnell had something to lose, his post as republican leader in the senate. steve bannon doesn't have much to lose, he's on the outside now. him taking shots at mcconnell and funding candidates to run against establishment republicans, that's something that's going to be very difficult for the establishment republicans to stop unless they can cut off the spigot of funding to steve bannon, to cut off his ability to run a broadcast on sirius xm, cut off his ability to run breitbart news. this is a guy who has a lot of tools, he said when he got out of the white house he wanted his tools again. he's got them now. he's not backing down. his argument is roy moore would have won if mitch mcconnell and the senate republicans hadn't backed out at him. senate republicans would say roy moore, if he hadn't run, they would still have that seat. >> the candidates steve bannon may put forward, and the idea you can't suppress an idea or a movement if that's what does is. that's tougher to keep down. >> sure. the dynamics here are a little bit different, because the republica

mitch mcconnell is right.isten, if you're not a good candidate, then you don't get to make policy. to the earlier comment, all of the energy, all of the energy right now is in the left. the left cannot wait to vote in november of '18 and that left is a very multi-cultural issues. roy moore said god is in control. somebody said he didn't realize that tuesday night god was an african-american woman going into november of '18, republicans cannot hold a diverse constituency across the country. they're going to lose because of it. >> becoming a true i mean in politics, nothing motivates the base. kyle whitmire, ayesha moody and david jolly, thank you for joining all of us. president trump's feud with hillary clinton still going strong. we'll look at that straight ahead. this is "hardball" where the this is "hardball" where the action is. to activate my body 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 n

but that's more mitch mcconnell. going to although there are parts of what president trump done that we need to focus on -- for example, he has had an impact on the judicial system, at least. jonathan: absolutely. he has nominated and confirmed judges,cuit court appellate judges, than any other president in his first year. that's a real accomplishment, but it's in a competent he shares with mitch mcconnell, who kept those seats open during the obama years. why doesn't it work the other way around? did get done, i could, deregulation. that was on my watch so i should get credit for it? jonathan: he does. there's no question, something seven happened. anytime you have a new president , things happen. george w. bush, even aged of you bush republican president. one question you say, on what scale is the denominator? yes, there has been deregulation. but a lot of that is sort of automatic stuff that happens following a democratic administration. there has been some bloomberg reporting that a lot of the deregulation being

interesting about what mitch mcconnell could do if moore is elected. does the senate really have the power to unseat an elected representative of the state of alabama for actions that took place prior to his service in the senate? a lot of questions here to be looked at. yamiche: also, is it democratic? alabama had a week to consider, much like people had weeks to consider president trump's allegations. if they fill still want roy moore over doug jones, how do you tell alabama what's best for them? i think it's really touch but i think going back to moore's comments on slavery because to me it's remarkable that he actually valleysed that. i think for a lot of african-americans who heard make america great, they felt the president and a lot of his supporters were saying go back to this time when african-americans were in chains or in segregated schools. it seems remarkable that people are going to the polls to votes for him. robert: inside the white house, roy moore may win but it could be by a narrow marginal. they're looking at virginia and alabama, t

and as i said, long i had of schedule, paul ryan and mitch mcconnell thank you very much. orrin hatch, the chairman, made a beautiful speech the other day in front of the white house. an absolutely brilliant, beautiful speech and we appreciate it. hein brady, i don't think slept for months. it's like all he did was this. diane black, rob portman, the -- robf rob portman worked so hard. pat toomey, likewise. -- john thune,e likewise. the whole senate and when i say the whole senate, unfortunate, the republicans in the senate. democrats don't like tax cuts. raise youro taxes and they want to spend money foolishly on things we don't need in many cases. we are cutting taxes here and we are taking care of our military. we are taking care of our people. a really goodng job. these folks have been so fantastic that i had to call them out. and plenty of others. republicans in the house and republicans in the senate have been incredible. this is what we have got. we had it here and it was all set to go as soon as i got back from christmas where we were going to be working in florida