-- current bill, every republican senator is trying. of republican senators who voted yes on the skinny repeal, although they did not like it and were trying to give something to congress, this is a different thing, something a lot of republican senators are enthusiastic about. host: you often keep your own count for these important bills that come to the floor. how many babies are there right now? are thereed -- maybes right now? guest: i think maybe six or seven senators in play, and maybe three or four really in play. people like steve daines and ron johnson, it is hard for me to imagine in the end they will not the for a bill. they are negotiating. they want some very specific tweaks to a bill that amounts to $100 billion or so over a 10 year period, and affects trillions of dollars in tax revenue. there has got to be a way to get them to yes. they are not trying to get to know. -- no. you have people like susan collins absolutely in play, john mccain a wildcard, and bob corker and jeff flake, two senators not running for reelection

higher costs in the hospitals because of the fact that these people will become once again what republican senator chuck grass lee used to call free riders back in the years when republicans were for an individual mandate for the very reason that people had to take responsibility and get health care coverage. they were free riders because they were just going to e.r.'s or getting free health care. so this is the -- this is where the health care bill debate has gotten conflated with the tax debate. but it is -- it is an -- it affects cost of living and quality of life. robert: when you look at why they're intertwined, jeremy, you have to ask why, why are republicans moving on health care as well as moving on taxes? sit because the base wants it? you cover breitbart and the base so closely you interviewed steve bannon recently are they clamoring for what's happening on capitol hill? jeremy: not really. in the abstract people like the idea of a tax cut. but you see this poll that just came out the other day, 16% of americans think it will actually cut their taxes. that should fright ven every republi

they have 52 republican senators in tchamber. u have people like senator ron johnson and steve daines. their issues are, business entities that pay the taxes through the individual side. major cut in the rate as it currently stands. they say it doesn't go far enough. they're looking for changes. then you have what you could refer to as the deficit caucus. bob corker, jeff flake. individuals who are concerned how much this tax proposal will add to the deficit in the long-term. now guys, it goes further than that. senator susan collins of maine making clear there are problems. she wants the state and local tax deduction to be added in. compromise there for property taxes capped at $10,000. aides tell me that's probably where they might end up in the end. then of yours senator john mccain. senate leaders don't know where he stands on this. clearly a deficit hawk, but also, as always has concerns about the process. here's the bottom line. republican leaders need to move quickly and the things they need to do are kind of contradictory.

senator. he on friday the national republican party's senate campaign committee, which is called the nrsc, that's the part of the republican party that's supposed to elect and re-elect republican senators, the nrsc on friday ceased raising or spending any money for roy moore. beyond that organizational decision, though, the head of that group, the head of the nrsc, senator cory gardner, went one very practical step further today when he said if roy moore does win that election in alabama next month, the senate should vote to expel him. now, senators voting to expel one of their own, that has happened very rarely in the united states senate. there was one guy in the 1700s who got expelled for treason. then there were 14 other members of the senate who all got expelled in a big rush between 1861 and 1862. all 14 of them got thrown out for the same reason. they were all supporters of the confederacy which was quite literally waging war against the united states of america. so one guy for treason in the 1700s, 14 confederates. that's it in terms of expulsions from the senate. ib since the end of the

that would put them over the 51 plus hurdle that senate republicans need. here was mitch mcconnell earlier today. >> we're optimistic that inserting the individual mandate repeal would be helpful. that's obviously the view of the senate financial committee republicans as well. >> during the senate markup process, democrats were questioning what does this obamacare individual mandate have anything to do with the tax reform bill? keep in mind, it was the supreme court that ruled that the obamacare individual mandate could exist because it was viewed by the supreme court as a tax. however, with senate republicans putting this in their measure, the courtship of senate democrats could be over. here's chuck schumer. >> to take away people's healthcare and to raise their premiums to lower the top rate, which is what president trump suggested, is so against what the american people want. that again, they are just headed for failure. >> all right, neil. when you look at the schedule, house republicans, the house side, they're set to vote on their bill on thursday. th

what are republican senators saying, sunlen? >> reporter: they are calling this deeply disturbing and horrifying news and many calling on moore to step aside if these allegations hold up. that coming from the senate's top republican senate majority leader mitch mcconnell who says tonight in a statement if these allegations are true, he must step aside. but much stronger words here from senator john mccain who says, look, i don't need any proof. he calls the allegations disqualifying to roy moore. he says of moore, he should immediately step aside and allow the people of alabama to elect a candidate that they can be proud of you here's more from republican senators up here on capitol hill today. >> if they are true, he should step aside. >> it's very, very disturbing and i'll have more to say about it, i'm sure, after i learn more. >> i think our folks are looking into what the laws allow for in alabama in terms of replacing someone on the ballot but a lot of things would have to happen before that. >> that is pretty significant f

republican senate candidate roy moore campaign out swinging today against accusations of sexual misconduct with underaged girls decades ago. moore's running in a special election in alabama. republicans hold a slim majority, 52-48, in the senate. they can't afford to lose a seat. they seemed to have locked up until now. here's paula reid. >> we fully expect the people of alabama to see through this charade. >> reporter: at a campaign event in vestevia hills, alabama, republican senator roy moore said he will not abandon his campaign in the wake of allegations of sexual miscondu misconduct. >> we do not intend to let the democrats or the established republicans or anybody else behind this story stop this campaign. >> reporter: moore is running in a special election next month for the seat of former senator jeff sessions. it was supposed to be an easy win for the g.o.p., but new allegations have many of moore's supporters second guessing their endorsements. four women told "the washington post" that retired judge moore pursued them when they were teenagers and he was in his 30s. all four hav

can he win over republican senators enough to pass a big tax plan? ing done to get them on board? >> i'm just going to do my job. and i'm going to go forward. >> senator al franken contrite by moving forward. heading back to the senate this morning on the heels of groping allegations while another democrat accused of harassment is giving up a top job in the house. welcome back to "early start." i'm dave briggs. >> i'm christine romans. welcome back. last week in november. >> that's unbelievable to me. you have the christmas tree up. i'm pedro i'm proud of you. >> 30 minutes past the hour. who's running the consumer financial protection bureau this morning. is it president trump's choice, mulvaney? he was also the director of the office of management budget. or is it leandra english, the hand picked successor, an obama appointee. last night english filed a lawsuit. her suit argues the dodd-frank law entitled herb to the job. >> for context. here's what mulvaney said in 2014 about the agency. >> the place is a wonderful example of how a bureaucracy will

a very good position in terms of the meeting that we just had over at the capitol with the republican senators. it was outstanding. i think we have tremendous support. i was just informed by mitch that we had a unanimous vote from the republican side at least. we had a unanimous vote on the tax bill. and it goes now the next step and i think we're going to get it passed. i think it's going to pass and it's going to be very popular. it's going to have lots of adjustments before it ends, but the end result would be a very, very massive -- the largest in the history of our country, tax cut. and lots of good things are going to happen, including bringing back to our country of probably will end up being over $4 trillion. money offshore that is stagnant that companies and just not able to bring it back. so i think it's going to be a number over $4 trillion. corporate will be able to compete now against the world. if you look at china, if you look at so many other countries, you look at many of the countries, china's at 15%. they're lower than us. we're getting it down to a level that is either goin

republican agenda. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >>> senate republican brass looking to clear a big hurdle today. can leadership give certain senators what they want without losing support elsewhere? >> we have a representative in congress who they say was here a long time ago. they call her pocahontas. >> stunning remark from the president of the united states. in front of native american heros. racially insensitive crack once again creating a controversy that distraktss from his political agenda. >> and a real coup by a real news organization, an activist poses as a rape victim to strengthen the case for an accused child mol lesser. "the washington post" refuses to fall for the scam and turns the tables. good morning and welcome to "early start." still a head scratcher to me. remarkable. >> we are a long way from normal, my friend. it's dave briggs. it is tuesday, november 28, 5:00 a.m. in the east. we're live in this hour at the pope's trip to myanmar and in london with more on the royal engagement. don't you think the world needs a little love right now? it's a story i can't get enough of. f

sexual misconduct allegations against republican senate candidate roy moore rock the republican party. but moore calls them politically motivated, denying that he once abused a 14-year-old girl. >>> proposed abduction? a bombshell allegation that former white house national security adviser michael flynn was offered $15 million to abduct a muslim cleric living in the united states and turn him over to turkey. what's the special counsel learning? >>> pivotal handshake. as investigators probe his campaign's russia connections, president trump shakes hands with russia's vladimir putin at an economic summit. will they sit down and talk? >>> and clamping down. secretary of state rex tillerson says sanctions are working against north korea, but president trump is calling for more and slamming what he calls kim jong-un's twisted fantasies of nuclear blackmail. how will north korea's leader respond? >>> i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." >>> this is cnn breaking news. >>> breaking news. alabama republican senate candidate roy moore says the allegations of sexual misconduct agai

if you had 65 republican senators, go ahead.ahead and insult jeff flake if you're that kind of guy, but when you hear these reports of hr mcmaster calling donald trump an idiot, one of the examples you could give is that tweet about jeff flake. >> absolutely no question. and, of course, you have the other reality which is that he knows nothing about this bill. nothing about what's in it. one of the laugh moments in his prepared statement was when they get together, if they do, if he doesn't completely screw this up and have integrity with the senators, i'll be righted in middle of it. if you want to screw up a conference committee if they get there, the best way to do that is put donald trump in the middle of it. >> yeah. and that's one of the things, josh, you wonder with the congress will they just take, you know, what the senate passes and then just run it in identical form through the house because they krnt survive a conference committee. >> passing a tax cut bill through the senate it will almost certainly get to the presi

every living republican u.s. senator from missouri came out for him to step down. and he didn't do it. >> right. romney, nominee for president of the united states, leader of the republican party in the moment asked him to leave and he wouldn't do it. >> to be bipartisan. bill clinton, gennifer flowers stuff comes out. normally drop out. didn't do it. guess what? he hung on and won. >> so sara fagan, what happens here? it's obvious to me mcconnell's decided, i don't care if i lose the senate race. i no longer care. like he's treating it like a cancer? >> separate and aside from issues with roy moore and a host of issues, as kasie pointed out we're in a cultural moment and it is not okay ever to act inappropriately with a minor. and i'm glad these guys have stepped forward in a forceful way, because -- because if we believe a woman's account and if this, in fact, happened, absolutely, they should distance himself. if he wins because we don't think he'll drop out given his personality, they should do something to get him out of there caucus. >> there is folks defendin

senate race. here's the thing, though. back home in alabama, republicanve made no efforts to try to stop roy moore from winning the senate election. now nbc news can report that neither has the national republican party. nbc's vaughn hillyard has been in alabama reporting on the fallout there, he reports, citing two sources, that the national republican party still has 11 operatives on the ground in alabama tonight, trying to help roy moore win this senate election. so the republican party senate campaign arm has made a big show out of dropping him. lots of republican senators as individuals have made a big show out of dropping him. but not the rnc. the rnc has a joint fundraising agreement with the roy moore campaign, there's no indication they have removed themselves from that agreement. again, they've got 11 paid operatives on the ground in alabama tonight helping roy moore win. asked whether the rnc planned to change its operations on the ground in alabama, nbc news got no response. so what does this race look like on the ground in alabama, what are m

or any three republican senators, the democrats are not going to vote for it, any three republicans vote against this legislation, it winds up like repeal and replace obamacare. >> it does. it does. except that, ryan, you talked about the fact that it's about whether or not you want to support the president or not. for some of these senators who are retiring, it doesn't matter, but for most of them -- >> corker and flake, yeah. >> corker and flake, right. most of them, it's not about supporting the president, it's about their own hides and making sure that they signal to -- i mean, this is the big thing. it's about signaling to republicans who voted them in office that they know how to govern and they know how to keep their promises. if they can't get this done, it means they can't really get anything done and it's -- they believe it's lights out for the majority. >> dana is absolutely right. and i think that that is the motivation beyond all other things of trying to pass this. that said, this could be a rock and a hard place situation for republicans in that i think it is a very

the median house gets $1,182 tax cut. >> unlike the senate republicans' proposal which brings health care in by eliminating the obamacare mandate t house bill doesn't touch that. like the senate bill, the house bill would permanently slash the corporate tax rate and cut individual rates across the board. house minority leader nancy pelosi had a rally against the bill wednesday insisted the changes are aimed at the wealthy, not the poor and middle classes. >> the list of disgraceful cuts go on and on. why? to give tax breaks to the corporations in america. >> president trump, who will be on capitol hill talking with representatives today responded via twitter. why are democrats fighting massive tax cuts for the middle class. jobs. >> some have objected to deductions. that will hurt those in high tax states like new york and california. there don't appear to be enough republicans against the measure, though, to sink it. a vote on the senate's bill is expected after thanksgiving. the two chambers would need to reconcile the bill before sending them off to the president. president trump h

republican senators, republicans in washington trying to figure out what to say about their senate candidateed of pedophilia. >> they took the easy way out except for john mccain. john mccain was right to call on judge moore to resign or to drop out of the race, and, lawrence, you nailed it in your intro. there is only one option for republicans tonight. and that is to demand more answers. we are talking about a grown man who allegedly had sexual conduct or quasi sexual conduct with a child, a child. he called it fake news and create a binary choice of conservatives and mainstream media. he didn't answer any hard questions like does he know the woman? does he deny meeting her and picking her up and having that relationship? the american people demand those answers tonight and so does the republican party and i say that to my fellow republicans. judge roy moore answers us answers tonight and millions of americans are watching not just what judge moore does but the republican party does tonight and tomorrow and among the millions of americans are women and men who are reliving their own trauma

comes up with today, what several republican senators have already confirmed that the senate bill has the same structure as the house bill, and in at least one way, we'll know that it's worse for middle-class families than the house bill, because the house bill would reduce the value of stloal deductions by 70% while the senate bill eliminates it entirely. my friend from ohio, senator portman, confirmed that a few days ago on fox business. so this should be a three-alarm fire for every house republican in california, new york, new jersey, virginia, washington, illinois, colorado, minnesota. senate republicans are telling house republicans there will be no compromise on state and local deductibility. it's full repeal for bust, because senate republicans need the revenue raised by ending this popular middle-class deduction. there are several deficit hawks in the senate. we have stricter budget rules for reconciliation. if the senate tax plan includes cuts to the corporate rate, the pass-through rate and on upper tax brackets which dramatically increase the defic

the republican nominee for the alabama senate seat. the washington post reports he initiated sexual contact with a 14-year-old girl when he was 32. and three other women gave similar accounts. moore denies the allegations, but republican lawmakers say if they're true, he must step aside. >>> planned disagreement. a controversial house republican tax plan makes it through committee as senate republicans unveil a tax plan of their own. will the two chambers be able to resolve their differences and send a bill to the president? >>> and alternate universe. after president trump taunts kim jong-un's regime and criticizes life in north korea. we're getting exclusive reaction from inside north korea where people tell cnn that life there is great. i'm wolf blitzer, you're in the situation room. >>> this is cnn breaking news. >> we're following multiple breaking news stories. president trump's former security chief has told congress that he rejected a russian offer to send five women to donald trump's moscow hotel room. the incident occurred in

this is a key race because losing here would endangered the republicans the majority in the senate. were getting ready to welcome the republican candidate for senate without further ado let's give judge roy moore a warm air fart that you well know. you've probably already heard of roy moore because of a scandal that's overshadowed his camp. in november news broke of multiple allegations of sexual misconduct with teenage girls when he was in his thirty's allegations he's denied but even before that more was a highly controversial candidate assy got a thumbs up from the president saw guess something in her i think you came to hear him speak in late october when he was addressing the alabama federation of republican women. there's a big battle going on in the republican party. we've forgotten where we've come from. and what we are down. here a few headlines this morning post jim flake out roy morion heaven help us. well i hope heaven doesn't. more is a staunch of vangelis and throughout his career as a state judge he stirred controversy by trying to inject religion into his courtroom th

comes up with today, what several republican senators have already confirmed that the senate bill has the same structure as the house bill, and in at least one way, we'll know that it's worse for middle-class families than the house bill, because the house bill would reduce the value of stloal deductions by 70% while the senate bill eliminates it entirely. my friend from ohio, senator portman, confirmed that a few days ago on fox business. so this should be a three-alarm fire for every house republican in california, new york, new jersey, virginia, washington, illinois, colorado, minnesota. senate republicans are telling house republicans there will be no compromise on state and local deductibility. it's full repeal for bust, because senate republicans need the revenue raised by ending this popular middle-class deduction. there are several deficit hawks in the senate. we have stricter budget rules for reconciliation. if the senate tax plan includes cuts to the corporate rate, the pass-through rate and on upper tax brackets which dramatically increase the defic

and there certainly are a handful of other republican senators with their own concerns. they want changes made. this is something that senate majority leader mitch mcconnell addressed earlier today. he can only afford to lose two republican senators and he described it as something of a rubik's cube. the idea that if you appeal some senators to bring them in, you risk alienating some others. hearst what he had to say. >> it's a challenging exercise. think of sitting there with a rubik's cube, trying to get to 50, and we do have a few members who have concerns. and we're trying to address them. and we know we will not be able to go forward until we get 50 people satisfied and that's what we're working on. >> so mcconnell there talking about this constant battle, that no doubt he will be facing not only in the hours ahead, the days ahead, the republicans will plan on pushing this through very quickly. they will still intend to have a vote on this bill some time this week, but considerable work ahead to get the republicans onboard. >> yep, certainly is. sunlen, thanks very m

but, of course, that is the caveat that is what we're hearing from many republican senators, that if these allegations are true, he should drop out. here's more of that message coming from senate republicans yesterday. >> it's a devastating, nasty story. if the revelations, if that's true, i don't believe there would be any place for him in the u.s. senate. >> allegations, if true, to me, means he needs to step aside. >> if they're true he should step aside. >> and senator ted cruz, who is one of the very few senators who actually endorsed judge moore in his race, he came out with a statement late last fight saying, quote, these are serious and troubling allegations, if they are true judge moore should immediately withdraw. however we these to know the truth and judge moore has the right to respond to these accusations. but some stronger words from senator john mccain, one of the very few republicans up here who said i don't need any more proof from these allegations and "the washington post" story, he says that these allegations are disqualifying to judge moore and that he should imm

. >> two republican senators are now unequivocally speaking out against roy moore. today you have the senate majority leader mitch mcconnell and senator susan collins calling for roy moore to drop out. leader mcconnell says he believes the woman accusing moore of sex abuse when she was at the age of 14. mcconnell is also siding with the three other women who say moore pursued them when they were teenagers and he was in his 30s. [ inaudible question ] >> i do. i think he should step aside. >> do you believe these allegations to be true? >> believe the women, yes. >> so as we just mentioned, senator susan collins from maine is also tweeting about this and let me read this for you. she tweeted i have now read mr. moore's statement and listened to his radio interview in which he denies the charges. i did not find his denials to be convincing and believe that he should withdraw from the senate race in alabama. but roy moore is now in day four of flat-out denying any of his allegations and he is threatening to sue the washington post for publishing the bombshell report jus

senate republicans raising the stakes on tax reform by reviving the health care fight. the senate gop tax plan now includes the repeal of the obamacare individual mandate. that's the requirement that individuals get health insurance or pay a penalty. republican supporters in both the senate and house agree on the need to get rid of it. >> so obviously, we're in favor of repealing the individual mandate but didn't want to needlessly complicate the passage of tax reform. we want to see the senate go first and see if they can get that done and then we'll discuss whether it's included at the end. >> you have pretty strong agreement among republicans we don't like the individual mandate. it's a tax directly on people that can afford it the least. in my state, 81% of the people that say the individual tax make less than $50,000 a year. this was a tax intended to push people to buy the product but landed on people that can afford it the least. it doesn't take away subsidies. individuals can still get full subsidies. we remove the tax penalty for people that can't afford it. >>

alleging sexual misconduct on the part of alabama republican senate special election candidate, roy moore. key republicans say moore should step aside so he doesn't bring down the party. so far moore denies the report and refuses to drop out. >> these attacks are completely false and untrue. >> dickerson: we'll talk to south carolina republican senator tim scott and vermont senator bernie sanders plus treasure secretary steve mnuchin and we'll ask a group of new hampshire trump voters if the president is meeting their expectations. >> step it up. >> i still like him. dickerson: we'll have plenty of analysis on all the news all coming up on "face the nation." good morning, welcome to face the make i'm john dickerson. we have a lot to cover both at home and abroad. we begin with cbs foreign affairs correspondent margaret brennan who is traveling with the president, she joins us from hanoi, vietnam. >> good morning. as the president nears the end of the most extensive visit to asia by any president more than 25 years, his relationship with vladimir pout tin again taking center stage of a mat

amanda carpenter, just this last hour the head of the republican senate campaign committee corey gardner, senator from colorado, said he wants roy moore to drop out. if he doesn't, then the senate should vote to expel moore if he's elected. there have only been 15 expulsions in senate history and 14 of them were because of confederate support during the civil war. so this would be really, really unique in and history-making. >> yeah, the dam is breaking on roy moore and i think a lot of republicans are trying to give him space to explain himself last week. the line was, well, if these allegations are true. well, he had a disastrous interview on sean hannity's radio program where he essentially said i don't recall. if i asked young girls, i asked permission of the mother. it's been downhill from there. no one can watch that press conference from earlier today and take roy moore's word over the word of that woman now. so the dam is breaking. i don't know if we'll see an expulsion. i think there are better options. lugtser strange, who is the sitting republican senator, could resign his sea

he supports roy moore to be the next republican senator from alabama. are you comfortable with that? >> first off, i believe that roy moore should step aside. that's my personal opinion. i've been outspoken on that front. as far as senator mcconnell goes, right now he's working on trying to get a tax bill passed in his chamber. there's a lot on the plate for congress. getting a tax bill done is part of it. there's the debate with regards to debt limit, government funding, daca, flood insurance reauthorization, faa reauthorization. the list goes on. so i think what really should be deciding whether it's now or any point in the future who's going to be leading the chambers, it's going to be based off of the ability to deliver on these challenges that are ahead and that should be the determining factor because when i'm elected to go to washington, i'm there to represent the first congressional district of new york, my home state, my country. if you're elected to lead an entire chamber, that's a great privilege, a great honor. it certainly comes with a big t

people in our communities and the new york state overall. >> despite the opposition currently by republican senators, the white house is confident they will get tax reform passed. after being so snake bit on obamacare in the senate, if the president gets tax reform through the house but fails in the senate again, he's not going to be very happy about it. rick? >> john, thanks very much. we've been given a two-minute warning on the press briefing. meantime, let's bring in chris wallace. chris, lots to talk about today. let's start with that tax plan. a big victory apparently for the house. what happens next? >> well, it does go to the senate. as john just reported, one republican senator ron johnson of wisconsin has already said that he's going to oppose it unless there's changes. there's four or five or six other republican senators that are all going to hold up and demand something. sounds like obamacare. i better get my plug in quickly before sarah huckabee sanders comes on. we're going to have an exclusive interview with the treasury secretary steve mnuchin. we'll talk to him about that and what

jeff flake, republican senator from arizona, tweeted this morning come on, republicans. is this who we are? this cannot be who we are. again, you've run races down in alabama right now. do you think this will have an impact? >> i absolutely do think it will have an impact. but if you look at polling, judge roy moore in most polling is already at 51% with 9% undecided. so he's already pushed past that threshold. but i think while i couldn't disagree more with that tweet that you just read, not the flake tweet but the tweet before that, it does underscore how strong partisanship is in alabama. i mean alabama is one of those states, john, where you actually have a box you can check where you say i just want to vote straight party all the way down. and over 50% of the electorate votes that way. so i think partisanship is going to play a strong role. but look, let me be clear. if these allegations or accusations, however you want to frame them, do turn out to be true upon further investigation and roy moore is a u.s. senator, he needs to be run out of town so fast it will mak

just for example, he really had an intense conversation with senator ron johnson of wisconsin inside the republican lunch today. he was up on capitol hill. and they went kind of back and forth about senator johnson's concerns that small businesses aren't going to get enough of a tax break. at the end of the day, senator johnson was one of those who voted to at least keep the process moving forward, voted yes in the budget committee. we're told that president trump met sort of in a sidebar meeting with susan collins and talked about her concerns. again, those are two people who have not seen eye to eye on just about anything. so in the short term, it looks as though today was a good day for the president, doing what he promised to do, but we should also keep in mind this is just among republicans. democrats aren't involved in this process. >> dana, correct me if i'm wrong, but didn't they do this last time, at least vote to get it to move so that they could at least discuss it? remember with one of the obamacare things -- >> yeah. oh, sure. yes. i mean this is just a step in the process. >> right. o

house republicans passed a sweeping tax bill while senate republicans continue to work on their proposal, but there are critical differences between the two tax plans that could prove hard to reconcile. >>> and targeting the pope. isis appears to use the image of it's the joyous executioner jihadi john in a new christmas threat against the vatican. are terrorists planning a holiday vehicle attack right on the heart of the roman catholic church? i'm wolf blitzer with you're in the situation room. >>> this is cnn breaking news. radio host says al franken of minnesota forcibly kissed her and groped her while they were on a uso tour together back in 2006. frank season apologizing, but says he doesn't remember the encounter that way. he may now face a full scale ethics investigation in the senate. >>> new denials by roy moore accused by multiple women of inappropriately pursuing them when they were teenagers and sexual assaulting one of them. president trump still has not joined the chorus of republicans calling for moore to drop out of the race. the white house says the president thinks the

of the voters. >> woodruff: exactly. >> there is a process for it and the reason that these republican senators even con tell plating this is because this isn't just about alabama. this isn't just about 2017. this is about 2018 and 2020. and if they were to have eye fellow senator who is accused of these very serious things serving side-by-side with them, it would become a campaign issue in every single campaign. >> woodruff: so it may be, it may be that he flies, is acceptable in alabama, amy, but their concern is about what this looks like for the rest of the country. >> absolutely. i think you are already going to see that democrats are going to try to attach republican candidates and republican incumbents to roy moore. they're already asking incum dents and candidates to km out publicly and say what their opinion is of roy moore. and so he will become in many ways sort of a poster child for the republican party, that is if you are republicans you are worried that you are going to see this person and what he has done in campaign ads all through 2018, even if you have come out and said i woul

republican senator corey gardner who runs the republican senate campaign committee in the business of electing republican senators today said this. i believe the individuals speaking out against roy moore spoke with courage and truth, proving he is unfit to serve in the united states senate and he should not run for office. if he refuses to withdraw and wins the senate should vote to expel him because he does not meet the ethical and moral requirements of the united states senate. the president of the united states, a self-confessing sexual assaulter, has said nothing today about roy moore. nothing about the latest accuser of roy moore. an accuser who claims he sexually assaulted her in his car. today, beverly young nelson tried to remove any suggestion of political partisanship from her accusation and she did it in language that no one will appreciate more than donald trump. >> my husband and i supported donald trump for president. this has nothing whatsoever to do with the republicans or the democrats. it has everything to do with mr. moore's sexual assault when i was a teenager. >>

we had a phenomenal meeting with the republican senators. it was very special, that meeting. it was very, very special. camaraderie. it was somewhat of a love fest. they want to see it happen knowledge for the republican party, but they want to see it happen for the country because they know how important it is. to compete and win. with that, i understand you want to say a few words. i will ask mitch mcconnell. >> i think it is regrettable our democratic colleagues chose not to join us today. congress have to pass the bill and the president signed the bill. that means congress on the white house always negotiate legislation. we have important work to do. we have deadlines to meet. we have a military in need of our supports. that needs to happen now. i think it is regrettable that are democratic colleagues in leadership chose not to participate because we have to negotiate these bills to get this work done so the people we represent -- and to help our difficultith these situation. i hope our friends and leadership on the other side of the aisle can choose to participate so we g

the president went up to capitol hill to sort of rally republicans. senate republicans are behind this. it does not appear they have gotten to that number 50 but no matter what the president said he felt there was, it was meeting a quote phenomenal meeting. he said it was very special, a love-fest. they said they want to see it happen. speaking of republican senators. three huge stories today. two of them, seemingly out of left field. president trying to drive home a couple different political points. one saying, we will protect us, he will protect us, the military will protect us from north korea. schumer around pelosi need to come to the table and tax cuts he thinks will still happen. david and melissa. >> blake burman, thank you very much. melissa. melissa: president trump meeting with senate republicans hoping to turn yes votes. senator steve daines from montana says he can't vote for the bill. we're glad to have you here. let me get a comment from you on the missile launch much from north korea. americans are on edge. president says nothing has changed.

senate and eight democrats. that's not going to happen. with republicans too. as the legislation in the house and believe they passed the house where in the senate. this is one thing when trump is going to take the voters in 2018 and 2020. they may not get the big legislation and they have done things to change the way washington works or undermine the previous administration. they said please disregard any instruction from her presumed capacity from this acting director. any form related in any way to the function of her actual or presumed duties, please inform the general counsel. house of cards. >> i see it as defaming the protection bureau and as part of the trump administration's larger efforts to roll back regulations. i think it's an under cover story of the administration. >> it's a lot happening behind the curtain. we will have a new good judge for the first ruling. if not today, by tomorrow. to weather sexual harassment and the ethics investigations, that is coming up. when you have a co, pain from chest congestion can make this... ...feel like this. a

who runs the campaign arm of republican senators has been very strong, very vocal and said this guy needs to be expelled from the senate if he gets to washington. now, there hasn't been as much conversation about that in recent days because i think partly because of the way the white house responded. but that is still the defacto position of the republican leadership as far as i know, if he wins, they're going to start an expulsion process and kick him out of the senate. look, i think the white house's view is they want tax cuts so bad, they don't care who has this seat as long as the republican vote. nobody wants that tax vote bill more than mitch mcconnell and the leadership in the senate. >> as you pointed out before, there is no guarantee he would vote for this tax bill as it is right now. he is a person who has talked a lot, he has pop uist happy tos in his campaign, he's more trump than trump in a lot of ways. he could very well get to the senate if he wins and say i think this is too much for rich people and businesses and blow up a carefully constructed and tenuous situation

are in a very good position in terms of the meeting the capital,ver at with the republican senators. i think we have tremendous support, and i was just informed by mitch mcconnell that we had unanimous support from the republican side, a unanimous vote. the next step is coming up next, and i think it is going to pass, and it will be very popular. there will be lots of adjustments beforethe next stepe end result will be very massive, the largest tax cut in the history of our country, lots of good things will happen, including the return to our -- will probably end up bringing fort trillion dollars from offshore, and i think it is going to be a number over $4 trillion. corporate will be able to compete against the world. if you look at china and so many other countries, if you look at many of the countries, china is at 15%. lower than us, and we have to get lower than that. we have to be in a good ball -- ballpark we can so that we can compete with other companies had i am very happy to see that the consumer confidence levels are just about the highest have ever been. i do not want to

would republicans be better off without moore in the senate. should they support a write-in candidate? can they force moore from the race? amid all of that republican hand wringing moore has shown no sign that he would be willing to get out. >> these attacks involve a minor and they are completely false and untrue. >> reporter: republicans are scrambling to distance themselves from alabama senate candidate roy moore who denies ever meeting then-14-year-old lee corfman and says her allegations are completely false. >> we do not intend to let the democrats or the establishment republicans or anybody else behind this story stop this campaign. >> reporter: in a radio interview with sean hannity moore did not rule out the possibility that he dated other teenagers when he was in his 30s. >> i don't remember ever dating any girl without the permission of her mother. >> do you remember dating girls that young at that time? >> not generally no. >> reporter: senate republicans have rushed to denounce moore. >> if that's true i don't believe there would be

. >> woodruff: the firestorm surrounding alabama republican senate candidate, roy moore, has grown wider stems from allegations published yesterday in the "washington post," that moore engaged in sexual misconduct with minors. the national republican senatorial committee today moved to end its fundraising agreement with the candidate, ahead of the december 12 election. when asked in a radio interview whether he remembered dating young girls, moore said, "not generally." he also flatly denied inappropriate interactions with a 14-year-old, as the "post" had reported. >> it never happened, and i don't even like hearing it because it never happened. and they're doing this a month away, this has never been brought up, never been even mentioned, and, all of a sudden, four weeks out, they're bringing it up. and it involves a 14-year-old girl, which i would have never had any contact with, nothing with her mother, in a courthouse or anywhere else would i have done that. >> woodruff: the "washington post" reported the accuser has voted republican in the past few presidential elections. also today

senate from democrats. even with republicans, the committee refused senator packwood's repeated requests that he should be allowed to participate in public hearings on the matter. they said "no" to that. they proceeded on their own terms. and after that 33-month investigation, the senate ethics committee released a report. a ten-volume damning report on senator bob packwood. it was over 10,000 pages long. it weighed 40 pounds. for a while, it made for some non-g rated reporting on the "nightly news." >> the committee released more than 10,000 documents, including embarrassing excerpts from packwood's diary. in them, the senator claims to have had sexual encounters with 22 members of his staff, some in his office, some described in explicit detail. he wrote, "she has the most stunning figure, big breasts. needless to say, i did not stop myself." he also wrote that it was his christian duty to make love to one staffer. even more potentially troublesome, the committee laid out how diaries were altered by packwood, in what was deeme

one republican senator calling it a regressive tax that burdens low and middle income tax payers. as you can imagine, the proposal is dividing democrats and republicans. cutting the mandate could save more than $300 billion over the next ten years. but it's projected to leave an estimated 13 million more americans uninsured in that same decade. meanwhile-- president trump is back in the white house, fresh off his trip to asia. but his first speech back on american soil, is getting some bad reviews. the president teased "major" news u-s... wednesday's speech at the white house didn't have any of that. the president did say the trip helped unify the world against north korea and paved the way for trade deals that benefit the u-s. a moment in the middle of the president's speech did get a lot of people talking. but it wasn't about what he said. take a look at this. that reminded many of when senator marco rubio took a water break during a national address. in a tweet last night, rubio said the president needs to work on his form. scandal - sidelining d-c high school football stars!! 1

senate among republicans. we'll see if that impacts the senate candidate. we'll have much more on this story coming up. >>> i want to get to the new allegations right now involving the fired national security adviser michael flynn. we're joined by our justice correspondent pamela brown. you're getting new information, what is the latest? >> reporter: that's right, wolf. we are learning more about the alleged plot that moore and his son were involved with turkish officials to exchange millions of dollars just before he took on the role of national security adviser. it's a bombshell allegation, former national security adviser michael flynn and his son michael flynn jr. were offered up to $15 million to forcibly remove a muslim cleric living in the u.s. according to "the wall street journal." cnn has learned special counsel robert mueller is investigating the flynns' role in this alleged plot. "the wall street journal" reports the fbi has already questioned several people regarding a meeting between the flynns and turkish government representatives in mid-dec