ruth marcus, "the washington post" back in the headlines with the president calling on reporter dave wigele to step down and be fired by "the washington post." what's this all about? ruth: i should probably start out by saying i write for and help manage "the post" opinion section. and as a technical matter, i know people won't believe us out there, but it's totally true, we are distinct from, separate from, answer to different authorities than the news section. dave weigle writes for the news section. this is not about an article that dave wrote but a tweet that he posted that showed -- and i think it was misleading. it showed a photo that purported to say that president trump had a sparse crowd in pensacola, florida. dave tweeted it and it was pointed out to him that it was inaccurate/misleading and took it down. president trump, which was appropriate, right? president trump then accused him of purveying this falsehood and called on the washington post news side to say again -- i don't report to the executive editor but fred hyatt, the editorial page editor, called on marty baron an

ruth marcus, you bridge that divide. ruth: somebody used the word "biased" before. get these emails all the time, you're letting your bias show. they may me to have opinions. i try to back up those opinions with facts and factual assertions. huh a good one, mona, when you asked the caller how she could reconcile her assertion that judge moore -- i'm reluctant to call him judge. that roy moore has respect to the constitution when he asserted that muslims shouldn't be allowed to serve in the u.s. congress. that is just clearly not permitted under the constitution which prohibits religious tests. so i think in my world i marshal facts in sport of opinions, in the news side world, -- and i did this many years when i worked in the newsroom, you marshal facts to people can form their own opinions and important in what we do in journalism. host: as we look ahead to the midterm elections in 2018, what are you looking at in particular with regard to congress and races in particular. we have about a minute. mona: i'm very interested to see what happens to the democratic party

. >> joining the discussion now, dahlia lithwick and also with us, ruth marcus, deputy editor and columnist at "the washington post." and dahlia and ruth, i have said quite enough. i just want to hand this discussion over to you with your reactions to this day. >> i think that you make exactly the right point which is that there is this notion that there's this thing, this fixed and fie in it thing called the moral high ground an we know what it is and agree on it and the process of how to seize it and this was emblematic of that step and i think that and i think ruth and i effectively wrote the same piece about this saying, you know, we're a bunch of process people and we want to talk about process and i'm quite conflicted both about the process of how this went forth but also deeply conflicted about what franken is calling an irony. i'm actually calling a travesty which is as franken loses his seat we stand poised to elect roy moore in alabama, nobody's saying that donald trump loses his seat. and so, the asymmetry here that not just within the party as you point out but the profound asym

ruth marcus of the "washington post." nice movie, by the way, "the post." >> go see it. >> and john brabender. thank you. good luck up there in pittsburgh. coming up, the russia investigation. we're the best at that, and we're going to cover it tonight to keep you up to date on that one. this one will bring down the presidency if anything does. trump's long-time gatekeeper, by the way, met with the house intelligence committee today. rona graf. i've talked to her for years trying to get trump on the show. worked for trump for decades. what secrets will we learn from her testimony today? that's ahead. >>> plus, virtually every country at the united nations voted to rebuke the united states over trump's decision to recognize jerusalem as the capital of israel. trump threatened any country who voted against us and bad santa's making the list. and some of our closest allies are on it. and after notching his first big win trump touts a year, a year of huge legislative victories. didn't you notice them? boy, they just went past

joining me to review these two issues are three superb observers josh of the national adjourn, ruth marcus of the "washington post", niles of the hill. ruth, i want to start with you. on friday you had a column about al franken suggesting he did not receive due process. and i want you to summarize for the audience why that is a pretty minority opinion. why did you reach that? >> well, i'm actually surprised by how much agreement i'm hearing with the opinion. senator gillibrand said something very interesting when she made her very fateful announcement that it was time for franken to go. she said enough is enough. and we can't be having a conversation the difference between sexual assault and sexual harassment and what's boorish and what's groping. they all have to go. i really respect senator gillibrand, and i completely disagree with her on this. i think it's essential that we disaggregate and have individualized justice. i'm going to use a little bit of a prejorative term, and not mob justice. we need to take each of these cases on its merits. harvey weinstein is different from al franke

russia you know that ties to egypt are extremely important and they reaffirmed that today all right ruth marcus in force on the story in cairo egypt tonight ruth thank you very much. in the united states all eyes will be on the state of alabama tomorrow a special election will take place to fill one of the state's u.s. senate seat the republican candidate is roy moore and his name is now at the center of a political and cultural war that reaches into the oval office and beyond more has been accused of sexually molesting girls decades ago many republicans have distanced themselves from him as a result but the message from president trump appears to be roy moore no matter what he may have done to young girls is today a republican and that makes him better than any democrat today he endorsed more. this is president donald trump and i need alabama to go vote for roy moore it is so important we're already making america great again i'm going to make america safer and stronger and better than ever before but we need that seek we need roy voting for us roy moore is the guy we need to pass our make ame

men *, and ruth marcus. has there been a perception the media in this country were at least ringing the alarm bells. mollie: 52% of those polls don't trust the media. roy moore was pitting himself against not just the elite of washington but also the media elite. having talked to reporters who wrote the initial stories of the allegations were just doing their job reporting the story. it was not reciprocated by the reporters doing the actual writing. they kept doing their job, howie. howie: i saw a celebratory under tone to roy moore's defeat. headlines saying "sanity reigns." mollie: i think it speaks to the strength and weakness of journalism. if this story had come out 5, 10, 15 years ago. that he didn't and he almost won speaks to the credibility problems the general media establishment had. but the strength of the story held under under scrutiny unlike other people trotted out by attorneys. the "post" stories did hold up under scrutiny. but the danger is that because it was even this close shows people a

know that ties to egypt are extremely important and they really have found that today all right ruth marcus and force on the story in cairo egypt tonight we thank you very much. well despite that new violence between the palestinians and israelis israel's prime minister has urged european governments to follow the united states and recognizing jerusalem as the capital of israel benjamin netanyahu says that the move is simply a recognition of reality and is a step towards peace with the palestinians his words however got a firm rebuff in brussels today where he's been meeting with e.u. foreign ministers. a rare ok asian but you mean it on ya is the arrival in brussels mock the first visit in twenty two years by the israeli head of government. let me say of this quite historic opportunity it's far too long for friends and partners we are a big moment made even bigger by donald trump's recognition of jerusalem as israel's capital just days ago what president trump has done is put facts squarely on the table peace is based on reality i believe that all or most of the repeating countries will mo

ruth marcus, a familiar face here wrote this. >> there is no doubt, in the casenq of al franken thathad and this is a country trying to establish to establish news standard were acceptable behavior. there were seven or eight women and some names or not who came forward with stories about senator franken who said he treated them very badly and it was that kind of serial creepiness and there is the horrible photo that he posed for. it does not strike me unreasonableab unreasonable that he stepped down at all. it strikes me in line of a national attempt to declares so that he all understand what the rules and ways of being are. >> jonathan alter says democrats regretting of al franken, do you believe that? >> we can have respect for people and just like conyers, i think conyers is an icon but we have to hold them responsible. i think culture moment, i am having conversations with my young boys right now@ztx about this and in way that we would not have kudos for these courageous women and standing up in the forefront. i am going to make a hard turn here to the mueller probe. i am curious

and the argument that ruth marcus made that maybe the democrats under reacted for bill clinton and are now overreacting for al franken, what's your thought on that argument? >> my thought is that the democrats saw themselves at a cross road. they had to make a decision as to how they were going to move forward and with senator franken's resignation, now it will impel current politicians to look at their track record and what they have done in the past and see if they are viable to be elected officials and self assess well, i have done things in my past that are no longer acceptable. instead of thinking well, i will be protected by my tripe, they will know they may need to no longer move forward. >> the problem with this is that so far nothing in terms of changing the process in congress really has happened, and nothing has happened legally. we have women in the house and the senate who are supporting legislation, but no legislation that has got p any, as far as i know, support on the republican side. and so i wonder if you think this is a real change that is happening or is this for sh

. >> dana: let me read to you from ruth marcus hooton column talked about the right policies is zeroance. that does not answer the question of whether it is the right punishment or what proof there should be before it's needed out. she's talking about al franken and there is questions today, did the democrats pushed him overboard appropriately and for all the right reasons? what do you think? >> she's right. these are really tough questions. i've been talking to democratic voters across the country over the past few days, they are very split on whether al franken should have been pushed out. they say a lot of the same things you just said. what is the standard of evidence? which of the moral high ground beef? i do think there is probably some cynical politics at play here. but also i've talked to a lot of democrats who generally want to have the moral high ground and who are frustrated that while we keep doing the right thing, you have really more, you have, you know, donald trump in the white house who was accused by over a dozen women. so we as a country, i think, need to figure ou

ruth marcus, a familiar face here wrote this.'s no doubt in the case of al franken that the democrats better with minnesota senator gone. there's more doubt about whether justice was done. i agree. none of it is acceptable. what worries me is the rush to judgment. >> this is a country trying to establish. certainly a u.s. senate trying to establish new standards for acceptable behavior. there were seven or eight women, some named, some not, who came forward with stories about senator franken who says he had treated them very badly. it was a kind of serial creepiness. there was the horrifying photo that he posed for, almost as if to memorialize a certain abuse. so it does not strike me as unreasonable that he stepped down at all. it strikes me as in line with a national attempt to declare so that we all understand what the rules and ways of being are now. >> jonathan alter says democrats will come to regret this rush to judgment on franken. do you believe that? >> i don't. i think we can call people -- we can have respect for peop

from ruth marcus. wisconsin, cindy, independent line. caller: hi. thank you for taking my call.s far as the divide in our political party, i would say some of the things that need to be fixed -- i agree with the gentleman from new york and the woman from california. we do not really have a voice in politics anymore. dayeems that working every to get campaign money, so they can run for the next election and the next election seems more important. corporations and people of money -- they seem to have more control of our government's elections then we do. do not have transparency in our government. fast -- bills and how we do not have a say any more. our voice is gone, whether democrat, or independent. need tohts would be we stop this campaign drive. every day. we need free television. politicians to speak and talk about who they are, so we can say i believe this person, like their ideas, think they have the and have more options for politicians, and maybe even term limits. lifetime appointments can bring with it old values that may not keep up with modern times. we need to be able

nbc's national political reporter carol lee and ruth marcus, editor of the national post, and nationaldent of the "washington post." welcome, all. carol, first of all, a special legal counsel. this is because there are conflicts of interest. >> it's unclear, but the president's legal team, his lawyer says this is not about robert mueller, but he's very much trying to thread the needle here, and he's walking right up to the line in terms of calling for this separate special counsel. we know that there are those in the president's orbit who want him to be tougher, his legal team to be tougher on the investigation, and there's been efforts to try to distract from the russia investigation, and this seems like just another way in which they're trying to do that. it's unclear how much republican support they're going to get from that. already we've seen senator orren hatch saying it's not necessary, but they're trying, in part to keep the president sort of calm as this picks up speed. >> of course, it's hard enough to keep separate lanes between the special investigations and the mueller inv

. >> nick, ruth marcus, i wish we had more time, if i don't see you before the holidays, happy holidays you, chris. >>> we've got more ahead. this is andrea mitchell reports only on msnbc. i am totally blind. and non-24 can make me show up too early... or too late. or make me feel like i'm not really "there." talk to your doctor, and call 844-234-2424. afi sure had a lot on my mind. my 30-year marriage... ...my 3-month old business... plus...what if this happened again? i was given warfarin in the hospital, but wondered, was this the best treatment for me? so i made a point to talk to my doctor. he told me about eliquis. eliquis treats dvt and pe blood clots and reduces the risk of them happening again. not only does eliquis treat dvt and pe blood clots. eliquis also had significantly less major bleeding than the standard treatment. eliquis had both... ...and that turned around my thinking. don't stop eliquis unless your doctor tells you to. eliquis can cause serious and in rare cases fatal bleeding. don't take eliquis if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. if you h

ruth marcus today i want to talk about regarding al franken. that's in the second part of the show.ys, stick around. >>> what does it take to run against a guy like roy moore? we're going to talk with the last guy who ran against roy moore in a general election. we'll be right back. you might take something for your heart... or joints. but do you take something for your brain. with an ingredient originally found in jellyfish, prevagen is the number one selling brain-health supplement in drug stores nationwide. prevagen. the name to remember. ♪ spread a little love today ♪ spread a little love my-y way ♪ ♪ spread a little something to remember ♪ philadelphia cream cheese. made with fresh milk and real cream makes your recipes their holiday favourites. the holidays are made with philly. their holiday favourites. i can do more to lower my a1c. and i can do it with what's already within me. because my body can still make its own insulin. and once-weekly trulicity activates my body to release it. trulicity is not insulin. it comes in a once-weekly, truly easy-to-use pen. it works 24/7, a

i would associate with the column our friend ruth marcus wrote today which said, for the al franken case should be judged on the basis of al franken and what al franken did or didn't do, and it feels we don't totally know, and feels like he was pushed out out of the senate not just because of what al franken did but because to have the political tunism of the democrat party to say, hey, we're not republicans. so i felt a lot of the pressure was for political expedience so we can have the contrast with roy moore, and whatever al franken did or didn't do and i carry no water for him, seemed unfair his case had to be influenced by political expend yensy. >> woodruff: unfair, mark? e're in uncharted waters. i think capital punishment is not the answer for i've thing from winking at an office christmas party to what harvey weinstein did. and by the way, judy, i just have to digress for a second and say, if you want to see a newspaper at its best, this past thursday's "new york times" with megan tooy and joey cantor and susan dominus and jim rutenberg, and four pages, this is really the crime

ruth marcus with "the washington post" and mark archie bald from the birmingham news. how does that race look down there right now, roy moore, how does that look? >> it is really tight. too close to call. both sides are really angry and really energized and you have a taste of that with the steve bannon rhetoric last night. >> what do you make of the national echo down there? what influence does the fact that steve bannon is the nationalist self-described going to war with the establishment, m mitt romney. and a member of the lds church and throwing that in his face. how does that ricochet down there politically in terms of next tuesday's voting. >> based on last night i would say he is speaking directly to the roy moore voter. that is the same sort of belief system, the same sort of rhetoric that you hear from them and i think -- i think he was really rallying that base and it seemed to be pretty successful last night. >> ruth, tell us about this. what is your sense from up here. because i've been hearing indirectly, a lot of us pick up news that people down there, wh

. >> on that, ruth marcus has an interesting "washington post" column, was all franken's punishment share? what gives me pause is both the rush to judgment given the significant difference in seriousness between the franken allegations and those against trump and moore. >> that's the stuff that makes you uncomfortable right now. but this is going to settle itself out. i think the various industries -- >> how? >> well, because we are all going to agree on what the standard is and what it should be, what is too far, what isn't too far. this is very new -- i mean, look, two weeks ago, six months ago, this was a very different conversation than it is today. so it's moving very quickly. as it should. it's opening up, women are taking more control of the narrative, as they should. and i think in a certain point, whether you're talking in politics or media or whatever industry happens to be, it will settle out. you will have people in the space to say, distinguish between a franken case and a moore case. >> but you have been writing a lot about the democrats sort of having to grapple with this n

ruth marcus says it one way. she tackles the issue in her "washington post" column and says was al franken's punishment fair? she writes, in part, this. there's no doubt that the case of al franken, democrats are better off with the minnesota senator gone. there's more doubt about whether justice was done. the political calculus is simple. franken had to go. with the grotesque picture of him groping or pretending to grope the breasts of a fellow uso performer, he would have been a nonstop distraction, muddling democrats' case against alleged groper president trump and alleged child molester roy moore. franken paid not only for their sins but also for the alleged behavior of bill clinton two decades ago. people who say susan is just -- the dress owned by monica lewinsky, i would think, would bring down a president but it didn't. i'm surprised that you think a picture of a performer -- i see some politic there is but i haven't brought that up every step of the way because, of course, in this me too environment, you

preview of tuesday's alabama senate race with the washington post deputy editorial page editor ruth marcus and mona charen. "washingtonatch journal" this morning. join the discussion. at seven :00 p.m. eastern, on book tv on c-span2, former senior adviser to rex tillerson discusses his book, "digital world war." >> content is king. queen and shes wears the pants in the family. if you think about that, the way i'd like to think about isis and others is that we are in a content or. >> at 8:00, greta van susteren with her book, "everything you need to know about social media without having to call a kid." >> there are stories in the book about what others have done with social media. social media is not really new. all that is new is the delivery platforms. was a way of social media. the party line, the telephone line. block could get in on the phone. it is now amplified. and how far you can reach and the speed of the communication. >> for the full schedule, go to book tv.org. >> c-span, where history unfolds daily. in 1979, c-span was created as a public service by america's cable television

one feeling i have at the end of the year, and expressed well by my colleague, ruth marcus as worriedppening in the white house i never felt as strongly, passion, for my country, for its good health, for where it's going. i think a lot of people are feeling that. and that's what you're saying. this is everybody's country. let's make it as strong as it can be. >> a lot of people have been reminded that you have to fight for it. it's not just always going to be there. >> you do have to fight for it. >> guys, thank you for being here. happy new year. you persuaded me to get a blazer with pink patches. it's already working. thank you to our viewers for an incredible tumultuous 2017. we'll see you in 2018. ayman ayman mohyeldin picks up our coverage. >> an impromptu interview. a wide-ranging conversation with "the new york times." muller will be fair. he's been too soft on china. the media needs him to win in 2020. and mentioning 16 times the word "collusion." >>> countdown to 2018. ramping up security efforts in the wake of high-profile attacks. the nypd not

ruth marcus is a columnist for