Comments that have drawn a fair amount of scorn from his rivals. And roy moore running again after he lost his senate seat in alabama. Hes going to give it another try. He just spoke exclusively to nbc news. His first interview since the allegations of Sexual Misconduct emerged and derailed his last campaign. Well go to alabama in just a moment, but we start with that breaking news. President trump calling off a military strike on a ran in a series of tweets this morning, the president said that the United States was in fact preparing to lawn of a strike on iran for downing an american drone. After learning of the possible death toll, quote, ten minutes before the strike i stopped it. Not proportionate to shooting down an unmanned drone, the president wrote. The New York Times earlier reporting that as late at 7 00 p. M. Last night military and diplomatic officials were expecting a strike. The operation under way in its early stages when it was called off. Planes were in the air. Ships were in position. No missiles had been fired when word came to stand down, though. Our nbc news team of reporters breaking it all down for us. Richard engel remains on duty for us in qatar. Kelly odonnell is at the white house and also with us, retired general wesley clark, former nato supreme ally commander and currently a fellowty uc berkley center. Kelly, ill start with you. What do yes know about the next step . We are waiting to hear any update from the white house on when or if there will be other plans put in motion. Certainly the penalty gone provides options to the president. Is there a real tell in his tweet about wanting this proportion a proportionality, as hes described it. The drone which had no personnel on board shot down by iranians and looking for potential targets that would not have human collateral damage, is that a say narrow . We dont know. Did i speak to in when the president pulled back and gave not go rather than go for this operation. Pelosi as speaker of the house a constitutional officer in the line of succession and the other top congressional officials from both parties and key chambers were here at the white house yesterday for a briefing. We dont know if they were read in fully on what the operational plans were at that time. Theyre not talking about that. But we do know that it certainly would have been within the realm of normal for the House Speaker and the majority leader and key people to be told when the president has pulled back. We are informed today that did not happen. At least with nancy pelosi, the House Speaker. So next steps, the president in this unusual way and we use that word a lot around here, giving us this sort of tick tock of his own thought process and certainly any commander and chief can decide up until the last moment whether or not he wants to go forward. But is he setting a signal to iran . Is he sending a signal to other allies and so forth . Or is this part of the president s habit of making threats, not carrying them out and at times calling that a victory. Craig. Lets go to the region here for a second. Ali, you were there in tehran. Has there therebeen abeen any rm the iranian government to the president s most recent tweets . Hey, craig, there hasnt been any reaction directly to the president s tweets so far. Its a friday here. Most government officials are off and they tend not respond to President Trumps tweets on a weekend. But there has been a lot of reaction to the ongoing situation. Just today irans ambassador to the United Nations was defending shooting down the drone arguing that tehran wont be forced back to the negotiating table with the white house. He said that you cant negotiate with somebody who has a knife in their hand and they have it underneath your throat. He said any reasonable person cant accept to have negotiations with somebody thats threatening them. He also accused the american leaders of unleashing Economic Warfare against iran in an attempt to isolate his country and force them back to the negotiating table. Clearly these are indications saying no matter how much pressure america puts on a iran, even if that pressure is military hardware threatening to hit your country, thats not going to bring iran back to the negotiating table. The only thing that will bring them back is getting rid of sanctions and President Trump returning to the nuclear deal. But in some other news to go, a iranian official told me this morning that in that reuters report this was sent last night warning of an emanate attack entirely untrue. Also senior government officials, commanders of the irgc have been touting the downing of that drone all day as a major victory and warning that this is a clear message to the u. S. That iran is a tough nut to crack and if there was a war, it would be devastate together u. S. And its allies. Richard there in qatar, youre at the center of u. S. Military operations in the region. What are you hearing . So whats interesting is both the u. S. And this extraordinary series of tweets from President Trump, i think its almost a benchmark moment in the history of social media where you have the commander and chief outlining in a public forum his Decision Making process in a closeddoor, highlysensitive meeting with his military advisers how whether or not to take an attack or to go forward on it with an attack against a foreign belligerent. Where you have this series of tweets in which President Trump says not only did the military outline targets, he says there were three targets. He said that he called it off after 150 people, the general told him could potentially die in this attack. And that had he decided it wasnt proportionate. So you have this extraordinary extraordinarily open, if you will, message from President Trump saying we were this close, we were about to strike but i called it off because i didnt want to kill people. And then the iranians, as if not to be outdone, another revolutionary guard commander said that they too had an american aircraft in their sites that they showed restraint, that they could have brought it down killing dozens of americans. So both sides today showing their calculus and saying, it could have been so much worse, we were this close to having loss of life, but in our in our wisdom and in our restraint we decided to pull back. So now the question is really does this bring the two sides to a negotiation . Ali says it doesnt, that iran still wants more. But you saw this extraordinary series of brinkman xin ovship o the last 24 hours and i dont know if were going to see more or if were going to see some diplomatic activity in the runup to the g20 almost a week from today. Thats right. No doubt iran will be at the top of the list for those countries gathered. General clark, let me turn to you for a moment and just to piggyback off something richard said there. This idea that the president of the United States is detailing plans and even taking us inside his head and doing that on social media, calling off a strike, a military strike ten minutes before its set to happen. This idea, general clark, that the president calls it off because he finds out 150 people could die ten minutes before a strike, is that is that possible . Would that would that be how that process would unfold . Well, doesnt sound right because normally when these plans are prepared the possible kaushlts a casualties are discussed. But it is possible he was thinking about it and said remind me again how many people could get killed or maybe he didnt hear it in the say crisis communication and it was a smart move by the president to call this off because the strike would have accomplished nothing but brought pressure on the United States. So by calling off the strike, what hes done is hes put the pressure back on iran. The sanctions are on iran. Theyre hurting from the sanctions. They cant respond economically. Theyre looking to show their displeasure and gain leverage by trying to strike militarily and to provoke the United States. And so by not striking back here, at least temporarily, hes gained a slight advantage. Its a question really now of what comes next. And it does need to go into diplomatic channels. Earlier this morning on today i chatted with former defense secretary. Heres part of that conversation. What do you think the iranians are trying to do with these most recent provocations . What message are they trying to send . Well, its a good question because i think one of the concerns about this whole crisis is that im not sure either side has an end game here as to what they want to achieve. Iran obviously is producing these attacks. I assume theyre trying to get the world to pressure the United States to back down. At the same time the United States is trying to pressure iran into going to the negotiating table. But its not clear what the end game is from both sides. And that makes it even more dangerous because as it rachets up on both sides, the danger of a serious miscalculation, bad judgment could really produce a military confrontation. General clark, how close do you think we are to a military confrontation with iran . I think were very close because once they take the next step of escalation and strike a manned u. S. Aircraft or a manned ship and cause casualties, its going to be very difficult for the United States not to respond militarily. Even if the response is a proportionate response, it is playing into irans hands. We have nothing to gain from the military confrontation. Economic strategy seems to be working. This is a way the iranians are acting in response to being squeezed economically. So if we jump into the ring with them and go tit for tat and tit for tat and rachet up that escalation, were playing their game. And ultimately as the super power involved here, the pressure will come on us rather than where it should be, on iran. Kelly odonnell, you spend a fair amount of time on capitol hill when youre not working for us there at the white house. What do we know about what lawmakers on the hill are saying about all of this as its unfolded over the last 12 hours or so . Well, there are certainly different camps when you look at the republicans, especially in the house, there was definitely a statement from Kevin Mccarthy whos the Top Republican in the house and Michael Mccaul who is in part of the armed services. And looking at this saying the president s approach has been measured and appropriate. Then you have democrats, especially in the 2020 group of democrats, who are criticizing the president and saying he has no approach and its a reality tv show. That from cory booker today. And then others who are arguing about the power of congress wanting to have a vote to authorize any military action against iran to bring a vote into this current moment instead of relying either on the president s Constitutional Authority or the authorization to use military force that was voted on many congresses ago right after 9 11 which authorized action in afghanistan and iraq and has been used against terror targets. So there are a lot of different circles of debate, some of it falls on partisan lines, some of it is bigger than that where theyre talking about the powers between the executive and the legislative. But a lot of anxiety about what could result. And many people concerned about sort of stumbling into an unprovoked situation where things get out of control and then it cant be as easily managed. And then of course one of the president s closest friends, Lindsey Graham taking a very robust approach saying the u. S. Must respond to send a signal not only to iran, but to other bad actors like north korea. So a variety of opinions from capitol hill, no shortage there, craig. Kelly odonnell there for us at the white house. Pu. Ali in tehran, general clark and of course richard engel, thank you as well. I want to bring in Illinois Republican congressman adam king zinner now. He serves on the Foreign Affairs committee. Thank you for your time pit want to share a tweet that you sent out this morning and ill read it for our listeners or sirius satellite radio. America is facing a crisis in confidence. Obamas decision to cancel the strike in syria in 2013 has had ramifications that are still being felt today. We cannot let the provocations and attacks by iran go unanswered. Your reaction, congressman, to President Trumps decision to stop that strike against iran. My Immediate Reaction is unfavorable. I think ultimately if there still is a response i think that will be all judged within that context. But if there isnt, if theres an idea that now we can negotiate or do something else, i think it has the potential of inviting a look of weakness. Because its one thing to bomb and blow up tankers or try to deny straits over hormuz. But then we have to make a case for freedom of navigation in our interests. But when you target a drone thats not the size of a drone all your friends fly, its the size of basically an airliner that kwo koh have easily been a manned aircraft if misidentified with 30 people on board is a massive escalation and i think warrants a proportional response and its an art in terms of what that is. There is no real formula. You said the shooting down of that drone, its the largest that the u. S. Navy has, that that was a dangerous escalation of the situation between our country and iran. Yeah. The president has called it a minor incident and it seems as if part of his reasoning for calling off the strike is that he doesnt consider that he wouldnt consider that a proportional response. Is the president at odds with the prevailing view of members of his own party over iran . You know, its hard to tell because as your prior guest was saying theres all kinds of different views out here. So im going to be basically faithful to what i believe on it. I will tell theres some disappointment, some people dont want to do anything, some people think he shouldnt have called it off. So the question of was that proportional or not, i think its proportional, but if we want to adjust down, and i think theres a benefit to saying theres going to be a response, it cost you what it cost us, but next time it wont be proportion fall theres a retaliation and we have the ability to do that would be important. So the question now is is there a response or is this the end of that chapter. And if that this is the end of that chapter, i think it has some real negative consequences. Other than sending a real message to the Iranian Regime, what would a strike in iran accomplish . It would deter theyre ability to shoot down a drone like this. If you hit a naval site or direct missile site its degrades their ability to do that. And it shows very strongly what we can do. If theres a reaction, for instance, we could take out their entire surface to air network or their entire radar in the say position where it shouldnt be partisan, its just america has to be clear that we will defend ourselves and this is a case that i think warrants that. This idea that the president appears to be announcing Foreign Policy decisions via twitter, taking us inside his head to a certain extent, is that an effective way to communicate foreign poll city to World Leaders and members of congress as well . Not something im used to. There was a lot of detail in those tweets if the would be one thing to tweet that you decided to stop the strike for whatever reason, but there was a lot of detail. Im not a huge fan of twitter generally. But, you know, i guess thats really up to individual preference on whether he should do that. Now the question is, in tweets like that does it ever jeopardize future operations . Well, evidently he called the Iranian Regime and told them this so they would have meant to targets anyway. But more than that, as you alluded to this morning, how concerned are you about precedent . This idea that the president of the United States says hes going to do something and then announce dollars on social media, you know what ive changed my mind ten minutes before . What message does that send to a kim jongun or a Vladimir Putin or in insert name of dictator here . It sends a bad message. You talk about venezuela and backing away on that with iran and other leaders, it sends a message that you dont necessarily know where that red line is. It will depend on if theres a response if that message is sent. But if theres not, it will send the message that the red line may not be so red. And what im concerned about with the iranians is theyre going to keep doing stuff that they think is right up to provoke a response but not quite a response to create panic here at home, to force us to overreact or underreact and to create panic around the world. Congressman adam kinzinger, thanks for your time. You bet. Thanks. Enjoin the weekend. The road to 2020 runs straight through South Carolina. And this weekend most of the 2020 democrats are heading to the palmetto state for the annual fish fry hosted by long time congressman jim clyburn. Hell join me next. Well talk about the controversy looming over that gathering. Comments made by front runner joe biden on working with segregationists. Last night cory booker who has been outspoken described a call that he had with biden which apparently did very little to clear the air. How long did the two of you talk last night . I would say 15 or 20 minutes. And did either one ask the other for an apology . You know, i dont want to characterize a private conversation. I think that joe biden should explain to people, because its not about me,. ,. What is that . Uh mine, why . Its just that its. Lavender. Yes it is, its for men but i like the smell of it laughs as your life grows, so do your needs. And with bank of america and merrill, the benefits you get can grow, too. As a preferred rewards member, you can enjoy Priority Service and exclusive discounts. So your growing life can be more rewarding, too. What would you like the power to do . We are now just five days away from the first democratic president ial debate. Youll see it only on nbc, msnbc, and telemundo june 26th and 27th. The very public spat between Vice President joe biden and new jersey senator cory booker appears to be on the mend now. The two have been feuding over comments biden made about his past work with segregationist senators. Multiple sources tell nbc news that biden called booker wednesday night in an attempt to smooth things over. Quote, during their phone call biden did not ask for an apology from booker and neither candidate offered one to each other. Booker discussed that phone call with Msnbcs Lawrence Odonnell calling it constructive. I had an opportunity to explain to him even further how why African Americans, africanamerican men who have have been called boy before, why racist senators like those would look at him and call him son as seeing themselves in him and seeing a black man call them boy because they dont see themselves but they see someone that theyre dehumanizing or degrade spo degrade. So having conversations like that, thats the dialogue thats a constructive thing. Im joined by jim clyburn, House Majority whip, host of tonights world famous fish fry as well and congressman well get to in that . Just a moment. Lets start with this back and forth between joe biden and senator booker. Do you think that perhaps there are some democratic president ial contenders who tried to use this as an opportunity to raise their profile . Well, that may be true. I dont think anything is wrong with that. I think cory booker is absolutely correct. I was born and raised here in South Carolina as were you, and we know how charged that word is. But like anything else, what were your intentions in saying it . There are a lot of other words that we used to use when i was grog growing up that weve learned are offensive now. I can remember the confederate battle flag was not offensive but it is now because it has been taken over by groups that use it for other purposes. So, i mean, we have these complicated things in our history. We have to try to deal with them. And so i dont fault cory booker at all for taking issue by the use of that word. Nor i do fault biden for working women of different persuasions of trying to get an agenda done. Orrin hatch and i never had any kind of a personal relationship politically. But for some reason we kind of liked each other. And when i was having trouble with his senator not allowing my gulla giveny legislation to good forward, i went to him and told him how important that was to the people i represented. He went to that senator and got that senator to get off of his objection of my legislation and we now have the gulla gitchy heritage card. So you work with people who you do not agree with in order to get things done for your constituents. And so i dont blame joe biden for that. But, thats what we call in the world of tennis, though im a golfer, an unforced error. And unforced error. And he made two. Yes. I know that you rushed to senator bidens defense, Vice President bidens defense, you were one of the first folks that defended him. I also know that mr. Biden met with the Congressional Black Caucus as well last night as i understand it. Theres another meeting today with black leaders there in South Carolina. Have you been providing counsel to joe biden in terms of preventing morech these of the unforced errors . And as if so, what are you telling him . Im not talking to senator biden at all. I did talk to Cedric Richmond and expressed to him that maybe he ought to spend a little more time with the senator or at least with his staffers. Because i suspect a lot of his staffers may not have the same experience that Cedric Richmond has had. And they could learn from cedric. They ought not get in these rooms and insulate themselves in such a way that they dont do their candidates well. I have two former staffers working for cory booker, and so i am sure that they are advising cory booker how to navigate himself through South Carolina. I have former staffers working with other candidates as well. So these candidate handlers should learn that they can really gain from the experiences people have. Because those two people who are working for cory, their South Carolinaians. They understand the state. And so they know how to advise. Cedric richmond is a southerner from louisiana. David dukes country. He can be very helpful if theyll listen to him. Lets talk about the fish fry. Nearly all the democratic contenders descending there on our state for that world famous fish fry, its an annual event. In a speech earlier this week the mayor of columbia, Steve Benning e benjamin, he warned 2020 hopefuls, he said, quote, not to assume that all black voters who make up a majority of South Carolinas democratic primary electorate are liberal. Do you buy that, congressman . That all of them are liberal . Yeah. No, i dont think all of them are liberal. My father and mother were republicans. They were members of the party of lincoln. I grew up, went through South Carolina state thinking of myself as a republican, until the 1962 im sorry, the 1960 president ial convention of contest when we had nixon versus kennedy. I found out in 1960 that i was not a republican. And so a lot of people who never voted for me even to this day because they will not vote in a democratic primary, im talking about African Americans because they still are republicans. And so, no, all black folks are not liberal by any means. While i have you here i do want to get your reaction to what were hearing out of iran. What were hearing out of the white house as well, this news that President Trump ordered the military strikes against iran and then abruptly called them off at the last minute. Are you concerned or i should say how concerned are you that we are marching towards some sort of military conflict . I am very concerned about that. And im very pleased to see or to hear that the president has backed off of any military strike at this point. I think that shooting down of a drone could very well be provocative, it is provocative, and it may be intentionally provocative. And we ought not buy that bait or bite that bait. So im glad to see that hes pulling back from this. And lets try diplomacy. Dont get angry to the point that you arent thinking straight. If somebodys trying to provoke you into doing something or saying something, then be very careful. Most of us have had those experiences. They dont work out too well when you react without thinking. Congressman jim clyburn, the fish fry here is going to be a big one this year. Its going to be the biggest ever. I told some folks this morning i stopped by tollivers barbershop, you know a little bit about. I do. I do. I know tollivers well. Thats right. They said everybody in through the barbershop is coming to the fish fry. Saw the reverend scott this morning. I told them all please come early so they can get a parking spot and a piece of fish because i suspect if you come too late, we will have run out of fish. And thats because ive run out of money trying to buy it. [ laughter ] congressman jim clyburn. Congressman clyburn, thank you, sir. Enjoy your weekend. Thank you so much. You do the same. I want to bring in a former congressman now, former florida congressman david jolly who left the Republican Party. Chris is a democratic strategist and pollster as well. We just heard from congressman clyburn talking about this back and forth between senator booker and joe biden. How do we suspect this is going to play out now . Is this thing over . I doubt it is because on the debate stage next week theres going to be a lot of candidates looking for a moment. And this is kind of teed up for a moment. Not necessaryily that biden is t fault here. Think you heard congressman clyburn trying to give biden a bit of the past. But theres a National Conversation here. As you look at generations past, those who in their day, which joe biden 20 years ago, was part of a coalition of those trying to see progress on behalf of African Americans, other progressive and civil rights causes. But even 20 years ago, 30 years ago it may have been a little out of step with where we in this moment in 2019. And i think theres a National Conversation, you know, do you give credit to those who were warriors of the past even though they werent warriors enough. And cory bookers right. There was language used which among the Africanamerican Community should be cause for concern. One thing ive learned, craig, and this is has reminded me white men need to let the Africanamerican Community lead this conversation. I think if joe biden tries to lead this conversation nationally, hes going to continue to just have a few missteps. Let cory booker lead this conversation. A number of the 2020 democrats, were talking about cory booker but we heard from a number of others who were pretty quick to slam joe biden for those remarks. Is this a preview of what were going to see in miami next week during the debate . Is congressman jolly put it, is this going to be the way that candidates try and make a name for themselves, to create that moment . Its going to be one of the ways. If you look at the dynamics of the race, biden right now in the National Polls has a pretty significant lead depending on the poll that you look at. In our poll he was up by about 20 points over sanders. Now heres the problem for biden. Its a very soft 32. So, i mean, his challenge, i think, and youve seen it, has always been what we call in the Campaign World messaged discipline. You create the stories that you want, not the stories you dont want. And when, you know, candidates dont have that message discipline, whether its on the trailer whether its at a fundraiser, you create potentially, you know, disastrous or politically catastrophic situations in the may not be catastrophic, but heres where it does. It creates an opening an opportunity for candidates to come at you on another angle to reinforce what will be their narrative that joe bidens time is past. And, you know, you never want to give your opponents or your adversaries any kind of, you know, tool to kind of reinforce a preexisting narrative against you. And biden did that. And, you know, given how many candidates are in this race, you dont have too many opportunities to continue to do that. So hes going to have to be much more disciplined. But in terms of your central part of your question, are we expecting a bit of a fight in the debates . Absolutely. Theres going to be its going to be not overly heated, but there will be punches thrown for specific reasons that some of these candidates like a booker, like a harris, like buttigieg, anyone whos not first is going to want to stand out. Right. And you also have a number of candidates who dont have a hole lot to lose. Exactly. If youre polling at 1 or 2 , its not much of a gamble to Say Something thats a little wacky. Congressman, i want to turn you here again going back to the president. We heard the announcement of his Reelection Campaign earlier this week down in your neck of the woods down in florida. Sure. He just sat for this interview with time magazine, this new interview. In that interview the president said in part, quote, i think i have one of the greatest, you know, you know there are those who say i have the greatest base in history of american politics because it always stays at 45, 46, 47. Can he win reelection without growing his base at all . If he just churns out more of the same kind of voter, can he win that way . No, but this is how the president daily frames the narrative around how great he is. To say that his 45 is the strongest 45 of all time leads a lot of people to say, wow, this president has a lot going for him. You have to get to 49 or 50 to win the white house. This president as apps we saw november 18, if you look at the data he has pushed important voting groups away, important constituents, particularly the suburb suburban women. I think he will face a lot of trouble on policy grounds, taxes, immigration, healthcare, bringing those voters back to him in 2020. Challenge for democrats is as donald trump has pushed those or is trying to pull those voters back, democrats need to be careful not to push them back to trump. And i think theyre in a good position right now. Id rather be on the democratic side of the aisle right now. But as these debates go on and democrats nominate their candidate, they need to make sure theyre speaking a language than i vites these independent swing voters back over to the democratic side of the aisle like we saw in november of 18. Well leave it there. Congressman thank you, mr. Kofinis thank you as well. Right now chuck todd is interviewing President Donald Trump at the white house. Its an exclusive interview. The full conversation will air this sunday on meet the press and much more coming up on msnbc and nbc nightly news. Again, that conversation happening as we speak at the white house. Also ahead, embattled alabama judge roy moore making another run for the u. S. Senate seat that he lost and it is not sitting well with many in his own party, including the president. Nbc news also just caught up with roy moore for an exclusive interview. His first since those Sexual Misconduct allegations derailed his previous campaign. Onduct al his previous campaign. 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Before starting, tell your doctor about all planned medical or dental procedures and any kidney or liver problems. Enjoy every moment and help protect yourself from an unexpected one like a serious cardiovascular event. Are you doing enough . Ask your doctor if its time for xarelto®. To learn more about cost and how janssen can help, visit xarelto. Com. No to an nbc news exclusive. Roy moore, the republican candidate whos election loss helped democrats win a senate seat in the deep south, deep red alabama, hes running again. Hes speaking with nbc news. It is moores First National interview since nine women accused him of pursuing relationships with them when they were teenagers or young women. Moore has denied those allegations. Now this time around he faces opposition from President Trump and senate leadership. Nbcs Vaughan Hilliard just spoke with moore, former Florida Republican congressman david jolly is back with me as well. Vaughan, what did the judge tell you . Craig, we just actually sat down with the judge moore for 40 minutes essentially opened it up as a fullon conversation not only about 2017, but about policy, about Mitch Mcconnell, about President Trump and we had, you know, to moores i guess you could say credit, he sat there and answered questions. And he told us, i want to play it for you, just part of this again. It was 40 minutes throughout the day well be telling you about different pieces of this. But i just want to play for you a little part in which i questioned him about Mitch Mcconnell saying that the Republican Party would vigorously oppose his candidacy. And about President Trump saying that he should not run for office. This is part of the interview. I think theyre being influenced by other people that dont like the fact that i will run in this race. And that was true last year, if you recall. I beat the establishment candidate. And it very angered many people in washington, d. C. In the republican establishment. Theyre still against me. One of those individuals Mitch Mcconnell. Thats one. Who just yesterday said, quote, well be opposing roy moore vigorously. He also in april of last year told the senators who were running in 2020 to distance themselves from President Trump. Its a game up in washington. And it has been a game. And Mitch Mcconnell has no voice in who to elect who is elected from alabama as a United States senator. He shouldnt have. Do you not owe it to republicans, your party, that youre a proud member of, to give someone else a shot in this . I owe it to republicans to stand for principles of the Republican Party like smaller government, lower taxes, less regulation. 18 months ago you had a shot at this race. Yeah. Why not give somebody else a shot . I owe it to the people of alabama, not the republicans running in this race. This is a race for United States senator. If people want them, theyll elect them. But i have a strong base here and theyll elect me. I i asked roy moore directly about President Trump and about don junior who tweeted yesterday, don june yort president s son said yesterday, i can assure everyone that by running roy moore is going against my father and doing a disservice to all republicans across the country in the process. Many roy moores words he said the president has been influenced by others and that he believes that the president just doesnt understand that he would be able to win this senate race. We hit on other issues, including immigration, including iran, including a broad swath of questions. Two things i want to note here, craig. I did ask him about, number one, had he said in the past he didnt believe that i muslim should be able to sworn into the United States congress on a koran. He said he Still Believes that today. Again, that an individual should not be sworn into congress on a koran. The second question i asked him, i said, he had said in the past back in the early 2000s that homosexuality should be criminalized. He stands by that. He says that homosexual conduct should be a crime and he said that gay couples should not be able to raise a kid. Craig. Vaughan hillyard there in montgomery. It looks and sounds like it was quite the conversation as you pointed out, well have more of it throughout the day here on msnbc. Let me turn to you, david jolly because the president is not backing roy moore. Senate sleerpd not backing roy moore. Roy moore insists hes got quite the base there in alabama. Sure. Why would judge roy moore think that he has a better chance at winning this senate seat this time around than did last time . Roy moore believes hes got a strong hand. He beat this establishment last time. What the judge said there is correct. But then he lost a deep red state in a way no republican has lost that race before. And this primary is very different. Last time it was a binary choice against Luther Strange who had he an opportunity to beat. Bradley burn has had the support of much of the congress. As a congressman backed by the u. S. Chamber of congress. Tommy tubberville, they know they took them to an undefeated season in 04. Jeff sessions may get in the race. Voters are going to tell the nation what they think of roy moore. He could come out of this, the disaster is outside of alabama. The along as roy moore say mainstream Republican Senate candidate candidate in alabama, the entire party is the party of roy moore. And thats why theyre all terrified. If im a democrat running a race in any of the other 49 states, im talking about roy moore even though hes just sitting in alabama. You would think that someone in leadership would have been able to talk him out of it. Oh, not a chance in the is his strength. His strength is that the establishment hates him and he says the scars on my back are so thick i cant even feel the beating anymore because i beat them once before, im going to do it again. David jolly, always good to have you. Thank you. Happy belated first fathers day by the way. Thank you. House democrats are saying hope hicks testimony this week may actually be a legal gift. Were going to explain why. Be t were going to elaxpin why woman 1 this. Woman 2 . This. Man 1 . This is my body of proof. Man 2 proof of less joint pain. Woman 3 . And clearer skin. Man 3 proof that i can fight psoriatic arthritis. Woman 4 . With humira. Woman 5 humira targets and blocks a specific source of inflammation that contributes to both joint and skin symptoms. Its proven to help relieve pain, stop further irreversible joint damage, and clear skin in many adults. Humira is the number one prescribed biologic for psoriatic arthritis. avo humira can lower your ability to fight infections. Serious and sometimes fatal infections, including tuberculosis, and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened, as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. Tell your doctor if youve been to areas where certain fungal infections are common and if youve had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flulike symptoms or sores. Dont start humira if you have an infection. Woman 6 ask your rheumatologist about humira. Woman 7 go to mypsaproof. Com to see proof in action. Woman 7 go to mypsaproof. Com [ laughter throughout ] its funny what happens when people get together. Were there. So you can be too. Holiday inn. Holiday inn express. And i recently had hi, ia heart attack. It changed my life. But im a survivor. After my heart attack, my doctor prescribed brilinta. Its for people who have been hospitalized for a heart attack. Brilinta is taken with a lowdose aspirin. 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Top democrats now say President Trumps former White House Communications director could hand them a big win in court. House judiciary chairman jerry nadler telling politico hope hicks testimony is a huge gift. Hicks testified for seven hours, was stopped 155 times by administration lawyers regarding questions related to her time in the white house. Im joined by a former chief spokesman for the department of justice, matt miller. Nadler going on to tell politico hicks blanket refusal to tell lawmakers about her tenure in the west wing is the real life demonstration democrats needed to show a judge how extreme the blockade has become. The chairman is doing a couple things. Hes putting his best face on a bad situation. That doesnt mean the claims hes making are wrong. One way to look at what the hope hicks testimony was about was using a little fish to get to a bigger fish. The big fish is don mcgahn who the white house has asserted the same claims to. If he does show up, they can exert executive privilege. When they enforce their subpoena against don mcgahn in court, when they sue and go to court and ask that the white houses claims be defeated theyre going to show this transcript and say look at how ridiculous the white house is being. They wont even let their witnesses answer questions like where is your office in the white house . Thats a compelling argument will be to their advantage. Thank you. Have a good weekend. I got to get to some breaking news. In missouri, breaking news with immediate implications for planned parenthood and supporters of abortion rights. Rehema ellis is in st. Louis with some details on a hearing that just wrapped up. What can you tell us . Reporter what i can tell you, craig, is that abortions will still be performed in the state of missouri. As of what happened in this court today and despite what happened with the department of health here in missouri, which has gone into court and said its not going to renew the license of the planned parenthood facility here which provides abortions. To back up just a little bit to give you some background on this, planned parenthood had gone into this court when it was determined that it seemed like the department of health was not going to renew its license, which was scheduled to expire on may 31st. As a result of going into the court, the court did indeed issue a preliminary injunction halting any action that would have stopped abortions being performed in this state. And the judge at that time set a deadline for the department of health to come in and say if it will or will not renew the license. That deadline was today and today the department of health came in and said its not going to renew the license. The judge says his preliminary injunction is still in place. Hes saying hell rule as soon as possible as to when or what hell do with that preliminary injunction. Its likely not to happen today. But in the interim, to be very clear, abortions can still be performed here in the state of missouri because an injunction is in place allowing that to happen. Craig . All right, rehema ellis on that breaking news. Ahead my colleague Andrea Mitchell will have more on that story. Also more on President Trumps response to the unfolding situation in iran. Shell be joined by john brennan and former Obama Deputy National Security advisor ben rhodes. Ad. When a plan stops being a plan and gets set into motion. Todays merrill can help you get there with the people, tools, and personalized advice to help turn your ambitions into action. What would you like the power to do . Can we talk . We used to play so beautifully together. Now we can barely play anything. Even cards with the girls. If you have bent fingers, and cant lay your hand flat, talk to your doctor. 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Thankfully, the governors Charter School policy task force just made important recommendations for reform more accountability on Charter School spending. And giving local School Districts more control over the authorization of Charter Schools. Reforms we need to pass now. So call your state senator. Ask them to support ab 1505 and ab 1507. That wraps up this hour of msnbc live. Ill see you monday morning on today. Right now, Andrea Mitchell reports. And right now on Andrea Mitchell reports, cocked and loaded with planes and ships on the move. President trump tweets today he pulled back from attacking iran with just ten minutes to spare. Leaving confusion and concern among American Allies and leaders on capitol hill. Frankly, if iryoure going t make a strike, at least in my experience, you ought to proceed with a strike as opposed to suddenly having your planes in the air and having to pull them back. Because that could result in even greater miscalculations. Coming up next, former cia director john brennan and former Deputy National security advisor ben rhodes. Sorry, not sorry. Joe biden calls cory booker to ease tensions or try to after bidens comments about working with segregationist senators in the past. He offers